pets for the classroom

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Home : 2001 : June : 27

pets for the classroom
By Cathy-Dee

I haven't had pets myself for different reasons, mainly because of the lack of families who could properly care for the pets over holidays - I'm gone every holiday. I did take my own pet bunny to school from time to time
and the kids loved him. Dwarf rabbits are not as "messy" as the larger ones and their cages only need to be cleaned once a week - same as most hamsters, guinea pigs, etc,
I agree with the word of caution - there seems to be more children with allergies (especially Asthma) so you want to be sure not only the students in your class but within the school as well any who might have severe

allergies. We had one student who would react quickly to fur so we were asked not to have pets just to err on the side of caution. Some schools mandate no pets so you'll want to check with your administration or you may end up having a new pet at home.

As far as grade twos having pets - any grade would be fine - the younger grades however would need more direction and the teacher would probably end up doing more of the work. But it can be a very excellent learning experience for the kids. I would think grade 5 students could learn to do a lot of the work involved in the care of the classroom pet.

Check on turtles - I know at least in Alberta we cannot legally keep turtles because they can carry certain diseases. We don't have rats either.

Guinea pigs can be nice - noisy though. Hamsters are always fun and you can buy the little ball and they can race around the room too.

Rabbits can be nice - but the dwarf ones tend to be more agressive and the big ones are harder to take care of as far as cleaning cages and space.

Fish, frogs, lizards can all be quite interesting.

Several teachers where I work had hedgehogs but they don't do much except lay around and hiss when you get too close. Personally I'd stay away from the exotic animals - they require a lot more care and rarely make good pets.

Regardless of the pet you are looking at a weekly cleaning most likely, food, veterinarian care possibly, etc., Any of the pets I mentioned and others mentioned are only good pets if you take a lot of time during the first 2-3 months you have them to socialize them and help them to become "friendly" pets. Animals like hamsters if not handled a lot at the beginning will become aggressive and bite as they get older. Even at a young age they are quite agressive when scared - so kids shouldn't handle them until you have handled them.

And you need to be prepared for the possibility of the death of a classroom pet. Many of these animals are quite fragile and can develop illnesses quickly. So you'll have to be able to help the kids through this.