Upstairs Neighborhood

Hello Upstairs Neighborhood Families!

What a strange winter we’ve been having. But when has weather of any sort stopped Randolph kids? We all still got to go skiing at Catamount where the children conquered their nervousness and accomplished big, big growth. They learned to persevere, to encourage one another, to set goals for themselves and work toward achieving them. The confidence they built on the slopes invariably translates to their attitude toward their school work.

In lieu of snow this winter, the Robins and Kittens have been delving into crystal formation. The children made borax crystal snowflakes and watched with fascination as they noticed the crystals form within the hour!.  We’ve looked at gorgeous photos of snowflakes and learned they have 6 or 3 rays when they form. In art with NIna, they learned about radial symmetry and how snowflakes are always symmetric.They’ve graphed pictures of snowflakes according to their intricate designs. They’ve learned to do a challenging snowflake sudoku puzzle for which the children used logic, pattern reading, and deductive reasoning to solve. They even made yarn snowflakes! Next will be salt-paintings; and a maple syrup experiment which will hopefully result in maple-flavored rock candy!

Speaking of maple-flavored things and a strange winter, our maple sugaring season is in full swing a bit earlier this year. The kids have learned to use adult, real tools safely and are proud of their accomplishments. They measured, cut, drilled and hammered to build a special loom on which they will be weaving to record how much sap has been collected daily – this year’s Sap-O-Meter. They used those same tools to drill the trees, tap the spile into the hole, and added a bucket to each spile. 

Practicing With Real Tools

More Sap-O-Meter Weaving updates to come! We still need to add a scale (the numbers going vertically along the frame to keep track of gallons), finger knit enough yarn to weave, and analyze the data we are collecting as we collect sap, and weave the appropriate amount of yarn onto our loom.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all for our storytelling event on Friday!