A Turtle Singer Visit: Teaching the Young about Ecology

Diamondback terrapins, terrapins

You can while the hours away

Helping all those lovely turtles

In the county of Cape May!

–Karen Buckley, The Turtle Singer 
When granddaughter Ava was about 2 years old, to stimulate her interest in the remarkable life of the marshlands,  I took her to a turtle-filled musical evening at Avalon Library where The Turtlesinger and her husband, self-named “ The Turtletoter,” entranced a full house with songs, live turtle feeding, and games involving their turtles.
Big black Bart, a substantial red-footed tortoise, and inquisitive Rocky, a diminutive box turtle, stole the show. Karen Buckley, recipient of the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education Outstanding Environmental Educator Award for Work with the Public at Large, writes and sings songs about the turtles while Charlie Buckley plays Daddy to the turtles he carries into the audience so the children can see, and even feed them. 
Children and their adult caretakers leave the concerts and demonstrations enamored with their new shelled friends, anxious to learn about them and see them again and again.
The wholesome good fun is also highly educational. Their website tells us that Turtlesinger, Inc., a not- for-profit organization, educates and entertains the public about this 250 million year old species, with  live turtles and original songs, focusing on education, literacy and music/animal therapy.
No one else in the world does what Turtlesinger does in utilizing the arts (music, theater, photography, video, and more) and live turtles. The Turtlesinger T.A.L.E.S. (Turtles Are Listening to Every Story) “Read and Feed” Reading Program promotes literacy, and  conducts music and turtle animal therapy for nursing homes, and challenged children and adults.
Turtlesinger events raise awareness of earth’s most ancient living reptile, the turtle, and create an experience that leaves a lasting impression.
Impressed by the delight engendered for a very few very quiet turtles, I purchased Karen Buckley’s CD, filled with her catchy, self-composed odes to turtles.  We played them in the car on frequent trips around our beach community but, little did I suspect that 4, by age, Ava would become a vociferous member of the turtle fan club. 
“Grammy, can we play the turtle songs?” Ava had memorized the lyrics about Gracie, Bart, Rocky and Spike by the time she was four. And so had I. 
With a background in children’s’ learning I knew that enthusiasm motivated Ava’s learning, so, to enlarge her knowledge of our four-footed neighbors, I asked the Buckleys if we might visit the turtles at their home down the street from our cottage.
Since then, acclaimed educators and musicians, Karen and Charlie Buckley, have repeatedly invited us to visit the only award-winning turtles I have ever met who are in the New Jersey Animal Hall of Fame.
Late last August Ava said, “Grammy, can we visit Bart and Gracie? Sara hardly knows them and I would love to see them.”  Now a sophisticated 9-year-old with the supple movements of a gymnast, Ava has remained loyal to the egrets and the turtles she has loved and learned about ever since she can remember. 
So it was that Ava, Sara and I walked the boulevard a short distance until we came to the sign The Turtle Singer. We had brought blueberries and watermelon, turtle treats. Ava and Sara, 5, each took chopsticks and fed Bart, Gracie and Rocky their delicious treats. Happiness reigned supreme.
The highlight of the memorable visit was the affection evident as the girls looked into their eyes of their quietly gentle friends. They connected to the hearts beneath the shells. The interest clearly seemed mutual: Gracie and Bart and Rocky were engaging and open to attention.
Ava, Sara and I have become a small sample of many local turtle lovers.  Daily, motorists all over Seven Mile Island stop cars to save lives of diamondback terrapins, a rare and disappearing breed of turtle.  Because terrapins have been slaughtered for food, had their homes destroyed, drowned in abandoned crab traps, and suffered death as they try to cross the road, the diamondback terrapin is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 
The Wetlands Institute established the Coastal Conservation Research Program (CCRP). One project that has received praise is the barrier fencing erected each spring to stop terrapins from crossing the road to lay eggs. 
We owe a vote of thanks to the high-spirited brilliance of educator Karen Buckley, who understands how to motivate children to love and protect the fragile ecosystem in which many of us thrive each year.
To consider: How might you enhance the learning of the children you know?   How can you help them become internally motivated to want to learn more? Will you be glad you did?
To explore: Spend some time getting to know the turtles and the skillful learning about ecosystems on The Turtlesinger, Inc. website:   www.Turtlesinger.org 
Find Dr. Judith Coche at The Coche Center, LLC, a practice in Clinical Psychology in Rittenhouse Square and Stone Harbor, where she works with clients of all ages. For more information, www.cochecenter.com