ASK A TEACHER
Pets

with Nancy Downing

Q:  My two children have never had a pet but are insistent about having one at this time. No
one is home during the day, so a puppy is out of the question. Responsibility is not a
characteristic that either one of my girls has mastered either. Can you give me a direction to
take?

A:  First, you need to teach your girls the responsibility angle of having a pet. Start with each girl
purchasing two fish. A simple fish bowl, the fish, and a figurine for the bottom of the fish bowl will be
sufficient. If you want to, let each girl have her own fish and fish bowl.

  • In a soup bowl full of water practice sprinkling in the correct amount of fish food required for a
    feeding. This allows for mistakes.
  • Set up a feeding schedule.
  • When the fish water starts to become dirty, have the girls assist you in cleaning out the fish bowl.
  • The next time the water needs cleaning, allow each girl to do the job independently. (You can be
    there to observe, of course.)

When you feel comfortable with their levels of responsibility, discuss purchasing another pet. Teddy
Bear hamsters are a nice. The responsibilities for their care increases, and each one of your
daughters can hold them and hand feed them. This is the perfect stepping stone to getting a cat or dog.


Copyright © by Nancy Downing.  All rights reserved.
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Nancy has been an educator for 30 years and is currently a special education teacher.  
She is the former Center Director of LearningRx in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has
received local, state, and national recognition for her development of Downfeld
Phonics, a multi-sensory reading program.  Nancy also wrote curriculum for an
educational technology company.   

Nancy is a single mother of three children:  one with learning differences, one gifted,
and one who has to work for his grades.  Not only does she know what it is like to teach
all these different learning styles at school, but she has the experience of dealing with
all aspects of each twenty-four seven.  
Train a child in the way he should go,  
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)