I was interested to read a newspaper article about a new concept in old people's homes in France. The idea is simple, but revolutionary----combining a residential home for the elderly with a nursery school in the same building. The children and the residents eat lunch together and share activities. In the afternoons, the residents enjoy reading or telling stories to the children, and if a child is feeling sad or tired, there is always a kind lap to sit on and a cuddle . There are trips out and birthday parties too. The advantages are enormous for everyone concerned. The children are happy because they get a lot more individual attention, and respond well because someone has time for them. They see illness and death and learn to accept them. The residents are happy because they feel useful and needed. They are more active and more interested in life when the children are around and they take more interest in their appearance too. Nowadays there is less and less contact between the old and the young. There are many reasons for this, including the breakdown of the extended family, working parents with no time to care for aging relations, families that have moved away, and smaller flats with no room for grandparents. But the result is the same----increasing numbers of children without grandparents and old people who have no contact with children. And more old people who are lonely and feel useless, along with more and more families with young children who desperately need more support. It's a major problem in many societies. That's why intergenerational programmes, designed to bring the old and the young together, are growing in popularity all over the world. There are examples of successful attempts all over the world. Using young people to teach IT skills to older people is one obvious example. Using old people as volunteer assistants in schools is another, perhaps reading with children who need extra attention. A nursery school is a place where   _  .
future nurses are trained the elderly live children are taken care of the old join in activities