To provide assistance to teachers attempting to implement a thematic, discovery-oriented preschool curriculum under funding conditions preventing a desirable teacher-pupil ratio, a practicum was designed to recruit and train retired senior citizens and involve them as volunteer aides in the preschool program of a church school located in the Southeastern United States. Intervention involved (1) four preservice training seminars providing training in child development, relationship building, and discipline; and (2) seven inservice training seminars training volunteers in such areas as verbal and nonverbal communication, creative learning centers, and leaders becoming enablers and facilitators. Practicum evaluation data suggest that volunteers learned facts and skills taught in training sessions and that they also applied the skills and resources they had learned. The project and its outcomes are described in five chapters and supporting documentation is provided in 24 appendices. (Author/RH)