At Sparkling Mindz, sports is not just a physical activity, it's also a whole process of settling your mind and giving it everything you’ve got!.

It was encouraging to see children doing this to each other in real life when faced with challenges. When learning is deeply rooted with experiences, it becomes a part of who they are further shaping them for themselves and others around.

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The year that went by 
I grew almost a decade older. 
I saw time slip by
It seemed to get bolder.

"I've been here, watching you. 
I'll be here, watching you. 
I don't measure you, just exist. 
You can choose to make this count 
Or count me for the sake of it"

Why a decade in a year?
Isn't that too hard to bear?
Well, let me tell you a story
About a game that's fair
"Those who learn, grow
Those who share, grow
Those who dare, grow 
Those who stand still 
Reset or relearn to grow"

How can I make it count?
How can I make it matter?
It seemed like a puzzle until
I calmly heard a murmur
"Find your purpose 
Find your tribe 
Find a sense of humour 
And, let their hues
Create your vibe!"

A poem by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Founder of Sparkling Mindz Global School, Preschool, & Afterschool

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Words are within our minds waiting to be thought and felt before the are spilled out into our world....

Yet, we as humans beings do not think twice before we use them to criticise,hurt,judge or berate someone .Somehow they come out so fast and with an amazing fluency.

Yet, these same words struggle to come out when we want to tell someone we love and trust them, when we want to acknowledge someone's good work or when we need to accept that we are wrong.

Can we make a pact that we will use words only to spread joy, peace, motivation and love?

That we will use words to create beautiful poems and songs and stories that will make people cry out because they are so beautiful?

​Contributed by Anita Ashok, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Afterschool Program.

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If we think carefully we all have some goals that always remain in the shelves. We never find time or opportunity to work on them. After some time we start to believe that we cannot achieve them because of xyz reasons. Let me give you an example. I never enjoyed really books. But I had to read them anyway due to some or the other need. So everytime I read a book, I had to take a huge break. Which meant I would hardly read 3-4 books a year. That too felt very exhausting. 

Then something shifted. In the last 3 years I read more than 50 books. You might be wondering how?

Allow me to explain.

Earlier, it was all about my goal to finish a book. Learning, reflecting or taking insights were far from my objectives. Then I realized, in order to achieve what I want to, I need to approach this differently.

I started breaking things down for myself. I changed my goals. From reading a full book, I made it a point to invest 15 minutes to read everyday. Initially I was able to read around 5-7 pages during this time. Surprisingly I was reading around 50 pages a week, which means around 200 pages a month. By the end of my second month I was able to read around 10 pages a day, and was able to finish a book in approximately a month. Something shifted by my third month, I was giving around 30 minutes a day. And I also started finding more time to read. Now reading didn't seem the same way. I started identifying myself as a reader. I guess you got the point. 

It is not about the big goals, it is about the approach and the commitment to adhere to the baby steps. If you want to save money, or become better at time management or give time to yourself, it is never about getting to the desired state from day one. Create a path, create some baby steps and commit to those baby steps, results are assured.

​One more thing, you might fail to be consistent, key is to start again :) 

Now I am going to do this with my workout regime.

How about you? What's yours?

Contributed by Minesh Happy, Operations Head at Sparkling Mindz Global School and Preschool

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It's was another unstructured Invitation to play in our preschool one morning. We decided to make use of the cut out branches of a eucalyptus tree. 

Children came in to see the pile of leaves and branches. Most were excited like a new toy given to them. Children started picking them up, observing, touching, waving them and some explaining what it looked like to them. 

After a few minutes of exploration, Ayush who decided to get everybody to play together cried out, "Let's all make a beach".


Children who were excited about his plan came along. Twisha who was walking with a branch behind her said, "I'm a fisherman carrying the fish". Then, Lekha, pretending like galloping with a branch in her hand said, "It's a horse". Ayush picked up the longest branch pretending to throw one end on the pile and pulling the leaves little by little towards him, he said, "He's fishing". Avyay who bundled some branches and placed on a chair nearby and stood there, he said, "He's selling fish". 

Avyay then took a branch went in between the leaves and kept swirling the branch above his head, he said, "It's the wind", Teana runs to the facilitator, "Ma'am watch out there is a wave coming" we all pretended to run out of the water to a safe place. 

We also had a seed shop near the beach by Gianna and Caitlin taking a swim in the ocean. 

