On a bright sunny day, the Falcons (11, 12 and 13 year olds) and 2 facilitators headed out on an explore mission to a science exhibition called Submerge. An explore mission is one where a group of students experience either an activity, experiment or so, and generate unlimited wonder questions. That day’s mission was part of a unique learning game in the learning area called SIE (Scientific Inquiry and Experimentation) and these set of students have been playing the game for about a year now.

Excited and curious, this bunch of children got into their school bus with sheets for them to write their observations and questions on, based on the exhibition. While on the bus, one of our students called the school bus a ‘Guardians of Science mobile!’ Upon hearing this, another immediately added, “We could travel around learning about science and have our own exhibit everywhere we go!” While on their way, they pondered on and discussed questions, such as ‘Where are we going ? What is being showcased ? Who is doing this?’ and many many more.

Upon reaching there, we split ourselves into groups to explore multiple exhibits at once. Once we stepped in, we were all constantly left to wonder. Hanging by a wall were 4 metal plates that seemed to make some kind of sound. The mediator asked us what we thought about what it was, what could be a possible reason for the creator to have made this… At this time, S used his detective observation skills to answer we unlocked more and more of the story of gold mines in Colorado and how a river is polluted by Aluminium, Steel, Copper and Lead. And on one side, M was thoroughly amazed as that was the first time M had seen art, science, storytelling and technology put together to create something so amazing!

Some of the other exhibits that were showcased were- a plant called Argus that can detect lead in the soil, an electrolysis equipment that helped us hear the sound of various lakes in Bangalore and so much more. The guardians of science stopped at nothing! They were on a mission- constantly asking and writing questions that would help them set off on a journey to make connections and learn Chemistry deeper. Our questions spread wider as we saw data systems that measured climate and brine shrimp that lay dormant. Amazed, M commented, “ They put science, so many other areas like art, music, social change, farming and all of them together. Can our experiments be this cool?”. As we covered more of the exhibition, we saw more that showcased the combined ability for engineering and science to create an impact, a water fountain made from puddles and a vertical garden of a certain kind of weed that some villages in Bangalore (Karnataka) cook and eat. 

With eyes wide open and still remembering, wondering and questioning everything that we saw, we finally sat down to eat and reflect. Post our reflection on what we saw and what we learned, we headed back to school. Some of us shared about how there is so much purpose around us and how it is just a grasp away, that we should just go and find it. Facilitator S mentioned how our careers in the future are going to cross functional and that we will most likely be working on creating impact using knowledge and skills from various areas, merging everything, just like how the exhibition merged science, art, storytelling and technology! And finally, through this experience we fuelled our curiosity, collected unlimited wonder questions, connected to the world of science and explored Chemistry. 

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
​#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#everychildcan
#experientiallearning
​#buildingcuriosity

Contributed by Sriram Kakarla, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global School.

​Times have been unpredictable, with the COVID-19 spreading, driving the world to take refuge in a dark shell of uncertainty. First, the schools were shut, then we were to keep our distance from each other and then, a complete lock down extending for over a month. Does this mean we shut everything down? Should children's learning stop? How are parents going to keep them engaged? These are some of the questions we asked ourselves.

We, at Sparkling Mindz value and nurture growth mindset. We believe that there is always a way, even in the face of adversities. We took to technology and reconnected with our children over video calls. Our children too vibed with our mindset, that NO Virus Can Stop Our LEARNING! 

We have been connecting with our children ranging from 7year Olds to 14 year Olds, reiterating to them about the importance of managing themselves mentally, emotionally and physically, and being able to create a routine that involves productive engagement. Oh! trust me, our children can create amazing schedules for themselves. 

On the last video call with our youngest group of children (the 7 to 8 year Olds), we presented a variety of activities that they could add to their schedules, which included different kinds of chores, workouts, experiments, skill building activities etc. Our children were  more than delighted to accept the repertoire of  options to choose from. 

Here, we have V trying to pick ice cubes with a piece of string as part of his play and learn experiment. The joy on his face shows us his engagement and wonder. Knowing V, we can imagine the curious wonder questions and observations he must have made while he experimented. 

Here is our Advika, doing the same challenge, inspiring all of us in the process, in her own creative way!

We viewed this adversity not as a hindrance but rather as an opportunity that presented itself to help our children and us learn and grow through it. 

Children, need to be encouraged to deal with adversities with a growth mindset. Why? So they become individuals who can deal with their circumstances without giving up on themselves or their dreams.


