Preparing for Blast-Off

May 2nd, 2025

In (and out of) the Studio with Nina

This week in the studio, there is new artwork up in our online gallery, so please check that out!

In the Downstairs and Neighborhood, we recently learned about Vincent Van Gogh as his paintings tie into our Star Lab and Spring flower curriculums. Children learned about Starry Night and his Sunflowers series, and then created their own night time or flowery (or both!) scenes using a wax resist technique with watercolors and crayons.

We are digging deep into the world of rockets at Randolph right now, and in the studio, that means we’re looking at all sorts of things that fly- from rockets to kites, from owls to rescue helicopters. As part our dive into all things that fly, each child is choosing a “flyer,” which they’ll be creating a ceramic representation of. This process started out with brainstorming, coming up with big, long, expansive lists of all the flyers we can. From there, children looked through books and photo resources to choose their flyer. They spent some time looking closely at the photos or illustrations and sketched out what they want their ceramic flyer to look like.

Part of this process is really practicing our clay skills- some new and some familiar. The Ducklings are practicing rolling out a flat slab of clay and drawing their flyer onto the slab using skewers, pencils, and clay carving tools. The Upstairs is practicing rolling out a slab and also scoring and slipping, hollowing out their thicker creations, and using tools to create texture.

Next week we’ll start our final flyers’ construction using all the practice and research from this week to help guide the way!

As a choice time bonus with the Ducklings and Upstairs Neighborhood, on Thursday we used the leftover flowers from our lovely Grandfriends Day as paintbrushes! Children explored writing and painting, using the stems vs. the flowers, and using a vairety of different mark making techniques.

Back in the Stacks with Siobhan

Spring growth is showing up during library time in a big way for all of the Randolph School. The month of April has many opportunities for the kids to demonstrate their mastery of library and reading skills, and to deal with changing plans and locations with a lot of grace and patience.

The Wandering Library

For a couple of weeks every spring, the amazing inflatable planetarium that is StarLab occupies our physical library. This means that library time springs up all over campus. You might find a library on the Studios porch or inside of the art studio. You might find a library in a lean-to or in the middle of the Back Field. You might find it behind the Carriage House or on the blacktop. You will see kids reading in the sunshine; taking care not to get books muddy or wet in the rain; and checking out books from the top of a bookcase in the art studio. All the library routines remain mostly the same, so we can take these changes in stride.

Reading Growth

April is also the time when new reading skills and new reading habits emerge. After almost a year's worth of phonics instruction, being exposed to lots of different kinds of literature, and reading with friends and teachers, we often find that new books and new ways of reading are suddenly available to us in a way they weren't before.

In honor of Rex the Library Dog's one year anniversary of living in our library, some of the Upstairs Neighborhood decided to put their emerging reading skills to the test and read a book to him. We talked previously in the year about finding books that are just right for us based on interest and length. Now that conversation is moving towards finding books based on reading independently. Not everyone is ready for this step yet, but Rex is a really good audience for practicing. He doesn't mind how slow or fast you read, how long it takes you to decode a word, or if you prefer to make up the story by looking at pictures. We'll continue reading to Rex all spring.

At the end of a sweaty, sunshiny school day, the Hummingbirds have been using the library to cool down their brains and their bodies with independent reading. Each one of them is more than ready to take this step and it has allowed many of them to discover books that they don't usually choose when reading with friends.

One of the Woodpeckers' favorite library activities this year has been reading a book aloud together. Until recently, a grown-up was always the one reading to them while they drew or quietly listened. In the past two weeks, the kids have taken over the reading duties and they have been joyfully digging into a Two Truths and a Lie book. This book gives them lots of opportunities for text analysis, critical thinking, and information evaluation which are all big skills they've been working on all year.

Musical Storytelling with Michael

Music and Movement

Exploring how sound and movement connect to help us learn to listen kinesthetically was a focus with the carriage house and Upstairs friends.

An adapted game of musical chairs emerged as a favorite of this group.

Using a wide array of instruments, from rain sticks to zithers, we listened to the sounds each instrument evoked and created a corresponding movement that represented the sound in our bodies. The somatic representations ranged from small and gentle to big and dynamic.

The criteria of the game remained intact, but with the added layer of listening and responding to the instruments while moving around the circle of chairs. With the addition of these elements, the focus became as much about listening and responding to the quick shifts of sound, tempo and feel, as to trying to find a chair in the game.

With the Downstairs and Upstair Neighborhood friends we explored music play with how different objects can change the volume and texture of a sound. We spoke thru tubes, and played games that incorporated our bodies with rhythm. We sang songs and were surprised by the demonstration of a jack n the box. How we can anticipate what the next note may be, and how that surprise is a beautiful element in music and art that can be sometimes overlooked and under appreciated.

Notes From the Field with evan

Good Fences Make Good Gardens

Amidst the thrill of new baby chicks hatching and the glory of our fruit trees in full blossom, we are hard at work in the “Three Sisters” garden and have been for weeks. Just like so many foundational aspects of our curriculum, farming and gardening are activities dependent on seasonal cycles and encourage us to reflect meaningfully on past experience and look ahead to summer, fall harvest, Harvest Feast, and beyond. We didn’t harvest as much corn, beans, squash and potatoes last season as we expected, and investigation and evidence suggested that a variety of insect and mammal pests were the cause. We decided not only to expand the existing garden on the Upper Playground significantly this year, but also to build a new and more effective fence to keep out smaller varmints like mice and rabbits as well as deer. Each group has been hard at work digging holes, moving stones, setting posts, and prepping the beds

In the meantime we have already sown several rows of early spring crops like peas, radishes and beets, all of which are growing happily in the freshly turned soil. Corn, beans, and squash have all been started in trays so that we can keep them safe inside over night. We are also excited to have lots of new space to work with and have started tomatoes, lettuces, basil, and other varieties we haven’t grown in recent years. All of this work inevitably leads to spontaneous opportunities to observe and learn more about insect life cycles, soil microbes, native caterpillars, invasive species, flower anatomy and other scientific concepts while applying math skills to measure rows and determine the amount of seeds and materials needed. These immediate pleasures of working in the garden will be followed by the joy of picking and eating fresh vegetables, cooking on the fire with produce from the garden, and learning new methods of pickling and preserving things to make them last.

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