Sad News

It was a sad day in kindergarten today.

Steve the stick bug has died.

To most people, Steve is just a bug.  To a group of five-year-olds, he is the best stick bug a kid could ever have!  There were tears today... lots and lots of tears.  I really didn't expect it to be such an emotional time for the kids, because he's just a bug.  When I realized that it was a really big deal to the kids, we made time to write about it and draw some pictures about Steve.

We took Steve out to the courtyard gardens and I told the kids I'd say something nice about Steve before we buried him.  A couple of kids asked if we could all say something, so I told the kids they could share if they wanted.  After we shared our feelings about Steve, we buried him and put a few flowers by him.  It was a very emotional time for the kids.  When we came back inside, we had a group hug and then moved on to some fun activities.

Today was a day full of emotional learning for our kids, but it was also a time to see our recent learning in real life.  We have been talking a lot about the life cycle because of our baby chicks and also because of our most recent addition (ask your kids about our new insects).  When one of our boys was crying about Steve, another student explained that it's all part of the life cycle.  Steve has laid eggs in the dirt and, with any luck, we will have more stick bugs.  We look forward to meeting Steve Jr.

Rest in peace, Steve.

You were the best stick bug this class has ever had.

Chicks

I have to say, I think hatching chicks has been the highlight of my teaching career.  It has been the most amazing experience!  

When I came in on Sunday evening, I brought my entire family to check on the chicks.  It was Mother's Day, so I was hosting a celebration and the whole family wanted to come.  We noticed a few of the eggs had pips.  Pips are the first holes the chicks make in the eggs.

If you sit really still and the room is quiet, you can year peeps coming from the eggs.

By Monday morning, the chicks were really working hard!  One of the cracks had gotten much bigger.

Just as the kids were entering the room, on Monday morning, the first chick hatched!  The kids squealed, but then hushed to a whisper to watch the excitement.  The chick was wet and could barely stand.  

It took several hours for our first chick to dry off and fluff up.  We named her Primrose and she quickly became the most favorite class pet in the history of class pets!

The next day, we were in for another surprise!  Poppy arrived about 5 minutes before the end of the school day.

She was SO tired.  It's a lot of work hatching out of an egg!

She wasn't quite fluffy enough to come out of the incubator, so she had to stay in there over night.  Since we had one in our brooding box and one in the incubator, I went to Bridges Pets and bought a 3 day old Buff Orpington to snuggle with Primrose.  I took Primrose and Petunia (the two yellow chicks) home and they snuggled all night!

When we came in on Wednesday morning... surprise!

There were TWO chicks in the incubator!  Pansy was all fluffy and dry, so she must have hatched on Tuesday night.  Oh, my... four sweet, fluffy chicks!  Petunia (the one we bought) quickly showed them the ropes.  She would take a drink and then the other chicks would take a drink.  

On Thursday, the chicks went to their new home.  The kids were very sad to see the chicks go, but they have a wonderful chicken coop waiting for them!

What an amazing experience!