Everyone in the class is the same age-good or bad?

[bits and bobs]

I have noticed that an argument against the school system is that all the kids in a class are the same age [with a small range] and that this is NOT indicative of real life, ie it is an unnatural fact.

I have never given it any thought, and can't really see what the big deal is that the kids are the same age. My kids are in school and it's not something that I would ever worry about.

Your thoughts?

[octobermom]

I personally don't look for the classroom to be the same as "real life" even in real life certain developments are for the most part the same at certain ages.. Two year olds tend not to share but 5 years old more naturally will things like that. I in general want my child to be in a classroom with kids around her age with typical learning milestones for her age group with a teacher hopefully skilled in helping reach proper academic and basic social skills appropiate for such an enviroment. Were not refusing to have our child in mixed age groups and shunning then from society in anyway so I really don't let that argument work for me.

Deanna

[sunnmama]

We'd homeschooled before sending dd to ps, so I did read about this concern over the years.

Now that dd is in school (rising 3rd grader), I can see that dd simply enjoys being in the company of like-aged kids That is the one thing she likes most about school--being with kids her own age all day. I'm not sure it is unnatural at all, if the kids are naturally drawn to it. And, yes, it groups kids into a general level of development, although there are always outliers.

[allgirls]

I don't particularly think there is anything wrong with it but often I see it touted as one of the advantages of schooling(vs home/unschooling I guess) and I don't really see it as an advantage either.

Or sometimes I hear people say "they need to go to school to learn about real life" and school isn't anything at all like "realand I take that to mean life as an adult) life.

But my kids are in ps and as long as I'm aware and they are aware I don't see large disadvantages to it either.

[EFmom]

I don't see anything wrong with all the kids being the same age at all. I don't look to other kids to teach my children, and I don't particularly want my kids spending much of their time teaching younger kids. In our school, they have a program where the older kids do reading with the younger kids on occasion. I sort of think it's fun, but a waste of time for the older kids.

I agree with pps that I'm not looking to school to mimic other situations where kids are in mixed age groups.

[ChristaN]

I only see it as a problem when it become stifling and forces a child who does better in a more diverse environment to spend most of his day with people to whom he does not relate. A child who is very different in terms of development or who simply gets along better with younger or older kids might do better in a more flexible age grouping.

That said, I've not found grades in ps to keep kids within a very rigid close age grouping. Due to parents who start kids very late or early, my dds' classes have always had as much as a two year age span btwn the youngest and the oldest kids (in one grade). Dd#2 also has some kids, who due to being very tall and dd being very small, are also much as 12 inches taller than she is. Two years and a foot in height are significant diversity.

Like the pp, I don't see it as a problem always, but I also don't see it as a benefit. If you group together kids from 2-12, it is likely that the kids will find their own group of friends from that diverse group which will include those kids to whom they relate in terms of development and personality.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by ChristaN

I've not found grades in ps to keep kids within a very rigid close age grouping.

This was our experience too. There was a 3 year age span in my DDs 5th grade class room. Two kids were age appropriate for 4th grade but had skipped grades, and four were age appropriate for 6th. They had ever been started late or held back. There were only a total of 19 kids in her class, 13 who were age appropriate for the grade they were in.

My DD is a former homeschooler. Her life had worked out that she had spent more time around kids who were slightly older than her than with her peers, so she had often felt that she wasn't as smart/together/etc as others because of who she was comparing herself too. Seeing how well she did compared to kids who own age was GREAT for her self esteem. It was one of the best things about school for her.

Often in homeschooling families, the birth order influence becomes HUGE. The oldest child becomes the ultimate oldest child, the youngest is the ultimate baby, and the middle is really really really a middle child. And only children who homeschool have their own set of issues. School gives kids a break from that. They just are who they are rather than what order they showed up.

My DD still plays well with kids other ages. Her best friend is 2 year older than her and she is great with little kids. Spending 6 1/2 hours a day with kids her age didn't screw her up!

[BCFD]

My children currently go to a private Montessori school and they are in a mixed age classroom (3-6). My almost 5 year old will attend a Montessori charter school where they have mixed age classrooms. 4-6, 6/7-9, 9-12. Personally, I like it and it has been great for my kids. Here is a great link that explains the Montessori classroom vs. a regular classroom: http://www.montessoritraining.blogsp...ontessori.html

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by ChristaN

I only see it as a problem when it become stifling and forces a child who does better in a more diverse environment to spend most of his day with people to whom he does not relate. A child who is very different in terms of development or who simply gets along better with younger or older kids might do better in a more flexible age grouping.

I agree.

Although to be honest, I chose my children's school based in part on the fact that they have mixed-grade classrooms. Kindergarden and preschool are in classrooms of their own, but the rest of the grades are grouped together (1-3) and (4-6). Once they finish elementary school, my kids will attend a mixed-grade secondary charter school. I've seen a lot of positive things come of this arrangement. I can say that my DD who tests far above grade level is far better served in a mixed-grade classroom than she was in a single-grade classroom. The kids work at their own level rather than being forced into grade-level average work. I've also seen my DS, who tests below grade-level, improve his skills by teaching/helping younger students.

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by annethcz

The kids work at their own level rather than being forced into grade-level average work. .

Single age classroom does not nec equal single level of work. My dd's school has 3 sections for each grade. They regroup the kids for reading and math, according to level. So, even though all of the kids are in a single grade, there are always three math levels (reorganized for each math unit) and three reading levels.

And there can be problems with multi-grade classrooms. My dd tends to be mature for her age (sits quietly, likes quiet work, wants to pay attention and stay on task). She was in a multi-age montessori based 4-6 yo class for church when she was 6. She HATED it. We actually had to bump her up to the seven year old group, because she was so frustrated by the short attention span and high energy level of the 4-6 yo group. An all 6 yo group might have worked out fine, though, as the kids would be more mature on average. As always, the outliers can have difficulties (a very young 4 yo in a 4-6 yo group will be VERY young, kwim? As will a very mature 6 yo be VERY mature for the group).

But I can also see the benefits of multi-grade classrooms, too.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by annethcz

The kids work at their own level rather than being forced into grade-level average work.

Same thing happens at my DDs traditional public school. Kids are grouped for reading and math, and time is set aside each week for mixed grade projects where older kids worked with kids from a younger grade. One of my DD's favorite parts of her week was meeting with her first grade reading buddy.

[The Hidden Life]

Hmm...

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

Often in homeschooling families, the birth order influence becomes HUGE. The oldest child becomes the ultimate oldest child, the youngest is the ultimate baby, and the middle is really really really a middle child.

That's an interesting observation, one that I haven't heard before. I think it might be mostly true.

Every family is unique, of course. There's that whole thing about how many years between your children--end up with enough years between your kids and you end up with essentially a family of "only children." There are 7 and 12 years between I and my brother and sister, for example. None of us were ever really the middle child or the baby since we are so far apart.