where you have a little band, it's much easier to model for the younger kids that 'aren't there yet', allow for the ones that are reading further than their age, and otherwise make things fun mostly. Because then you aren't laying all of that on the five year old that is doing things for the first time.

But it does depend on those older children having had experience in seeing this work. If all they've known is lockstep age-segregation, they're more likely to think Lord of the Flies is normal.

Of course, things have been breaking down long enough we've got adults that never learned these things.