Post by starshine1977 on Jan 3, 2018 19:48:56 GMT -5
Yes, as part of the curriculum, I see nothing wrong with exploring an octopus. Hands on exploration is how preschoolers learn best. I would however make sure my students were being respectful with the animal and really learning from the experience (not just poking and prodding). We focus on nature-based education in my classroom and have learned from dead animals that we have found in the outdoors (just to be clear, I don't let my kids touch dead animals in the wild- diseases, parasites, etc.) but we do observe them and talk about the structure of the animal and how they may have died. It's a great way to for preschoolers to learn!
ETA: Over the years I've also had human brains, lungs, etc. in my classrooms as well. *shrug*