Rooms

There have been many questions and concerns when it comes to deciding if a mixed age classroom would be a good fit for your preschooler. Parents of the older children are worried that their child will not be ready for kindergarten whereas parents of children on the younger side worry that their child will not be able to keep up with the older children. On either side these are valued concerns. However, research done on the mixed age classrooms experiences has shown many positive outcomes with this learning environment.
    1.    Older children in the classroom are role models for the younger children, which encourages responsibility and leadership skills. Older children become more confident and more likely to provide help, share and teach the younger children which in turn strengthens their social skills, their communications skills and understanding of various topics.

    2.    Children develop at different paces. Some children by age 3 know the alphabet proficiently while some children are still learning as they enter kindergarten. In this instance, children who are group by age who lag behind their peers often develop low self-esteem. Children who are at the same level have higher levels of self-esteem and become class leaders.

    3.    There are proven academic benefits resulting from grouping mixed age for both the younger and older children. In some situation the older children reinforce his/her own learning while the younger child is getting 1 on 1 attention in a learning environment.

Above information obtained in part by "The Case for Mixed-Age Grouping in Early Education" (https://wwwpaperpinecone.com/blog)