Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Chatter > General Discussion


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 10-22-2003, 12:14 AM   #1 (permalink)
Watcher
 
billege's Avatar
 
Location: Ohio
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?
__________________
I can sum up the clash of religion in one sentence:
"My Invisible Friend is better than your Invisible Friend."
billege is offline  
Old 10-22-2003, 06:30 AM   #2 (permalink)
All Possibility, Made Of Custard
 
quadro2000's Avatar
 
Location: New York, NY
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...
__________________
You have to laugh at yourself...because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't. - Emily Saliers
quadro2000 is offline  
Old 10-22-2003, 09:58 AM   #3 (permalink)
Addict
 
*when i think of something intelligent to say, mods will stop editing me*

Last edited by phredgreen; 10-22-2003 at 10:28 AM..
jbrooks544 is offline  
Old 10-22-2003, 10:08 AM   #4 (permalink)
It wasnt me
 
tekaweni's Avatar
 
Location: Scotland
hmmm this adds a whole new dimension to the phrase "second childhood".
__________________
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten
tekaweni is offline  
Old 10-22-2003, 10:30 AM   #5 (permalink)
who?
 
phredgreen's Avatar
 
Location: the phoenix metro
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.
__________________
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
- Thomas Paine
phredgreen is offline  
Old 10-23-2003, 07:39 PM   #6 (permalink)
Fledgling Dead Head
 
krwlz's Avatar
 
Location: Clarkson U.
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...
krwlz is offline  
 

Tags
built, grade, home, retirement, school


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:46 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360