Homeschool Discoveries

It took less than a month.  A tiny baby Monarch caterpillar that Miss M brought home on June 1st emerged as a butterfly yesterday, June 24th:

When a monarch emerges from its chrysalis (almost always in the morning), it needs to rest and inflate/dry its wings for a few hours.   Our monarch emerged on Sunday morning before we left for church.  Miss M and I had a bridal shower to attend after church so Tony and the boys released the butterfly while we were gone.  (I did just learn, though, from reading this page on rearing monarchs that they could have waited until we returned home in the afternoon, and the butterfly would have been fine. Now we know for future years!).

I love the process of raising monarchs.  The tiny caterpillars grow so quickly and the change of metamorphosis is wonderful to see and such a great learning opportunity!  Monarchs are a declining species due to loss of habitat, and it feels good to be involved in helping a monarch or two survive to adulthood each year.  This year we’re also going to plant some milkweed of our own instead of relying on the milkweed of neighbors! We’ll create a bit more habit for them and have an easier time getting food for our little guys next year.

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