Exciting concept of mixed age child care settings

     By comparing the work I do now in center-based care, where classes are grouped rigidly by age, with the home day care I operated for 12 years, I feel strongly that mixed age group care is more beneficial,  not only for the children, but for caregivers as well.

     In reading scholarly articles to determine if any experts had conducted research on this idea, information was limited. A study whose purpose was directed more toward teacher's ability to rate children based on postdevelopmental perspectives as opposed to developmental approaches gave many examples of benefits to the mixed age group setting. Scaffolded learning resulted in older children taking the lead, the younger children rising to challenges, empathy for the babies, and less stress for the caregivers. These are some quotes from the article:

   With regard to ELL's:

"This form of learning was perceived as particularly important to Gina, who worked in a centre with a large number of families whose first language was not English. She believed the multiage classroom contained a variety of skill levels in respect of language development which provided a framework for supporting

the children’s acquisition of English. A chronological classroom containing second-language learners would not necessarily have provided the younger children with the same level of exposure to the older children (Edwards, Blaise & Hammer, 2009)."

 

   With regard to teacher stress and social development:    

"The teachers discussed how, in multiage settings, older children were more likely to intervene when they saw a child upset, providing comfort and reassurance and creating a sense of community and caring within the group. They argued that this level of engagement was not normally possible in situations where all the children are of a similar age, and that having older children to spread the ‘developmental load’ reduced teacher stress associated with toddler tantrums, sharing, turn-taking, and the need to provide scaffolded support for appropriate peer interactions (Edwards, Blaise & Hammer, 2009)."
 

     With regard to cognitive development:

"Although these examples were expressed developmentally, they provided examples of children, particularly babies, working beyond their supposed ‘ages and stages’ of developmental progress. Thus two-year-olds confidently handling hammers and older children competently nurturing babies were reported as examples of how multiage grouping works to support children’s learning in ways not seen in traditional chronologically–based classrooms (Edwards, Blaise, & Hammer)."

  

     I loved all the observations made by the teachers in this article and wish I could post 75% of them to this blog. They overcame parent's worries about older children harming babies, shocked staff who were not teachers with the calmness and happiness of the classrooms, and provided positive social development to all the participants. I wish I could find more about this subject; if any of my colleagues has heard of research done on this I would appreciate the tip.

 

Reference:

 

Edwards, S., Blaise, M., & Hammer, M. (2009). Beyond developmentalism? Early childhood teachers' understandings of multiage grouping in early childhood education and care. Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 34(4), 55-63. Retrieved Nov. 15, 2014 from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=157c4832-337c-4316-9030-cf0e876695be%40sessionmgr4001&vid=11&hid=4109