We have spent time talking with the
students about the time we will spend at Garden View Village, discussing the
fun activities we will do, the behavioural expectations while we are there and
the people we might meet. I then did a few activities with them around the book
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, which is about a boy who helps a special
friend who has lost her memory. The students connected with the story well, and
were able to come up with all kinds of things they could give someone to help
them remember (i.e. something warm, something from long ago, something that makes you
laugh, something that makes you sad and something as precious as gold. Ask your child what they remember about Miss Nancy and her memories. Then the
day came for our first visit to Garden View Village! We loved the bus ride
there and then did a great job getting boots/coats organized once we were
there. The staff, Lee Ann and Kathy, are amazing and had 8 women waiting for us
when we arrived! We also had two very helpful parents, Ash and Denise, along
for the ride, and their willingness to jump right in and help wherever they saw
a need was amazing. Students first ate their snack and then introduced
themselves to our new Senior Friends. Some of their names are
(words in quotations were from the kids): “Dash” (Doris), “the one with the red
clothes” (Marg), Iris, Luella, and “the one with the pretty leaf shirt” (Thelma).
Kathy
noted how happy all of the seniors looked watching the kids! We then took the
kids on a tour of the building, and many of them commented on how beautiful it
was. They especially loved the "circle light", which I finally
figured out was the open area over the dining room where there was beautiful
natural light shining down. They also loved the fish tank! They visited some
more Senior Friends during their coffee time, and had a special encounter with
a delightful senior coming in from a trip to the pool (she wanted to know all
of their names and of course, there were 16 little bodies very eager to tell
her!). The kids also loved the animal figurines and stuffies that some of the
seniors had outside their doors. My favourite part was listening to the
students interacting with seniors as we passed by, saying "Hi, we're
you're new friends". If only we could all be so bold and confident! Oh, to
be 5 years old again. We then went back to the Golden Room and Denise read a
wonderful story. The students then chose a variety of fine motor stations to
travel between at the tables (colouring, geoboards, puzzles and pompom/clothespin/egg
carton sorting). We then said goodbye to our new friends and our new classroom,
and boarded the bus back to the school. In the afternoon, we reflected on our
time spent at Garden View Village, and this is what the students said:
I liked when…
Ava- we got to say all of our names
Ciara- we were colouring with the rainbow colours
Jaylyn- we went in the hallway (tour)
Bryce- I saw my mom
Hailey- we had a tour
Sam- we saw the bunny on the chair
Mason- we got to see where our friends eat for
snack time
Chase- we went up the stairs
Fyn- we had to say our names and having mom there
Philip- we got to see the big light (sky light)
Charlie- we got to see the puzzle and game room
and the animals at the doors of the people who were having some muffins. And I liked
that Lee Ann got me a banana.
Alex- I saw the flowers in the big circle of light
Sully- the last person came in (the lady coming in
the front door when we were in the lobby)
Logan- we went on the tour and saw the bunny that
is the same as the one at my house
Cooper- we went on the bus
Kaden-we did puzzles
The red group’s morning at Garden View Village
will have the same structure next week, so we look forward to hearing about
their experiences as well!
