Twinfo
To separate twins and multiples at school or not is one of the biggest decisions multiple birth parents face when their children start school. Obviously in some cases the decision is taken out of your hands, such as if the school only has one class per grade, or they have some specific policy in place.
10 reasons to keep your twins and multiples in the same class
- Unless there are underlying issues, there is currently no research to support that separating multiples is beneficial.
- Your kindergarten/pre school teachers did not flag any reasons why they should be separated.
- They are not reliant on each other in the classroom or the playground.
- Its easier for the parents!! Only one day to remember library books, sports uniforms and homework folders. Only one classroom to drop off to and less birthday parties to attend!
- Its easier to “help out” in class with reading groups etc. You don’t need to divide your time between two different classrooms.
- If there is an ‘event’ happening (such as Grandparents Day) then its easier for family members to attend, and they don’t need to ‘choose’.
- It makes Parent Teacher interviews much easier, as you can talk about one child and then the next. There is no running between classrooms.
- If your twins or triplets get along and don’t have much conflict between them.
- Should they be upset/scared/lonely in their class, they will have their twins or triplet siblings to support them
- If one child forgets to tell you something, you have the fall back that the other child will remember to tell you!!
10 reasons to place your twins or multiples in separate classes
- One child relies extremely heavily on the other child/children of the set.
- To promote individuality between them, and give them a chance to shine in their own right.
- There is a large difference in their academic ability.
- They ask to be in separate classes! It is important to speak to your multiples one on one to hear their individual preferences.
- Their pre school/kindergarten teachers recommend that they are placed into separate classes for some particular reason.
- They are extremely competitive with each other. Multiples are always compared to each other, no matter how often you try to ask people not to compare them. While competition can be beneficial, in the case of multiples it can also be detrimental as they will continually be striving to out perform or seek attention.
- They have a very difference circle of friends and don’t reply on each other in the playground.
- The school is large enough to accommodate them being in separate classrooms.
- If you have a child that is more dominant than the others in the set, and therefore often speaks for the other, then it is wise to separate them to allow the non dominant child a chance to speak up for themselves.
- If they are disruptive to the class, then it would be best to separate them. Remember, they will treat each other far differently than they would treat other class members. They are more likely to shout at, or hurt, their sibling than another class member. If this does occur, then it will be very distracting for the rest of the class.
If you have specific questions and want to hear other parents of multiples opinions, please head to our closed Facebook Group – Parents of Multiples Australia.
