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Child Integration
Child integration is the inclusion of children in a variety of mature daily activities of families and communities. This contrasts with, for example, age segregation; separating children into age-defined activities and institutions (e.g., some models of organizing schooling). Integrating children in the range of mature family and community activities gives equal value and responsibility to children as contributors and collaborators, and can be a way to help them learn. Children’s integration provides a learning environment because children are able to observe and pitch in as they feel they can.

In the United States, child integration into “adult” life is not as common as it used to be. However, in other cultures social norms continue to incorporate children into the mature, productive activities of the family and community. In all cultures child integration is present in one way or another. For example, nearly all children’s first language learning seems to be supported through integration with a mature linguistic community. Children usually are not taught in a classroom how to speak, but instead learn by observing the language and pitching it when they can.

Cultural Variation in Children's Integration
The cultural practice of integrating children in the mature activities of the family and community is common in many Indigenous American communities. Many integrate children into "adult" activities, work life, and other cultural practices at a very young age. Among the Quechua people of the Andes, families accept the child as a part of an integral process towards a collective wellbeing. . Two-year olds in the Chillihuani community frequently get their own food and drink, and those of herding families participate in herding and caring for the animals. In this community, work and play are not two separable things(i.e., one for adult and one for children). The children enjoy having real responsibilities and find pride in being able to contribute to their society.

Similarly, some Chippewa communities of Washington also commonly integrate children in the mature activities of the community. Children are expected to observe and work with their parent to be able to develop skills for that line of work. Young girls assist their mothers with beadwork, household chores, chopping wood, etc, and boys are expected to work on canoe-making with the men and are given arrows to learn hunting skills at 5 or 6 years old.

Another example, child care educators in certain First Nations communities in Canada have taught children traditional language, where then the children have the responsibility to spread that language knowledge by teaching their parents and other family members, thus ingratiating them into society with responsibility to carry on the language legacy.

Noteworthy Examples of Child Integration
There are many different ways children can be integrated into society. One example, child care educators in certain Native communities in Canada have taught children traditional language, where then the children have the responsibility to spread that language knowledge by teaching their parents and other family members, thus ingratiating them into society with responsibility to carry on the language legacy.

Political Movements and Civic Life
Some Indigenous American communities can incorporate young children into the political activities of the community. Political violence and displacement within the community of San Agustin Loxicha, Oaxaca created an important aspect of child participation in the community’s struggle. In this community, it is common for young children to take part in marches or sit-ins, hunger strikes, school life, child play, and accept the political part of their lives instead of seeing it as a hardship or something to be pitied.

Language Brokering
In some immigrant communities, children link their family and friends to the environment around them by translating and paraphrasing words, phrases or occurring situations. This practice is known as language brokering and is used by children in immigrant communities to integrate themselves into family endeavors and into civil society. . The child’s contribution by language brokering integrates them into many environments, such as the doctor’s office, at parent-teachers’ conferences, banks, housing offices, and various sorts of negotiation activities. Subsequently, children who engage in language brokering are more likely to also be representatives of their community when transitioning into adulthood. Children integration has become very important to form linkages between new immigrant communities and the predominant culture and new forms of bureaucratic systems, making it manageable to navigate.

Labor
In some Indigenous communities, children are often integrated as active participants into family and community work. Child work is often a vital contribution towards community productivity and typically involves non-exploitative motivations for children's engagement in work activities.

Daily household activities provide the child the ability to learn cultural practices such as different food dishes, hygiene, and parenting skills, as well as the social values and religious beliefs. It is common for children in Indigenous American communities to learn through trial and error instead of explicit instruction. This is due to the cultural understanding of “echando a perder se enesena la gente” (throwing to waste, people learn) which promotes optimism and growth of the child in the community, allowing the youth to feel comfortable making mistakes as long as they keep working towards their goal.

In some families, young children contribute to the family’s finances by taking a job in a factory or a store under the supervision of a formal adult figure, while some join the family business under the the oversight of their parents and older siblings. When children join the family business they tend to gain knowledge of a trade such as accounting, public relations and how to be able to time manage. Some children not only obtain an economic boost for the family as a whole, but also learn autonomy and altruism with regards to having their own earned income to support the family and also to spend for themselves.

History of Age Segregation in the West
Segregating children by age was not always the norm in the United States. A century a half ago, children in the US had access to a wide range of adult activities and were integrated into multiple aspects of family functioning and survival. The change from this integration into segregation was a product of industrialization, Western formal schooling, child labor laws, social services agencies, and the rise of disciplines such as Psychology and Education. A combination of the above caused a shift from family working as a unit to separation of economic activities and childcare emerged.