Teachers structure a supportive learning environment where children feel successful, develop positive self-concepts, and are helpful and sensitive to others. One of the major benefits of a multiage classroom is the continuity over time that multiage provides. The student benefits from having the opportunity to stay with the same teacher and classmates and experience the same teaching style and routines over a two year period. Since the teacher is already familiar with many of the students from the previous year, instructional time is not lost getting to know a whole new class of students each year. Academically, students in a multiage classroom get to see a wide spectrum of learning as they work with classmates who are at different places in the learning process.
Multiage education emphasizes building upon strengths.
Students feel they are successful when they are working at their own level and know that everyone should not be able to do the same thing at the same time. Because the teacher values children as capable learners, she uses open-ended projects to provide for a wide range of abilities and interests. During this time, the teacher can observe and document what each child does and how it is done. Each child is accepted at his or her own place on the developmental learning continuum. The teacher takes time to assess, evaluate and plan next steps for each child.