It was the end of October, Poetic Soirée was just around the corner and our Pre-schoolers were on course with their practice. They were exploring poems in depth for the first time and were going to be reciting them for the event.
S a 5 year old and her team had chosen a poem called 'War' by Anshuman Dash to present.
One day post the classes, S sat down to practice her poem by writing it down on a sheet of paper. She went word by word, blending and arriving at their spellings, using different colors for different words, checking with her facilitator when she forgot the lines, completely enjoying the whole process (backstory: S was just learning to write, and was completely inspired to work on it, constantly finding things to put down on the go). When she was done, the facilitator was curious to know how she had connected with the poem, so she presented S a question which led to the following conversation.
S a 5 year old and her team had chosen a poem called 'War' by Anshuman Dash to present.
One day post the classes, S sat down to practice her poem by writing it down on a sheet of paper. She went word by word, blending and arriving at their spellings, using different colors for different words, checking with her facilitator when she forgot the lines, completely enjoying the whole process (backstory: S was just learning to write, and was completely inspired to work on it, constantly finding things to put down on the go). When she was done, the facilitator was curious to know how she had connected with the poem, so she presented S a question which led to the following conversation.
F: What did you learn from this poem S?
S: I learnt that they are fighting without reason for water, for bread, for race, for blood, also themselves.
F: Why are they fighting?
S (seeming confident about her opinion): Because there are things that people are not supposed to do, but they still do it. (S continued with a bit of agitation in her tone) Like it's not good to throw garage on the road. In the side of my house there is that water thing no, there a bunch of garage, nobody takes it, every day I see garbage.
F continues, curious to know more: Why do you think they do that?
S: Because they think it's good to do but it's not!
F: How is that people think differently? Like, you think it's not okay to throw garage on the road right? Why don't they also think it's not good?
S, thought for a moment, continues: Actually, they know. They are taught, their teachers also taught them. Even if they learnt, maybe they forgot or they didn't learn.
F: Hmmm... do you have an idea how we can tell these people?
S, now in deep contemplation: I was thinking, give me the paper we wrote (referring to the letters the class had written addressing the people who litter the streets during their discussion on Indian independence) we can show it to them.
This conversation continued for a bit longer post this.
Capturing this moment, it was beautiful to see how she had connected a deep poem, like War, to her environment. Children are often stolen of opportunities believing they are little and they don't understand. But they have their own way of connecting to the world around them, and are capable of understanding things only if we trust their capabilities.
As adults working with children, it's our responsibility to make them feel trusted and their opinions valued. By doing this we are creating a future that's inspired and confident.
#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#childrenspoetry
Contributed by Yashika CG, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.
S: I learnt that they are fighting without reason for water, for bread, for race, for blood, also themselves.
F: Why are they fighting?
S (seeming confident about her opinion): Because there are things that people are not supposed to do, but they still do it. (S continued with a bit of agitation in her tone) Like it's not good to throw garage on the road. In the side of my house there is that water thing no, there a bunch of garage, nobody takes it, every day I see garbage.
F continues, curious to know more: Why do you think they do that?
S: Because they think it's good to do but it's not!
F: How is that people think differently? Like, you think it's not okay to throw garage on the road right? Why don't they also think it's not good?
S, thought for a moment, continues: Actually, they know. They are taught, their teachers also taught them. Even if they learnt, maybe they forgot or they didn't learn.
F: Hmmm... do you have an idea how we can tell these people?
S, now in deep contemplation: I was thinking, give me the paper we wrote (referring to the letters the class had written addressing the people who litter the streets during their discussion on Indian independence) we can show it to them.
This conversation continued for a bit longer post this.
Capturing this moment, it was beautiful to see how she had connected a deep poem, like War, to her environment. Children are often stolen of opportunities believing they are little and they don't understand. But they have their own way of connecting to the world around them, and are capable of understanding things only if we trust their capabilities.
As adults working with children, it's our responsibility to make them feel trusted and their opinions valued. By doing this we are creating a future that's inspired and confident.
#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#childrenspoetry
Contributed by Yashika CG, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.
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