Signs of Spring: Tapping the Maple Trees

Cold Nights + Warm Days = Sweet Maple Sap Flowing

Mandalas....

Making Prayer Flags To Promote Peace, Compassion, Strength, and Wisdom

The primary classroom has been studying the continent of Asia and recently learned about Tibet. They have been making Tibetan prayer flags to hang around the classroom and in their homes. Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. A prayer flag is a colorful panel or rectangular cloth often strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas to bless the surrounding countryside. Blue symbolizes sky and space, white symbolizes air, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth.

It's Maple Syrup Time

Here in the Northeastern part of the United States the days are becoming warmer and at night the temperatures still fall below freezing. These are ideal conditions to collect rising sap from sugar maple trees. We are very blessed to have six large sugar maple trees in front of our school. Each year we tap the trees, collect the sap and boil it down into maple syrup. It is a wonderful expereince for our students as we include our maple syrup project in lessons on science, practical life, history, nutrition, language, math and more.

History of Bread: Field Trip to the Flour Mill

Yesterday our class took a field trip to a local flour mill. Farmer Ground Flour grinds local organic grain into flours that are sold regionally. It is really exciting to learn about where our food comes from. The children were excited and inspired.

The History Of Bread: Lesson 2 Wheat Crackers

Our class has been studying the history of bread. After grinding wheat berries to make our own flour, we began experimenting with a basic wheat cracker recipe. After mastering the basic recipe we allowed the children to experiment by substituting different ingredients. We kept a careful recipe log and notes on each substitution. The children were incredibly insightful and creative. We tested about ten different variations.

The activity was set up as an individual choice for one child at a time. The crackers were baked in a toaster oven(supervised by a teacher).

Basic Wheat Crackers

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of cracked wheat
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp of water

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Knead dough until smooth and consistent in texture. Additional flour or liquid can be added to obtain the right consistency. Roll dough to approximately 1/8 inch thickness. Cut cracker shapes with small cookie cutters. Bake on a cookie sheet for approximately 5 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until crackers are lightly browned and crisp. Cool and enjoy.

Recipe makes 25-30 one inch crackers.

Namaste's Favorite Wheat Crackers

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of cracked wheat
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of maple syrup
1 tbsp of fresh squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp of orange zest