While traveling along your early childhood education journey, you may have come across the phrase “multi-age learning environments.” A multi-age learning environment is defined as a classroom or learning space with children of different ages or grade levels. Typically there is at least a 2 year age span. For example, in a typical Montessori preschool classroom the age of the children may range from 3-6 years. Family child care homes and Montessori programs have always operated in multi-age learning environments.

Family child care programs have the largest age spread with many programs spanning from infants to school-age children in before/after care. Over time, multi-age programs have gained popularity and many center-based early childhood education programs have adopted this model as well. Why? Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of these environments, and some tips for making the most of them in your own program.