.png){kind=small}
There goes the saying by Author Suzy Kassem, ‘you’re never too old to learn something new, or too young too much.’ One would imagine that PCF Sparkletots @ Tampines took this quote and ran with it for their Start Small Dream Big (SSDB) project, which wishes to promote intergenerational partnership between their young students and the elderly.
The preschool will work in collaboration with a neighbourhood eldercare center. With that, the children will be undergoing activities that allow them to learn not only alongside but from their older counterparts. To stimulate further bonding, the centre aspires to teach their students to view the elderly as a treasure trove of information, history, and skills.
The benefits of all these initiatives will be extended back to the students’ parents as they also help promote family bonding.
The elderly are invited to participate in the preschool’s gardening project and centre celebrations for events such as Chinese New Year and Mother’s Day. Recently, in commemoration of Racial Harmony Day, a Zoom session was conducted between the students and the elderly. Never mind the physical restrictions in place, the preschool found a way to keep calm and carry on.
A mutual exchange of knowledge was underway. Whilst the children performed a dance for the seniors to the tune of the childhood songs the latter was familiar with, the elderly in exchange taught them popular traditional games when they were younger, such as Five Stones.
Recyclables were also heavily featured throughout the initiative, working as an aid for both the gardening project and centre celebrations. Children could also engage in upcycling to create gifts to present to the seniors.
Ultimately, the school wishes to bridge the age gap between the two disparate parties with the inculcation of empathy and compassion.
These two values are also what Ms Nur Amaliah Jamal, K2 Teacher, recommends everyone to hold dear to their hearts during this COVID-19 pandemic, “Besides exercising personal hygiene and wearing masks, remember to be a responsible citizen and support each other through difficulties.”