Our "Class Pet"

There's so much to having a Class Pet!  Remember those days?  Didn't it excite you when you looked up on the class chore chart and you were the Pet Feeder!  Big time job, right?...when you were little!

I wanted my kiddos to experience these moments and memories of a class pet - 

so with the help from others we made it happen!

Meet Sparkie!  

She's a year old Guinea Pig that is so sweet and so loving!  

And she is our NEW Class Pet - Oh, but wait!  Yall homeschool?

Are you confused?

Well, let me explain this fun mess!  

About 2 months ago at our Book Club, I had fellow Homeschooling Mom approach me about the idea of a "class pet".  We both have animal lovers in our families, but didn't want the responsibility of a pet in our home.  

Our pet story  - 2 people fall in love, get 1 dog, add another, get married, have a kid, have another kid - dogs need to go!  So they (the dogs) are enjoying their retired life up in the panhandle of Texas with my lovely in-laws.

Others pet story - You ALL know how it turns out - Parents get a pet for the kids...Kids LOVE it for a few days (a few weeks if they are lucky), and then parents become responsible for that pet that was purchased for the kids to teach them about responsibility!  RIGHT?!!?

Well with THIS class pet idea, the pet was going to "house hop" and rotate in and out of homes of families within our homeschooling group.  

I came home and mentioned the idea of a "class pet" to my husband and we both agreed it was a GREAT idea!

So we started searching and searching on the internet.  And we just couldn't find the perfect one!  I really didn't think it was going to work!  We even had a Mom write a class pet grant and actually receive it!  How cool!  But nothing...

AND THEN...

We found her!  (Another Mom that knew we were looking and sent me a lead!)  

Long story short - Another homeschooling family needed their sweet pet to find loving home due to allergies.  And we needed to be that family!

Next week, I'm hosting a REVEAL party for Sparkie and the families that are participating.  The kids in our group will be coming up with responsibilities and rules.  And we will create her travel schedule then as well.

So here we have a pet, our class pet - only for a few weeks - and then she will go visit another family!  Then she will come back in a month or 2...and while she is gone, she will be missed!

During her travels, we are sending her away with a photo book about her needs and her schedule that my boys will be making.  We are including a journal for other members of our "class" to write and document the fun they had with Sparkie. 

So why am I mentioning this?

Because this idea is so "do-able" for any type of family, homeschooling or not!  

Gather up some like-minded, responsible friends...adopt/rescue or purchase a pet...and let the memories and fun begin!  

I'll keep you posted on this precious project! 

Anybody else up for this one?  Would love to hear about it!

Happy Learning with your little ones!