However, with the usual system, there will always be youngest and oldest classmates, no matter what the cutoff date. Children with fall birthdays will be the oldest and may be bored. Children with summer birthdays will be the youngest and may do better if held back a year. In the search for solutions, the multiage kindergarten provides an important new option. The multiage kindergarten, usually a two-year program, addresses the reality of how young children develop.
Young children develop at greatly different rates, both overall and in specific areas.
The multiage kindergarten is designed to maximize children s natural developmental processes by accommodating their uneven rates of development. While all areas of a child s development are interrelated and important, schools most value skills that contribute to success in groups for example, attention span, and social and communication skills. Children who develop strongly in other areas will have a harder time meeting the expectations of a traditional kindergarten, especially if they don t have a growth spurt in group-related skills. Some school districts are trying to avoid the stigma of retention by adding another grade level after kindergarten for children who are not yet ready for first grade. Others evaluate individual children who show signs of readiness for early entry into kindergarten.