Autumn Week One: Grasshopper and the Ants

The Grasshopper and the Ants

This first week we are starting with the story of the Grasshopper and the Ants. For those who don't know the story, it is a tale that really revolves around temporal perception contrasting the grasshopper who lives in the present and fails to prepare for the coming winter with the ants who 'make hay while the sun shines' and are mindful of their future needs. I used my own retelling of the story with an end that emphasizes the virtue of charity and also the grasshopper having learned his lesson and keeping an eye on the future going forward. In some tellings (including the original) the Grasshopper dies of starvation and freezing weather due to his own folly, while the ant coldly look on his suffering and allow him to perish. We thought this doesn't communicate our values so I altered it while still strongly emphasizing the need to be future oriented rather than present oriented. From this tale we also discussed the changes of the seasons, we spent time observing the way in which the garden has changed and discussed the ways in which animals plan for the coming winter. We discussed three approaches that animals take, Preparation (using the example of squirrels hoarding nuts), migration (using the example of whales) and hibernation (using the example of bears). We also have been reciting poetry, and spending time outdoors gathering the lat of our summer herbs and looking for signs of the season changing. One additional element is a 1935 Disney short of the Grasshopper and the Ants. It is similar in its telling to my version and a nice visual representation of the tale (8 mins long). In addition the girls have been acting out the story and we are spending time drawing and coloring images from the story like the one above, and doing various fall crafts to bring a sense of the seasonal shift into our home. Lastly, the girls make a soup nearly every day from the Waldorf book of Soups which I highly recommend, and in the morning I make a various breads to accompany their soup, which we have for lunch each day. So far this week, we had the Rosemary Red Soup with Fresh Irish Soda Bread, the Fresh Tomato Soup with fish crackers, and today we are having Cream of Broccoli Soup with cheddar biscuits. Making soup is really wonderful for the children as it helps them to feel useful, and be in touch with their food. We start the soup in the morning and it bubbles slowly on the stove until lunch time, filling the house with lovely yummy aromas and building anticipation for the healthy meal ahead. The girls take pride in carefully cutting up the veggies, sauteing and measuring the broth and making a tasty meal. Its great for all of us.