Abstract:

This innovative program was designed while working with the Early Childhood students in 2018.It was planned through the PYP (Primary Years Programme) Transdisciplinary framework which focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both at school and beyond. The program incorporates local and global issues into the curriculum asking students to look at six related transdisciplinary themes (Units of Inquiry) and to consider the links between them. This idea arose while planning through the Unit of Inquiry: Who We Are, where the Central Idea stated: Throughout life people develop relationships with family and friends. The lines of inquiry focused on the attitudes that allow us to develop positive relationships with others, the similarities and differences between family and friends and our roles and responsibilities within social groups.

Nowadays our society tends to segregate and exclude young and old social groups with very limited opportunity for two age groups to interact. Adding the increasingly common breakdown of the nuclear family, travelling, family migration or simply lack of time or understanding, we found that both generations (young children and the elderly) are losing “touch” with each other. Our mission became very clear: we needed to develop an educational practice which strived for integration of the community on a local scale to create a strong and meaningful unity between different generations and positively impact on and transform not only the learning opportunities for students but also lives of people directly involved in the program including the elderly residents, teachers, doctors, carers, therapists, psychologists and the families. We live in a culture, time and place where creative people have to use creative means to accomplish something that was always the most ordinary, customary thing in the human experience: older and younger people sharing their lives, says Bill Thomas a doctor and international authority on geriatric medicine and elderly care.

An Innovative idea...The development of the action plan: The research was carried out and the appropriate Nursing Home was found in the local area called “Los Peñascales” which offered a fantastic proposal and co-operation. Students aged 4 years old were divided into 2 groups of approximately 17 per group, attending fortnightly in the shared activities with the residents and staff in their facilities( Nursing home´s main hall, gymnasium, etc.).Every week for a full term a group of children visited the nursing home and together with the elderly they participated in many different activities scheduled and co-ordinated by the teachers and the nursing home staff. All the projects were carefully designed, prepared and carried out in a mutual and constant connection between the school and the nursing home. The activities were formulated with a purpose of creating a community, friendship, connection, respect, appreciation and integrity. Students and the residents of the care home took part in many interesting projects such as forming friendships and positive relationships, they created different types of arts and crafts, they played simple games, sang songs together, exercised in the gymnasium especially equipped to cater for the home care residents to improve their physical health and more importantly they developed strong connections, integrity, respect, understanding, trust and they have bonded in a meaningful way( so different but yet so similar groups of human beings worked in a blissful harmony).

Keywords:

Forever Young - Integrating preschools and residential homes for the elderly.