Seniors As Experts

Grandma Marie talks to preschoolers about eagles

SENIORS AS EXPERTS

The more we get to know the seniors who live upstairs at Lexington Pointe as unique individuals, the more we learn about their talents, interests, histories, and life experiences. Knowing each of the grandmas and grandpas in this way gives the children and teachers fresh opportunities to connect with them.

Last year, for example, the preschoolers met Jerry and Marie, a couple who are avid birdwatchers and leaders of the birdwatching club upstairs. Jerry and Marie had hung up several bird feeders around the building and a wood duck house near the pond, which caught the children’s attention. So it was only natural that the preschoolers began a study of birds and invited Jerry and Marie to share their knowledge about Minnesota birds. Just last month, Marie came into the classroom again to talk about bald eagles. She brought some nonfiction picture books with photos of eagles and showed the children live video from the DNR’s “eagle cam” that she watches regularly. The preschoolers were fascinated to see the mother eagle sitting on her egg up in the ten-foot diameter nest made of sticks and branches! They asked our resident “expert” lots of good questions about eagles.

Recently we learned from the Activities Director upstairs that one of the grandmas, a former piano teacher, has a baby grand piano in her apartment! The toddlers have been focusing lately on making music, singing and dancing, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to knock on our upstairs-neighbor’s door and ask if she’d play her piano for the children. Grandma Vonnie was delighted to be asked, and invited the whole Spring Room class to her apartment the next week. Vonnie inquired of the teachers which songs the children know, and she practiced playing those songs in preparation for their visit. As the children stepped inside her apartment, Grandma Vonnie let them look inside the piano to see how the little hammers hit the strings. Then she expertly played some of their favorites as we all sang along: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” “The Wheels on the Bus.” Grandma Vonnie let curious children play the keys of the piano to try it out, and even let them add random notes along with her as she played songs. As Grandma Vonnie launched into a rousing rendition of “The Ants Go Marching,” a line of two- and three-year-olds marched through her apartment. The children made a new friend, and Vonnie experienced the joy of sharing her musical talents with appreciative little participants.

This is one of the many benefits of intergenerational connections: the children learn from a variety of patient, wise adults who are genuine experts. And the seniors are rewarded by sharing their gifts with eager, wide-eyed children.

Grandma Vonnie playing her piano for the toddlers