It's Hard to Let Our Children Go

Mrs. Haney's first grade class also had butterflies they had raised that were ready to release.  Actually the butterflies were more than ready.  The rainy weather had kept us and them inside.  Now it was time.

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Before we go out, Ms. Flaherty, our naturalist volunteer, asks the kids if they wonder anything about what will happen to the butterflies. The answers come flying in.

"I wonder where their homes will be."

"I wonder if they have sticky feet so they can stay on plants the way they stick on the top of their cage."

"I wonder if they are going to a better place than this classroom."

"Well, they are going to the place they are meant to be--outside," says Ms. Flaherty.

"

"Let's line up," says Ms. Haney.  

And, off we go.

Once we're in the outdoor classroom, Ms. Flaherty unzips the butterflies' home.  Suddenly one flies out and...

  

right onto Ms. Goodman's (our author-in-resident's) hand.  While this Painted Lady is getting ready for its next move, the kids say their goodbyes in the form of wishes.

"I hope you live a happy life."

"I hope God makes you food."

"Thank you, butterfly," Ms. Haney adds, "for allowing us to help you grow. It was a privilege to have you in our classroom."

Then, it flies out into the world!

Finally the only ones left in the cage are the two born with injured wings.  We decide to put them down gently on a flowering bush nearby.

"The injured ones are going to live a harder life," says Ms. Flaherty, "but we'll give them the best change we can."

"I like to think of them as survivors," said Ms. Haney.

Then all the first graders walked to the bush and watch their last two butterflies settle on a place, hopefully to live and thrive.

Goodbye, butterflies.

Goodbye, Butterfly

It often takes a while for any important occasion to take place.  This was true for the release of the butterflies flying from Ms. Hicks' first grade classroom into their new outside home.

While they were waiting, the kids reflected upon how they felt about saying goodbye.

"I'm happy," said Adam, "because the butterflies are going to find a whole new world out there."

"I'm happy and sad," said his friend.  "Sad because I wanted them to stay with us, but happy because this means they can go make other butterfly friends."

 

Finally it was time.

Songs were sung.

"Caterpillar, caterpillar, what do you say?

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle all of the day!"

Dances were danced and then...

Good wishes and butterfly-decorated noisemakers sent the butterflies on their way.

In a moment, they were gone. 

We Read, We See, We Learn

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Ms. Hick's first grade class has been studying the life cycle of the butterfly.  

Just is case this is new to you, it starts with a butterfly laying eggs, which eventually hatch into caterpillars.  The caterpillars eat and grow.  When it's time for them to transform, they they spin a chrysalis around themselves to stay protected.  Finally the new butterfly breaks out into the world of sun, flowers, food, and more butterflies.  

The kids learned about this marvelous transformation in many ways.  They read about it, of course.  Ms. Hicks explained the facts. They also experienced the best kind of learning.  They watched the process with their own eyes!

They had a butterfly garden.

They could watch the caterpillars eat and grow.

 

They could see the caterpillars spin their protective sacs.  They also got to see them hatch!

What's next?

Goodbye Butterflies!

Just a few days after Mother's Day, the first graders in Ms. Haney's class had a mother type experience themselves. They raised young living things from babyhood until it was time to let their loved ones go out into the world.

It was time to release the Painted Lady butterflies.

The kids brought their goodbye letters to the garden in the schoolyard. They also brought their four butterflies in their mesh container. It was the only home these butterflies had ever known.


















One student after another stepped up to the butterflies to say a formal farewell. Saying goodbye brings up all sorts of feelings.



















Some of the kids were sort of happy to launch the butterflies into the world.
























Others had more mixed feelings.
























Then it was time to let them out. There was a moment when each butterfly was free to go but didn't really know it yet. Suddenly they were all off on the wind.



















It's hard to let go even when you know it's the right thing.

Letters to a Butterfly

If you look at the post just below this one, you'll see that Ms. Haney's first graders watched caterpillars transform into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. And then they released them out into the world.

Saying goodbye to the butterflies was hard. It helped to write them letters. Here are some of the letters the kids wrote. If you have a hard time reading one, just click on it to make it larger.

Bye, Bye Butterflies

It started when five tiny caterpillars, less than a half inch in length, took up residence in Ms. Haney's first grade classroom. Even though the classroom's volunteer, Ms. Flaherty, explained that these little guys were going to turn into Painted Lady butterflies, it seemed almost impossible. Yet, every time the kids peeked into their cage, the caterpillars were eating. And growing. And eating some more.

Then one day they inched their way upwards. They attached themselves to the paper top. Soon the caterpillars’ skin split open, revealing a shiny green case underneath—the chrysalis. This would protect them as they changed into butterflies. See them up there!




If kids staring at them would have helped, those Painted Ladies would have hatched in less then a day. But nature has its own timetable, so the caterpillars needed seven to ten days to hatch into butterflies. While the kids waited, they read books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Suddenly a chrysalis began to vibrate! And then another! And another! The kids got so excited, they began to vibrate themselves. Then the first butterfly broke free. Its wings were soft and crumpled. It was tried from all that hard work but slowly unfolded its wings to dry.

Soon the first butterfly had four companions. Ms. Flaherty dipped some carnations in sugar water so the butterflies could have something to eat.

The kids knew they were going to have to let the butterflies go free. Sometimes it's hard to let go of something or someone important. So all the kids wrote goodbye letters to the Painted Ladies.


Last Thursday was the Big Day. The kids gathered in a circle in the schoolyard's Science Garden. They each took turns saying goodbye. Some of the kids read their letters. Others said, "I'll miss you!" Or, "Have a nice trip!"


Then Ms. Flaherty opened the cage and the first butterfly crawled onto her finger. All the kids hoped a butterfly would come to them and sometimes it did!


And then they were off. "Goodbye butterfly." "Have a nice trip!"

This is already a long post. So we'll publish some of the kids' butterfly letters another time soon.