Our day at Co-op...

A productive day...Our third day at co-op ran much smoother than previously... My kids have now gotten the swing of where they are supposed to be and when.. (even my 4yo DD)..

In Phonics we studied the letter "C" and made "clown" puppets, had a puppet show where each child had to say something about "C" with his/her puppet... and then ate "cookies" ...

Then in "Countries of the World", we again studied more on Australia... and I had some "aboriginal" artwork and a boomerang (thanks to a friend who loaned them to me) for show and tell.. as well as, some pictures and some money from Australia... We discussed more of the outback and the words used in Australia that are different  from our terms...we read "Marsupial Sue" and listened to the song on CD and then for our finale, we made a "PLATYPUS"... we used brown lunch bags and stuffed them with shredded newspapers... then we stapled the top closed in a point... then we glued on the beak, flat tail, and flippers... and the finishing part was the googly eyes... I think they really enjoyed it...

In my DS's "Contenders for the Faith" class, there was a guest speaker... She worked as a animal rahabilitationist... Taking in injured and abandoned animals from the mild to the wild... having at any time from her current 28 animals to 80 animals at her home... It certainly takes a special person to do such a job because it is very costly to take care of all the animals, plus the time and energy spent on their care... She came and gave an excellent talk and introduced the kids to some great animals...

The first animal was a baby squirrel that had been injured in a tree cutting accident... (the only survivor) and had lost part of its tail and had multiple stitches in various parts of its little body... The kids learned that the tail is used for balance and also for communication with the other squirrels.. the squirrel then went on to make the boys cackle when it "pee'd" on the handler's shoulder...

Then she got out 2 "Screech" owls (one grey, one red).. Smaller than the Barn owl or the Horned owl.. they have fixed eyes, no ears (those things on their heads are just tufts of feathers), and contrary to popular belief, a owl CANNOT turn his head 360 degrees, only 280... *L*

She then showed the boys a "Virginia Oppossum"  (or road kill as they are commonly referred to around here).. And another fallacy is that they can hang from their tails... No they can't as their tails can't support their weight... the tail itself is called a prehensile tail in that it acts like a third hand... She is a marsupial with a twist in that her pouch is vertical.. and she can have as many as 25 babies at one time...

From there was the "Desert King Snake" ... a beautiful constrictor with brown and cream markings... so she had a brief discussion on proper handling of snakes and "cold-blooded" behaviors etc.

Then was my personal favorite, the "Leopard Tortoise" from the Sahara...bought in the pet shop by someone who once they got it home decided that it didn't do tricks and got rid of it.. They can live to be 150 yrs. old and up to 90-100lbs. in weight... plus they are extremely smart creatures..

And never, never, give an animal cow's milk!!! 

So all in all, it was a productive, educational, and enjoyable day... Maybe the trend will continue tomorrow..

Happy Learning!!