P, a 4 year old, came to me to open her water bottle. It's usually a little tight for her to open by herself, so she asks for help. Yesterday, Ak, another 4 year old, helped her voluntarily. He considers himself strong and he was excited to help the moment he saw her struggling. 

Today when the same scenario happened, S got to P first. Ak also ran to her, causing a tiff. Now S and Ak were at it, wanting to open the bottle. Eventually S opened it and Ak was visibly upset. I called him to ask what had happened,

F (Facilitator): What happened?
Ak, with teary eyes: S opened the bottle. But ma'am, yesterday S opened Ad's bottle also. 
F: Okay, but yesterday you also opened P's bottle all by yourself too. 
Ak: But ma'am, he opened so many bottles. 
F:How do you feel when you saw him opening bottles?
Ak: Sad. 
F: Why? 
Ak: Because he opened Ad's bottle and so many bottles. 

I figured he was upset because he considers himself quite strong but he was failing to see that his strength could be used anywhere he wanted to and not just opening the bottle. After acknowledging what he felt was okay to be felt when he did not get a turn, we continued our conversation.

F: Hmm, Ak, you know you are super strong right?
Ak: Yes. 
F: And that helps you open bottles for others. Right? 
Ak: Yes ma'am. (Slightly smiling)
F: Are bottles the only things that you can do with your strength?
Ak seems to be thinking. 
F: What else can you do with your super strength?
Ak: Climb ladder, draw...

His options went on and on, and so did his mind. The more options he came up with, the more calm and content he seemed. 

F: Ah, see you can do so many things with your hands and strength. So next time you get upset about not being to open somebody's bottle, what can you do? 
Ak: Find something else. 
F: Awesome!

We finished out conversation with a hi five and off he went to sip water. 

When children feel stuck one way, building the skill of creative decision making could help them shift their emotional states into productive states that can help them bring in the flexibility to handle situations differently, just like how Ak started seeing how he could use his strength in multiple other areas too himself, and not just use it in opening bottles. Flexibility is a muscle that can be built overtime which can enable decision making in creative ways, also helping one to see multiple pathways when one feels stuck. 

Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
​#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatordiaries
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
#problemsolving

In yet another 10 year old child's case: his prompt was "a perfect evening". Sharing his visualization.

"I've been struggling to watch a particular angle of the moon for several days, got a picture uploaded it onto a forum that I've been following. I won a cash prize of $1000! Yayyyy!

When I told my dad in the evening, Dad and I decided to go for a celebratory walk (mom not joining...yay!!!). I saw a t-shirt at discount and bought it! Day was made!"

Facilitator: What was the perfect part S?
S: Of course, the cash prize and the new T-shirt! Duh!!!
F: In your visualization.

S is looking at external and materialistic things as making up a perfect evening and not seeing the satisfaction in his own effort of getting the snap of the moon or his evening spent in his dad's company.

Creating change makers of tomorrow needs children to learn to deal with successes and failures in their own terms. In one of our visualization games, the prompt given to the child reads 'overcoming fear of failure'. The visualization process helps a child become aware of moments when they have faced failure and how they have perceived it will determine what they have learnt. 
​
One of our 10yr olds, R, is a proud recipient of this prompt. R attends our  After School Program, Young Thinkers and Achievers, developed to create inspired, independent and confident communicators. This is achieved by developing various skills such as creative and critical thinking, emotional and self- awareness skills, communication and interpersonal skills, decision making skills, and values. These skills are imparted through designed games which are considered to be the highest form of experiential learning; visualization games being one of the many that we play with children in the course of the program. 

Sharing R's visualization output.
"Doing something that I'm comfortable with is okay, when I'm doing something I've never done before and coming out of my comfort zone is overcoming fear of failure. In the baking committee I took on a challenge to make a cake which I hadn't done before. It was something completely new for me! I had never switched on an oven, or broken eggs. I had a 100 questions and was worried that when I break an egg, are egg shells going in or the yolk, should I put the vanilla essence a little bit or too much, then I was wondering will people like it or not? I told myself, "I'm going to do this and learn" a 100 times. It was a success, everyone loved it at school. But, the part where I baked and stepped out of my comfort zone is the part where I overcame the fear of failure!"

R is also a 4th grader (Leopards), at Sparkling Mindz Global School. Children were given a challenge to move beyond their comfort zone by opting to do something that they would like to  but have never done before, and R chose to bake a cake!

Raising challenges and building the sufficient skill set is imperative in raising a generation of inspired and confident learners and achievers. We at SMGS believe that every child is capable of anything that they put their mind to, all they need is a little push in the right direction towards creating the change that they want to make, to enable them towards a brighter tomorrow.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#everychildcan

As narrated to Sreeja Iyer by Poonam Pradeep, Facilitator Young Thinkers and Achievers Program at the Sparkling Mindz Young Achievers Academy. 

The Pups and Calves were given a challenge in the morning for their morning ITP (Invitation To Play) where they were asked to create music. The twist was, they needed to make music with no musical instruments. 
The reaction was priceless - excitement, curiosity, eyes sparking up with wonder, confusion, lost...
F: Go ahead and make music! You can do it!

Suddenly they were everywhere. The facilitator wasn't prepared for their reaction. Some started clapping, some were trying to whistle, some banged the tables, walls, tables, some stomped, some made sounds with their mouths, some banged on beds, some took chairs and banged against the wall...needless to say there was a plethora of sounds that arrived as part of their experimentation. Some wanted to sing, so they did. 

Suddenly T says, "Let the girls sing and boys make music!"
And that was what happened. With a little help from the facilitator, girls got together and sang our school's anthem while boys clapped, stomped, whistled, etc. And vice versa. 
All in all, children had a gala of a time making music today with absolutely no instruments! 

Who said we need instruments to make music? As long as we have our imagination, we can achieve anything!

Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
#everychildcancreate
#everychildcanplay

During the snacks break 4 to 5yrs old wanted to sit outside and eat. We all went out and sat. 

While doing so a child pointed out the temperature and how she feels,
D: Ma’am it's hot here.
Facilitator (F): Why don’t you go and sit in the shade?
VR responded immediately to D, “I like to sit in the sun. Whoever wants vitamin D can come and sit in the sun!”
Aa replied to VR, clarifying her intentions: I want vitamin D but now I will sit in the shade and eat my snacks and then play in the sun.
VR, not paying heed to what else was going on: Ma’am, why do we get tears in our eyes when we look at the sun? 
F: Good question VR! Why do we get tears while looking at the sun, do you know?
D, overhearing this conversation, contributed : Because sun is hot!
And Dit added, “It gives light.”

A few others told him the same about sun being too hot. Then V agreed, feeling satisfied with the explanations he received from his friends.

He then reasoned out to himself, “Now I know why tears come from our eyes - it's because the sun is bright and very hot that's why... When we look at it water comes from our eyes.!”
​
Most of the children forgot about their food as their curiosity began to rise towards the sun. They all began looking at the sun with wonder, agreeing to what VR said.
Dit suddenly had an interesting thought to share, “After seeing the sun when we close our eyes why is it colorful?”
Aa jumped in with, “Because the sun is colorful that’s why!”.
C, hearing this, recalled the story from the book ‘The Day The Crayons Quit’ that they had read and came to the rescue, “You remember the Duncan crayon story, when orange and yellow were fighting, Duncan said the sun has all the color that’s why!”
 
They wondered about for a few more minutes what they heard, recalling the story, sun bathing, reminiscing over the conversation that just happened. Children, when left to wonder and experiment with their thoughts and words, can explore places that have never been explored before. 

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#everychildcanwonder

Contributed by Sheela Peter, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.