Working with Mixed Age Groups - post

Working with Mixed Age Groups 

Teaching children in mixed-age groups sounds like a daunting task for educators,  but it really isn't! According to Head Start, also known as the Early Childhood Knowledge & Learning Center, children who learn in mixed-age group settings reap benefits such as:

• Developing deep, nurturing relationships with caregivers;
• Creating a community with their peers
• Allowing siblings to stay together in one learning environment;
• Reducing the number of tearful transitions for families, caregivers, and infants;
• Eliminating the need for competition in the classroom and encouraging more collaboration; and
• Developing leadership roles early on in the classroom.

Teaching mixed-age groups allow teachers to take on a different perspective when planning instruction. Oftentimes it is not unlike planning differentiated instruction in a single classroom. Caregiver-child relationships are strengthened in mixed-age group instruction because children stay with one caregiver for more than the usual year, giving time for caregiver and child to deepen their attachment.

H&H Child Care Training (ChildCareEd) offers Working with Mixed Age Groups as an online, self-paced course: this means that students who take this course can do it on their own schedule, and at their own time--there is no need to adhere to a date and time! Our online platform also accommodates different language translations for textual slides.

Visit our site and register today!