What Aging Means to Children

Third Grade, 23 Students

I had the opportunity to visit with 23 third grade students and read from my book, The Wooden Bowl, El bol de madera.  Afterwards, I asked students to write their responses to seven questions on aging.  Time allowed for only a few recordings, but all comments are equally important!

What is it about a person that makes you say “that person is old?”

•  They are clumsy and walk slow and they have rincles and denchers.
•  How they look and how clumsy they are and there voise is soft.
•  You think that there old because they can’t function as well as we can, there voice is a bit rough.
•  Because of what they look like.
•  He’s walking really slow.  He has a very strong vose.
•  You think that there old because they are maybe different from you.
•  He can’t relly wake.  His voys.
•  They some times look sad, they have cane, they have gray hair.
•  Elder, grandma, grandpa, hair cane, wheelchair.
•  Kind of grumpy and not very fun.
• They shake their hand.  They’re skin in crinkly.  They’re hair is gray, they have no teeth, they have fake teeth.
• Gray hair, wrinkles, crackels, low voice, slow.
•  The presn face and they walk slow.
•  They are shaking a little, and they are bent over.
•  Their hair is gray, they have wrinkles, they have a cane, their voice craks.
•  When he or she doesn’t walk fast, or there voice is realy quiet.
•  When they walk slowly, and have gray hair, they are old.
•  When I see a person that is old I know they are old when they have white hair, wrinkled skin, and shakey hands.
•  They have wrinkles on there face.
•  They have wrinkels and grey hair and there voise is odd.
•  They walk weird and have a strange vioce.
•  When they walk slowly.
•  Their skin is wrinkly.

 Why do people get old?

•  People get old from age.
•  His age and what he does or his hair.
•  People get old because it’s just a natural life cycle.
•  They have a cane and wrinkly hands.
•  Because he is living so long
•  People get old because they are to old of there age.
•  It is just a life sikl
•  Because they age, it’s a life cycyl
•  Because they keep growing.
•  For the circle of life.
•  Because they eat to much sugar.  Their bones aren’t strong.
•  Live a long time, live years.
•  Cus the perzn number of ags.
•  They get old by age.
•  People get old because they grow, time passes, things change, life goes on.
•  They lived a long life and the get realy tiard.
•  ?
•  Because
•  Because it is the end of there lafe.
•  So more people can be born and you can live forever.
•  Blank
•  They get old because they live lots of years.
•  Because they grow up and it is the pattern of life.

 How old in years is old to you?

•  People that re old to me are when they are 70
•  About when you are 60
•  To me maybe around 60 and older.
•  80
•  69 years old
•  About 70
•  70 years old.
•  Old to me is 79 and older.
•  70
•  I don’t think you are old if you are active and fun.
•  66
•  80, 90, 100 is  long years.
•  50 is a hi number
•  90 years old
•  In my perspective 70 is old
•  Ninty nine is realy old for me.
•  60 is old.
•  70
•  99
•  I think 90 is old.
•  150
•  80
•  65 is old to me.

 Why do people get grey hair?

•  People take showers a lot and their hair starts to fade.
•  People get old because how long they have lived.
•  People get gray hair because they are just getting older and older.
•  Because they get older every year and time has passed.
•  Because they are old
•  People get grey hair because they get old and there hair change color.
•  They are in the sun a lote.
•  Because the color fads.
•  Because the color in their hair fades away.
•  Because their hair ages and it turns gray.
•  Because time passes
•  Because they have bean living a long time.
•  People have gray hair because the are let it grown.
•  A lot of years have past.
•  Their hair gets old, time passes.
•  Blank
•  After a while, their hair dies out, and loses its color.
•  Blank
•  Because they are old
•  Because there hair has been there for so long it rots.
•  Time has pass with new and then old.
•  Because they get old
•  Because their old hair gets old.

 Why do people get wrinkled skin?

•  People ge rincled skin from moving a lot.
•  They get wrinkled skin because they have lived long and the titnes goes away.
•  People get wrinkled skin maybe because they have had operations or they are just getting older.
•  People get wrinkled skin because as they get older their skin turns wrinkly.
•  They are very old
•  People get wrinkled skin because there skin gets weaker and weaker.
•  They have been in the sun.
•  The skin rinkls because the skin is old and sagy.
•  Because they get older and when you get older they don’t wear make up and your body gets older.
•  As you age, you lose moisture in your body and it wrinkles you.
•  People get rinkley sink because they don’t eat too much.
•  They are really old
•  They get wec because they are old.
•  They get older and their skin gets wrinkly
•  Their skin gets thinner and then it tightens making wrinkles
•  Because they don’t have mutch strankth in them enmore.
•  ?
•  Because they grow old and their bones stop growing and skin wrinkles.
•  Because they’re body is old.
•  Because they move so much when their little but now their old.
•  Because its dry skin
•  Because they lived a lot
•  Because they get old

 How old do you expect to become one day?

•  I think I will live to be 80
•  Some where around 100 years
•  I expect to be about in my 90’s
•  70
•  I want to be 16 years old
•  Some day I want to be 100
•  96 years old
•  I exspect to be around 95
•  100
•  I want to live until I’m reddy to go.
•  66
•  I think I will be 99.9
•  I will be 40 to 100
•  95 years
•  78 – 100
•  26
•  I will be 90 years old
•  95
•  96
•  I think 100
•  110
•  60
•  115

 How can you help an old person?

•  I can hold their arm and walk with them, and help them cary things.
•  Help them walk or clean up after them.
•  I can help a old person by picking up something that they can’t pick up, running to grab the phone, and just plain behaving.
•  I can help an old person by helping them carry their groceries.
•  By feeding him helping him go across
•  You help an old person by helping them walk.
•  Help them get out of the car and help them opin the dore.
•  Help them in the car and walk, and get around help clean up help get low things on the ground help them get out of bed open the door help them around the house.
•  Help them cross the street, or help them walk around.
•  You can cheer them up and have fun with them.
•  By helping them brig stuff if their sick.  Help them reach stuff that’s really low.
•  Help them walk
•  You can help old people you can take care of old people sum time they ned help so you can help old people.
•  Respect them and be nice to them.
•  Be nice to them, protect them, have fun with them, give them exersize.
•  Help cross the stree help eat.
•  I can help them cross the street
•  Give them cooked food so they don’t have to cook
•  By helping them.
•  I can walk them across the street.
•  Feed him something that they like.
•  By taking them to plases
•  Give them food and take them places they want to go.

Thank you 3rd Graders!

We all learned something from this exercise.  I am grateful that when my bones quit growing and my skin falls around my feet and my hair rots, I will have someone to walk me across the street and feed me.  I know I can count on your generation to treat me with respect!