Thankful for Grandparents and Other Grand Friends

We had a lovely morning with some really lovely people, in celebration of the upcoming holiday and Grand Friends Day. In the first and second grade classes, we read stories appropriate for the season and made a traditional craft (orange pomanders). We had between 13-15 big people in our room, depending on the time. It was a bit "squishy", but we made it work.

But the highlight was asking our visitors some questions about their childhoods. These questions were thought up and written by the students yesterday, as we talked about what would be interesting to learn about. They wanted to compare how life was for children then to how it is today. We only had time for a handful of questions, but it was so interesting to learn about where our visitors went to school, for example - such variety! A couple went to one-room school houses, and one went to a school for the blind. Some had very small class sizes, like we do, while others had quite a few children in their classrooms. Some norms for behavior have also changed - several grand friends talked about having to sit and finish their plates of food, no matter what was served...and one was not allowed to talk at the table! Toys and games were surprisingly quite similar in a lot of respects - trains and building materials, imagination games, and hopscotch - all are still popular today.

At home or when visiting, have children continue to think of questions to wonder about and ask. Children don't usually think about their grandparents (or parents!) as people who were once kids and teenagers. They have a lifetime of experiences to share, and taking time to hear about those experiences is a gift for everyone involved.