Children need the example, instruction, oversight, correction, and love adults give. Children emulate the behaviors they see around them. We are not raising children to behave like children. We are raising them to behave like adults. I personally believe one of the worst things you can do is segregate children from adults, parents, and siblings. Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean it is the best option.
"Want to ruin your kids? Age segregation is critical. Send them to a school where they'll be assigned to a class by age, regardless of ability level. That separates them from their siblings as well as their parents. Then put them in lots of age-segregated extracurricular activities to further insulate them from the adult world. Finally, put them in all the youth activities at church so that they don't have a common worship experience with their families and other adults. The idea is to surround them with immature social and spiritual models, because we have a strong tendency to become like the people we spend the most time with. Do these simple things and you can be assured that your kids will not grow up to be responsible adults any time soon." -Rick Boyer
