Grade School built into Retirement Home
 

I started this in response to this thread about college students living in a retirement home.

That got me thinking about a news story I saw a few years ago. I can't find anything about it, but the specifics are really irrelevant.

One of the best ideas I've ever heard involved an elementary school, K-4th grade or so I remember, that was built intertwined with a retirement home.

That is fucking awesome. The classrooms have walls that don't quite reach the ceiling, and there are some rooms for less active residents to stay in nearby. They can listen to the sounds the kids make, even if they are too tired to hang out with the kids.

The elderly interact with the kids, if they feel up to it, all day. They help read stories, they help with homework, they eat with the kids, and they help out on the playground, ad infinitum. I do remember that the activity and interaction makes for healthier seniors.

The kids get to deal with the elderly in a much more exciting way than most of us ever will. They learn that because someone is old, does not mean they are used up.

The way I see it, the student to teacher ratio at a place like that is damn near 2:1.

What would you think if your kids went to a school like that?

Hmm. I dunno. I think theoretically it's an okay idea but the way you describe it is relatively unstructured. I think it's a VERY GOOD idea for kids to have regular interaction with senior citizens, but if I were parent and/or a teacher, I wouldn't want them doing things like helping out with homework. Too many influences and opinions will dilute the messages and lessons taught to them by the teachers. Even parents can do this. My dad's a science teacher, and when I came home and asked him about science homework, he'd go into an entire treatise about how my teacher was wrong and the lessons were wrong and etcetera etcetera. I stopped going to him for help and did fine in science. I got lessons from my teacher and from approved tutors in the subjects. I don't think senior citizens are qualified to give that advice simply based on the fact that they are senior citizens.

As for them helping out on the playground, again, in theory, a good idea, but kids are rather rowdy and rambunctious on the playground at recess, and what if somebody gets hurt? Who's watching the kids and who's watching the seniors?

I'm not suggesting that senior citizens are helpless or irresponsible. But people are hired to do the jobs you mention based on their qualifications. I fully agree with the idea of the two buildings being in close proximity and scheduling weekly activities with both groups so they DO understand the value in the elderly, and also so the elderly see the value in youth.

In junior high I helped run an event called "Intergenerational Day" which did just that - we spent the day discussing various issues, playing games, eating together, and celebrating our ages, our similarities and our differences. I'd love to see an event like that once a week on a smaller scale for kids in elementary school. If the buildings were in close proximity or even in the same building, I guess that would be fine, but I think kids also need a chance to just be kids.

Just my two cents...

*when i think of something intelligent to say, mods will stop editing me*

hmmm this adds a whole new dimension to the phrase "second childhood".

i think this is a brilliant idea. i learned alot, including respect for elders, taking pride in a hob well done, and finishing what i start from hanging around with older people when i was a kid. i think that these kids will get the benefit of experience that these people are giving, and bless the older folks for being so active with thes kids. what a great idea.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Once I got used to it, I'll bet I would have loved it at that age. But I'll bet you cant get away with nearly as much with all those watchful eyes...