shedding a new skin

Preschool is well underway these days. After the long, slow fall hiring process, we were open for learning on December 4th. Things are going swimmingly. We have a great team here; the wait was worth it.

Recently we have been studying the body in our class, bones and muscles to be specific. Most of my 4 and 5 year olds can tell you where their biceps are, or even come up with the name themselves, as well as demonstrate the movement associated with biceps. We made working models of our arm bones and biceps, put together skeletons...and as capstone to our study:

We skinned rabbits.

My awesome grandma/aide extraordinaire was excited when I asked if it would be appropriate to skin an animal in class, not as enthusiastic about my idea of asking one of the fathers to come assist: "Ask a dad? You don't need to ask no dad. I'll snare you a rabbit. I'll skin it for you. I'm almost sixty; I can do that!"
The following Monday she brought in two white hares. We skinned them with the students that day, which to my surprise is rather simple. At the feet the skin just rips, no knives required, and from there just peels off real clean.

Not only did we skin the rabbits, we cut them up, threw them in a pan with crisco, and ate the bones clean.
I laugh to think how fast I would have been fired in Seattle if one of parents came into a scene of bloody entrails, and their children gnawing on bones.

I asked the families for donations of bones to use on display in my class. Weekend project: boil the brains out of one wolf skull, one lynx skull and one marten skull.

As I've said before the opportunity to learn new skills on this adventure is the highest I've ever experienced. Boil a wolf's head? Check. Skin a rabbit? Check. Wasn't nothing like this in Hyde Park.