LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Ashley knudson, infant teacher

From the moment of birth, your baby began to develop his or her personality. All infants develop this way through social relationships and experiences; through nurturing and trusting relationships, infants and toddlers learn about the world. Their brains mature through interactions, and they learn how to form relationships, communicate, respond to challenges, and how to recognize, experience, and regulate their emotions from their relationships with caregivers.

Montessori classrooms have many forms of social development. One of them being mixed ages in a classroom. Mixed age classrooms are a signature element of a Montessori school because Dr. Montessori believed that children learn from one another. This is proven in the Montessori environment where you will often see an older child helping younger peers and gaining social maturity from being a role model. The younger child may learn new concepts from the older child and, as they look up to the older child, they will begin to see that they too, will be just as capable one day.

Growing together is natural, as children instinctively know when to offer help, encouragement, and comfort to those around them. Therefore, the mixed age group means that children have the opportunity to interact with both older and younger peers, all of whom are at different levels of individual development. The mixed age group provides daily opportunities to practice patience, tolerance, and receiving or offering assistance. Younger children look to the older children with admiration and for inspiration, and in turn, the older children help and teach the younger children.