Why animals are important in the Montessori environment

MONTESSORI CARE OF PETS

Care of pets is an essential part of our Nile River Montessori and in Montessori schools in general. Care of pets allows children to connect with nature but also helps develop several positive characters for the child.

When children engage in taking care of their pets, such as feeding them or providing them with water, this develops their sense of responsibility. They feel that they are doing meaningful work and this gives them a sense of self-achievement and confidence.

Taking care of a pet Increase the sense of empathy and compassion with animals. We teach children how to gently care for animals and understand their needs such as comforting them or giving them space.

Watching our fish in the aquarium and feeding them made our children happy every day.

We also have a tortoise in the garden and the children enjoy companionship and taking care of it.

Our older children engage in more important responsibilities when it comes to pet care. For instance, our elementary students decided they wanted to buy a guinea pig. They had to search on the internet on where to get it from and they needed to contact pet shops in nearby areas to ask about the pricing. Then they did a trip to the pet shop with their teacher to get the guinea pig, “Biscuit”. They were supported to manage the budget and to do the actual purchase. They also had to carry out research on how to care for their new pet and design a house suitable for Biscuit’s needs.

In the past, we had a big family of rabbits, and our children enjoyed feeding them and were also able to see the life cycle of rabbits. Having baby rabbits brought so much warmth to our community.