Twins in the Classroom

Both my sister and cousin are parents to twins. Valorie, our baby and food blogger, also is a mom to twins. I can imagine many unique situations that can arise with parenting twins. One that both my sister and cousin encountered was school.

My nieces were together in kindergarten, separated in first grade, and will be separated for second grade. The separation was my sister’s choice. Many parents choose to keep their twins together. As a teacher, I can see pros and cons to each side.

Regardless of your decision, you need to keep open and honest communication with the school at all times.

If you plan to keep your children in the same room, keep an open mind that not everyone knows the children as personally as you do. It may take some time for the teacher to tell the students apart. Do not complicate things by dressing them alike. Let the children wear name tags if necessary. If your children have a distinctive feature (a beauty mark, birth mark, shorter hair, etc.) let the teacher know to help with identification. Also remember that you may be faced with competition in the classroom. It can be difficult if one child is chosen to carry out a special task and the other is not. Also be prepared for academic differences. It is okay if one child learns to read before the other. However, beginning in the same classroom may make the differences more obvious to you, to the teacher, and to the children. Remind your children not to take home disputes to school. This usually happens with older twins.

If you choose to have your children placed in different homerooms, be sure to tell the teacher that the child has a twin in another classroom. The children may go through separation anxiety or a period of sadness. Be prepared for the children to be jealous of each other’s activities. This can happen if the teachers do not work closely together. One class may be going on a field trip and the other not. Also be prepared for two separate sets of homework and dealing with stronger and weaker teachers. The discipline in the two rooms may also be totally different.

To Separate or Not to Separate Twins in the Classroom

How Twins Form Their Own Identity

Having Twins at Age 59