Two of my kids attend a small Montessori tutorial that has 1st-5th graders in the same classroom, and the benefits have been absolutely off the charts. My oldest had always been the oldest by a few years of all the kids in our friend group, and it was a humbling experience entering the program as the youngest - but he needed that lesson in humility, ha! Now he's in 4th grade and gets to be a helper and an assistant teacher to the younger kids, which in turn reinforces the material in his own mind. It's such a win-win!
My daughter also attended a Montessori preschool with mixed age classrooms (in this case ages 3-6, which doesn't sound like much but developmentally that's quite a spread!) She is the youngest in our family and the only girl and she LOVED getting to be the "big kid" and help introduce new children to the classroom, teach them how things worked, etc. Her teachers always commented about how willing she was to help younger/newer students. Now she has focused all of her latent "older sibling" energy on her two young cousins and it is definitely a mutual adoration society!
I am married to the oldest of eight. When the youngest was 10, he became an uncle for the first time. So though he spent ten ish years being "the baby" of the family, he now has the nieces and nephews around to take care of.
Our eldests (twins) were still under a year when the pandemic started, and Minnesota was quite strict, and then we moved, and it took a little while to settle on a church, so altogether they didn’t meaningfully hang out with any older kids until they were three years old. That stark shift made it very apparent how eager for it they were; one older boy in particular who is nice enough to notice littler kids remains a minor god to them.
As a latina this has always been a cultural shock for me. In my culture it is very normal/natural to mix age groups. Grandparents attend prom(yes!), cousins hang out with different ages...when ever I promote this (since in the US it is not the norm), my children always say that I am weird. The environment is always with a spirit that invites the union of all ages.
We also are involved in a homeschool group and kids of many ages play and interact wonderfully. I love how it gives two preteen girls who are only children an opportunity to interact with babies and young children. Also my son who is eight interacts with the other parents and is very comfortable talking to them. I love it so much.
Our kids train jujitsu a couple days a week. This is also a mixed-age group, late-elementary to middle-school, so not a huge spread. But they do get some experience helping out on occasion with the younger kids, and one of the high-schoolers also helps with the middle-age kids on occasion. Not only does it build confidence and sportsmanship, but kids learn how to adapt their play to different sizes and strengths. And because it's year-round, they've developed much better friendships with these kids than they have with any of their previous seasonal sports teams.
I often hear parents say that they don't want younger kids around older kids because of exposure to inappropriate conversations and content.... Just another thing to think about 🤔
It's a real challenge! It depends on having a community you trust, with shared values.
I was v amused to hear from my kindergartener that she was on the fringes of a recess conversation about K Pop Demon Hunters, and an older kid shushed everyone saying, "You can't talk to the little kids about *demons!*"
Two of my kids attend a small Montessori tutorial that has 1st-5th graders in the same classroom, and the benefits have been absolutely off the charts. My oldest had always been the oldest by a few years of all the kids in our friend group, and it was a humbling experience entering the program as the youngest - but he needed that lesson in humility, ha! Now he's in 4th grade and gets to be a helper and an assistant teacher to the younger kids, which in turn reinforces the material in his own mind. It's such a win-win!
My daughter also attended a Montessori preschool with mixed age classrooms (in this case ages 3-6, which doesn't sound like much but developmentally that's quite a spread!) She is the youngest in our family and the only girl and she LOVED getting to be the "big kid" and help introduce new children to the classroom, teach them how things worked, etc. Her teachers always commented about how willing she was to help younger/newer students. Now she has focused all of her latent "older sibling" energy on her two young cousins and it is definitely a mutual adoration society!
This was my elementary school experience and so formative!
I am married to the oldest of eight. When the youngest was 10, he became an uncle for the first time. So though he spent ten ish years being "the baby" of the family, he now has the nieces and nephews around to take care of.
Our eldests (twins) were still under a year when the pandemic started, and Minnesota was quite strict, and then we moved, and it took a little while to settle on a church, so altogether they didn’t meaningfully hang out with any older kids until they were three years old. That stark shift made it very apparent how eager for it they were; one older boy in particular who is nice enough to notice littler kids remains a minor god to them.
As a latina this has always been a cultural shock for me. In my culture it is very normal/natural to mix age groups. Grandparents attend prom(yes!), cousins hang out with different ages...when ever I promote this (since in the US it is not the norm), my children always say that I am weird. The environment is always with a spirit that invites the union of all ages.
We also are involved in a homeschool group and kids of many ages play and interact wonderfully. I love how it gives two preteen girls who are only children an opportunity to interact with babies and young children. Also my son who is eight interacts with the other parents and is very comfortable talking to them. I love it so much.
Our kids train jujitsu a couple days a week. This is also a mixed-age group, late-elementary to middle-school, so not a huge spread. But they do get some experience helping out on occasion with the younger kids, and one of the high-schoolers also helps with the middle-age kids on occasion. Not only does it build confidence and sportsmanship, but kids learn how to adapt their play to different sizes and strengths. And because it's year-round, they've developed much better friendships with these kids than they have with any of their previous seasonal sports teams.
I've got my eye on a program like this! But I'm weighing whether to wait till all my kids are old enough to join in.
I often hear parents say that they don't want younger kids around older kids because of exposure to inappropriate conversations and content.... Just another thing to think about 🤔
It's a real challenge! It depends on having a community you trust, with shared values.
I was v amused to hear from my kindergartener that she was on the fringes of a recess conversation about K Pop Demon Hunters, and an older kid shushed everyone saying, "You can't talk to the little kids about *demons!*"
Oh 100%
I'm often impressed by older kids looking out for younger kids
Like everything, there's a balance to be struck!