Multiage
The children are taught to be respectful to each other by being treated respectfully by our wonderful teachers. Our teachers model responsive care, which means they adjust their teaching to meet each child's developmental needs, respond to the child's inner desire to understand and learn about the world around them, and respond to every child's daily needs with love, care and respect.
The multi-age classroom allows children to spend years with the same teacher. The benefits of this includes:
- Children spend more than one year with the same teacher, allowing the teacher to develop a better understanding of the child's strengths and needs so that she can better support the child's learning.
- Children are viewed as unique individuals and the teaching focuses on each child according to his/her own strengths, unlike in same-age classrooms that often expect all children to perform at the same level.
- Children become a family of learners who support and care for each other. Older children and children with higher skill levels have the opportunity to serve as mentors and to take leadership roles.
- Children are more likely to cooperate than compete.
- Children are invited to take charge of their learning, by making choices at centers and with project work. This gives them a sense of ownership and self-direction which are the foundation for lifelong learning.
- Children are more likely to cooperate than compete, making it possible for children to help each other as individuals, not see each other as competitors.