CARING FOR MULTI-AGE GROUPS

Lesia Oesterreich, M.S.
Family Life Extension Specialist
Human Development and Family Studies
Iowa State University

Copyright/Access Information


Family child care providers generally care for a small group of children of different ages. A typical home might include a 9-month-old, 18-month old, 2-year-old, two 3-year-olds, and a 5-year-old. Caring for children with such a wide range of ages can be delightful, but it also can present some tough challenges.

Many family providers grew up and attended a public school system where children were segregated by age. In addition, many providers receive formal or informal training in child care or preschool settings that segregate children by age. Informal training through workshops, newsletters, or books often discusses child care information from this perspective as well.

The lack of information on how to manage, teach, and care for children of varying ages presents a real problem to many family child care providers. This lack of focus on serving children of different ages is particularly unfortunate because 60 to 80 percent of all children in child care are cared for in a family child care setting.

The first step in understanding how to make different age groups work is to understand the pros and cons of such an arrangement.

ADVANTAGES

Multi-age groups promote family-like relationships.
These groups are very much like a family, and children learn to play together much like sisters and brothers. In fact, family child care often includes siblings, and in times when families seem to be going different directions, the opportunity to keep brothers and sisters together can be an advantage.

Children can teach and learn from each other.
They usually have someone just a little older to learn from and someone just a little younger to
teach. Studies show that children often learn best from other children
rather than adults, and family child care sets the stage for that kind of
learning.

Children in such groups have greater freedom to develop at their own rate without being labelled slow or extremely bright.
A room of 3-year-olds is likely to have children who seem well ahead of the norm as well as those who seem a bit behind. In a multi-age setting, those differences seem less obvious. A 4-year-old who is a little slow in learning how to gallop or skip is still miles ahead of the game when compared to a 2-year-old.

Observers in small multi-age groups often note less competitive behavior and more cooperative or helpful behaviors.
This is particularly true when the children have been together for several years. It is common for family child care providers to take care of the same group of children for several years.

Providers also benefit from watching children grow and develop over time and from being able to develop closer, more long-term relationships with children.
As one provider remarked, "I used be in a program where I cared only for 4-year-olds. Each year we would get a new group of kids. It took almost a year to get to know each child individually. Just when we learned how to work with a child and had developed a strong, nurturing relationship, off that child would go to the 5-year-old group! I became a family provider because I think that relationships are so important for young children, and really good relationships take time."

Family care providers remark that they enjoy working with children of different ages and like the variety of activities that they can do with them.
Providers who care for only one age group often get tired of repeating activities. A provider shared this story: "The other day we were playing pizza parlour. Four-year-old Mark ordered the pizza by phone. The 3-year-olds stuffed the "play dough pizza" in the box. Five-year-old Seth made the deliveries on the tricycle to Laura, who is 2. Laura toddled over to the table, plopped the pizza down on a plate and said "EAT!" Seth arrived on the scene and rescued the pizza by asking Laura to help him make deliveries in the wagon. The children played pizza delivery all afternoon, and each time, it was
with a new twist."

Multi-age groups offer children opportunities to develop and practice social skills.
A second story: "I had been working with David (age 5) for a long time to control his anger. He could really fly off the handle at other children. I also care for Amber, who is 2 and has Down's Syndrome. Like most toddlers, Amber is very much into push and pull, fill and dump, and she inevitably manages to push David's block building over almost every day. David has watched me handle the problem in different ways. Usually we barricade his area off so that she can't get in, but other times this is not practical, so I try to notice when she is headed his way and redirect her (usually under protest) to another activity. The other day, I was very busy with the baby, and Amber made it through the barricade. David intercepted her, put his arm around her in a brotherly way, and said, 'No Amber, don't knock over my blocks. Let's go to the piano. You can play there instead.' As he walked away, he looked over his shoulder and said, 'And I'll listen to your beautiful music!' Amber obediently plunked away at the piano and every so often stopped and looked over at David, who would burst into applause. I was so proud of him for handling the situation like that!"

Providers sometimes limit the span of ages they care for. Some providers prefer to work only with preschoolers, and others prefer to care for infants and toddlers only. Still others may like to focus on school-age children.

Providers who choose to care only for school-agers like the arrangement as they have time during normal school hours to run errands and take care of personal business. Their program cares for school-agers before and after school and during summer vacations and school holidays.

DISADVANTAGES

Many providers feel that caring for children of different ages makes it difficult to plan activities. Infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-agers have different abilities and skill levels. A great activity for school-agers can be disastrous, if not dangerous, to do around infants and toddlers. For instance, school-agers may find it difficult to decorate a T-shirt using permanent markers or paints with a curious toddler hovering around them.

Meal planning is a common concern.
Carrot sticks, apple slices, and grapes are fine for 4-year-olds and school-agers, but could cause choking in
infants or toddlers. Meal planning with children of different ages may mean separate menus. Feeding a bottle to an infant, assisting a toddler with a spoon, and providing second servings to hungry preschoolers can become a juggling act.

Same-age playmates are hard to come by.
Toddlers and younger preschoolers seem to be happy to play with children of different ages and a different sex, but older preschoolers tend to want to play with children of their own age and gender.

