The Mixed Age Classroom

Burr Cooperative Nursery School has a mixed age class of children 3-5 years old. Mixed-age grouping offers many benefits to children, and helps to create the nurturing and stimulating environment that characterizes the school. Children are allowed to explore concepts and learn at a comfortable rate for them as individuals. There is not pressure to conform to the group, so children are free to learn at their own pace. Young children in particular learn at very different rates - for example, some children learn to write or to initiate friendships at 3 while others learn these tasks later.   The mixed age classroom creates a welcome space for children's differing abilities.

In addition, when children are grouped by age or skill level, it is difficult for them to share skills and learn from one another. The cognitive developmental benefits of mixed age classrooms are many. Older children teach younger children, very often in informal situations while playing together. This teaching reinforces older children's knowledge, and offers them true mastery over the skills they are teaching, which is hard to replicate in other settings. Younger children have the opportunity to learn to complete a more complicated task when they have the assistance and modeling of an older, more advanced child.

There are many social and emotional benefits as well. Sharing, turn taking, giving, empathy, and showing concern are more widely demonstrated in a mixed age setting. A mixed age grouping can also help foster a more cooperative unit and promote leadership and confidence among older children--very valuable tools for children as they head off to kindergarten.

While children spend most of their day in the mixed age group at BCNS, there are also times where older children are involved in small group work of a more advanced level. That sometimes happens at Circle Time, at Lunch Bunch, and also at Free Play when, for example, a group of older children engages in a structured game,. a science project,  or journal writing activity.

For more backgound, read: The Benefits of The Mix from Child Care Information Exchange