Winter seemed to last for ever this year and the children and I talked on a daily basis of the battle between Winter and Spring.We watched patiently for signs outdoors,the first leaves on the blackcurrants,blossom on the cherry,garden birds nesting and of course the long awaited arrival of the swallows.At last and over a month late, Nature burst into bloom and we knew that once again we could rejoice at the wonderful rebirth of life on earth!

It was also time to make our annual trip to the zoo!So ,taking a gamble with our weather ,we agreed on a date in early May!!And luck was with us.The sun shone and it was warm!!A very excited group of children and parents left Sligo on the train ,the first train trip for many and it was very exciting. As always,picnics started before Ballymote and the journey flew as children chatted and played together whilst parents mingled getting to rekindle or start new friendships. On arrival in Dublin,we hailed taxis for the zoo and within a very short time were at the “best place ever”!! On our way to the picnic area,we were greeted by some of the S.American rain forest  animals,the white faced saki,the sloth ,lion tamarin and squirrel monkey!!As the children had just finished their projects on S.America,it was wonderful to see the real animals !There were yelps of delight at discovering  yet another animal. which they all “adopted” as “their own” from project work on the continents.

The children were delighted to have the peacocks strutting amongst us whilst we ate our picnics and admired their magnificent plumage. Children just love the reptiles so the new Zoorassic World was our first stop. Stan,the life sized replica of T.Rex was a big hit.There were also real reptiles to see which are part of Dublin’s Zoos project in breeding endangered species.

I have been visiting Dublin Zoo with my school for nearly 30 years and it never fails to amaze me. New conservation projects and  international breeding programmes for endangered species are just some of the wonderful things that are happening there. It gives children an appreciation and a knowledge about animals from all over the world and opens up a wonderful world to them,allowing them to see and respect living creatures.

Our day continued in a very leisurely and relaxed way with a very happy group of little children who shared their magical awe and wonder at all they experienced with us. What more could one ask for?It was one PERFECT DAY.

It has been a long ,cold and wet Winter but we have had great fun on our journey around the globe discovering the animals of the Continents.In January we “traveled to Africa” and the children chose an animal which appealed to them after we had discussed and looked at the animals of Africa! We all enjoyed the wonderful projects which each child did on his animal along with his family.

February saw us land in South America which was very appropriate as the children had shown great interest in the rain forest and were already expressing concern at the destruction of this habitat by all of us! We have a beautiful book on the rain forest and so projects were chosen once again.

Iseult arrived in the very next day with her “toucan” project! She told us that he likes to eat other birds eggs as well as frogs and insects!David arrived the next with a most impressive tarantula project ! He can live up to 30 years and has trip wires leading to his web where he injects his prey with venom!!Harry told us that there is no such thing as a black panther! He is a black jaguar with a melenistic gene!!Anna  had a great diagram on her project(the jaguar) comparing the spots of the S. American jaguar with the African leopard and cheetah!! Both she and Harry told us that they are great swimmers!We learned from Ella that the howler monkey is the loudest animal and also the laziest monkey!Saorla told us that a group of spider monkeys is called a troop! Sienne did her pink river dolphin with just a little help and we learned from her that he is pink because his blood vessels are just beneath his skin! From Sonny we discovered that  the harpy eagle female is twice the size of the male and they are king and queen of the rain forest!!  Umi s beautiful scarlet macaws live in the under-story and is in grave danger of becoming extinct with forest destruction. We were most amused to hear from Wren that the tapir would weigh 10 Wrens and he is shaped like a pear!! Edan did a lovely project on the llama and he is related to the camel! Rosa told us that the capybara is the largest rodent,a herbivore, very sociable and he landed in Cork recently on a ship from S. America containing fruit! Oscars Goliath bird eating spider is the largest spider in the world . Even though he has 8 eyes,he has bad eye sight but  leg span of 30 cm and eats frogs,lizards and snails! Finally,Michael arrived in just before we moved to Australia with the long awaited anaconda!He is the worlds largest snake and non venomous. He prowls around in the swamps and marches of the Amazon jungle where he kills by squeezing his prey!

We learned so much from the fabulous projects and all enjoy telling and showing them to all who visit our beautiful classroom.Another big “Thank you” from all of us to the best Mums and Dads!

There are still a few places for  the afternoon session in September 2018.The class runs from at 1 pm- 4 pm. Please contact me on 0861036207 if interested.

A very wet and cold Winter has meant our little garden birds are very hungry .They are practically queuing up to eat the nuts on the feeders and the children get so much pleasure from watching them,keen to see their own adopted little bird.Even though it is  cold,the birds have started to sing again giving hope of Spring on its way. We look forward to turning the page on the calendar,putting up the picture for February and welcoming Spring . Today we noted the little crocuses peeping up from under the ground and examined different trees to see if their buds were opening. We raked and away old leaves and all delighted in seeing the bulbs we planted in the Autumn appearing .From now on we will keep a close watch on everything because Spring is coming!

There was great excitement when we finally turned the page on the calendar, bade goodbye to November and welcomed Santa and Robins month of December!!It was lovely to lift the darkness and decorate our school room with multi coloured twinkly lights and build our Christmas village. However,as always, the most exciting part was putting up our crib after listening to the “Nativity Story”! It always amazes me how year after year this story never fails to engage and enthrall every child!! We then discussed the role each child would have in our play. Umi and Michael opted to be Mary and Joseph ,whilst Harry,David and Tom just wanted to be kings. The other boys,Sonny, Oscar, Cillian and Jake were happy to be shepherds and the rest of the girls,Sienne, Iseult, Edan, Wren ,Saorla ,Anna and Rosa were thrilled to be angels.In fact,deciding everyone’s part was never easier with all just falling into their role!!We have been so busy practicing the play and singing the Christmas songs every day and look forward to welcoming Mums and Dads into the school on Thursday for our Christmas show!

It has been quite a cold winter and as a result the little garden birds are very hungry. But we have nuts and fat balls on the feeders and so we have a great variety of little birds visiting the feeders. The children get such enjoyment out of watching the birds fly back and forth from the cherry tree,as if taking turns to feed.They already know by observation what each  bird likes to eat. Thrush and blackbird are ground feeders and enjoy apples,whilst the tits love nuts and seeds.  Robin will eat nuts but prefers fat balls as does chaffinch and goldfinch!!Watching the birds is a huge part of school life and great entertainment and conversation in the classroom.

Our Robin is always at the window  watching the children work and then delivering messages to Santa.We are on best behaviour  as a result! He is Umi s special bird and she did a beautiful project on him cutting out lovely pictures. Greenfinch is Harry’s bird and another bird we see every day. Harry did a great project on him and little brother Hugo also brought a picture of Greenfinch in for us to see! Both Michael and Wren did Great tit, two lovely projects with help from Mummys and Daddys! Michael has loved great tit ever since he learned to recognize his song “teacher teacher”!Sienne has always been so fond of little Blue tit and her big brother Zach helped her colour in the beautiful hand drawn pictures her mummy drew! Edan chose Swallow,another great project with lovely pictures, and so we look forward to welcoming him next Spring!