Have you never thought about how important and valuable this intergenerational relationship is? As it turns out, in the United States they had thought about it and they have launched two of those pilot projects that make you smile when they meet them and also wish they were implanted a little closer to your own home.
Connect the elderly with children, to the grandparents with the grandchildren, to unite the experience of some to the curiosity of the others, to take advantage of the knowledge and the need of joy with the education and the need to play.
Two ideas, two proposals that are worth following and knowing how they are evolving and even studying if we could also implement them.
Grandmothers and grandchildren
In the United States there are more than two and a half million grandparents who take care of their grandchildren daily. Specifically in New York there are many grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren every day because the parents of these children have work schedules that prevent them from reconciling with their family life. It is a story that we also know a lot in Spain in recent years.
The novelty comes when the New York authorities on education decide to launch an ambitious program under the title “Great Connections: Group of Advisory Grandparents”.
It's about a consultation and advisory committee formed by 15 grandmothers from different counties, from different nationalities (Hispanic, Asian, African American, ...) and obviously with different ways of understanding what they consider the best education for their grandchildren but with a common intention: to help educate their grandchildren. "It is a way to learn different cultures, I would love my grandchildren to know other traditions and not stop learning their own" commented one of these grandmothers.
From the educational centers themselves they know that many of the meetings they convene do not attend parents because they can not do it for work reasons, but the grandparents to listen to what teachers have to tell them about the evolution of their grandchildren. Above all and mostly the grandmothers. "We grandparents have a lot of knowledge, a lot to give to children," said one of the grandmothers involved in the project.
With this program they try to respond to the concerns of these grandmothers by organizing different workshops or discussion groups where they talk about topics that range from the importance of exercising with their grandchildren to other ways to improve their well-being or how to help make reading a habit for their grandchildren.
Through this group, it is understood that the educational system tries to be aware of the needs and concerns of each individual that is part of it.
You have very clear and the next steps to follow for this group of advisory grandparents. The first thing is to continue recruiting grandparents to serve as a liaison in their educational communities and from there they will prepare more meetings, more workshops and are developing a web page to keep all the grandparents and grandmothers who are part of the school life of your grandchildren in one way or another.
The role of these grandparents in the education of their grandchildren is a reality because of the personal circumstances of each family, with this idea they are given tools, they are supported from the administration so that this relationship is fruitful for both.
It is a form of take advantage of the experiences of the elderly for the benefit not only of the little ones but of the whole community.
Elders and children
If in the previous case there was a family bond between the elders and the little ones, in this case that blood link does not exist and yet the project brings these two generations together again. The one that begins to walk and the one with the most tired step.
It's in Seatle, yes today we're still in the United States, it's about a place where elders and children share games, laughs, learning and company.
Providence Mount St. Vincent is a residence that welcomes more than 400 elders in its facilities, this is not to be surprised, right? The novelty is that it also welcomes children in the area as a nursery school.
The center is definitely a meeting point for two absolutely different generations, but in those ages they need practically the same amount of patience, company, love and solidarity.
In this case, the United States again has very hard statistics in which it is known that 43% of the country's elderly suffer social isolation linked to depression and physical and mental decline, in this sense the expectations of a center like this are very high.
You can find on YouTube the documentary video of Evan Briggs, filmmaker, is titled “Present Perfect” and shows the magnificent relationship between children and the elderly and also shows how their lives have changed for good, much better than before being part of this project in which age does not close doors to anyone, here we leave the trailer to Mouth opening
You see that sometimes it is difficult to find time to enjoy with good stories, with good news and what is worse, it is even harder to find it to implement them ourselves but the results are so positive, the personal benefits for these grandparents, these elders and all these children are so huge that it is inevitable to think that it would be nice to live it or unless many more people live it.
As the documentary I was talking about says, this is the perfect time to enjoy, not tomorrow or next week, now is the time to do things, why not try at least?
