Multi-generational program

I had the pleasure of visiting Shepherd's Flock Child Care Center located in the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights on Friday!   I had heard wonderful things about this program and I wasn't disappointed.  I scheduled my visit so that I could witness an interaction between the children and the seniors.   The program has five classrooms and has an infant room, toddler room, twos and two preschool classes.  About five 4-year olds were invited to visit "Grandmas and Grandpas" (as they refer to the seniors) in the assisted living portion of the home.  The seniors are divided into low functioning and high functioning.  The seniors we visited in this part of the home were high functioning.  The children were each paired with a Grandma or Grandpa.   The preschool teacher brought along 3 Ipads and told everyone that new games had been loaded and they were excited to play them.  The seniors moaned and became concerned about not knowing anything about these Ipads!  The senior teacher reassured them that the children would show them.  Because one senior was very nervous, the teacher suggested that they continue playing a dice game and include two of the children and another senior who was legally blind.  Everyone seemed happy with that solution.  I was immediately struck by my motto that flexibility is the most important quality a teacher can have!  This is even true when working with seniors!

The children taught the seniors how to play the games which included memory and matching games.  We spent close to a hour in the area and everyone had a wonderful time.  As we left one of the Grandpas got teary and the whole mood felt somber.  The children truly had brought a ray of sunshine into their lives.

I walked away troubled that we have segregated our ages so much in our society.  Everyone lives alone.  My fondest memories are of spending time with my great grandpa.  He was suffering from dementia, but I just thought he was wonderful because he always had time to spend with me and talk with me. Children don't have many opportunities to interact with multiple generations because everyone lives far apart.

Thank goodness for programs like this that seek to bridge a gap in our society by giving the generations opportunities to interact with each other.  But, I digress from the school....on other visits they go to the low functioning seniors and play games like Lincoln logs.  This allows the seniors to reminisce about toys they played with.  Also there were several senior volunteers doing music and activities with the children throughout the center. 

My favorite memory was when I heard a little boy playing a game with a Grandpa say to him "You're a genius"!  Grandpa brightened up and perhaps didn't realize the boy was repeating what he had said to him several times while playing the game.   It was a mutual feeling of thinking the other was a genius.  We need more of that! Thank you to the staff for allowing me to visit! 

Waldorf Curriculum

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Waldorf curriculum model!!  I choose to visit Four Winds Waldorf School in Warrenville, Illinois.   As I entered the building I was warmly greeted by the Director of the school!  She was at the door greeting every student, their parents and siblings as they entered the school.  I knew I was in a special place immediately because she knew EVERY name!   I was told to meet the three/four year old class on the playground.  Again, I was warmly greeted by the teacher on the playground and observed as she greeted and shook every child and their parents hand!  This was their way of taking attendance.   

This is one of two protected benches where the teachers sat to greet the students. 

After the children greeted the teacher, they ran onto the playground and played with friends.  The children spent about a half hour playing with each other.  Many played in the sand, some stood by a tree (playing with sticks) and others climbed trees.  There were no disciplinary issues while I observed.  One young many picked up a large, long board with a pointy end on it.  He spent the entire time “writing” in the same with the pointed end of the board.  He played near some girls, but never disturbed them.  It struck me how this behavior would have been immediately stopped in a regular classroom.  Here it was assumed that the child would be responsible and he was! 

 The school is located on 5 acres with one large grassy area surrounded by small hills and the other side is all wooded forest.  Children spend ½ hour as they arrive and ½ hour as they leave provided the weather is good.  As I observed, many of the older grades spent time outside also.  One commented that they were just going for a walk on a beautiful day.  Again, not an occurrence in a regular school!  Within the woods, there were several “creations” such as this located in the forest!  It was obvious that the children were allowed to work in the woods to learn about the properties of materials.

All the materials within the classrooms were natural – there was much wood, stone, yarn, fabric, ribbon, silk throughout the school.  It was arranged aesthetically and was very attractive to the children!  This is a picture of the classroom which is decorated to create a homelike environment.  There are lamps, sofas, soft chairs, plants in each classroom.  A kitchen is in every room so that the teachers’ work is open for the children to view.  The other interesting thing is that no disposables are used because of their focus on the environment.  Each child has a cloth place-mat and napkin, a glass drinking cup, a ceramic dish and a metal utensil.  Children even had fabric aprons to use. 

The children spent a great deal of their time in free play, both inside and outside.  The children spent time preparing food for their snack and doing art projects.    Part of the Waldorf philosophy is that play creates the foundation for future learning.  During my visit, I did not observe any academics being taught to the children.  My first reaction to that was that enough was not being done with the children for them to learn.  But after reflecting....I realized the children were learning about how to get along with each other!!  This is one of children's areas of development - SOCIAL!  These children were all well adjusted.  They said good-bye to their parents and ran off to play.  They had great attention spans during indoor and outdoor play times.  Hmmm....another area of children's development - EMOTIONAL!!  They were running up and down hills, slithering under tables, climbing trees, digging holes and many other activities which were allowing them to develop - PHYSICALLY!!!  Here, I am the proponent of play, the one who touts that we must teach to ALL areas of development, not just cognitive and I was uncomfortable watching children PLAY!  Cognitively, these children were very articulate and had natural curiosity about everything they saw - types of birds, planets, plants, songs, animals and on and on.  This curriculum brought me back to the natural aspects of teaching and learning.

I felt so relaxed and so at peace during my visit.  The children played freely, adults conversed with children and among themselves.  It felt like a home.  Children worked, adults worked and IT worked at this school.