Poll: Having The Younger Ones Growing Up With SA's

[lilcupcakes09]

Just thinking back, I have always had babies up to SA's at any given time. I'm so proud of how smart my little ones have become being around the older kids all the time!

I say this because I think of some particular people I know who believe that putting kids only with kids their age makes them learn more. I believe the opposite, I think the littles need olders....they become so advanced it amazes me.

What do other providers think??

[Blackcat31]

That is one of the reasons I really like the Montessori approach.

One of the theories of learning is to group the kids together in groups so that the older ones teach the little ones.

Each child gets an opportunity to be the youngest, middle and oldest of a group before moving on to the next group and starting over again.

It is also one of the advantages of group care.

[Angelsj]

Absolutely agreed, to the point that I took the same approach with my own children and home schooled them. Again, older ones learn by teaching younger ones, and everyone wins.
Wouldn't it be awesome if ALL schools took that same approach (Montessori) and allowed kids to learn in groupings of multi aged children rather than groups divided by age?

[JoseyJo]

I also agree that they learn more by being around older children. We have a just turned 4 yo here would do great in K this year easily if he was old enough! I truly believe it is because our group is mostly 1-2 years old than he is (most of our group is leaving for K this year ), so he just kept up w/ them

That being said- we only take 18 months and up because we find it too difficult to run a full day preschool program w/ babies to take care of. When they come in at 18 months it is amazing at how fast they learn and mature by being with the "bigs".

[kathiemarie]

I also like how the olders learn compassion and how to help the younger ones.

[Starburst]

I think the older kids learn better because they learn about responsibility (leadership skills) and it also teaches them how to care for kids younger than them (great for future teachers/doctors/nurses/parents- also great for kids who are an only child) and the younger kids have someone setting examples of what is expected and inspire them to push themselves a little more.

Also, not all kids easily make friends with kids their own age. In elementary school most of my friends were always a grade older or younger than me. When I was a freshman and sophomore everyone thought I was junior or a senior because most of my friends were.

[mom2many]

After 27 years of experience, I have witnessed first hand the benefits of younger children being around older ones and vice a versa! Both age groups learn so much from each other! In many cases, the children I watch do not have siblings, so this provides a really great opportunity for them to interact with other kids of various ages.