I have to admit, when I first started working at our Montessori preschool, I was a bit overwhelmed–by both the number of children (28) and by the age range of those children (18 months to 6 years). The 18 month-old is the child of one of the other instructors and the 6 year-old is a homeschooled child whose mother wanted to give him some social learning time. Most of the children are between the ages of 3 and 5. I knew that Montessori advocated a multi-age classroom, but I was skeptical. Thoughts like, “Well, maybe if we only had 10 children, the whole multi-age thing would be fine,” or “Is she sure this theory works in reality?” definitely crossed my mind.

But you know what? I’m totally converted. Shocking, I know.

Here’s what Montessori herself has to say about the idea of mixed ages in the classroom:

“To segregate by age is one of the cruelest and most inhuman things one can do, and this is equally true for children. It breaks the bonds of social life, deprives it of nourishment” (The Absorbent Mind, 226).

Yes, if you haven’t picked up on this yet, Montessori was not one to mince words–she doesn’t hesitate to share her feelings.

She continues, “Our schools show that children of different ages help one another. The younger ones see what the older ones are doing and ask for explanations (…) There are many things which no teacher can convey to a child of three, but a child of five can do it with utmost ease (…) in our schools the five year old feels himself a protector of the younger one” (226-227).

Since I can’t share a post without some kind of visual aid, take this example:

Okay, so this isn't technically in a Montessori classroom, but the idea still applies. You can almost hear Monkey from his spot over by the slide: "Hey, Pearl! A little help here? This snow is deeper than I thought!" See his little outreached hand?

"Don't worry, Monkey. I got your back."

I chose not to go outside with them that day and am actually quite glad I did. By staying inside, I gave Pearl the chance to serve her brother, to think of him and his needs, and to help him.

And from what I’ve experienced, it works the same way in the classroom. Monkey and his younger peeps at the school follow the older kids around, watching how they work with the activities, learning the rules of different games. Then, later on, when that particular work opens up again, they scramble over to try it themselves, imitating the actions they witnessed earlier.

Conversely, I’ve watched the biggest boys in our class stop playing tag during outdoor time to help Monkey onto the tire swing and then push him on it, seemingly oblivious to the game they left behind. I’ve seen them help him down the stairs back into the classroom and guide him over to me if he’s sad and needs my attention. Without these little toddlers around, those big boys wouldn’t have had the chance to learn and display such charity and gentleness (at least in the classroom). Having a mixed age classroom has helped them look beyond themselves and their big boy games and watch for the smaller child who might need their help.

It melts a teacher’s (and a mother’s) heart.

So, even though it can get a little crazy with such a wide age range to deal with, I’ve come to believe that it’s actually ideal. Everyone wins.

Thoughts?

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