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Montessori Care of Pets

June 10, 2014 By Deb Chitwood 17 Comments

Previous article: Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: My Name is Handel
Next article: DIY Teether Extenders for Babies Who Love to Chew on Necklaces

Care of the environment, including care of plants and animals, is part of the practical life curriculum and an important part of Montessori education. Care of pets can be a perfect way for young children to develop a number of skills along with many positive character traits.

Cynthia from The Montessori Child at Home, says it nicely in her post about “Taking Care of the Family Pet at L’s House”:

Care of the Family Pet (Photo from The Montessori Child at Home)

Care of the Family Pet (Photo from The Montessori Child at Home)

“Encouraging children to take part in the care of a family pet is a wonderful way of empowering children.  Whether the family pet is a fish, dog, cat, guinea pig, chicken, horse, or elephant the lessons that are instilled in a child through caring for animals will remain with them for the rest of their lives.  Including live animals in a child’s daily life  greatly enhances their abilities to learn responsibility, empathy and compassion for other living things, respect for life, and the natural development of living things.  In addition to being a loving companion, pets provide a comfort and solace in times of stress.”

My Experience with Children and Pets

Playtime for Wally (1988), Sneaker (1991), Harry (2002), and Caressa (2002)

Playtime for Wally (1988), Sneaker (1991), Harry (2002), and Caressa (2002)

I especially love seeing the companionship and character training pets can give children. As a Montessori teacher, I had fun watching the children in my classroom learn to gently care for gerbils and hermit crabs. With my own children, we had an outdoor dog and cat when we lived in the country during our children’s early years. Later on, we had fish, a regular-sized hamster (my son’s hamster named Harry {Houdini} for his uncanny ability to escape from his cage), a dwarf hamster, and a beautiful Chartreux cat named Caressa (my daughter’s cat from age 11). My now-adult daughter and her husband care for Caressa, who is a senior cat with lymphoma and kidney disease. Although it’s sad to know Caressa won’t live more than a year, it’s heartwarming to see the loving way both my daughter and son-in-law care for her.

Life and Death Nature Tray with Pet Loss Books

Update: Because of her loving care, Caressa lived much longer than expected. My granddaughter, Zoey, grew to love Caressa as we all did. When Caressa died, I helped my granddaughter, Zoey, understand Caressa’s death a bit better through a life and death nature tray and pet loss books.

Best Children’s Books about the Death of a Pet 

“Rainbow Bridge” Free Printable Poem {Pet Loss}

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.

Montessori Resources for Pet Care

Choosing a Pet for Children to Keep at Home from Montessori Services Pet Resources from Montessori Services

Caring for a Hermit Crab (Photo from How We Montessori)

Caring for a Hermit Crab (Photo from How We Montessori)

Pet Posts (Photo from “Pets for Children – How about Hermit Crabs?”) from How We Montessori

Care of Classroom Guinea Pig (Photo from Discovery Kidzone Montessori Adventures)

Care of Classroom Guinea Pig (Photo from Discovery Kidzone Montessori Adventures)

Practical Guide to Practical Life (Care of Animals) from Discovery Kidzone Montessori Adventures

Care of an Animal from Montessori World

Care of Environment: Feeding the Fish from Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s On-line Montessori Albums

Pets in the Classroom from A Montessori Musing Place

How to Talk with Children about Death: Creating an ‘I Remember’ Book (helpful for families dealing with the death of a pet)

More Montessori-Inspired Pet Activities

Montessori-Inspired Pet Activities

You can follow your child’s interest in pets with a variety of Montessori-inspired pet activities, too!

I’d love to hear about your child’s experiences with a pet.

