I have kids 17 months to 5 years not enrolled in school.

everyone of them attend circle time which is 1.5 hours long.

the only thing that will work is consistency. when there is a set and consistent routine in place, the children will learn what to do, when to do it and learn to expect it. all of my kids youngest to oldest can tell you what will happen next, because we have a daily written schedule that we follow . We may not get to do it in that order 100% every day and that is ok, but we do make sure that we do ever single thing on our schedule every day.

once you got the consistency down, you need to have clear instructions. i like to think that my classroom is a well-oiled machine. all of the kids know what is expected of them and how to go about doing it with little to no instructions, because we are so consistent. I am very proactive about setting up my day, so I am not wasting time looking for things, trying to find materials and etc.

there is a lot more to it than just that like knowing what types of activities to set up for a group with such a wide age gap and how to involve everyone. it takes time to learn that part, but it can be done.

for example you might be reading a book about farm animals you have kids 18months to 5 years. you can ask the 18 months old what does the cow say, and ask the 4-5 year olds, how do you think we spell cow? or what letter does cow start with, C, yes thats right. what does a C sound like, look like etc. then have the older kids team up with a little and look for 1 object in the room that starts with C........................

what color is a cow, this one is ____________let older kids answer and then again can you find something the color back or white like the cow. have them bring it back, then go over it, Billy found a black marker, Jill found a white block etc etc.......

I love teaching to a mixed age group its always a challenge............

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