Kindergarten in the nursing home: both students and residents are learning something special

Nursing Homes, Nov-Dec, 1998 by Lyn McQueen

Frasier Meadows Manor, a CCRC in Boulder, Colorado, began welcoming Boulder Valley School District kindergartners into their nursing home this fall - not just for a few visits a week, but as a permanent on-site activity. Last May the kindergarten classroom from nearby Horizons Alternative K-8 School moved to Frasier Meadows Health Care Center's library as a pilot project. This collaboration was the brainchild of Frasier Meadows Manor's Executive Director, Jerelyn Rowley, and Horizons School's Lead Teacher, Anne Kane. Horizons School, with ever-increasing enrollment, needed the space and Frasier Meadows Manor was looking for an innovative way to bring generations together and build community.

This coincided with my coming on board to do an internship for a master's degree from The Naropa Institute's Gerontology and Long-Term Care Management program. Having an undergraduate degree in elementary education, I had a major interest in intergenerational partnerships and in coordinating the project. Frasier Meadows Manor had already enjoyed Horizons student visits to the Health Care Center and the Adult Day Care program. This seemed a natural extension of their alliance.

On their first day, as the 5- and 6-year-olds followed painted pink footsteps and balloons to their classroom, you could feel their energy and "joie de vivre" and the impact they had on the entire environment. Residents sat up and took notice, eyes sparkled with curiosity and staff smiles multiplied.

The kindergartners May unit of study on butterflies became a mutual project. Residents were there for the arrival of the caterpillars, participated in a joint art project, and listened to stories authored by students about the cocooning process. A resident horticulturist from our independent living apartments planted a butterfly garden in the outside patio area and was on hand at the release of the butterflies, to explain the process to residents and children who had gathered in the garden for the "event." As a grand finale, students, parents, residents, staff and volunteers traveled together to the local Butterfly Pavilion.

Building upon the happy memories from this experience, we implemented the full program in the fall. Activities Director Melanie Smithson has begun a weekly movement class in which residents and children engage in partnership exercises (one resident and one child) that include stretching, pushing and pulling. They also sing, dance and do activities with balls. It is wonderful to see that as residents and children participate in these activities, relationships are beginning to develop. We also have a weekly visit to each resident by the children, who bring cards or flowers to the resident and perform songs. Everyone spends time getting to know each other.

Our developing plans include various intergenerational activities around other units of study, such as weather projects, seasonal topics and a joint learning experience with an expert on raptors, who will do a demonstration with a live eagle. We also have plans to share general life experience via a writers' workshop.

Even those residents who do not normally choose to participate in scheduled activities are engaging with the children in spontaneous, self-directed ways. Interest is aroused as the children walk to and from their classroom and activity areas.

We have installed a wheelchair-accessible viewing window, so that residents may wheel (or be wheeled) or walk up and see what is going on in the classroom during the day. In our outdoor patio area, the school installed a sandbox with a sand table that allows residents to observe the children and participate in sand activities with them. Since the playground area is outside some of the residents' rooms, they often enjoy just watching from their rooms.

We also draw from our pool of independent and assisted living residents. For instance, one resident is a retired teacher and has volunteered to work one-on-one with an autistic student. Following up on our spring pilot, a horticulturist planted a butterfly garden for an ongoing project in which the children will hatch butterflies from caterpillars and release them into the garden, followed by another intergenerational trip to the local Butterfly Pavilion.

As the elders and the children share their environment and interact with each other, a space opens up for little (and big) miracles to happen spontaneously - for acceptance and love to blossom; for fear of old age, illness and death to be lessened; and for compassion to arise. In this space residents have something to look forward to and contribute to; activity is increased, while loneliness and depression are decreased.

"It makes the pain go away," said one resident who had recently fractured her arm. "It creates a lot of energy that I didn't have and helps me heal, and I like the way people think this is important."

Staff say they feel uplifted by the children's presence. Parents believe that being brought into more frequent contact with older people has had a positive and important impact on their children. The project was deemed a success, and the classroom has been expanded by opening up a wall into the next room to give the kindergartners more space and a place to paint and be messy, as well as providing more viewing area for residents.