Shouldn’t my child be only with children his own age?

I often get questions from parents who are wonder if having the “oldest” or the “youngest” child in a Kindermusik class is not a good idea. From experience as a teacher, and also as a Kindermusik mom, I say it’s the BEST idea. In fact, I’ve made sure over the years that I’ve put my children in classes (at the age-appropriate level, of course), where they can experience both situations.

I now know that the experts agree with what my instinct always told me was the right choice. (I suppose I’m an expert by this point in my career, but I don’t have the all-important PhD behind my name!) From a child development aspect, research shows us it is important for a child to be both the youngest and the oldest in a class.

Being the Oldest
As the oldest in a multi-age group, your child will have more occasions to practice nurturing skills, re-teach learned skills and feel competent. As an oldest child, her confidence is built when she becomes the one who models for the littler ones, and as the leader, is more likely to venture out and try new ideas of her own.

Prosocial behaviors, such as help-giving, sharing and taking turns are elicited in the older children, and a climate of cooperation with both younger and older children. Your child will have have more opportunity to hone his problem-solving skills than in a homogenous group. In fact, one study showed that the more heterogeneous the group, the more likely the older children were to display fine motor play, which is directly related to pre-writing skills.

Being the Youngest
Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College said something I love. He says, “We adults flatter ourselves when we think that we are the best models, guides, and teachers for children. Children are much more interested in other children than in us. Children are especially interested in, and ready to learn from, those others who are a little older than themselves, a little farther along in their development, but not too far along.”

As the youngest in a multi-age group, your child will model behavior after the older children in the class. It’s not just  random “copying”. They watch, think about what they see, and then integrate what they learn into their own actions in ways that make sense to them.

Younger children also learn by listening to the older children speak, even when they are not interacting with them. By hearing the more complex language of older children (but is not too sophisticated), they expand their own vocabularies.

How it applies to Kindermusik
So, now you know the benefits of being both the youngest and oldest in a Kindermusik class, even if the age spread is only 6 months in Village (which is HUGE developmentally), or 2 years in an Imagine That class. But, how are the activities in class appropriate for all the possible developmental levels in that class?

Here’s an example of how a multi-age class works (though the same principle can be applied for any age or other circumstances). In Village (newborn to 18 months), the teacher provides choices and options for each class activity so that children can participate and learn at their own level.  For example, in the first week of class, they’ll explore sandblocks.  Younger babies will be able to explore the feel and texture of them and listen to the grown-ups tap and scratch them together.The older children will be ready to begin to develop eye hand coordination and tap them together.

They’ll also play “Peek-a-boo” with brightly colored scarves.  Young babies will watch as the grown-ups move the scarves.  Older children will be able to “find” mom hiding under the scarf, grasp it, and pull it off. Younger children will observe the older ones, and learn new skills by imitating them.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who hopes that you are able to provide your children with a balance of opportunities to be both leaders and followers!