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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Pets in the Classroom


     The prepared environment of many Montessori classrooms includes an animal of one sort or another.  As I've written on the other blog, the inclusion of live animals in a child’s daily life greatly enhances their abilities to learn responsibility, empathy and compassion for other living things, respect for life, and the natural development of living things.  In addition to being a loving companion, pets provide comfort and solace in times of stress. This holds true for the classroom as well as in a child's home.

     Having living examples of the five classes of animals (reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, insects)also helps to develop the understanding a student gleans when working with any of the zoology materials


     During my years as a Montessori teacher, I have had the opportunity to work with snakes, turtles, frogs and toads, geckos, fish, tarantulas (not my favourite), lizards, stick bugs, guinea pigs, hamsters, and birds.  Despite my own phobias (as in that HUGE spider) I loved watching the children watching the animals.  Even more, I loved listening to their comments.

"Mrs. Dyer!  I think a cricket got away!"

"Do fish like jam sandwiches?"

"No way Rocky can swallow that WHOLE mouse!"  (Rocky was the snake and the mice were frozen, thank goodness.  Thawing them was one of the more bizarre tasks I've encountered in my career as a Montessorian.)

     When talking to friends about this topic, I found there were three different schools of thought.  The first was that having animals in the classroom was a great idea, the second was a more militant feeling that animals don't belong in cages and therefore shouldn't be in classrooms, and the third was that because live animals bring so many positive things into a classroom there is a place for them BUT their habitats have to be as close to real life as possible.  In the words of a Biologist friend (Sabrina), "It is usually a matter of enough space and the art of 'decoration'.  Frogs  (her specialty) or amphibians in general have a wide range of behaviour... some don't move around much and some are very active.  When you can give them what they need, its not a problem to keep them as pets. That means they need more than just a warmed cage with some soil in it.  Some people, or better, most people don't think much about it.  For example, most small animals and many fish need places to hide, just like in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, this may mean that the children don't see them very often."


     The picture below is Sabrina's frog tank. It is an excellent example of a tank being set up to mirror an animal's natural habitat.  Hiding in amongst all those leaves are tiny little frogs.  They may be hard to spot, but children will quickly learn that in order to spot one, they will have to hold very still and be very patient.  Good skills to take out on nature walks.


     Here, Sabrina hold one of her frogs on the end of her fingers.  (She was careful to remind me that holding a frog for too long can hurt them because they absorb substances through their skin and the heat from our hands can cause frogs to overheat.)


     Recently, I spent some time in our Campbell River school and was fascinated to watch how the teacher's dog had become part of the classroom.  The dog (Kira) spends her "down time" in the teacher's office but she doesn't stay there for long.  About three or four times a morning, a child will take the short leash (made by the teacher), open the door and call Kira.



     Once on the leash,  Kira is walked carefully across the classroom to the mat by the front door.  She is asked to sit ( and almost always obeys) then the child goes to the Practical Life shelves to get a box containing the grooming tools.
 



     It is plain to me that Kira loves this activity as much as the children do.  What I found most interesting, however, was that none of the other children were really distracted by the dog while she was in the classroom.  They had accepted her presence the same way they would accept any other classmate - a novelty at first but soon just another classroom member.  


 

      It is important to note that Kira was chosen because of her mild temperament and she was introduced slowly to the classroom.  In addition, we sent a notice home to the parents (and the Licensing Authority) about the dog being in the classroom and the teacher was careful to make sure there were no children allergic to dogs.  As you can see from the pictures below, Kira has been accepted by the children in and out of the classroom.

 



     Having pets in the classroom is never a replacement for taking the children out into nature.  However, carefully prepared, indoor natural environments can enrich a child's understanding of the world around them.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

Hi Cynthia-

Thank you for your wonderful blog post on having pets in the classroom! Pets can teach kids so many different things in different ways! Have you heard of the Pets in the Classroom grant? It provides teachers with funds (up to $150)for the purchase of classroom pets and supplies. You can learn more by visiting www.petsintheclassroom.org!

Shilpa said...

Thank you for the post. I am an intern training to be a montessori teacher. I have been bothered byt the fact that animals are caged in Montessori classrooms. Like you I feel strongly that animals don't belong in cages and that we shouldn't alter their natural environment for our amusement. We have birds in my current classroom and it pains me to see the fact that they cant fly! I do plan on doing research on this piece in choosing pets for the classroom.