Tot School 3:

Tot School 3: “A” Ant Week

May 12, 2009

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Even though God is my Rock and Firm Foundation, I must admit that Tot Time has been an anchor this week to keep my kiddos stable through the turbulence of my emotions.

Who would have ever thought that the study of Ants would bring great joy to this Granola Mom? (Especially as I presently sit on my couch hearing the precious said Tot opening and shutting his door when he is suppo

sed to be napping.) The idea behind posting Tot School is to provide an overview of your entire week, but I just got too excited and want to share what we have done thus far. I need a bit of validation and encouragement, too.

Things have been a bit turbulent, to put it lightly, between the resident Tot and myself. In any and every attempt to try and rectify this explosive interaction between our personalities, I have sought to create some peace.

One idea I had was for us to do Tot School more than just

once or twice a week and to have a consecutive theme the entire week. So, we are going to go through the alphabet. Once again, I am thankful for Carisa’s site, Mr. Linky, and the chance to be held accountable to my goal of a regularly scheduled Tot School. I really hope and pray that it will help Mr. Easy (who will be getting a new name soon) feel valued, loved, special, important, and unique.

Welcome, to “A” Ant Week. Much to my utter amazement, we are going to become ant farmers. Why on earth would I pay to own ants, when they come into my pantry for free? The instruction booklet said that you can provide your own ants–but two warnings brought fear for my organic food.

1) Make sure the ants come from the same colony or they will fight and eat
each other.
2) Make sure the ants are large enough that they can’t fit through the air
hole and escape.

Sold. I am purchasing your ants! I also got suckered in to purchasing the kit which comes with a full color poster, membership card, magnifying glass, activity booklet, etc.– all for one low, low price! Sucker.

After looking at our new ant farm, the boys practiced cutting straight lines from a Kumon Let’s Cut Paper! workbook while I filled out the misleading “coupon” for our ants. The box stated that there was a “coupon” inside to redeem your ants. What does that say to you? Send the coupon in, and get your free ants. Nope. You have to pay money for these annoying insects.

We also read (because Mr. Smiley was still sleeping) “Boys and Toys” in our Storytime with the Millers, by Mildred A. Martin, about two boys who missed their chance to go with their mom to get eggs, because they took too long to clean up their toys (which has been a huge issue recently). The boys decorated a toy box and cut out pictures of toys and glued them onto their wood toy box. (And yes, I know he his holding his picture upside down.)

While I got Mr. Smiley ready to walk to the post office to mail our “coupon” to habitat our farm, the boys watched this GREAT video on the alphabet! I was way excited! Go TV–it does have some redeeming value!

Which leads me to today, Tuesday . . . thanks to http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ and http://www.lapbooklessons.com/ we created an ant hill from a printable and I had the boys glue sandpaper to mimic an anthill. We finished the morning by traveling to the library to pick up the rest of our ant books!

3 thoughts on “Tot School 3: “A” Ant Week”

chasedbyblessings on May 12, 2009 at 5:33 pm said:

I’m impressed! I’m impressed! Love the literature connections and the real life hands-on approach to ants! You inspire me.
I just came off a very intolerable period with my 4y9m old daughter. I thought we would not make it through. Slammed doors, disobedience, screaming and crying (on both our parts). But patience and persistence (and dare I admit it, but a bit of help from my naturopathic doctor) worked nicely! I’m saying a prayer right now for your patience and guidance on this parenting challenge!
GranolaMom4God on May 12, 2009 at 7:28 pm said:

Thanks so much for your encouragment. I know that this is a season, and that my firstborn also went through a rough time and we made it through. But WHEW! Some days . . . I know it has to be rough being 2 3/4, a middle child, and a younger baby brother who gets a lot of attention and an older brother who can do a lot. Rough. We are learning a lot and it is definetly requiring some soul searching for me, crying and seeking God on this one! THanks again for posting a comment–it is nice to hear from people!
Kristen on May 13, 2009 at 8:12 pm said:

I’ve enjoyed looking around at the Tot School website, and especially hearing what you are doing with it. I’d love to chat with you about it sometime. I can’t do things quite as… detailed? with Corban yet, but I have been being more intentional about a focused ‘learning’ time every day. I definitely want it to look like what you’re doing one day!
I’m sorry things are so rough right now. It makes me nervous for what is to come- bc I have days that rival that already! Praying for you though, for wisdom, patience, joy, love… You are a wonderful mom, Jodi, and an incredible example! Thanks for you honesty in your sharing on here!