Contributed by Disha HK, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global School.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#youngachieversacademy
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#everychildcan
#covid19
#gamebasedlearning
#challengingourselves

It was 9:05am, which meant, it was time for the preschool children at SM to go into their respective classes to begin their day. As I was calling them all in to the class from the front space of the school, Aarav was looking around the window area , looking out, touching the surface, etc. He seemed to be in deep thoughts. As I called him too to go to his class, he stopped me and asked me, "Ma'am, how do we close the window?" 

Aarav and Aadya stared at this in wonder, trying to have an experience of opening and closing the window. After having figured it out, they happily jumped out and ran to their class with a newer dimension of thinking about how they could close the window. 

This little conversation served as a morning inspiration as it was yet another reminder about how curious children are about every little thing. And their passion to figure things out, and also helping others to figure things out. 


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

​It was a typical circle time for the Pups and Calves until we decided to continue the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle from the previous day. Today was 'Recycle' discussion. From the previous discussion, we had arrived at not using the same dustbin for all the waste and to use different dustbins for different wastes. 
F: What are the different dustbins you think we should have ?
K: cardboard
An: Plastic
H: Paper
F: What all goes into the 'Paper Waste' dustbin?
H: Tissues
Av: Paper
F: What is cardboard then?
K: Plastic
F: Why do you think it is plastic?
There was silence. 
F: Is paper hard or soft?
Collectively: Soft. 
F: How about plastic?
Collectively: Hard. 

To further deepen the thought processes, they were asked two prompts:
1. What makes something plastic and what makes something cardboard?
2. How does one know something is plastic? Do we touch and find out? How do we find it?

Since we didn't arrive at anything convincing or conclusive, we decided to take it a step further through a small experimentation: How about we take plastic and cardboard and poured water on both? 

Our wonder questions were: 
What will we get? Will they both stay the same? Since our bottles are hard, will cardboard also stay hard? Will our bottles become soft like paper if we put water on them?

​To find out, children who didn't have plastic water bottles were given plastic cups to experiment with. They all got into their chu-chu trains and marched to the taps. One by one they all poured water on their bottles and cups and got back to class. 
K: Mine is fresh now. 
S: Mine too!
H: Mine is soft
Av: Mine is also soft now (in a very playful manner)
​
They all went back to class and sat on their mats to feel the texture further and collectively discussed and agreed that the bottles and cups were still hard. So plastic doesn't get soft after putting water on them. 
Then they were each given a cardboard piece. They followed the same routine of putting water on each, came back and sat on their mats. 
There were lots of giggles and surprised expressions on their faces when they realized they could bend and tear the big pieces of the hard cardboard. 
H: This is soft ma'am. 
Ab: Ma'am see I can tear
S: look ma'am there's one line here on the cardboard 
F: So if the cardboard is soft and we can tear it and bend it, is it plastic or paper?
K: Paper!

​So the conclusions made were,
1. When we put water on plastic, they still remain hard and we can't bend or tear it. 
2. When we put water on paper, it bends and tears. 

Post this, we all agreed that we will have 3 dustbins:
A) Paper waste (tissues, paper and cardboard)
B) Plastic waste 
C) Food Waste
​
It's easy to give away the information to children rather than letting them experiment and figure it out for themselves. When they are given the freedom to experiment and figure it out for themselves, they learn so much more than when they are just given the answers. They will learn things more deeper than usual because the learning happens right in front of them. And that journey is exhilarating and fun! Isn't that what learning is all about?!


#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#everychildcanwonder
#everychildcanexperiment
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning

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

Thursdays at SM are always exciting!
Every Thursday we pick a book and read it with our 4- 5 year olds. Another reason why children look forward to Thursdays is because they get to take home a new book from their library. And this Thursday we chose to read a book called “Not a Box”. To help children connect better with the book, the class was set with empty cardboard boxes of different sizes for them to imagine and play with. 
 
As children came in, some were confused, some amused and some curious. Sh came inquiring about the boxes in the class,
Sh: Ma’am, why are these boxes in our class? Did you put them here?
F: Yes, I put them here. You can do whatever you want with them.
 
After this conversation, it was amusing to see the things children could imagine with mere empty boxes!
 
In the image below, all that can be seen at the first glance is probably just a bunch of children standing inside an empty box. But if looked a little deeper, a whole new world of theirs is what we will see.

For E, they are on a bus traveling to school where V is the conductor of the bus. For Ash, it's an aeroplane ship, an aeroplane that turns into a ship when it falls into the water and for Av, it's a submarine.

