A fable for starting school time. (For parents, and anyone, to read to children of every age!)
The letter ‘A’, in either capitals or lower case, is an especially important (some will say propitious) one for ants.
It is THEIR LETTER and as there are so many of them in and on the world (above it as well, for some species are flying ants) their letter is referenced over and over and over.
When a young ant is sent off to school for the first time in its tiny life, to that part of the ant colony (or ant hill or giant ant mound, depending on the part of the world they live in or on) where ant learning takes place, the ants’ very own particular letter is given much attention by their ant teachers.
“A is also important for Attention,” the very youngest ant children are gently taught in their first days of ant school (for it is in the nature of an ant to be always busy and turning this way or that especially with the youngest ants who have yet to harness this seeming boundless energy).
And then, as the young ants journey quickly (for they are small and so their education is similarly compacted in time) through JK to Senior Kindergarten and the primary grades, they learn more of their As: Achievement is an important A-lesson, and so is Attitude, for ants must learn to cooperate and work together for the common good of the ant colony/hill/mound so that it can continue to thrive and flourish and be the best of all ant hills anywhere.
The right Attitude combined with the spirit of Achievement leads directly to the fulfilling sense of Accomplishment for being a part of a job well done, and the young ants are encouraged in this way by their teachers and the other caregivers in their young lives.
As adult ants participating in the hard work the colony needs to keep going, the young ants must learn that physical fitness is absolutely necessary to their wellbeing (and also because all work and no play makes Jack and Jill very dull ants indeed) so then Athletics becomes another important A word in the educational regimen at ant school.
As young ants progress (quickly) from the primary section of ant school to the intermediate schoolrooms in their ant hill, their teachers and other older ants of importance to them will help them to develop their particular Abilities so that they can be as good and Accomplished at the tasks to which they are best suited. Some will have a natural nurturing ability and so these ants may well go on to the all-important career of tending to the queen ant.
Others may like to build things and so they will learn the engineering and construction trades necessary to build and maintain the all-important and ever-expanding tunnel networks within the anthill.
Still others will show an ability for gardening or hunting, and so they will learn to become the farmers and hunters whose job it will be to keep the ant colony’s population fed. Others will like the military life and so will be trained in guarding the ant colony and protecting it and its resources from marauders.
When ants complete elementary school and move on to high school, they will have all the Attributes to make them all members of the colony’s A-team, keeping the community healthy, safe and well fed as they become Adult Ants and take their places, according to their unique and individual ant Accomplishments, Achievements, Abilities and Attributes. They will be successful in their ant world because they have paid Attention to their teachers and other role models and are prepared for the physical challenges of Adult Anthood because they’ve taken part in and enjoyed Athletic opportunities at Ant school.
And so, as many of us begin a new cycle of learning, some of us beginning school for the very first time, we hope this Expositor fable proves a useful reminder to all of what goes into the nurturing of individual lives and of our society.
