95-Year-Old Teachers

05/18/2016

We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.
EO Wilson (1929-2021), biologist

PBS recently highlighted an intergenerational program in Seattle where a child care center for 125 children is operated within the Providence Mount St. Vincent nursing home. Here are a few insights from the video:

"I think there are things that both parties take away from the interactions. It's not like a lifelong relationship, but just for that moment in time, they're both enjoying each other's company, and getting something out of their relationship with that person in that moment..."

"All of us have common needs to be recognized. All of us have common needs to be loved, and all of us have common needs to share life together. And so these children bring life and vibrancy and normalcy. It's a gift. It's a gift in exposing young families to positive aspects of aging, and it's a gift of also having children seeing frailty, normalcy, and that's part of that full circle of life."

Now you might ask, would parents want their children to be in an early childhood program in a nursing home? Apparently so, the waiting list for the program includes 400 families!

Contributed by Kirsten Haugen

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