Childcare with Mixed Age Groups 1
From “Kazenoko Letter” No.440 - September 2014
| “Childcare with Mixed Age Groups” is a big feature of our daycare center
as well as “Childcare with an Open Curriculum”. In the average daycare
center, classes are organized by age with 5 year old children in a class
of 5 year-olds. However, childcare with mixed age groups is organized with
3, 4 and 5-year-old children together in one class. It is difficult to provide childcare with a single task because it is a mixed age group, and because each child has different abilities. However, our Open Curriculum stands out because we also have mixed age groups. In Western countries where childcare is more advanced, almost 100% of childcare is carried out in mixed age groups. Mostly, there are classes with groups from age 3-5, but astonishingly, the age range in Germany is 2-5, and they all use an open curriculum method. The reason why Japanese childcare is divided by age group is that in the Meiji period, kindergarten started for 5-year-old children as preparation for school. This idea gradually filtered down to daycare centers after WWII based on this kindergarten model, and the grade system was copied directly. It is one of the most peculiar systems in the world. Let’s talk about the content of "Childcare with Mixed Age Groups" in the next letter. |
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