Our Classroom Today--January 27

Today found us at the zoo, once again. We really are getting our money's worth out of that membership! We met friends there who we haven't seen in a while. There is a new baby in their family, so they haven't been out and about much.



I was particularly excited to hit the zoo again, because the last time we were there, I forgot my camera. I really wanted to get a good shot of the baby monkey, to document how different it looks from the parents. Unfortunately, though the monkey was there and came out and played a bit, my camera and I had a difference of opinion at that particular moment. I am in the market for a new one, I have reached my limit with this one's lack of manual user controls. It has also never been great in low light, and much of the time I have to shoot in low light. Combined with the fact that what appears on the LCD and what I actually see on my computer are two completely different things, and, well, you get frustration. All this to say, sadly, no monkey photos to share.



We did see the baby monkey, though. And the baby dolphin, born July 18. And another baby monkey that I didn't know was there! It was a baby snow monkey, born June 26. No, it isn't a tiny baby, it is 7 months old, but it sure was cute! We stopped a couple of volunteers to find out just how old the monkey was. We had a delightful conversation. One of them asked Kiddo if he homeschooled! The other one has a daughter who homeschools! Very supportive women. They not only answered the question (the best they could...they didn't know the exact date, but they said it was over 6 months), they also referred me to a variety of resources. They made sure we had seen the other baby monkey, and the baby dolphin. They also made sure we knew about the raptor show. Normally there is a bird show, but they are redoing a ton of space at the zoo, so they don't have a regular bird show. They bring out a few birds and talk about them, but there is no flying. We were coming from there when we saw the baby monkey. Great volunteers make our zoo much more enjoyable.



As I mentioned, we were coming from the raptor show. Kiddo had a chance to shine today, and he was very, VERY proud of himself. He answered two questions during the show--one about what other animals live in the rain forest (he answered monkeys), and what you call the toes of a raptor (talons). He also hung around after the show to ASK questions. The only bird that was new to him was the Spectacled Owl. The other 2, the Peregrine Falcon and the Red-Tailed Hawk, we have seen before, both at the zoo and elsewhere. Repetition, though, is good. Even better, he has gotten excited about the next unit we are doing in science, where we will be studying and classifying animals.



After the zoo, we ran a few errands, hitting the craft store for some red card stock and then a wild goose chase for cheap plants which may end up dead in our science unit. It is January in Minnesota. Plants are not plentiful, or cheap. I did almost buy a table top tomato plant at the expensive plant shop. The tomatoes looked so nummy!

We also went to the...CAR WASH! YAY! For weather warm enough to wash the car!!! I didn't even complain (too much) about the half hour wait for our turn! The car is no longer crusty! Yes, I consider the car wash part of our classroom today. If they are going to grow up in Minnesota, they have to learn when it is appropriate to wash the car and when such action would result in being frozen into the car before you arrive home.

What's your classroom?