This paper is set within the context of my experiences as a mulƟ-age classroom teacher, as well as a mother of three. I began my teaching career as a primary teacher, teaching Kindergarten through grade three. I was feeling my journey with my students was incomplete because as the school year ended so did our Ɵme together. During this Ɵme my own children were having very different school experiences themselves. One of my daughters is neuro divergent and learns in any environment, on her own and with minimal connecƟon to peers or teachers. My other daughter struggles in a tradiƟonal classroom seƫng and needs a deep connecƟon with her teacher. My son needs to be able to see relevance in his learning and be able to apply it to real life situaƟons. I noƟced that my three children’s diversiƟes were echoed in my classroom many Ɵmes over and this inspired me to create a learning environment that met more of my students’ needs. In this paper I argue the benefits of a mulƟ-age learning environment guided by childcentered and place-based learning philosophies in an early elementary school seƫng. Evidence illustrates that holding students for mulƟple years and adding new students in the lower grades, allows for deeper connecƟons and eases school year Ɵme constraints. An applicaƟon is creaƟng an environment where student choice is an integral part of the learning process including using mulƟple spaces around their community, this allows for student autonomy and ownership over their learning which develops leadership, collaboraƟon skills life long academic success. I advocate for a mulƟage learning approach with child-centered and place-based philosophies to be used in early elementary seƫngs and introduced in teacher educaƟon programs.