EIGHT RULES FOR WORKING WITH MULTI-AGE GROUPS

RULE 1: Arrange your play areas to provide a wide range of choices.
Young children need a variety of things to do, and they learn from each activity. One child may like to curl up in a corner and look at a book, an infant may enjoy lying on a colorful quilt and watching the other children play, two other children may be playing house, and a toddler may roll a ball around the room.

Keep in mind that a family care provider and a grade school teacher have a basic difference in that the provider does not stand before a group of children and give step-by-step instructions. In early childhood settings, the caregiver's role is to provide an environment that has interesting things to do and to help children learn by talking with them, asking questions, and helping them solve problems.

RULE 2: Provide some play areas that are used specifically for an age group.
For instance, you may want to have a room or special corner that is used only by school-agers for craft projects, to do homework, or play board games. A special corner for toddlers with low climbing equipment and a washtub filled with colorful scarves and low riding toys is appropriate. Safety gates, low shelves, or even the back of a sofa serve as good barriers without obstructing your view of the children.

RULE 3: Consider ages of children when you store materials.
Store materials where children can reach them. Work from the bottom up. Store infant and toddler toys and materials on the floor or on a very low shelf. Store preschool toys and materials on a shelf that is a bit higher or in a drawer that can be pulled out safely. School-age toys and materials can be stored even higher. Storing toys at a child's eye level or within easy reach fosters independence and helps children get them and return them easily during cleanup.

RULE 4: Provide materials that can be used in different ways.
Blocks, play dough, or scarves are "open ended" play materials because there is no right or wrong way to play with them. Children of different ages use them in different ways to explore, build, create, and learn.

A toddler may pound, squish, and squeeze play dough; a 4-year-old may crumble it into a bowl for "pretend" soup; a 7-year-old may coil long "snakes" of dough into a volcano.

An infant may enjoy mouthing and gazing at different colored blocks while toddlers fill and dump blocks into a container. Four-year-olds may gather a bunch of blocks together to build a pretend fire, fives may build a fence to house barnyard animals, and a school-ager may use the blocks as ramps for race cars.

An infant enjoys looking at and grasping a colorful scarf. It could be used to play peek-a-boo by a toddler, as a tablecloth or doll blanket by a preschooler, and as a turban-like hat by a school-ager.

RULE 5: Become comfortable with the fact that very young children, like infants and toddlers, do not always have to "do" an activity.

Many providers worry about what to do with an infant or young toddler when
they are helping preschoolers with a special project. Infants and toddlers learn by observing, touching, smelling, hearing, and tasting. Providers have several options:

1. They can choose to do some activities with preschoolers when the younger children are taking their morning nap.

2. They can place a low barrier around the activity area so that younger children can watch and learn but not disrupt the activity.

3. They can find a way for the younger children to join the activity.

4. They can let young observers touch, hear, or taste the end result after the older children are finished.

Perhaps the older children in your care wish to make musical instruments. You could move a low toy shelf and turn the sofa sideways to protect the project. Help children lay out an assortment of paper plates, cardboard tubes, pinto beans, tin cans, masking tape, and markers. As they tackle their project, play a record or tape, and encourage the younger ones to
dance.

Allow the younger ones to peek over the back of the couch and talk to them. "See, Jason is making a tambourine from paper plates and bean seeds! Listen to it rattle. Sara made her rattle from a tin can. That's a great idea! Can you make a sound like that rattle?"

When the older children are through, you may encourage them to show their instruments to the younger children and maybe even let them try to make music with them. A spontaneous march around the house may be a welcome finish.

RULE 6: Avoid large group activities.
Large group activities are rarely necessary for young children. Infants and toddlers are generally disruptive to group time because they are easily distracted and can't sit still for very long. Reading books or singing songs to 2 or 3 children at a time is much more effective than trying to read to the whole group. If your play area is set up effectively, children who are not reading or singing with you will be enjoying some other activity they can do on their own.

RULE 7: Focus on experience-related activities rather than product-related activities.
Avoid craft activities that children complete by following a set of steps, however simple they may be. Young children cannot cut straight or glue a picture on the right spot. Eventually, the provider finishes the project for everyone, and the children experience a feeling of failure as they could not complete the project.

Focus instead on doing something that is more individualistic as children can interpret it according to their skills and interests. For instance, try providing a paper sack to decorate with an assortment of crayons, stickers, markers, fabric scraps, and magazine pictures instead of making a Halloween puppet.

RULE 8: Teach children self-help skills and encourage children to help each other.
Family child care allows children to have involvement in day-to-day home life. Children love to help, and family day care provides many opportunities. Washing dishes is real-life water play. Setting the table or putting away silverware is valuable sorting experience. Dusting furniture, vacuuming, going to the store, and washing cars are activities that children can do for real, as well as pretend. Children can also help out by helping a little one wash his hands, clean up a spill, or "pretend" to read to someone else. Preschoolers often love to help feed the baby and with guidance may become quite accomplished at this task.

Young children are not very steady or coordinated in their movements, but training and patience can help. It is common for young children to become quite skillful at helping out.