| THE LITTLE JOYS OF HOMESCHOOLING (Or "The Story of Felix the Cat-erpillar") By Jan Jennrich |
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| THE LITTLE JOYS OF HOMESCHOOLING (Or "The Story of Felix the Cat-erpillar") By Jan Jennrich |
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Felix the Cat-erpillar came into our lives halfway through our first year of homeschooling (about 7 years ago). Kelsey was in second grade, and pretty much everything we had done for science that year had flopped. Botany had died, nature walks had gone nowhere, and chemistry had fizzled (or rather, had not). So, when we saw a woolly black caterpillar crawling up our house to join his cocoon friends under the eaves, it was with excitement (and a bit of dread) that I caught Felix. With our dog having recently passed away, we were very enthusiastic about having a new ‘pet,’ no matter how temporary. With gusto, the children and I went about making Felix feel at home. Onto the lid of a clear plastic container went leaves, flowers and sticks. We formed a yellow cardboard triangle to serve as a place for Felix to hang as a cocoon, and added that. We made air holes in the bottom-turned-top of the container, put in a bottle cap full of water, and then we waited. We were very excited, that evening, to find Felix hanging on his little triangle. He was not yet in his cocoon, but we could see it was something about which he was thinking. At last! A small science success! The next day, we had been out at a Brownie meeting. Upon returning home, I put Ian down for a nap and then immediately checked on Felix. The timing couldn’t have been better, for right before my eyes Felix was changing. I ran for Kelsey as fast as I could and we watched in amazement as Felix made his cocoon. At the last moment, a piece of fur separated from his body and we both gasped aloud. For a moment I thought something had gone wrong, but in the next second I could see that we no longer had a pet caterpillar…we now had a pet cocoon! (It was, by the way, very interesting to try explaining this later to toddler Ian, who wanted to know to where the woolly caterpillar had gone.) Watching Felix’s transformation was incredibly exhilarating and truly an experience I will never forget. How had I lived for over 30 years, I thought, and never seen how a cocoon is actually made? I called my parents, my sister, and my friends to tell them about what had happened. I felt so glad to have shared this with my daughter. This was how I had pictured homeschooling…full of adventure, real life experience, and shared learning. Most enthusiastically, Kelsey and I looked for information on the life cycle of caterpillars. Amazingly, we could not find one reference or picture as to the way a cocoon is actually made. Most books we had showed the caterpillar and then the cocoon. No mention of what a wondrous sight it is to see the transformation. We felt as though we had been let in on a deep secret. We did find information on cocoons, and learned that it would take ten to fourteen days for Felix the Caterpillar to become Felix the Butterfly. This gave us time to prepare for his arrival by building a butterfly house out of a cardboard box. We turned the box on its side and taped a plastic-wrap flap to what was now the top. Kelsey decorated the box with colorful butterfly stickers and added air holes, greenery and water. When the house was ready, we moved Felix and Felix’s triangle (on the plastic lid) into the box and taped the plastic wrap shut. We checked daily on Felix, but nothing happened for a long while. But after several days, the cocoon looked different to me. It was turning dark, and it had kind of a fuzzy look to it. I called my husband, very concerned. Was the cocoon turning moldy and had we killed Felix? I worried that the air in the box may have become too damp because of the capful of water. I worried that he had not gotten enough sun. My eyes became damp when I warned Kelsey that something might be wrong with Felix. We both watched him closely that day, feeling very sick at heart. The next day we had a field trip and had to be out for the morning. When we returned, we went directly in to check on Felix. What a wonderful surprise! There hung the cocoon, empty and lifeless…and above that, on our little yellow triangle, sat a beautiful, dark, wet winged butterfly! We realized he must have emerged just before we had gotten home, and were beside ourselves with happiness to see him. Felix had not been molding…Felix had been preparing to re-enter the world! Thrilled beyond what I could have ever imagined, we decided we had better take Felix outside. The sun was shining, and there was a slight breeze. We opened the plastic flap hesitantly, being afraid our new friend would fly off and leave us immediately. However, Felix the Butterfly was still wet and timid, becoming used to his wings and new life. We pulled the plastic lid, complete with triangle and Felix, out into the sun. The breeze seemed to wake him a bit, and he began to move just the slightest bit. We called my mother and Kelsey and I narrated excitedly as we watched this small miracle in fascination. For some time, the Felix stood with his wings together. He was beautiful, but the colors on the underside of his wings were not very bright. There was a dusty whiteness to him, and I started to wonder if he was a large moth, rather than a butterfly. That is, until he spread his wings! It is difficult to describe the deep feelings I still feel in my heart when I remember this moment. As Felix slowly spread his wings, my children and I once again gasped aloud. His wings were gorgeous! Now dry and open, we could see the rich blackish colors in his wings, the spots of violet, and the wing edges outlined in bright yellow. As I described him to my mother over the phone, she knew immediately that Felix had become a Mourning Cloak butterfly. In the breeze, Felix slowly began trying his wings. The fluttering increased, and we knew he would soon be leaving us. In an instant, he was up and flying…up, up, into the air and right over the top of our house! Kelsey and Ian cheered, and I think so did I. The moments following were bittersweet. As suddenly as Felix had come into our lives, now he had gone. I looked at Kelsey and I knew the sad smile on her face and the welling of tears in her eyes mirrored my own. We were happy for our little friend, but sad to see him go. I look back now on our time with Felix, and
those wondrous moments we all shared, with deep joy and satisfaction.
Certainly if we were not homeschooling, we might still have captured a
caterpillar and cared for it in the same way. But I doubt we would have
had (or made) the time and I doubt Kelsey would have been home at those
precise moments to see the wonders she saw. |
