Dear Mr. Painter,
I have been with Dallas ISD for 22 years and I realize that
Stonewall is an amazing community because we have a principal that is on board with diversity concerning our curriculum. Her expertise acknowledges that we must "keep-up" with our students by exciting and engaging them with new experiences.
For years, with the acceptance of Mrs. Henderson and the assistance of Mr. Pittillo, we have hatched chicken, quail, duck, & geese, just to name a few. This is a success story! How do I know this besides first hand knowledge? Recently I was in a kinder classroom during a parent interaction and one mother said, "I know, do not bump the incubator, the eggs are delicate". She whispered to me that she remembered when she was a little girl hatching chickens in her classroom. (It was a fond memory!) She was delighted that she and her son would be able to share this experience.
Whether it is parent/child or teacher/student, collectively we achieve a similar goal:
allowing children to have real adventures , natural experiences, and developing empathy with animal life cycles that will promote ethical behaviors related to our environment.
For several weeks I have received written and verbal expressions relating to the student's excitement about our classroom lessons with the recent enrollment of Mrs. Fletcher and Ebenezer. We have illustrated, measured, and written about these two very different characters. We have also read, researched, and retained valuable knowledge that will sustain future lessons.
David Sobel, noted author, wrote, "Animals play a significant role in the evolution of children's care about the natural world and in THEIR own emotional development".
We can not say today what Stonewall's role in each individual life may culminate, but we should as a community nurture their adventures.
Barbara Uskovich
(photos: Barbara Uskovich)
3 comments:
Chase absolutely loved having chicks in Mrs. Human's class last year, and again this year in Mrs. Uskovich's class. He told me all about Mrs. Fletcher and Ebenezer, and happily drew and described the chicks for his homework assignent last week.
I agree that this is a wonderful learning experience for the children, and will certainly create a lifetime memory for them.
Thank you for bringing nature into the classroom. Many, many more thanks for taking the classroom outdoors. Our Stonewall garden is a feast for exploration, knowlege and heightened engagement. I am continuously amazed by this living laboratory, and how much our kids can learn from it. We are so lucky to have the garden and such a supportive Stonewall community.
A friend told me about your blog,
this is incredible. These children will be the caretakers of the earth and rightly so, look at their faces. I grew up on a small farm, didn't enjoy the chores, but I do remember having free time - and I miss it. These children are lucky. Wish my school had been so progressive with maintaining the laws of nature. I'm responsible with respect to environmental codes, but these are childen are the future. This is way cool.
Peace to your garden and good luck.
Sophie has benefited so much from having the chicks in the class. Being raised in an urban environment it has made it much more difficult for us to include nature and the outdoors into her everyday life. Having grown up in many animals in the country, I greatly appreciate this element being introduced into the learning curriculum. It is priceless. Andrea McCauley
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