Mixed-Age Grouping Teaching Method

When you are exploring different homeschooling options for your family, one of the options that present itself is mixed-age grouping. Parents and teachers have considered how mixed age grouping works and how beneficial it can be for the learning environment.

Mixed age grouping may pose some problems. But there are big upsides, especially if you have children of multiple ages in your home. So, what is mixed age grouping and how can your kids benefit from the experience?

Mixed Age Grouping (or Multi-Age Learning) Defined

Definition: Mixed age grouping is a situation that allows children to learn in a group of varied ages with lessons provided at the same time. Some people refer to this as multi-age learning.

Sometimes, children learn the same lesson. Other times, the instructor teaches different lessons. However, it doesn’t matter what the lesson is, all of the children are learning in the same area instead of being grouped by particular age or grade.

The Benefits of Mixed Age Grouping

Since the courses provided to each grade level will vary, children will receive the same rounded education they would get in any other education method. If the older children are learning about a particular topic, the younger children will be learning about a similar topic, but on their own level.

Benefits for young children

If the younger children have the opportunity to participate in the lessons older children are learning, they develop a better understanding of each lesson. Since younger children can observe what the older kids are learning, they become intrigued by concepts that are above their grade range. As a result, they usually learn a lot more information early on in their educational career.

Benefits for the older children

The older children have ample opportunities to share information with the younger kids. Research finds that students benefit more from teaching someone than by studying a textbook. This learning environment offers older children a wealth of opportunities to teach.

Benefits of Social Skills and Communication Interaction

Many people initially thought that homeschooled children had inferior social skills compared to their public school counterparts. Those who still hold this opinion ordinarily cite a "lack of peer interaction" in the homeschool environment.

When children are taught using mixed-age grouping, they receive a better all-around education and have well-rounded social skills that aren't available to some public school students. Children raised in mixed-age environments learn to socialize with the kids from all age groups, not just their own grade.

How Do Kids Advance in a Mixed Setting?

The mainstream American way of measuring the success of "school" and "education" is through academic achievement. It is hard to measure the exact success of mixed age grouping because there are other factors involved in education besides grading.

There are also independent lessons involved for children who are taught using this method. This could dramatically affect the results, so getting a clear cut picture of benefits can be difficult.

The grading system used in each homeschool is different as well. This is because the grading system is not as important as the child exhibiting their proficiency in a given task.

Can Other Homeschooling Methods Be Used with Mixed Age Grouping?

Yes, this method plays nice with all sorts of other educational approaches. Since homeschooling provides so much flexibility, parents frequently use mixed-age grouping in combination with other (sometimes multiple other) teaching methods.

Many educational models already have built in multi-age models. One such example is the Montessori method.

Of course, some methods are better suited with mixed-age grouping than others. But the homeschool reality is that each approach is ultimately trial and error.

Does Multi-Age Grouping Need to Be Involved With All Lessons?

Multi-age grouping lessons depend on the parent's comfort level. Parents must necessarily approach some lessons with age in mind.

For example, you are not going to provide your 16-year-old with sexual education lessons in front of your pre-k student. Additionally, most educators take a grade-by-grade approach to mathematics lessons. However, if children are all within a few grade ranges of one another, group math lessons are beneficial to everyone involved.

So, there is a good amount of discretion involved in the determination. If you are looking for an easy 'win,' group storytime and craft time are perfect opportunities for your older children to help educate their younger siblings.

Is Multi-Age Grouping Right for Your Homeschool?

Deciding whether multi-age grouping, or mixed age grouping, is right for your homeschool depends on a number of factors.

Do you have children of different ages? If you do not, but you are interested in the concept, you may want to join a homeschool co-op that focuses on the benefits of mixed-age grouping.

Will you be comfortable designing lesson plans that encompass the mixed-age curriculum? If so, you are ready to get started. Keep in mind, a lot more planning goes into mixed-age grouping than other methods of teaching, and it is affected by the needs of the children.

Weigh the needs of homeschoolers in involved in your homeschool. This will help you determine whether this teaching method is right for you.

To find out more about the benefits of mixed age grouping, check out another opinion about this method from Jill Cain in her post about the Benefits of Multi-Age Teaching.