Thursday 10/18 - 12:30pm-2:30pm
Predators/Prey
We'll tour the predator area and take a close look at the adaptations the critters have for their hunting lifestyle, We'll learn how zoo keepers help these animals hone their hunting instincts and show their wild side! Hands-on project: students will make an enrichment item for one of our predators.
"I don't want to go, it's not as good as the nature class at White Memorial".
"Well E was afraid to go without me, so I'm a chaperone now, and I can't just not show up."
"OOOOooohhhhh."
"Wow look, these are all my friends from the White Memorial class."
No, I'm not the only one who is willing to travel to classes across the entire state. This stuff is so worth travelling for and our state is so darn small anyway!
R went off with the bigger kids and I got to chaperone the first through third graders. Unfortunately, this time around the educators switched classes, and E got the boring guy R complained about last time. It took a remarkably shorter time than I expected for E to look like this:
Just a little positive reinforcement that we have made the right decision to keep our boys at home. The guy had no clue. If I only had E in a class I'd ask the female teacher to stick with the little kids, but then poor R would be bored. I guess we can hope they switch back and forth. It was especially tough for the little kids (one boy who obviously homeschools because he is a kinesthetic learner, and was driving the poor kid next to him crazy, especially) because the zoo educators weren't as organized as they could have been, and had the kids sitting and doing nothing as long as maybe school kids are used to in school, but was torture for homeschoolers. I do have to say that E might actually be able to go un-drugged in school, because although he learns very little while he is sitting still, at least he doesn't bother anybody either!
The "lecture" portion of the class did include some hands on with feathers, and a tiger's jaw. And of course, a real live python which E insisted I take a picture of to send to Grandma.
The best part of the class though, the part that makes it worth it to drive 40 minutes for, is the out of the class-room and into the zoo part. The "Hands-on project" part. This month the younger kids made raw meat sandwiches 
which were wrapped up in vines. Then the zoo educators/keepers held the wolves in a holding area, while the kids ran free in their roaming area and placed the sandwiches around for them to enjoy.
After that, they brought the kids out of the wolves' roaming area and into the human viewing area. Then when the kids were all in place and had a great view, they let the wolves out to enjoy the sandwiches (excuse the crappy arrow, I was in a rush).
E was so incredibly excited to see one of the nine wolves (7 of which, E loves to remind us, were born this past May - the month he was born) pull one of his sandwiches off the rock he placed it on, and another pull out the one he hid under the log.
This was great stuff. E had a phenomenal time, and R told us about the pvc piping they sanded, glued together, and stuffed with food for the otter enrichment "hands-on project" the bigger kids did.
We are so blessed to be able to educate our kids this way.
"I don't want to go, it's not as good as the nature class at White Memorial".
"Well E was afraid to go without me, so I'm a chaperone now, and I can't just not show up."
"OOOOooohhhhh."
"Wow look, these are all my friends from the White Memorial class."No, I'm not the only one who is willing to travel to classes across the entire state. This stuff is so worth travelling for and our state is so darn small anyway!
R went off with the bigger kids and I got to chaperone the first through third graders. Unfortunately, this time around the educators switched classes, and E got the boring guy R complained about last time. It took a remarkably shorter time than I expected for E to look like this:
Just a little positive reinforcement that we have made the right decision to keep our boys at home. The guy had no clue. If I only had E in a class I'd ask the female teacher to stick with the little kids, but then poor R would be bored. I guess we can hope they switch back and forth. It was especially tough for the little kids (one boy who obviously homeschools because he is a kinesthetic learner, and was driving the poor kid next to him crazy, especially) because the zoo educators weren't as organized as they could have been, and had the kids sitting and doing nothing as long as maybe school kids are used to in school, but was torture for homeschoolers. I do have to say that E might actually be able to go un-drugged in school, because although he learns very little while he is sitting still, at least he doesn't bother anybody either!The "lecture" portion of the class did include some hands on with feathers, and a tiger's jaw. And of course, a real live python which E insisted I take a picture of to send to Grandma.
The best part of the class though, the part that makes it worth it to drive 40 minutes for, is the out of the class-room and into the zoo part. The "Hands-on project" part. This month the younger kids made raw meat sandwiches 
which were wrapped up in vines. Then the zoo educators/keepers held the wolves in a holding area, while the kids ran free in their roaming area and placed the sandwiches around for them to enjoy.
After that, they brought the kids out of the wolves' roaming area and into the human viewing area. Then when the kids were all in place and had a great view, they let the wolves out to enjoy the sandwiches (excuse the crappy arrow, I was in a rush).
E was so incredibly excited to see one of the nine wolves (7 of which, E loves to remind us, were born this past May - the month he was born) pull one of his sandwiches off the rock he placed it on, and another pull out the one he hid under the log.
This was great stuff. E had a phenomenal time, and R told us about the pvc piping they sanded, glued together, and stuffed with food for the otter enrichment "hands-on project" the bigger kids did.We are so blessed to be able to educate our kids this way.
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