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E's in-home takes children from 3 months-3 years old, then they go to preschool. It's worked great for E. She loves playing with older kids and is really good with babies. I don't have any negative things about her being in a mixed age environment. She's learned a TON by being one of the younger ones there.

My LO is in an in home daycare with kids aged 6 months - 6 years, although most leave at pre-school age. I was nervous about it when she was a baby but I really like it. The older are so sweet with her and love playing with her. She's also learned to stand up for herself since she plays with kids twice her size. I like that she gets exposure to bigger kid things like the alphabet, coloring, and counting. I wouldn't have started those things on my own yet. Now that there's another baby LO is learning to be gentle and play with babies. So sweet.

I could see how if she was a mellow baby I would have been a little concerned about her getting the attention she needed. She is pretty high needs though so she was in the middle of the action from the start.

DD's preschool class has a mixture of kids from age 1 to 6. I think mixed ages are very common here in Sweden. I was told that the older kids help the younger ones, which not only helps the teachers, but it instills a sense of family. It also helps the older child learn responsibility and all the little ones learn by watching and following the older ones. I was pretty hesitant about all of this at first, but it really does seem to work. It's especially helpful to the teachers since the older kids like to do their own thing during free play and they can focus more on the little ones.

They have a set schedule at her school, so when the younger ones are napping, the older kids get story time or another planned activity. I really like the dynamic! Now I actually prefer a mixed classroom over ones with kids the same age.