Deb - Signature

Montessori at Home or School - How to Teach Grace and Courtesy eBookLearn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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Previous article: Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: My Name is Handel
Next article: DIY Teether Extenders for Babies Who Love to Chew on Necklaces

Filed Under: Activities - Practical Life, Natural Parenting Tagged With: care of pets, care of the environment, Carnival of Natural Parenting, Montessori, natural parenting, Parenting, practical life

Previous Post: « Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: My Name is Handel
Next Post: DIY Teether Extenders for Babies Who Love to Chew on Necklaces »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dionna says

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 am

    You’ve had a wide variety of pets! I grew up in the same mini-menagerie – dogs, cats, frogs, turtles, bunnies, a squirrel, birds, etc. We *just* got our first family dog (we’ve had fish for years), and we are loving him 🙂 It has been a joy to watch my kids bond with him. <3

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:43 pm

      Thanks, Dionna! I love to see the connection dogs have with their owners. I imagine your kids will have some amazing experiences. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Survivor says

    June 10, 2014 at 7:19 am

    We have a number of animals and our son takes a hand in the care of all of them. The only failure we have had in the animal kingdom is fish. We haven’t been able to keep fish alive for more than a week, although we keep trying.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:44 pm

      Thanks for your comment! We found fish difficult to raise, too. I don’t know what the secret to keeping them alive is.

      Reply
  3. Laura says

    June 10, 2014 at 11:15 am

    Pet care is part of our day and the kids’ responsibilities. The bonus is that now they *look* for ways to care for the dog, which I believe has grown out of the teaching!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:46 pm

      Thanks for your comment, Laura! That sounds wonderful. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Laurie Hollman says

    June 10, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    Montessori teaching is wonderful. I like what you said about how pets give companionship. It’s a very special kind of connection.
    Laurie Hollman at Parental Intelligence

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:48 pm

      Thanks, Laurie! It is definitely a special kind of connection. I always loved seeing the connection my kids had with their pets. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lauren says

    June 10, 2014 at 7:49 pm

    I hadn’t realized pet care was part of the Montessori way, but it makes sense! Kids really do learn so much from caring for little live creatures. I love seeing the pictures of your children & their pets through the years!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:49 pm

      Thanks for your sweet comment, Lauren! I had lots of fun searching through old photos to find the pet pictures. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Bianca says

    June 10, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    My 2 year old loves each of the responsiblities that she’s acquired since we’ve owned chickens. In addition to learning about caring for pets, I use them as a tool about learning where our old comes from and respecting, rather than expecting, it.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 10, 2014 at 10:53 pm

      Thanks for your comment, Bianca! You brought back memories of my childhood when I had to collect eggs from our chickens. I always thought that was lots of fun. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Meg says

    June 11, 2014 at 12:11 am

    I do love the idea of empowering our children through pet care – making it not just about responsibility, but reaping the rewards, too! We look forward to the time when we don’t live under the rental agreement of “no pets allowed” 🙂

    Reply
    • Deb says

      June 11, 2014 at 3:47 pm

      Thanks for your comment, Meg! That is a difficult part of a lot of rental agreements, isn’t it?! I hope you’re able to have “pets allowed” soon. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Jennifer says

    June 17, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    This is a great post. I started my schooling in a Montessori based program and it never occurred to me that there was a Montessori approach to pet care. But now that I think about it, we had rabbits, fish, and a turtle at the school. I will definitely be checking out these links. I’m curious how the approach various from how we care for our pets from an “attachment pet ownership” perspective.

    Reply
  9. Momma Jorje says

    June 29, 2014 at 5:03 am

    I’ve spent some time worrying over whether my kids were missing out by not having pets. We do have tarantulas, but our littles aren’t old enough to help with them yet – for safety reasons. We have hamsters and this post reminds me that I need to find ways for my kids to help… I hope to have chickens eventually. I love imagining gathering eggs with my kids!

    Reply
  10. Liza Connie says

    September 8, 2016 at 11:46 pm

    Hi Deb!

    Thank you so much for this wonderful article. Much appreciated.

    Montessori training is really amazing. Our kids learn things from very early ages, they will learn to care while this process. A complete book for me, I must say. Found it very helpful. I’ll also help others to go through this….. Our children can learn a lot as well as parents. Time to try with your comprehensive article. Dogs are Love.

    Best Wishes.

    Reply

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