J pulled out a long strip used for compartmentalizing from inside one of the boxes, wrapped it around himself and said “Ma’am, this is my seat belt”.
​

Ad and An playing ‘Peek a boo’.  And on and on they went with their wonder, excitement and endless bouts of imagination!
​

Often as adults, we are so clouded by our understanding of how things work, that we forget to understand what it means to play. It then gets easier to teach children what things do before letting them tinker, experience and learn by themselves first. If we step back and observe with an intention to know them rather than teach them, we will see that everything that comes across as ambiguous about our children will begin to inspire us. They are exploring the new world around them, constantly making connections, learning from everything they see or do and reproduce it in different ways.

​And we can contribute in their journey by learning to explore with them. 


Contributed by Yashika CG, Asst. Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz.

​It was a bright sunny day when our energetic 3 year olds (Calves class) decided to go for a pattern hunt around our Kannuru school campus. As children spotted different patterns on the school wall, ceiling, railings etc, some of the kids tried searching for patterns in plants, they bent down on the little saplings that were planted around the school to see if they could find any pattern on the leaves.

A child who was fascinated about the veins on the leaf exclaimed, “Ma’am look it’s a pattern!”, and accidentally pulled it off.

A moment of shock envelopes as all the kids gasped and the child who pulled the leaf looked at the facilitator helplessly.

All children huddled around the plant to see what really happened. Just then children started talking about what they think the plant is feeling now that a leaf has been ripped off.

​Sh: The plant is not feeling nice now
Ay: It’s crying and it’s hurt

​I (pointing out to a bruise on his nose): I think it’s painful, just like this 

Sa was trying to place the leaf back on the plant with the intention to fix it.
Just then, “I think we need some glue”, said Ar and ran in to get.

Children waited there patiently as he got one, they all sat together and applied glue on the leaf and tried fixing, but it wouldn’t stay, it kept slipping. They were not done yet.

“Maybe we should try a tape on it”, exclaimed Ay and ran to get it.
​
It took a couple of minutes for children to work together in fixing the leaf back on the plant with the tape. Finally they managed to fix it together.

​Facilitator – I wonder if this is really going to help the plan heal?
V: Yes ma’am it will, it’s like putting bandage when we get hurt

​Facilitator – Okay, then how long do you think it will take to heal?

Children started giving out different numbers like, “4 days”, “No 5”, “15 days ma’am”..........
Then we went back to check the plant the next morning, sadly they found that the broken part of the leaf was blown away by the wind, leaving the plant unfixed.

This led us to get back to class and learn with a sad heart but new learning, wonder and discussions about how plants heal themselves from injuries.

Since then every time we step out on the campus, children remind each other to be careful with the plants and not to touch them in a way that might harm them.

How wonderful would life be if we all learn to be kind to all living and non- living things around us, respect and believe that they have feelings too, learn to live and let live and be empathetic individuals.
Yes, that’s they path our children are travelling upon.

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Facilitator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

As I interact with children across age groups at Sparkling Mindz through our Young Achievers Program, through the TED-Ed Clubs, I see a shift in the attitude towards learning. Most of them trivialize learning, want to run away from it, don't think it is useful or meaningful in their lives and those who put in hours of effort too only know how to figure out the answers for questions in the text book so they could excel in exams. When you run on the treadmill of exams there is little time for anything else.


The world, however, has higher expectations from your child. The world expects your child to discover and nurture their uniqueness, develop an opinion, a voice that they can use to stand up for not only themselves but the community and world at large, to solve problems bigger than themselves and how are you training your child to develop these skills?


The classic moment was recently when I asked a bunch of children, "What do you learn English for?" pat came the answer, "for exams" and after a moment of silence I heard one of our Young Achievers voice, eyes shining, she said, "for communication." and the room lit up in awe. I would think every child should have thought of and known the answer to that question as most of them learn the English language for well over 16 years as a subject!


Another interesting conversation I had with a 14 year old. He was quite angry with the fact that his mother thought that video games were a waste of his time. He loved to play them and saw a future in the industry. However, according to the mother not wrongly so, no exams, no marks, no future so he should study and keep the video games aside for a while. He took it up as a challenge to prove to her that video games were not so bad. It took him a while to research the pros and cons, articulate what he felt, figure out what to use/discard from the research and eventually change his stance to "too much of anything is bad" and pick up and analyze examples of learning from games that he liked. Much of that too was researched data, the child did not yet know/understand how to add a layer of own insight into the research. Diving deeper into topics results in children discovering their own interests, passion and a sense of identity like nothing else does. Like everything else in life, it is a matter of choice to empower your child with the skills to go deep and discover themselves or skim the surface of learning where everyone else remains too.


At Sparkling Mindz, it's our mission to nurture and develop children's curiosity and make them confident learners.