Educator Montessori said: "It is very cold and inconsistent to separate people according to their age, and it is also true for children. Doing so will also interrupt the connection between social life and make it impossible for people to learn from each other. "
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In the west, many countries have implemented mixed-age education, such as the well-known British royal family, Google founder Bill Gates, and former US President Barack Obama. This educational model has a history of 100 years.
The mixed-age education in Germany is the most typical: kindergartens in Germany adopt the mixed-age education model, which not only popularizes the mixed-age placement of preschool children aged 0-6, but also gradually implements the mixed-age system in primary and secondary schools, and children of different ages are arranged to study, live and play in the same class.
"Mixed times" does not mean "chaos". Mixed-age education advocates open and personalized education, allowing children to study freely, think fully, and fully respect each child's personality and development law.
Research shows that children in mixed-age classes are much more sensitive than children in traditional age-divided classes.
First, the ability of empathy is stronger.
American psychologists have done an experiment to study whether there are differences between only children and non-only children in trying to figure out the psychology of others. The results show that except twins and multiple births, children with more siblings are more likely to feel other people's thoughts and have stronger empathy. Therefore, it can be seen that children of different ages in mixed-age education can improve their empathy.
Second, be more responsible.
Because the children in "mixed-age education" are different in age, the older children will take care of the younger ones. The young people who are cared for will eventually grow into caring people. In this case of mutual care and help, the children's sense of responsibility will be improved.
Third, children are more independent.
The basic idea of mixed-age education is to make the kindergarten a warm "home". In addition to games, there is also a place to rest and study. In the class, children of different ages live together, so younger children will imitate older children.
For example, older children often dress themselves, brush their teeth, wash their faces and fold quilts. And younger children naturally follow the school and improve their independence, which is lacking in general family education now.
Fourth, it reduces the frustration of competition.
If there are children of the same age in a class, there is bound to be competition. Whether it is academic performance or interpersonal communication, all the pressure will be transferred to children, and parents will compare their children with others. This will make children only pay attention to the competition with others and ignore the development of their own abilities.
The children of "mixed-age education" basically do not have this problem, because their age groups are different and their learning content is different. Older children will not compete with younger children, which reduces the situation that children are frustrated by competition.
Generally speaking, the mixed-age class is like a small society. It is a compulsory course for everyone to learn to get along with each other between junior (weak) and senior (strong). How to use your own advantages and characteristics to find a suitable position in interpersonal communication with uneven strength.
Aristotle said: "The ideological defense line is the cheapest and most effective national defense of a country". The real strength of a country is determined by the education level of all its citizens, and the mixed-age education in Germany just provides a broader space for children to socialize and grow up, which can be said to have well practiced this belief.