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!