"For his part, Khan says he’s now considering starting his own private school, as a way to see just how much you could wrap learning around Khan Academy. His ideas are intriguing: Among other things, his school wouldn’t divide kids by age; teenagers would mix in with kindergartners. “I have no research to back this up,” he says, “but younger kids act more mature around older kids, and older kids act more mature around younger kids.” If the classrooms were fully flipped, students could spend more of the school day doing creative activities. He’d use board games to teach negotiation, and he’d teach history backward. (“Why are the Israelis and Palestinians pissed at each other? Let’s go back a couple of years. Wait—they were pissed at each other even then! So you go back even further …”) He also thinks he’d teach kids subjects that have more real-world applicability—like “statistics, law, accounting, and finance. Why are you teaching people civics? Teach them law. That’s more relevant, and you learn civics at the same time.” He calculates that it would cost only $10,000 per child, “affordable for professional couples out here.”"
> younger kids act more mature around older kids, and older kids act more mature around younger kids.
We lived in a fantastic little neighborhood, Perry Circle, in Annapolis where this was routinely observed. It very much nailed the first iteration of Alexander's Pattern Language: 10 buildings, 6 apartments in 3 stories, plus attics and below-ground garages, arranged around a central circle. Those parents who stayed home would congregate on the porches and benches and the kids of all ages would play together very constructively.
I really miss living there. It's what cul-de-sac neighborhoods could have been.
I've always thought age segregation is a small evil (not a big one, but still...). We're not supposed to be locked into our current state, but to mature and grow - older people have experience, and younger people have energy... a good combo.