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Nursing Home Kindergarten 养老幼儿园

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The young and old treasure the time they have together as they learn from one another  老少相互学习，珍惜彼此共处的时光

A few months ago nobody knew for sure what would happen inside Windsor Place, a nursing home, when it became home to a class of kindergartners. Never before had a Kansas school or nursing home tried this – merging the old and young in a way for each to learn from the other.

几个月前，一班幼儿园小朋友来到「温沙养老院」时，当时还没有人敢肯定未来究竟成果会如何，因为堪萨斯从来没有任何一所学校或养老院曾经试过这种方法──也就是让老人和小孩共处，让他们藉以相互学习。

Sure, organizers hoped some good things would happen. But as they watched the class of 21 students in their white, paper graduation caps, they said they didn’t expect this. Not in just one year.

筹办人当然希望能见到好的结果，可是当他们看到这班二十一位小朋友，全都戴上了白色纸制的儿童毕业学士帽时，都觉得这样的结果简直超乎想象，怎么可能才一年就有这么好的成果。

“The synergy between the two has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Monte Coffman, executive director of Windsor Place, who pushed for the program, which got a new class of kindergartners in August.

「老少共处的加乘效果，远超出所有人的预期，」「温沙养老院」执行总监蒙特．考夫曼如此表示，他也是这项计划的幕后推手，养老院在八月迎接了一班幼儿园新生。

They couldn’t have known ahead of time the transformations, in the young and old, they would see through the seasons.

他们根本没有预期到，随着季节交替、时光流转，居然会在老人和小朋友身上，看到如此大的转变。

Hands-on learning  亲手学习

The kids have learned compassion and kindness, how to be patient as they wait behind someone in a wheelchair or using a walker. At home they talk about how the very young and old are alike and how Grandma or Grandpa so-and-so lived when they were young.

小朋友学会怜悯和善意，也从等候坐轮椅或使用助步器的老人的经验中，学会要更有耐心。他们回到家之后，会和家人诉说老人和小孩的共同点，以及某某爷爷、奶奶年轻时候的生活点滴。

They’ve also become strong readers, blossoming from the everyday praise and guidance from the seniors. “We knew it would be beneficial for our kids,” said teacher Sherri Chittum. “But we didn’t know how much.”

此外，小朋友的阅读能力也大为改善，在长者每天对他们称赞和指导之下，进步神速。「我们原本就知道，这个做法一定会对孩子们有益，」教师雪瑞．奇坦指出，「但帮助之大倒是超出我们的预期。」

“If you look at our children, they’re just different,” said Dawn Crow, whose daughter Lily went to see the seniors during Christmas break because she thought they’d be lonely. “I think my child has learned so much more than her 123s and ABC. …. Every day we send our kids here, we feel like we’ve been given a gift.”

「如果仔细看看我们的孩子，就会发现他们和之前有很大的差异，」达恩．克洛如此表示，她的女儿莉莉还在圣诞节假期去探望那些老人，担心他们会很寂寞。「我觉得，我孩子所学到的远超出于基本数字和英文字母…每天送小孩到这儿，都会感觉自己好像得到了宝贵的礼物。」

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nursing home (通常是私人设立的)照料老人或病患的地方 a place where elderly people live and receive care when they can no longer care for themselves

treasure [ˋtrɛʒɚ] v. 珍爱，珍视

ahead of time 提前；提早 beforehand; before the announced time

hands-on [ˋhændzˋɑn] adj. 亲自动手的；躬亲的

compassion [kəmˋpæʃən] n. 怜悯；同情

walker [ˋwɔkɚ] n. 助行器 a metal frame with four legs, which you place in front of you and lean on to help you move forward if you have difficulty walking

alike [əˋlaɪk] adv. 一样地，相似地

so-and-so [ˋsoən͵so] n. 某某人；某某事; adv. 如此这般地 an unnamed or unspecified person or thing; an expression used instead of a particular name to refer to someone or something, especially when the real name is not important or you have forgotten it

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Those who live at Windsor Place say they are the ones who have been given the gift. Marian Nelson never had grandchildren of her own. She lost her only two sons, and her husband died a few years ago. “I would really be lost if it weren’t for this program. These kids have filled a void in me,” the 87-year-old said.

