Blog · 3 October 2026

Why small class sizes matter in the early years

When parents compare nurseries, class size is often the first number they ask about. It deserves the attention. In the early years, how many children share a room shapes almost everything that happens in it.

More conversation

Young children learn language through back-and-forth exchanges with adults: a child points or speaks, the adult responds, the child tries again. Researchers at Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child call this “serve and return” and describe it as one of the foundations of early brain development. Every one of those exchanges needs an adult who is free to listen. In a small class, that happens many times a day for every child, not only for the most confident ones.

Every child is noticed

In a small group, a teacher sees who is building a tower for the third day running, who has gone quiet, and who is ready for a new challenge. Those small observations are how good early years teaching works. They guide what the adult offers next, and they are what we share with parents.

Calmer rooms

Fewer children means less noise, fewer queues for the paint and more space to spread out. That calm matters for young senses, as we explain in learning through all the senses. Children can concentrate for longer and settle more easily when a room is not crowded.

What the wider research says

The best-known study of class size, Tennessee’s Project STAR, placed children aged five to eight in smaller or larger classes by chance. Children in the smaller classes did better in reading and maths, and follow-up studies found some benefits lasted for years. That study looked at school classes rather than nurseries, but it points the same way as what early years teachers see every day: more attention per child pays off.

What to look for on a tour

Numbers on paper only tell part of the story. On a visit, watch how adults spend their time. Are they on the floor with children, listening and asking questions, or mostly managing the room? Do quieter children get a turn to speak? Can a teacher tell you something specific about a child in the group? Those are the signs that a class is small enough for real attention.

Small classes at evergreen

We keep our classes small by design, so teachers have time for each child. Our rooms, real materials, garden and dedicated sleep area are planned around the same idea: fewer children, more attention.

See it for yourself. Book a tour.