Time flows differently when children work together, the older becoming aspirational peers for younger children, no bells demanding that they stop what they are doing to move in short blocks of time from math to reading to science to history in a repetitive daily cycle. Instead, they work on projects that engage them in experiences across content areas and extend time as they see the need.
We lose so much when we divide students by age… We lose peer mentoring, we lose the aspirations to be “like the big kids,” we lose the ability of younger kids to become leaders, and we lose the ability to let kids grow at their own rate. We also lose the shared public space which lies at the heart of community, culture, and democracy.
Source: SpeEdChange: The Multiage Magic
Via: Making Sense of Multi-Age Learning – Abe Moore – Medium
Via:
We’ve noticed this with homeschooling/unschooling networks using programs like Science Olympiad. Students with Olympiad experience loop through helping newcomers and younger kids. They get to demonstrate their expertise and teach.
“Time flows differently”, indeed. It flows more on a maker’s schedule than a manager’s schedule. It flows through backchannels because written communication is the great social equalizer. It flows in ways more compatible with neurological pluralism.
Many schools in the county I work in separate students by grade, even for lunch It creates an us vs. them mentality instead of the mindset that we are all part of a community.