Curriculum Approach

Kids Care Academy has adopted the Mixed Age Group approach for its non-preschool curriculum. This means children from 6 weeks to 3 years old are in classrooms together. Our pre-school teachers utilize the Creative Curriculum for preschool children. 

Mixed Age Grouping - Common Questions & Concerns

• Providing adequate care for different ages is more of a challenge
• Planning for a wider age range is difficult
• Can infants and toddlers interact in a safe and progressive environment?
• Toddlers will be bored by experiences that are appropriate for infants

Safety Concerns

• Older children are curious about the babies but very respectful of their bodies
• Older children can help younger children explore ideas in a safe way
• Toddlers like to help care for the babies

Social/Emotional

• Increases self-esteem by helping younger children
• Opportunity to model pro-social behavior to younger children
• Gives children the opportunity to take on the role of caregiver
• Learn to be nurturing and helpful because it is modeled by older children
• Mixed-age grouping supports relationships between same age peers and teachers, between older and younger children and between the entire classroom community

Motor Devlopment

• Younger children learn how to be successful while accepting their limits
• Safe space for free exploration of movement with appropriate levels of challenge
• Broad range of manipulative materials allows for both infants and toddlers to develop their expected fine motor skills

Cognitive & Language

• Allows older children more opportunities to teach or explain
• Children can provide support for each other
• Younger children try to understand the work that older children do
• Strengthens communication, literacy, and verbal skills
• Allows younger children to participate in more complex activities they could not have initiated themselves

Curriculum & Environments

• Curriculum can be the same for infants and toddlers or adapted slightly to meet both needs
• Experiences with baby play helps children figure out how to interact with real babies through imitation play
• It is important to create spaces for infants, toddlers, and adults; areas accessible to all ages
• Environment is the third teacher

Benefits of Mixed-Age Grouping

• Natural and family-like
• Provides an opportunity to build relationships with peers, teachers and families for an extended period of time
• Developmental needs are able to be met at all the various developmental levels
• Lower staff to child ratios allow more individual attention
• Children can experience being the youngest and oldest children in the classroom
• Allows children to interact at different social levels
• Creates a more diverse peer group for children
• Peer modeling - older peers are able to model classroom routines and expectations to younger peers
• Parents are less likely to compare children, understanding their developmental differences

Pre-School Programs

The preschool staff uses the Creative Curriculum approach as the foundation for planning and implementing activities in our classrooms. The teachers are striving to meet the children’s social, emotional, physical, cognitive and language development needs. The classrooms are created to become communities where children learn to work together and solve problems. The interest areas that are a part of the structure of each room are the places where learning takes place. Children learn in each area; teachers supply the materials and model the behavior that promotes learning within these areas. Teachers integrate the learning of appropriate skills, concepts, and knowledge in literacy, math, science, social studies, and the arts. Learning experiences are planned based upon children’s interests and activities that are both teacher and child-directed.