"No Sturbing!”
Students at the Discovery Children's Center have gone maternal over a feathered mom-to-be since a duck built her nest under a slide in the toddler playground. The 14 students in one of the two classrooms at TBA-ISD Career Tech Center's program have been watching, learning, protecting and tracking the nest plus dreaming of baby ducklings for two weeks.
The class had already been immersed in a bird curriculum for six weeks when a duck took up residence and feathered their educational nest.
"The kids discovered the duck: 'Miss Tasha, Miss Tasha, there's a duck,'” recalled teacher Tasha Runberg of her excited students. "And sure enough, there was a duck.”
They created a sign for the informally named "Mother Duck” - No Sturbing! - but rain and wind ruined their first cardboard attempt. This week the students, who range from 2 ½ to five years old, will help teachers paint a sturdier, wooden version warning people not to interfere. The 11 eggs should hatch within a few weeks.
Already fascinated by birds, the students have gone wild for all things duck since Mother Duck moved in. They have watched her groom for feathers, harvesting some for nest lining, and later saw her turn the eggs. As for the duck, she sits in queenly splendor beneath a bright red slide, oblivious to the steady stream of traffic in and out of the center, the pointing fingers and whispered discussions about her.
"We have an emergent curriculum, it emerges from the children's interests and ideas,” said Tricia Short, director of the school for a year.
Inside their classroom, ducks are everywhere: a duck chart lets each child predict the much-anticipated duckling hatch day. Students pasted feathers (actually turkey feathers but they are duck feathers in spirit) to pencils. On Monday, they used these special pencils to draw duck-hunting maps and then complete a duck hunt around the halls of the Career Tech Center looking for paper ducks.
They make duck nests in the reading area at story time and listen to or help tell stories about ducks after settling in. A recent hit has been the classic book "Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey.
Another classroom favorite since the bird immersion began has been "Pony.” While not a duck, the donated pet parakeet that has taken up residence is another facet of the ongoing bird interest. Students all share responsibility for their charge, helping give food and water, clean the cage and provide gravel and treats.
"I can't believe we've been doing birds so long,” said Runberg.