How many students do you have in each class? What is the ration of students to teacher.

We do a 7:1 ratio. Most of our classes, simply because of the size of our dance room, have about 12. Some classes are a bit bigger about 14/15 and some are smaller. The director of my studio will open a class if there are 3 kids interested so we have classes where only 3 kids attend!

For Creative Movement, we max at 10 kids (we actually max at 10 kids for all of our classes). We have some classes that are full, most hang in the 5-7 kid range, and we've got a few that only have three kids. We've had a few over the years that only had two!

I max out my 2 year old class at 8
3-4 year olds at 10 without an assistant, 12 with
4-5 year olds 12 or 14 with an assistant.

My 3-4 year old class is around 15 kids, with an assistent. Without an assistent this class would probably be around 10 kids.

my class sizes differ with the two programs I teach for. The public outreach program I teach at can have 15 3-5 year olds which can feel like a firedrill. The other studio caps it at 10 with an assistant which is more managagable. I feel like my 15 student class has made me prepared for anything though.

I have a class of 20 with one assistant and I really dislike it. I LOVE small classes and think that assistants are unnecessary unless I'm dealing 3-4 year-olds. I think that keeping classes small, regardless of the number of instructors is very important. Having a lot of kids is distracting for the teacher AND for the students.

At one of the studios I work at we have a max of 8 with no assistant at the other one I set the max at 12 with an assistant.

Assistants are rare at our studio. I've never heard a particular reason for why, but we use almost zero assistants.

Between 8-10 is the norm. I have had up to 12 at the studio by myself. However I can usually get an assistant if I feel the need for one, some classes are more "needy" than others. In the past at another studio I taught satellite classes at daycares and I routinely had 16-18 kids (ages3-5) by myself. Definitely not my favorite.

If you don't have assistants, what do you do when they need to go potty? Let them go by themselves? An assistant goes with the kids until they are 6-7 years old. Not necessarily IN the bathroom, but walks them there and waits.

Our two main studios are glass on one side (not by choice, by construction of the strip mall we're in), so the parents can see that the kids are leaving for the potty (since most kids under 5 will automatically grab themselves when they need to go potty, the body language is easy to understand, even without hearing what they said), and they come help them.

I've also taken a student to the door, told the receptionist the student was going to need help, and gone back to the class.

And by the age of 7, a kid ought to be more than capable of walking themselves to the bathroom, handling their business and making it back to class. We only have one student I can think of, who is Downs Syndrome, who probably couldn't. Every other 6 or 7 year old I can think of in our studio is fully capable of doing that without help.

5:1 ratio. We try to close classes at 15, so it would be the teacher and 2 assistants or demonstrators. I do have a class of 20 though, and for that I have 4 assistants. I need the extra set of hands for potty time.

My parents don't always stay and wait in the waiting area. They will go run an errand in that hour, so if no parent is in the hall, then the assistant/demonstrator walks them to the bathroom and back again. Not until about age 8 would I allow a child to go out to the bathroom and back again without a assistant to watch where they were going. Just basic safety...

I would never teach classes under the age of 8 without assistants. Just my preference.

^I work with the 7-10 year old group too, and it's pretty common for that age for the parents to stay for a second to make sure the kids are settled in at class, and then leave. We don't generally have kids in the 2-4 range have parents that leave. My son is 5, and has come up in the studio, and I know everybody there would watch out for him, and even still, the bravest I've gotten is to run up the street for a hot chocolate and come back. And I don't even do that without telling 57 people where I'm gonna be, LOL!

3 & 4's, under 12, with no assistant.

I have a class with 11 students and some days the energy is so high, it takes awhile to calm them down. I have a new trick that helps. I have 2 tracks of lighting in the studio. Keeping the light at a lower intensity by turning off one track does help.

At one of the rec centers I teach for, they are very specific with ages when it comes to going to the bathroom. Students can only go with their own parent or myself, when under 6. 6 & up go on the buddy system, which I don't like because it is a good excuse for them to chit chat and take longer.

The recreation coordinator actually thought it would be okay for me to stop my entire class and take everyone to the washroom if parents were not there (No Way!). I warned my parents at the start of a session that if they are not there, the child will have to hold it until they return.

I have a limit of 7 in my 2-3s, 12 for my 3.5-4s, and 15 for 5-7s. After those age groups it's based on the size of the room, our smallest studio is 8, medium 12, and the largest room is 15 for a class but sometimes more if it's a rehearsal.

My advice is to be very careful if teaching between the ages of 2 - 5 with no assistants...unless you have a viewing room. You need the extra set of eyes in my opinion and not just to keep them in order - but also to protect you against lawsuits. Unfortunately our SO had a parent accuse a teacher of abuse in the classroom...but fortunately that teacher (who never in a million years would do such a thing), had 2 assistants as witnesses that no such abuse occurred. In this day and age, one ill intentioned person, with one law suit can bring your entire business down - not to mention your reputation.

I generally say 10 max for pre-school classes. I am the teacher and the owner, so if I feel that the activity level of 8 kids is too high to add any more, I say it's full. Or, if I have 10 very attentive kids, I might allow another one or two to come in. I do have an assistant, who helps with crowd control.

our 2 - 3 year old classes max out at 8 kids, always with an assistant with students that young.

3 - 5 usually max out at 10, sometimes 12, again with an assistant. I love having assistant, never saw the need until I had one, great for tissues, bathroom breaks, shoe change without mommy (prevents secondary separation anxiety!)

7 and up? 12 - 15 max, i have a 18 kid hip hop? but I co teach it with another faculty teacher.