Mixed Age Groups

[Guest]

Hi, I was just wandering if any of you have mixed ages in the same room?

I have recently taken over a setting which has children ranging from 2 to 5, which is a nightmare when considering choking hazards and outdoor play. Just wandered how others might manage the set up,

Thanks

Tracey

[Guest]

we have mixed age groups from 2 1/2 in the same room but to over come some of the problems of having such a big developmental age range we introduced all afternoon sessions as 'preparing for school sessions' this means that at around 3 1/2 the children attend more afternoon sessions meaning that we can incorperate more age related activities in both morning and afternoon sessions, it has worked well with our setting but when it comes to the children leaving to go to school our numbers in the afternoon sessions drop dramatically for a while.

[belle06]

we have children from 2-5 in the same room as we only have one large room and this works fine, the staff are vigilant and aware of the need for supervision with certain equipment

[Guest]

Hi Tracy - our setting accepts children from 2 until they go to school,

 

With regard to outside play as long as there are bikes etc for all development ages then that is fine, all other resources are there for all children to access. All our staff have excellent knowledge of child development so activitiies are adapted and extended depending upon the age of the child. Now we are in the summer term, we are keeping a home corner in the setting for the younger children, and outside more planks, sheets, boxes for older ones to create their own role play. You do have to be aware of your ratio's, we have one member of staff who is always outside, and other members of staff are observing what the children are doing, so if more go out, then staff follow them.

 

We do really well with mixed ages, but let me know if you have any specific questions - the one lovely thing about mixed ages is how older children respond to the younger ones, one little boy today held out his arm for a younger child to sit next to him

 

Dot

[Shiny]

We mix 2.5 - school age in our two rooms. As with belle06 we have to be really vigulant!!

[Guest Wolfie]

Yes, our full daycare nursery in the Centre has a 2-5s room and there ARE a lot of issues to address, I agree!

[Rea]

Mixed ages is wonderful. I really miss playgroup for that, all the nurseries I go to are split by age and I, personally, find it sterile. The mixed age range is so much more interesting for the children and adults. I dont remember any incidents where we had to change the activites because of safety concerns. The younger/newer children learnt from the older ones plus staff being aware in the first place, but I never felt there were any more risks.

[Guest]

Hi. We have mixed age groups for half of our session and find it does work well, but it might be because we know we can separate halfway through! In this week's Nursery World there is an article about a nursery which is working in the Swedish way with mixed age groups from babies to reception class age. It might make interesting reading for you. Headline is "Nursery drops separation by age".

[Beau]

I never found it a problem at playgroup either. I too like mixed ages as it always feels more like a family grouping to me which is more natural.

[Guest]

Hi Thank you all for your responses and I certainly feel more relaxed about the mixed ages, as you all cope so well.

Tracey

[sharonash]

We have 2 rooms, the children used to be split 2-3's and 3- school we have recently opened the rooms up to free flow but are really struggling as we feel our 2yr olds seemed very overwelmed and seem to need some time on their own. We have split the children for the first hour in the morning as we used to by age but are now finding that as the rooms are set out in workshop areas the children are restricted with what areas they can play in. We have kept the 2-3s in the messier of the room with he sand and water small world train track etc and the older ones with the graphics area role play pc etc.

The parents are also concerned that it seems hectic and their children seem unsettled!

Has anyone else experienced this problem ,who might be able to give me some advice please?

[Guest]

Hi,

We have children aged 2-5 yrs in my pre school and always have done.

As long as activities on offer cater for all the age groups and stages of development there isn't a problem. I actually find it more beneficial for all the children as the older ones buddy up with the younger ones, the younger ones ask the older children for support and they all learn to work together.

We do not segregate the older children for more challenging learning, everyone can access it and do very competently.

 

 

We always have 4 staff members to 20 children and we usually have 4 2yr olds per session. I understand it may be more difficult in nurseries and bigger sessions but they should give it a go.

 

I feel it is very beneficial for all the children.

 

Net x

[Guest]

Hi

 

I am on a split site and have mixed age groups on both. I have a 0-3 unit and 3+ fully intergrated with the education setting.

 

Jayne

[Guest]

currently we have 4 rooms, a 3mths - 2 room a 2-3 room a 3-4's and a 3-5's (those going into school in September) on any given day we have 49 children in at a time from September we've been cut in half and can only offer 1 room. I had said we would only be offering 3-5's and have requested a variance from OFSTED for 20 children aged 2-5 with no more than 8 children under 3 with the intention that these would be children whose birthdays would fall between Sept and Dec (January funded children) so that by January all the children would be over 3 ........however the parents of some of our youngest children have had no luck finding other places...or simply do not want to change and i have filled all 8 places with younger 2 year olds so we will be running a very mixed aged group which i am really looking forward to in many ways as i am a great believer in the children learning from each other, but also going into with my eyes open to the pitfalls of having such young children in a large room

watch this space