On the other side of the beach we had Vikhyath as an 'aqua man' and Caitlin the 'mermaid', they explained that "their duty is to save their world which is deep under the ocean", they kept walking around to ensure the aquatic animals are safe. 

In one of the corners Isaac and Arjun along with Teana were collecting the little cones found on these branches. They said, "we are bears who are collecting food for the winter, we need lots of fish to hibernate". 

Just then our little mermaid Caitlin came in with her want pushing all the fish the bears collected back into the ocean. Isaac the bear sadly, "Aaaaa we are collecting it to eat we are the bears we need food to keep ourselves warm", Arjun then, "Yes I'm collecting the fish to put them in warm water as it's too cold in the ocean", the empathetic mermaid heard this and said, "Ok you can use this last bunch not anymore", as she handed over a branch to them. 

They continued their play until the next activity and still wanted to play more. 

It was enriching experience for children and facilitators as children explored the leaves in their own way. This led them connect to nature and explore natural materials through play. 

At Sparkling Mindz our children have no boundaries when it comes to imagination. 
​
Contributed by Grace Veronica, Learning Facilitator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

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​Our 1st to 3rd graders were holding house elections and one of them asked:

S:  What does a leader do? 

A: A leader helps the team to grow and connect with each other, leader helps them when they're stuck in their team work.

E: Leader can't be the boss. 

P: I disagree! I think leader motivates people.

May your tribe of leaders grow. We need a lot more like each of you to hold the world together as we all grow.

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#youngachieversacademy
#everychildcan
#beingchangemakers

I must have been a dancer in my previous life.

I have a strange connection to rhythm, beats and danceable music of all kinds. I find myself thinking in choreography too. I've put a lot of that to some good use in childhood and at preschool/school now. It's the other way round though, I didn't put it to good use because I had to. I did it because it felt right, I wanted to. It's one of my happy place to be - to dance to music. 

When I don't find a place, a partner or time to do it, I dance in my head. I've never been formally trained on dance and my mom was not amused that I wanted to do it instead of singing which she thought would be a life long hobby for me and she worked hard to train me in it. Dance had a limited shelf-life, in her view. She had a point. She was a trained dancer but she couldn't dance after a certain age, it was considered inappropriate but, I didn't care. I loved to dance and she didn't stop me. 

I don't particularly enjoy the work of costume, make-up, jewellery, flowers and the paraphernalia that goes with it. But, I didn't care. I'd always find someone to help out so that I could dance. I've beautiful memories of the dance, the floor, the rhythm, the team moving in unison, the song, my body, the beats and everyone else syncing for those few minutes. It's like experiencing the bliss of art for a few minutes that can then last a lifetime. This is what irresistible happiness must feel like!

Contributed by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Founder of Sparkling Mindz Global School, Preschool, and Afterschool.

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​Is learning age-dependent? Is it limited to school or textbooks or exams? 

As our Cubs (4 to 5 Y/O) were thinking about what learning means to them, this is what one of them had to share. 

"When you are small you learn new things. When you are big also we learn new things"
- R,5 year old.

At SM children believe and know that learning is for life. Children equip themselves for constant change and are open to becoming the best version of themselves constantly by imbibing this belief in them. 

Can we always learn? Can we instill in us the mindset to be a learner? How so? (and the discussion continues...)

Inspiring learners for life!

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#learnersforlife
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Isn't it amazing how every human child is a possibility of many more possibilities! I sometimes ask myself this question, would I have been a different person had I had different circumstances? Like different parents, different religion, different school, different friends, read different books, watched different movies or may have listened to different kind of music. I strongly feel that I would have been a different person.

Human children are the one species who are born immature, both biologically and mentally compared to any other. This is possibly the nature's way of saying "build whatever you want to!" Isn't it fascinating? Let me tell you how I see this. I was raised around Andaman & Nicobar Islands, where I have seen young fishermen's children learning to swim at a younger age. And I have seen tribal children climbing tall coconut and arecanut trees; school going children cutting grass and milking cows. I have seen some working hard during daytime and studying hard at night. This made me realise something, there is nothing impossible for these amazing wonders. They can do anything they set their mind to. Their  ecosystem does impact who they become eventually. Now that we know this let's ask ourselves how do we make these wonders become the most wonderful being that they can be?

​Contributted by Minesh Happy, Chief Mentor at Sparkling Mindz Global School and Preschool.

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#childawonder
#everychildcan
#21stcenturylearning
​#facilitatordiaries