而那些住在「温沙养老院」的老人，也同样表示他们才是得到礼物的一群。马丽安．柰尔森膝下无孙，两个儿子也都已经去世了，丈夫则在几年前撒手人寰。「如果不是因为有了这项计划，我一定会终日怅然若失，但这些孩子弥补了我心中的缺口，」八十七岁的马丽安表示。

The joy of living  生命的喜乐

Throughout the school year Grandma Marian has been a regular reader to the children. And when she was hospitalized recently, she remembers waking up half-dazed looking for the children.

整个学年度，马丽安奶奶会定期念书给孩子们听。她记得，最近生病住院的时候，睡醒之后，还在半梦半醒之间茫茫然地寻找孩子都到哪里去了。

And that’s something Jacque Rooks, the facility’s quality of life director, has seen in many residents. “A resident told me one day, ‘Something to live for, that’s what the children gave to us’,” Rooks said. At the beginning of the school year, the seniors would have to read to the children. Now the kindergartners read to them.

养老院生活质量总监贾克．路克也在院内许多住民身上观察到类似现象。「某天，有位老人告诉我：『孩子们所带给我们的，就是让我们有生活的目标』，」路克解释说。学年刚开始的时候，老人必须念书给孩子们听，但如今这些幼儿园学生反过来念书给老人听了。

During exercise time, it was initially the kids who did all the moving. Raising their arms, reaching for their toes. Now they have company, said Kristy Steers, the facility’s activities director. “They’ll have grimaces on their faces, but they do anything they can to lift their arms,” Steers said. “They want to do what their kids are doing.”

每当运动的时间到了，起初只有孩子们愿意活动四肢，像是伸伸双手，碰碰脚趾等等，但如今孩子们有伴了，因为据院内活动总监克丽丝蒂．史提斯表示，「老人们虽然脸上摆出一副苦瓜脸，但也全都努力举起自己的手臂来活动，」史提斯说，「孩子们办到的，他们也想照做。」

Spreading the vision  拓展愿景

Stories like these have prompted other places to look at the program and consider implementing it themselves. Michelle Foreman, a board member of a senior center in Alaska, said when she visited Windsor Place she cried nearly half the time she was there.

这类故事也激励一些其他机构参考这项计划，并认真思索起而效法。阿拉斯加一家老人中心董事会成员米雪儿．福曼说，她当初来「温沙养老院」参观的时候，几乎半数时间都在流泪。

“One of the things we have not done right in our society is we have not sent the right message to our senior population,” Foreman said. “That we need you, you are valuable, you have things that need to be passed on to our next generation. I told Monte we want to run with his vision.”

「我们社会的缺憾之一，就是没有向老年族群传达正确的讯息，」，福曼表示，「我们应该向长者表达，我们需要他们，他们是很宝贵的，他们拥有宝贵的知识可以薪火相传给下一代，所以我告诉蒙特说，我们也希望能采纳效法他的愿景。」

－by Laura Bauer

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void [vɔɪd] n. 空虚感；寂寞的心情; 空隙

look at 考虑; 研究

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synergy [ˋsɪnɚdʒɪ] n. 共同作用，合力，协力; 协同增效作用 the combined power of a group when they are working together, which is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately

blossom [ˋblɑsəm] v. 兴盛；变得有魅力；变得成功 to become more successful or confident

half-dazed 半睡眠的状态的 being in a semi-confused state

grimace [ ˈɡrɪməs, ɡrɪˈmes ] n.（表示痛苦、轻蔑、厌恶等的）怪相，鬼脸 an expression of pain in which the muscles of the face are tightened and the face looks twisted

prompt [prɑmpt] v. 促使；激励；怂恿 to cause someone to say or do something

implement [ˋɪmpləmənt] v. 实施; 实践; 执行 to put a plan into operation

run with (something) 收为自己的，采用 to take an idea or plan and develop it further

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