Parents who are considering the Montessori approach for their children will be interested to learn that a single Montessori classroom holds children from a broad age spectrum. It’s a significant departure from the model of public school, where children are strictly grouped according to age.

What are the advantages of having an age-diverse classroom? As a parent, you’ll be interested to know the unique benefits that can come from mixed-age classrooms.

Natural Model

If you look at your community, you’ll meet people of many different ages. Even in your family gatherings, cousins, aunts, siblings, and grandparents all play a unique role in the camaraderie you share. Only in schools are children grouped together with students who are exactly the same age.

The mixed-age classroom strives to model the natural world. Your child can learn from those with whom he or she interacts. When all learners are the same age, experiences vary only a little.

Think of a time when you started a new job. Even someone who had been there just six months longer than you could help you learn the ropes. In families, older children are examples for the younger ones. In communities, younger members watch, learn, and take steps forward as those who went before move on. The classroom can be similar.

Adaptable Environment

Education is not only about learning math and reading but also about empathy, leadership, and communication. In a mixed-age classroom, older children have the chance to share their knowledge with those who have not yet learned.

This consistent, daily sharing and discovering has several benefits:

• The older student learns patience and understanding for those who are still learning.
• The younger student more readily accepts direction and problem solving.
• Both students learn empathy as they increase in their ability to understand that not everyone can learn in the same way.
• The younger student follows the example of the older student.
• The older student becomes aware of his or her role as a leader and what it means to influence others.

The intended end result of mixed-age learning is increased compassion, more willingness to help, and greater acceptance and adaptability for learning diversity.

Diverse Learning Opportunities

While not every child develops at exactly the same pace, the stages of human development are generally characterized by specific ages. When students who are all experiencing the same developmental stage are grouped together, the variety of learning opportunities decreases.

Conversely, when older and younger students learn together, several stages of development inform the learning process. For example, a younger child may have an untainted interpretation of data, helping to broaden the mind of an older student who has learned specific prejudices.

Child-Directed Progression

One of the goals of Montessori learning is for a child to learn at his or her own pace. The multi-age classroom makes this goal a reality.

In the typical public school model, educators assess the student based on grade-level standards. The main deciding factor for whether or not a student succeeds is if that student is on par with the rest of his or her peers.

In a multi-age classroom, assessments are different. There is no such thing as failing an entire grade or endless boredom because the work is not challenging enough. Each student can explore, learn, and excel at his or her own pace without the embarrassment and pressure of being younger, older, or more or less advanced than everyone else in class.

Improved Learning Relationships

The Montessori classroom fosters deep learning relationships. Students often stay in a single classroom for several years with the same teacher. The teacher gets to know the student, the student’s learning styles, and the student’s strengths and weaknesses and uses them to help promote better, more precise learning.

Students can also develop meaningful relationships with other students who have been with them through the journey. This environment creates a team- or community-focused mood in the classroom where cooperation and collaboration are more likely.

Because children stay with a single teacher for such a long period of time, more classroom time can be spent on learning. In a typical classroom, teachers may spend more time during the year getting to know a little about each student and playing team-building games to prepare for learning.

Since your child and his or her teacher stay together for many years, the teacher can use the time normally spent on “getting to know you” for more focused and beneficial learning activities.

Additional Considerations

Keep in mind that Montessori teachers are trained for teaching children of different ages. A multi-age classroom in a public school can be a good learning tool, but sometimes schools use combined classrooms as a means of saving on the budget—not every multi-age learning environment is automatically more beneficial.

If you’re concerned about your child participating in a mixed-age classroom, take the time to ask about staff training and curriculum design. A teacher following a Montessori approach will have experience reaching every child’s learning needs despite the age differences.

For more questions about the Montessori learning model, contact us at Miniapple International Montessori School.