Maura Maldonado

April 17, 2016

HD 390
Action Plan Project
Cant We All Just Get Along?

My action plan project addresses the issue of multi ages in an after school daycare setting
working and playing together. I chose this project because the children at the after school
program where I worked had a difficult time interacting positively with children other than their
specific age groups. This issue was apparent to me but I did not realize how it was directly
affecting individual children until a third grade girl stormed off saying, Cant I just watch you?
Cant we all just get along? The children were experiencing exclusion on a daily basis.
During the after school program the children would group together usually by age. Friends
from the same classrooms would work and play together. Children who attempt to join older
groups or children from other classrooms would be turned away. At times the exclusions were
handled in rude or hurtful ways. By the reactions of the excluded child, such as, sad and hurt
facial expressions and sometimes sitting alone for a period of time, I knew that their self-esteem
was affected.
I feel it is important for a child to learn how to deal with feelings of failure and frustration
without losing self-esteem. School age children can face many causes of failure, including
learning disabilities, anxiety, depression and sometimes exclusion or feelings of not being
accepted. Because of this I decided to create a plan where the children could express their
creativity, and develop a strong sense of self. All eighty-eight children would participate in
group projects. Each group would consist of children from all age groups. The older fifth
graders would be separated and become a leader of each individual group. The groups would

work on art projects, act out scenarios from books or movies, lip sync to favorite songs, as well
as any other form of creative outlet performed as a group. As time went on the children began to
form relationships and recognize similarities in each other as well as differences. The
differences were beginning to be respected as just being different and not a reason to be
excluded. I also had the fourth and fifth graders take turns walking the kindergartners to their
class in the morning. The older children were allowed to leave daycare early to walk the
younger children and then trusted to go on to their own class arriving on time. Children were
also paired up during homework hour to help each other. Through all these deliberate activities
that paired children of different ages together, my goal of creating a more accepting, respectful
and nurturing atmosphere was being achieved. The children were beginning to recognize when
others were being treated unfairly. They were taking action by expressing themselves
constructively toward the others who were offending their new friends. An accepting climate
in the daycare was growing despite the risks and limitations.
My first risk or limitation I faced was the response from some of my staff members.
Caregivers that work directly with the children held the dominant culture idea age groups should
not mix. They believe that encouraging age groups to work and play together more than they do
would encourage bad behavior from the younger children. They would pick- up undesirable
behavior from the older children as well as bad words. They also felt that the older children
would have more opportunity to bully or tease the younger children. The other staff members
and I countered this opinion with the belief that positive learning experiences would occur
because of children helping others and working together. A sense of empowerment would
develop by helping inequity in the ages. Daycare is a culture and the behaviors of the children
are a product of culture. Yet, cultural rules do not cause behavior they influence people to

behave similarly, in ways, which help them to understand each other (Brunson Phillips, C., 1991.
Culture AS A Process.). By giving the children opportunities to work together and develop new
behaviors by implementing new guidelines or rules will help the children develop new
understandings for each other. Mixture of ages within a class can be beneficial to children in
many ways. Children functioning below age group norms in some areas of their development
may find it less stressful to interact with younger peers than with peers of their same age.
Younger children can benefit from interactions with older children by enhancing their motivation
and self-confidence (ERIC DIGEST.com). Another risk I thought I would face was the attitudes
of the children themselves. At first separating the fifth graders produced some annoyance and
frustration. This quickly disappeared when they accepted their roles as leaders and teachers of
others.
As you can see my action plan is directed toward the children of my extended daycare.
There are eighty-eight children enrolled. On average there are thirty-five children in the morning
from seven to eight oclock. In the afternoon beginning at one thirty there are as many as
seventy children. The children are mainly from affluent families living in the North Glendora
area. The children are representative of several different races or ethnicities such as, Asian,
African American, Latino, Arabic, Egyptian and White. Almost all children have been
supportive with the group activities. There are some children that do not care for anything
creative and it has been an effort for them to participate but they do and usually get something
positive from the experience. Parents have been supportive by donating craft materials and
volunteering their time helping on the days we offer the group activities. When parents come in
to pick up their child they are impressed with the way the groups work together and they are
willing to wait and allow their child to finish their part of the activity. As projects are completed,

they are taped onto the walls of the cafeteria, our classroom. Children are eager to show each
other and their parents the finished product.
The eagerness of the children to show their projects and the pride they exhibit when sharing
how they created something by working together and naming the members of their group is the
best testament that my action plan is working. Through continued daily observation of growth in
the relationships of the children, documentation and reflection on my own and sharing thoughts
of all staff members, pictures and charts are all methods I used to evaluate the results of
implementing my action plan.
I proposed my action plan to my staff at the end of February and we immediately
implemented the plan. My last day of employment with the Glendora School District was March
25, 2016. My plan was changing the attitudes of children and staff. The atmosphere was
friendlier and more relaxed. I hope they continue with my plan, maybe the integrity of the
children will make them continue on their own.

Resources
1. Brunson Phillips, C., (1991). Culture As A Process
2. Evangelou, D., (1989). Mixed-Age Groups In Early Childhood Education. Retrieved
from http://ericdigests.org/pre-9212/mixed.htm (ERIC Digest.org)