Classroom Programs
Humane Education, or using animals as a vehicle to teach empathy and kindness, is the cornerstone of compassionate communities. AWS offers unique and interactive classroom programs and animal-based curriculums to teachers, homeschool groups, and educational organizations.
One-Time Classroom Lessons & Presentations
AWS can present one-time lessons and presentations can in person to a small cohort, a classroom, or even a school-wide assembly. We customize each lesson to fit into the classroom or cohort’s curriculum or school’s learning model. We often use companion animals during our programming as a catalyst for understanding. Lessons and presentations will target important educational components: literacy, empathy, social-emotional learning, and animal advocacy.
Multi-Session Classroom Lessons & Presentations
In a similar fashion, we offer classroom programs that are multi-week, semester-long, or even year-long, depending on the individual curriculum and the school’s learning goals. For example, one of our most popular programs is a semester-long program called Muttigrees.
Muttigrees is currently on hiatus.
What is Muttigrees?
Using a curriculum established by the Yale University School of the 21st Century and the Millan Foundation, Mutt-i-grees uses companion animals as a vessel to teach and social and emotional skills (SEL). Individual curriculums target different grade levels. Therefore, we can offer this program to different K-12 classrooms. Each lesson includes a visit with a pet and presents lessons to demonstrate empathy, compassion. Additionally, lessons build community amongst students. We specifically present the semester-long classroom program in five units:
- Achieving Awareness
- Finding Feelings
- Encouraging Empathy
- Cultivating Cooperation
- Dealing with Decisions
Why have Muttigrees in your classroom or school?
Muttigrees supports schools’ social-emotional learning requirements and helps faculty and administration achieve their SEL goals. In fact, Muttigrees is the only classroom-based program of its kind in the state that uses companion animals as a vessel to teach social-emotion learning!
Using humane education to teach SEL is a natural fit, because humane education in its essence seeks to build empathy and compassion to animals and the world around us. Additionally, many children can relate easily to animals, particularly companion pets like cats and dogs. The use of animals in SEL can achieve the learning techniques more quickly and more successfully, as children can see how animals mirror their own emotions and work together to build relationships not only with each other, but with animals as well.
Students have expressed how much they’ve enjoyed their furry friends and how it has improved their social emotional wellbeing. Does this program hold value? Absolutely! Enriching our children’s lives with this type of social emotional program will not only teach them resistant qualities but create healthy habits and connections going forward.”
Educators:
For more information on how we can bring these humane education programs to your classroom or school, please reach out by email or telephone (207) 985-3244 ext. 109.
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