Kindergartners' Play with Preschool- and School-Aged Children within a Mixed-Age Classroom

The Elementary School Journal Volume 83, Number 5 ? 1983 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 001 3-5984/83/8305-000301.00 Several theoretical arguments have been proposed (e.g., Hartup 1977; Lougee 1981) and some research findings presented in support of grouping children of varying ages in formal educational and social settings. Studies indicate that the presence of younger children may foster the development of caretaking behaviors (Konner 1972; Whiting & Whiting 1963), prosocial behaviors (Furman, Rahe, & Hartup 1979), communicative skills (Shatz & Gelman 1973), and intellectual skills (Allen & Feldman 1976) among older children. At the same time, younger children are exposed to a more socially diverse group of children (Konner 1975) and to older, more advanced models. For younger children, the mixed-age setting is quite suitable for learning various social and cognitive skills through peer tutoring and through the observation and imitation of more competent behaviors. However, few researchers have examined the nature and degree of social interaction that actually occur among children in a mixed-age setting. Obviously, before children can accrue cognitive and social benefits from age-group admixtures, some degree of meaningful social commerce is necessary. Moreover, the published data on cross-age relations have been culled from observations of children's