Today I took Cora Belle and Filbert to school with me. They had a very important job to do. We have a program at our school for the severely autistic children and one thing they do is go for long walks around the school grounds. One day as I watched them I thought to myself that it would be a lot more fun if they could walk a goat. And what better goats than my own Cora Belle and Filbert. They are leash trained and love people so I offered them up to the teacher and she quickly agreed that it would indeed be fun. I took a large dog crate and a couple of leashes and put them behind the classroom for the kids and the staff members to get them out and walk them. Periodically throughout the day I saw Cora Belle and Fil walking with the kids. They were great. I have yet to hear about their day because the teacher was running off to a meeting but as she ran by she said what a great day it was and she'd tell me about it tomorrow. I am anxious to hear.
It is also farm day in kindergarten so I took the kindergarten class out to walk C.B. and Fil. I was able to get a few pictures. What I love most about bringing animals to school is seeing how the kids react. One little boy who is very quiet and meek took one look at those goats and became a different person. He grabbed that rope and walked those goats all around helping other children that were having trouble walking them.
Here is a picture of him and C.B.
Here are a few pictures of Fil's day.
And Cora Belle....
Kid and kids...two of my favorite things.
8 comments:
Oh, I absolutely LOVE it. Now, if I can just get Pete and Reggie to agree to be good leash walkers. They're at that troublesome stage right now...they argue with me a lot about which direction we're going to walk in and whether we're going to walk at all.
I've always felt that animals are such gentle teachers for children. I think it's wonderful that your school sees the value in this and lets you bring them in. I can just imagine the small smile that would grace your face every time you saw them walk by your window... :-)
Oh my, how GREAT is this? You can tell the kids just loved the goats. Animals have a way of bringing out the best in everyone. I hope it becomes a regular event at your school. Maybe the goat celebrities could go to school several days a week?
This looks like fun. Do those kids give Peanuts? Peanuts are good. I like Peanuts. :)
What a great idea! I know the kids all loved seeing Cora Belle and Filbert.
The children all love giving Miracle Eve a bottle here. Not that she takes a bottle that often.(Yeah, right) FarmMan said it is sad and pitiful for a goat as old as Miracle Eve to drink from a bottle. Men!
I can imagine all the wonderful memories the children have from walking with a goat at school.
Pam
I just love all the pictures of the children with the goats! How wonderful of you to share Cora Belle and Filbert!
Tracey
I loved this post so much I sent the link to my dog list. There is a behavioral specialist on that list that has some autistic kids in her class and she loved it. There is another member who has goats and is a librarian, she loved it too. It generated quite a discussion about animal behavior/kids/learning/schools.
That is just wonderful. I like when the kids come to visit me. I let them pet me. Abigail just tries to butt them. Abigail is a mean goat!
Check out my blog...I left you a little award over there. :)
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