If children attend pullout classes such as art, music, or PE, they go to these classes together. They are not separated by grade level. Multiage teachers do not advocate retention. All teachers should be able to fit the curriculum to the child rather than the child to the curriculum. Children in a multiage classroom are truly given the gift of time to develop.
Most children leave the multiage classroom ready to engage in a graded classroom.
Wisely, many schools are now creating multiage classrooms for the upper elementary grades and middle schools. Furthermore, children in multiage settings are prepared to learn and have high self-esteem, which helps them to thrive in any environment. Experience has shown that children who are in multiage classrooms are more confident learners and adapt quickly to same-age classrooms. They have also had time to see themselves as competent learners in the multiage classroom and can therefore survive the comparative process in a same-age classroom. To have had some time in a multiage classroom is better than to have none at all.