Challenges of Providing Multi-Age Groupings

I have run into many problems when trying to run multi age groups. It is difficult to meet the needs of each age group. It is easy to make it too overwhelming for the youngest or not stimulating enough for the oldest. I also ran into the problem of the adults holding conversations during the group. This was during a home preschooling group I belonged to. We took turns teaching so the lessons were free. We have to set up guidelines and give reminders for parents to hold conversations after the lessons. Overall, I found these groups to be the most challenging to run.

I have never held a multi-age music session, but I imagine that focus of children can be a huge issue; making the group fun, stimulating, and engaging for a wide variety of ages can be difficult. Additionally, I imagine that occasionally older children might not want to be in the same group as their younger sibling and this could potentially lead to problems.

With the wide range of developmental levels present, it can be challenging to provide activities that are both exciting and do-able for all. There can also be some frustrations caused in some kids who want to do something another child is doing but can’t.

Attempting to meet the needs of everyone in multi-age groups can be challenging, especially when the ages present so drastically differently as in young children. It can be difficult to find a balance between activities that are possible for the youngest in the group while being engaging and motivating for the oldest kids in the group.