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Adopt-a-Grandparent programme for preschools and child care - just launched
I have a great idea and I'm wondering if anyone else would be interested.
A little background info:
My family is dispersed around the world and my little 2.5 year old, Ariella,
doesn't have any grandparents in the country and we've really felt the
absence of them. In addition, because Ariella has never been around elders,
she is actually scared of them! Isn't that crazy!
The idea:
I had the idea to introduce Adopt-a-grandparent programmes into preschools
and daycare where they invite senior volunteers to come to the Kindy and
spend time with the children: reading to them, doing creative activities and
even telling their story about when they were a kid - something I think the
children would love to hear about.
Seniors can volunteer once a month, once a fortnight, or even more
frequently - it is totally up to them.
The benefits:
The young children would certainly benefit from learning from and
communicating with mature and experienced senior role models. In addition,
the grandparent volunteers would benefit from being in a nurturing
environment, with a sense of added purpose and perhaps feel less isolated
from their community. Not to mention how much fun they'd have!
Who could volunteer:
The first port of call would be for the kindy to write a letter to the
parents telling them about the programme and asking if any of the children's
grandparents would be interested... (I have a sample letter you could use).
I've seen grandparents who drop their grandchildren at school... they never
want to leave! so I'm sure many would love to volunteer!
Secondly, senior communities in the area/suburb of the community could be
approached and invited to particpate: ideas could be RSLs, retirement
villages, libraries, bridge clubs, etc.
What about security:
DOCs has a special form that the volunteer fills out for security reasons.
There is no risk as the volunteers are always under supervision of the
staff.
]Now what?
My dream is that all Kindys in Australia adopt this programme and I'd be
willing to give you any assistance you need to make it happen. I approached
the kindy Ariella attends (Cherubs in Rose Bay, NSW) and they LOVE the idea
and are starting it in January. I'm looking for any other people who share
the same dream and are willing to approach their kindy about it.
Is there anyone out there who'd be interested in approaching their kindys,
preschools, daycares about the programme?
Looking forward to hearing from you: chyams(at)aquent.com
A little background info:
My family is dispersed around the world and my little 2.5 year old, Ariella,
doesn't have any grandparents in the country and we've really felt the
absence of them. In addition, because Ariella has never been around elders,
she is actually scared of them! Isn't that crazy!
The idea:
I had the idea to introduce Adopt-a-grandparent programmes into preschools
and daycare where they invite senior volunteers to come to the Kindy and
spend time with the children: reading to them, doing creative activities and
even telling their story about when they were a kid - something I think the
children would love to hear about.
Seniors can volunteer once a month, once a fortnight, or even more
frequently - it is totally up to them.
The benefits:
The young children would certainly benefit from learning from and
communicating with mature and experienced senior role models. In addition,
the grandparent volunteers would benefit from being in a nurturing
environment, with a sense of added purpose and perhaps feel less isolated
from their community. Not to mention how much fun they'd have!
Who could volunteer:
The first port of call would be for the kindy to write a letter to the
parents telling them about the programme and asking if any of the children's
grandparents would be interested... (I have a sample letter you could use).
I've seen grandparents who drop their grandchildren at school... they never
want to leave! so I'm sure many would love to volunteer!
Secondly, senior communities in the area/suburb of the community could be
approached and invited to particpate: ideas could be RSLs, retirement
villages, libraries, bridge clubs, etc.
What about security:
DOCs has a special form that the volunteer fills out for security reasons.
There is no risk as the volunteers are always under supervision of the
staff.
]Now what?
My dream is that all Kindys in Australia adopt this programme and I'd be
willing to give you any assistance you need to make it happen. I approached
the kindy Ariella attends (Cherubs in Rose Bay, NSW) and they LOVE the idea
and are starting it in January. I'm looking for any other people who share
the same dream and are willing to approach their kindy about it.
Is there anyone out there who'd be interested in approaching their kindys,
preschools, daycares about the programme?
Looking forward to hearing from you: chyams(at)aquent.com
Views: 148
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by liz on -
What a great idea! The elders would especially love feeling needed and loved.
I go to family day care so we can't really help but maybe if you contacted the Family Day Care Association they could let you know if they are interested.
