Petting the Teacher's Pet!

Kids. Nothing gets them more excited than a romp with their furry friends. Children do know how to share their love and enthusiasm with all creatures - big and small. Last Tuesday ILM Montessori had a guest of honour. With its twitching nose and inquisitive eyes, it stole the show and our hearts.

Thank You Miss Arpita Shetty!

The credit for the pleasant diversion goes to our innovative, out of the box thinker - Miss Arpita Shetty. She strode into the classroom, cage in hand and there was instant uproar. The excitement of finding out what animal was hiding under the little log hut and the promise of cuddling a warm, soft furry body were a tad too much - even for our uber well-mannered ILM tiny tots.

Most of them took a shot at guessing and came up with rabbit or hamster. Pretty close! It was a guinea pig. Smaller and cleaner than a rabbit and not prone to nipping like a hamster! The ideal pet for curious Children.

They gathered around the cage and Arpita triumphantly introduced them to the glory of 'Bubbles'.

A Great Learning Experience

We at ILM seek to expose our students to new ideas, inputs, thoughts and experiences. And this chance encounter was no different. None of the kids had handled a guinea pig before but they took to it like fish to water. Someone came up with the sage piece of wisdom, 'Guinea pigs are sensitive to sound'! And for the rest of the day, there were no loud noises, only whispering.

On being asked to articulate their observations about this new member of the ILM family, the kids came up with gems like:

• It eats a lot
• It doesn't have a tail
• It chews very fast
• Its hind legs are different from its fore legs
• It looks like a rabbit
• It loves to eat carrots.

Without being conscious, the children displayed amazing proficiency at comparing a new entity with known benchmarks (pets like dogs and rabbits in this case) and did us proud.

Bright and Kind

Not just a genuine interest in our guinea pig, ILM tiny tots also gave us a glimpse of their consideration and empathy. They were very careful to refrain from making sudden movements while petting Bubbles. They cuddled him, always taking into account the fact that he is smaller and thus more vulnerable than them. They even took time to bid him good-bye and some returned with carrots on Wednesday to feed their friend!

A wonderful blend of brightness and kindness, ILM children have already started developing a multi-faceted personality with most of their actions being spontaneous.

We are happy and gratified to see their progress and leave you with a few lovely shots of the innocent mingling.