By pattrice jones | VINE Sanctuary co-founder & Coordinator
Greetings and thank you again for supporting the animals at VINE Sanctuary!
Everything we do is rooted in our relationships with the nonhuman members of our multispecies community.
For many years, our virtual humane education program, Barnyard Buddies, has invited Pre-K through 5th grade students into those relationships, so that they can learn from animals too. Each classroom or homeschooling group "adopts" a "buddy" about whom they learn all year long. Each month, the classroom receives an update (along with videos and pictures) about their buddy and his or her friends at the sanctuary along with a humane education lesson about a topic such as stereotypes, friendship, or respect for differences. Teachers receive supllemental materials to use in between updates.
This month, we're launching a similar program for middle school classrooms: NATURE (Nurturing Awareness through Understanding, Respect, and Empathy). Why? Because this report on the attitudes of adolescents toward animals alerted us to the possibility that an intervention in the middle school years might help children retain their sympathy, empathy, and repect for animals into adolescence.
All year long, our humane education team, led by Michelle Carerra and consisting of expert volunteers, worked dilligently and carefully to devise a program that would
NATURE has the same basic design as Barnyard Buddies — a link to a specific animal at the sanctuary, monthly updates and lessons, resources for teachers — but the lessons are more complex and address the concerns of students in this age group. Topics include belonging and differences, empathy in action, freedom and fairness, communication, courage, friendship, conflict, and interdependence, with an overall focus on being part of healthy social and ecological communities by being a good neighbor.
The program also has been designed to be truly useful to teachers. All of the lessons are Common Core aligned (reading, writing, speaking and listening, language) and cross-curricular with Social Studies (ethics/civics) and Science (ecology). All materials are UDL and ADA compliant, and SEL (empathy, relationship skills, and ethical decision-making) is integrated throughout.
YOU CAN HELP find teachers to sign up their classrooms for our humane education programs! I've attached PDFs about each program, which you can share with any teachers or parents of pre-K, elementary, or middle school students.
Speaking of educational programming, we have plenty of programs for adults too! You might want to participate in our special Learning About Animals meeting of the VINE Book Club this month. Or, you might want to check out our YouTube channel for recordings of recent educational presentations.
Thank you again for helping feed the animals at VINE Sanctuary! Everything begins with their needs, and their needs begin with breakfast. Times are tight for everyone these days, and that's especially true here at the sanctuary. If it's within your means, please consider making an additional donation today!
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