Homeschooling Chronicles - Insects

Bugs are not to be distained or feared. In fact, you can help your children discover the mysterious world of these bizarre and prolific creatures. Insects belong to the phylum Arthropoda, under the kingdom of Animalia. While some are pesky, and can be harmful, they are a crucial element in the food chain.

When my son was young, he was petrified of bugs. A bug could make him freeze in fear. My job was to remove the heinous creature from his sight. After doing this one too many times, I decided that I had to take what was "bugging" him and make it less terrifying, and more interesting. 

Observing Insects in Natural Surroundings

When we took a nature walk in the woods or the park, my son loved to run around and explore. But once I decided that we were going to to study insects, I used these excursions as an opportunity to confront his fear. I made a game out of finding a bug. At first, he would stand at a safe distance while I located an insect and held it out for him to view. Once he saw that nothing horrible had happened to me, the distance between us began to shrink. Together we would hunt bugs and I would pick them up for a closer look.

Insects at Home

Eventually, I ordered a caterpillar kit. We were all excited when we received our future butterflies in the mail. Building their habitat and discovering the activities of a caterpillar prior to spinning his chrysalis was fascinating for the whole family. Once the caterpillars were safely ensconced in their chrysalises, we would check the habitat each day to see if there had been any changes. Finally, the butterflies awoke from their metamorphosis, emerging as Monarchs. My son was so thrilled to see this, he forgot that the process commenced with a bug. We observed our butterflies for a few days and then released them.

Next, we expanded our bug study to lady bugs and an ant farm. We were captivated by the intricate tunnels created by our industrious ants. These diligent insects were too busy to notice that my son and I were watching their progress. As for the lady bugs, we watched them go through a metamorphosis similar to that of our butterflies.

As my son’s interest increased, his fear of insects diminished. He requested to take a class on spiders and began to tout web statistics. The arachnids' spinnerets fascinated my young entomologist. Another benefit of studying insects, was seeing the growing respect my son had for these small creatures. He realized that creatures from the phylum Arthropoda were not scary, but intriguing, once one picked up a magnifying glass and started to observe their tiny world.