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A call to inquiry:
Examining the effects of multi-age vs. age-segregated environments in child development

Humans evolved within densely interwoven, multi-age social worlds in which toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults interacted continuously within shared cultural and social ecological contexts. By contrast, our age-segregated education system and extracurricular environments isolate kids within same-age silos. The consequences of this mismatch for child development could be profound, but have scarcely been studied. 

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MixedAge.com is intended to start a discussion on this novel topic. Please find below an introductory essay that outlines the problem and the opportunity for academics and educators.

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About me

I'm Alan Phillips, a retired educator, social worker, and therapist with 50 years of experience working with children from preschool age through adolescence. I was also the founder of Adventure Weekend, a unique, overnight "mini camp" which welcomed children ages 2-14. Over the course of over 200 camps, unique patterns of interaction among the kids emerged as they played, lead, and were lead by kids who were older and younger than themselves. As I observed these behaviors, I realized that today's modality of age-segregated schooling and socialization stands in opposition to the more fluid and natural ways kids play and learn when given the opportunity to interact in cross-age groupings. I created this site in order to start a dialog among and by academics, as I believe that the foundational premise of how we socialize kids -- that is, within age-isolated silos -- could have profound negative effects on children's innate development. I welcome the opportunity to discuss these ideas. 

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