Goodbye Antonia

Sadly, our family and classroom pet, Antonia, died last night.

She was only four and a half years old and had been fine. But suddenly, while watching a family show she began making a strange noise and we found her unable to stand. We took turns holding her in a towel (the hubs did the most since we were all blubbering) and petting her until she finally stopped breathing. Thankfully, it didn't take long.

I am so glad I spent most of the previous night on the couch working on the new blog because I got to listen to her purring and cooing noises in the quiet of the night one last time. They were such happy sounds. Ones that made all of us smile.

Ironically, I had brought home a book about a class pet dying that I was going to share on Critters in the Classroom. Give me a few days and I'll get to that. But I guess I'm going to be needing that book when I return from vacation. My kiddos will be so sad and the classroom will be quiet without her whistles.

Look Who's Here!

This week with the cooler weather, I was able to bring to school two of my classroom pets. The kids were SO excited!

While the tarantula isn't my favorite warm, fuzzy pet...the kids love it, especially the boys! In the spider's defense, it is probably the lowest-maintenance pet I've ever owned. One little darling was overheard saying "Kiwi doesn't do much." So then we discussed what nocturnal means. That prompted another kiddo to remark that the spider had moved when it was supposed to be sleeping. Then we discussed how we move around a lot while sleeping (some more than others) and also sometimes wake up during the night and go to the bathroom (some more than others...ah, aging! :) )

The guinea pig made her grand debut also. I pulled out the Fluffy books and the kids are going "hog" wild on them. Someone brought in the shoe box for Antonia (it was Antonio before figuring out she was a GIRL last year!) and she loves it. The class was so impressed with how she chewed this whole in it so quickly. Here she is peeking out at us. So, besides chewing, the kids wanted to know what else she does. Eat, sleep, poop. "Like a baby." someone said. Yeah, pretty much. Once Antonia gets used to the kids, she will get vocal. (Anyone unfamiliar with guinea pigs...they make a lot of vocalizations, chirping, purring, whistling, etc.) The kids will love that!

Do you have a class pet or pets? If so, what do you have and how do you incorporate it/them into your curriculum and lessons? I'd love to hear from you.