By separating youth by grades, you deny them the social currency found in relating to different ages. Bev Boss, educator and a mentor of KMS says, "Whether we are to survive or not on this planet depends on how we socialize." Children need to learn how to give and take, how to negotiate, how to make friends, fight and go back to that friend. If they can’t socialize well, other kids will push them away, then the teachers push them away, then the principal and finally society.
Recent research suggests (link to Socialization article) that a multi-age classrooms are especially good at fostering good social skills. Qualities such as help-giving, sharing, turn-taking, greater social responsibility and sensitivity to others have been shown to be greater in mixed-age classrooms. There is less one-up-manship and less bullying. When asked to make decisions, students in multi-age classrooms are more liable to work toward consensus with more leadership behavior than children in same-age groups. (Link to "Benefits of Mixed-Age classroom article)
What we find at KMS is that children develop a sense of family with their classmates. They become a "family of learners" who support and care for each other. This spirit of cooperation and caring makes it possible for children to help each other as individuals, rather than see each other as competitors. The older children often serve as mentors taking a leadership role and modeling more sophisticated approaches to problem solving. The younger children on the other hand are able to accomplish tasks they could not do without the assistance of older children. This dynamic increases the older child’s level of independence and competence.
