Friday, April 26, 2013

ASPCA's Humane Education Program

A few years ago I ordered an activity book called I Love Animals: A Humane Education Program of The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The ASPCA's mission is to "provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals."

Included in the book are activities for children in grades kindergarten through third grade. These activities are intended to help children develop a sense of empathy and respect for all life.

On Wednesday, April 24, Jonah, Sammy (our Wheaten Terrier) and I went to Coral Reef Elementary School and met with a small group of children from the Pre-K through third grade. We did an activity with the group that was intended to help them think about an animal with which they are familiar and think about their features, where they live, what they eat, and how they are born and raised.

Children drew pictures of tigers, monkeys, fish, deer, snakes, and butterflies.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Humane education can start at a very young age  and if each of us does our part in helping promote empathy and respect, the world might become a more peaceful place.









Reference:

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (2000). I Love Animals: A Humane Education Program of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Intercultural Center for Research in Education (INCRE), Arlington, MA.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I Aint't Gonna Paint No More!

The book, I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! was given to Jonah by his grandparents, Jackie and Marvin. It's a lovely book about a child who loves to paint so much that he painted his entire body! The illustrations are whimsical and really make the story come to life. The book is written by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow. Today, Maia read this story to a group of Pre-K - 1st grade students at Coral Reef Elementary School. She also read, If You Give A Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. Here are some pictures from today's visit. Enjoy!





Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Reading with the 2nd and 3rd Graders

This morning before school started we met with a few of the second and third graders at Coral Reef Elementary. We read two stories: Three Little Piggies, written by Monica Chang and Jeff Macon and illustrated by Vivian Minn and Helen Wang and Giraffes Can't Dance written by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. The children took turns reading and they all did a wonderful job. After each of the stories, we discussed what the stories meant to us.

Some of the comments about Three Little Piggies included:

"If you plan, you build a better house."

"The pig that took the longest time to build the house built the strongest house."

Some of the comments about Giraffes Can't Dance included:

"Anyone can be good at something. They just need to find the right something."

"If you find the right music, you'll be able to dance!"

By the way, this story was about a Giraffe named Gerald who was very clumsy. At the annual jungle dance, all the animals would laugh at Gerald because he couldn't dance. Until one day, he met a cricket who played violin. The cricket said,

"But sometimes when you're different you just need a different song. Listen to the swaying grass and listen to the trees. To me the sweetest music is those branches in the breeze. Som imagine that the lovely moon is playing for you - everything makes music if you really want it to." 

Then the cricket started to play his violin and Gerald started dancing. Once Gerald took the time to listen, he was able to dance!

The children and I talked about what we were good at. Some of the talents we had in the group were:

baseball,
hunting and fishing,
dancing,
cheer leading,
figure skating,
running, swimming,
and even walking!

Each of us had our unique talent!

Meanwhile, Sammy mingled among the children and enjoyed getting his belly rubbed. It was a great way to start off the morning :-)