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By Robin Lasersohn
Service Learning Coordinator

Intergenerational experiences can vitally enhance a young child's connection to the world outside themselves–and enhance the lives of older adults as well. Every other Monday afternoon, elders from the Hometown Senior Center in Media and from The School in Rose Valley community, visit the 5-Day preschool. Through this ongoing partnership, we help preschoolers to:

• Foster important social skills, such as greeting, making eye contact, asking questions, active listening, appropriate sharing, and expressing appreciation
• Develop respect for people of all ages
• Recognize and appreciate the unique gifts of individual people
• Begin considering the ideas of age, time, history, and change

The partnership also meets the needs of seniors in the local community, who are increasingly cut off from the community-at-large. With families often far-flung, both seniors and children sometimes lack intergenerational contact. This partnership helps ameliorate that problem in our culture while enriching school life.

Get-togethers usually involve an organized group activity, an opportunity for children to share with their senior partners, and lots of informal conversation. Some activities have included crafts, exploring and planting herbs, drawing, reading, and singing. Children are supported in both preparing for and reflecting on the experience. At this point, the seniors are visiting here at SRV. Later in the year, we will plan some visits to the Hometown center, which is nearby in Media.

More Partnership News

• The School in Rose Valley Chorus and the Russell Byers Charter School Choir, called the Horsefeather Singers, started their intercultural music partnership recently. A small group of SRV "ambassadors" visited RBCS on a pre-visit to begin to establish relationships between the two groups of students so that they can play a leadership role during the big get-togethers. Look for more information about this partnership in the next few weeks.
• Gloria's class started meeting with elder partners a couple of weeks ago. The group is exploring oral history and timelines in social studies and are interviewing elder partners to deepen the experience.
• The Primary Circle's social studies partnership began a few weeks ago with a visit to the E.M. Stanton elementary school in Philadelphia and then a visit together with E.M. Stanton students to the Spiral Q Puppet Theater, also in Philadelphia. At the heart of the partnership is an exploration of puppetry. The EMS and SRV students have had a terrific time making puppets together, learning from one another and visiting the theater as a group.