Maybe if you posted on other websites like www.bubhub.com.au and www.essentialbaby.com.au you will get a larger response :)
Best of luck with it! good on you for such a great idea.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on -
Thanks Liz for the suggestion. I will definitely contact the Family Day Care Association. Great minds think alike. I've already posted onto Essential Baby and BubHub toda and already had one person contacting me saying that she'd love to introduce it to her preschool. How exciting!
liz said:What a great idea! The elders would especially love feeling needed and loved.
I go to family day care so we can't really help but maybe if you contacted the Family Day Care Association they could let you know if they are interested.
Maybe if you posted on other websites like www.bubhub.com.au and www.essentialbaby.com.au you will get a larger response :)
Best of luck with it! good on you for such a great idea.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on
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Good on you Trevor! Thank you for supporting the idea. The benefits for grandparents and our young children are endless!
I'm building a website to promote this idea and it will be live in January 2010, so keep an eye on it: www.adoptagrandparent.com.au
All the best
Carolyn
Trevor said:GRANDFATHERS take note. Do the same wherever you are. Families, you must encourage them
For granfathers "stranger danger" has stigmatised our role, sadly.
Any grandfather can fill out a "working with children" form [download] and knock on a local Preschool door (don't ring) but it takes courage. You will be welcomed by insightful Directors. The kids benefit, the teachers benefit and the grandfathers benefit [it'll keep you young believe me!]
Good luck
Trevor
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Permalink Reply by Emma Kelly on -
I think thats a really lovely idea.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on
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Hello, I wanted to give you an update on the Adopt a Grandparent programme.
My wonderful hubbie helped me build the website: http://www.adoptagrandparent.com.au and only today, I’ve just been told that an article I wrote is on the home page of www.essentialbaby.com.au, so it’s all very exciting.
Here’s the link: http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/parenting/my-life/grandparents-miss...
So far, I’ve had tremendous support by people who have family, like ours, dispersed around the country and even the world. Many of our young children do not have grandparents living close by. And some of our children don’t have any grandparents at all.
Those families who don’t have grandparents around, find that their children lack the presence of an older role model and often don’t know how to relate and communicate to our older generation. The real shame is that our older generation have so much to offer children by way of skills, knowledge and nurturing.
What is The Adopt A Grandparent Programme?
Pre-schools and daycares invite senior volunteers to come to their centre and spend time with the children. They read to them, get involved in creative activities, crafts, puzzles, cooking and play music. Some seniors might tell their story about how things were when they were a kid, something the children love to hear about.
Depending on the rostering system in each pre-school, seniors can volunteer once a month, once a fortnight, or even more frequently, it is totally up to them to express their preference to the pre-school.
My dream is that every childcare and preschool in Australia adopts the programme, so if you’re interested in getting involved, please call me or take a look at the “get involved” section on the website: http://www.adoptagrandparent.com.au/involved.php.
I’m always looking for parents who are willing to speak to their pre-schools about it and also for pre-schools who want to adopt the programme.
I’ll keep you posted on any other successes I have.
xxx
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on
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Thanks to www.careforkids.com.au for interviewing me on this wonderful programme. You can read the interview in their latest newsletter - February 2010: http://www.careforkids.com.au/childcarenews/2010/february/story2.html
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on
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Thank you Liz :)
liz said:Thats fantastic news Carolyn!
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Permalink Reply by Trish Kinnear on -
GREAT IDEA MUM Come on people theres heaps of us out there that we can get off our chuffs give these kids today a go give them the meaning of family,Im from Brisbane ill ask around.U could try a web site of gumtree.com.au or even facebook these are helpful in advertizing.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on
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Good on you Trish :) Let me know if I can arm with with any info about the programme. The website is: www.adoptagrandparent.com.au
Trish Kinnear said:GREAT IDEA MUM Come on people theres heaps of us out there that we can get off our chuffs give these kids today a go give them the meaning of family,Im from Brisbane ill ask around.U could try a web site of gumtree.com.au or even facebook these are helpful in advertizing.
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Permalink Reply by liz on
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we have started 1 day a week at our local long day care centre, they have 20 centres all up so I emailed them about the program, hopefully they will be interested (kindypatch)
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hyams on
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How exciting Liz! And thanks for getting involved. I've attached a file you might like to email them too. It contains all the Frequently Asked Questions, aimed at Childcare Directors. They can always call me if they have other questions.
Kind regards
Carolyn
liz said:we have started 1 day a week at our local long day care centre, they have 20 centres all up so I emailed them about the program, hopefully they will be interested (kindypatch) - Attachments:
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Resources_FAQ.pdf, 196 KB
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