Aren’t you glad you don’t have to homeschool your pets! Giving your children the experience of taking care of a non-human creature as valuable schooling and life skills can be a part of your family’s homeschooling schedule.
An awesome experience as a child, can very well be taking care, owning, and loving a pet. Most of the time, this is very rewarding. As a homeschooling parent, we can take this experience one step further and turn it into a well-rounded learning adventure.
To make sure your child is entirely on board, let your child or children pick the animal. Be it fish, reptile, amphibian, bird, insect, or mammal, as a possible pet to research and possibly own. Have younger children draw pictures, use books from the library or the internet. Older children can draw detailed pictures and gather pertinent facts from the library books, or from trusted internet sites.
Depending on your household tolerance level, a pet can be chosen from a list of approved creatures. Allow each child to write or dictate to you a detailed schedule of care and specific instructions for the selected animal. Each child should also write or explain the specific areas they will lend a hand. Whether it’s feeding, cleaning, exercise, etc. Give older children the task of calculating possible veterinarian care, food, and grooming costs. Doing so will also help you see any areas of potential hardship and problems. Help each child learn the life cycle, habitat, and even history of the animal. This, along with the amount of time and money involved in the animal’s care, will allow your child to see if his / her animal of choice really does make a good pet. Don’t worry; you won’t end up with a household zoo!
Why should you add pet care to your homeschool? Because choosing, owning, and caring for a pet is a loving endeavor and teaches compassion and responsibility. Owning a pet also lowers stress, lifts moods, provides entertainment, offers protection, and helps teach non-verbal communication. The biggest bonus is that it’s also another way we as homeschool parents can help build strong, lasting memories with our children. And that might be the best reason of all!
Check out the many homeschooling resources at Rainbow Resource Center!
