Our homeschool group has come up with a different way to connect with the elderly at Christmas during Covid. We hope you’ll give it a go.
It’s a twist on one of our more important homeschool community programs – visiting an assisted living facility every year during the holidays. That’s not an option with Covid this year so we have an alternate plan. It can be adapted to share with any family members, friends, and neighbors who you might not be able to visit right now.
Our ‘Normal’ Holiday Visit
Our usual homeschool group visit to the assisted living facility goes like this:
- Everyone lets me know what they’ll be doing for individual performances (usually music or readings).
- I put together a lineup, mostly so we don’t have three renditions of Jingle Bells in a row.
- I send a PDF out of Christmas song lyrics for everyone to print out and bring for our group sing-a-long.
- We don’t rehearse. We just show up and hope for the best – and somehow it always works.
It’s such a busy time of year, we never schedule time to rehearse. As a result, our performances are not flawless. But even with (and maybe because of) the imperfections, this is always a very special time – for the residents, the students, and the parents.
This Year
We’ve gotten pretty proficient as a group on Zoom this fall but I can’t even fathom doing a Zoom call with the assisted living center for a holiday program. There are just too many variables to control with internet connections, camera angles, audio quality, etc.
Instead, everyone is sending me videos of their children. The videos include a short message from the student to the residents and then something they want to share – playing the piano, tricks with their dog, decorating their Christmas tree, etc.
Editing the video together is my job this week and I’m pretty excited about it. It will be a little like spending time with all the kids in our group.
When it’s done, I’ll share the video with the assisted living facility. It definitely won’t be the same. We won’t be together as a group and the students won’t get to visit with the elderly friends they’ve made over the years. But it’s a pretty darn good alternative. And the facility can replay the video so more residents are able to see it.
What You Can Do
You can certainly do this as a group with an assisted living facility. You can also make a video to share with your extended family, friends, or neighbors who could use some holiday cheer. While Zoom is great, I urge you to consider a video. It gives the student a chance to perform without the distraction of an online meeting. The video can also be shared multiple times and viewed repeatedly.
Favorite Memories from Past Christmas Visits
I have some very special memories of our assisted living visits in the past. Like the brothers who played the drums, the girl who hauled in a harp to play, and the tuba rendition of “Let’s Go Band” which provided a surprisingly excellent start to our program one year.
Some of the more memorable readings to me (quite possibly because they came from my sons) were Christmas messages from world leaders. The speeches that come to mind were from King George V, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“Through one of the marvels of modern science, I am enabled, this Christmas Day, to speak to all my peoples throughout the Empire.”
King George V, 1932 Christmas Message
King George V was, of course, referring to the radio. With all our technology, it may seem that we’re light years ahead today. In some ways, yes. But maybe not as much as we think when we consider things from a historical perspective.
Even more stirring to me than King George V’s speech are the words of Roosevelt and Churchill in December of 1941.
Whether you prefer an audio or print version, I encourage you to listen to or read these speeches. I found their words relevant and hopeful when I first listened several years ago and I find them even more inspiring today.
In this strange and difficult year, I hope you’re able to enjoy some of your ‘normal’ holiday traditions. I also hope that you discover some new and meaningful ways to mark the season.
Here are more ideas for student volunteering during Covid and some additional inspiration from historical speeches.