Upstairs Neighborhood

March 24, 2023

Thank you to all the family members who were able to join us for our annual Randolph Maple Fest! Over the years this event has morphed into a vibrant celebration of the work, and the learning behind that work, your children have done during our maple sugaring season. The Neighborhood children were so excited to share their learning with you. And we shared yummy pancakes and syrup, thank you!

This year, like last year, the Neighborhood’s big role during the school’s sugaring season was to keep track of all the sap that had been collected and from all sugar maple trees that had been tapped. In order to keep a daily record of collected sap, the children had to add the various amounts of sap from each tree’s bucket that was harvested that day. The measurement units we used were gallons and quarter gallons. Those amounts were represented by a long (double unit) block (1 gallon) and four smaller blocks (half units) that added up to the same length of the “gallon” block. The children built a bar graph to record their data. The y-axis noted the number of gallons collected and the x-axis represents each day of collection. We’ll go into more detail in the end of year reports, but suffice it to say, much calculation was needed and your children accomplished adding whole gallons and fractions. They used the blocks as concrete manipulatives that enabled them to visualize and understand what fractions of a gallon meant and how four quarters equals one whole gallon. In the photos below, you see all the buckets’ sap representations (blocks) for the day were added up by organizing the blocks. This day’s total came to 12 ½ gallons.

The children then wanted to represent the same data using finger-knitted yarn. They used real tools to measure and cut the wood to build the loom. They needed to figure out the scale on the y-axis to indicate the season’s total sap harvest. Then they finger-knitted all the yarn and wove it onto the loom.

In addition to the physical work of tapping trees, collecting sap, and academic work of adding whole numbers and fractions, the children were able to express their knowledge of sugaring creatively. They created a book called “A Year in the Life of a Sugar Maple Tree at Randolph.” The class brainstormed all their ideas and organized the trees’ year into four seasons. And then they realized that Randolph sugar maples experience a 5th season, right between late winter and early spring: sugaring time! The book has five chapters and each child contributed one or more pages to it. This book-making endeavor included colorful, expressive illustrations, careful writing and encoding of their words, and sequencing the pages into chronological order, starting with autumn when the children begin their school year with the sugar maples. For the Maple Sugaring Season chapter, the Neighborhood children remembered all the first steps: measuring the circumference of the tree trunks; gathering, labeling, and learning to use all the tools necessary to the job of tapping trees. They hung buckets, poured sap into 5 gallon buckets, and collected and stacked firewood for the evaporator. They tasted drips of sap on their finger, and watched how the sap changed from a clear liquid to dark, sweet and thick syrup.

Lastly, there were other maple-related activities the Neighborhood children enjoyed. Sewing felt pancakes, complete with butter and syrup topping, for the Downstairs dramatic play Pancake restaurant has become a sweet tradition. The sewing itself takes focus and patience, and it’s excellent fine-motor practice. Giving away something that one has spent a lot of time and energy creating is also an important social-emotional muscle for children to build, requiring empathy and generosity. Neighborhood children also worked their fine-motor skills by creating punch out maple leaves, using push-pins and construction paper. This task takes concentration and perseverance and lends a zen-like quiet to their work. They also have the chance to reiterate the parts of a leaf, like the petiole, veins, mid rib, apex and blade. The leaves turned into a writing opportunity as children used them to create signs and decorations for Maple Fest.

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