Honestly, this topic could get me into a lot of trouble, but I seriously want to explore this with you all.  So instead of focusing on the opposite, "why age segregation", we are going to focus on the positive. 

If you truly want to explore all sides, please join us for our monthly educator session on the fourth Monday of this month :  https://scioacademy.com/events/educator-session-age-integration/

Most likely when you hear the term "Age Integration" you think about an Anne of Green Gables, Waltons, or Little House on the Prairie episode with the one room school house.  Honestly, you wouldn't be far from the mark.  Age integration is simply integrating or including multiple ages of people in the same group.  We do this at home when we have grandparents living with us, or at church when we worship as a community together.  We all know that the modern school house is not a large one-room age integrated party. How it came to be or why is beyond the scope of this post.  But exploring some themes around education and age is not, so let's see what we come up with. 

I do not know everything about the history of American education, for there are many books and experts on this subject.  Peruse them at your leisure. 

What I do know is that we often learn by: 

1. receiving information (book, online, video, etc)
2.  practicing skills (using the information to discuss, write, build, etc)

Each of these items has a one to one correlation.  Meaning, As Dr. Seuss told us, "the more you read the more you know."   The more you practice your violin, the better player you will become.   These two ways of learning do not explain a fundamental truth that we all know:  If I take my violin to a group of better violin students, then they will challenge me to build better violin habits and become a better player. 

If I'm surrounded by learners on the same level as myself, how do I find that help? If I never play the violin with better violin players, how do I grow as a violinist? 

As a mathematician, I'm not satisfied with a one-to-one correlation for learning.  I want to master a skill faster.  I want to know more than the previous generation, but there's only so much time and we all start from the beginning.  That's where mentoring comes in.  Someone who lets us stand on their shoulders to see the path ahead.  They give us a leg up.  They increase our correlation from one-to-one to one-to-two or three or four.  When we learn from someone who has arrived at where we want to be, then they can help us advance along the road faster. 

• Who are these people and how do we find them? 

They are the people in the next grade up, the older Sunday school classes, the people at the grocery store when we are all at work, the people in our community homes and parks. 

• How do we connect with these people?

We jump into age-integrated community.