We at Sparkling Mindz handle children's issues in different ways. One way is to model their behavior back to them, asking them to reflect, take perspective and empathize on how/what they are doing or how others feel as a result of their behavior.

Another way is through role plays and this time, the facilitators at preschool decided to role play as children. They chose three scenarios to role play:
a) taking every communication with peers as an attack and being rude in response to attack,
b) self victimizing by saying they have no friends, and
c) wanting to look like the others and not satisfied with how they already look (especially the skin color).

Each scenario explains what the facilitators role played and what children reflected after each of the scenes.

Scenario 1

Friend 1 makes fun of friend 2's drawing that leads friend 2 to be upset and get into a mode of rejecting the other's friendship and her opinion by telling herself things that are not productive.

Reflections
 
An, "The house can be drawn however we want it to be."
Em, "We should not be rude at other's work."
An, "Friend 1 did not care about what the other child said." 
An, "Yes, she cared only about herself."
Sh, "She was hurt!"
Aad "Friend 2 was upset and was telling herself that she wants to be on her own."
Anya " Yes, she kept telling bad things to herself like, I don't like other people and they are rude to me!"

At this point the facilitator asked them, "Did friend 2 telling herself bad things help her?"

All, "Nooo!!!"

Facilitator (F), "What could she tell herself instead?"

Various responses such as, "I like mine, but I don't know why she did not like mine...", "I like mine but maybe she likes the way she draws...", "We should like what others do...", etc., came out.

F, "Are we expecting others to tell good things about us?"
An, without a blink, "Yes!"

F, "Is it ok when somebody doesn't like what we do?"
An, "It's okay I'll like it anyway."
F, "Okay. You can also tell them politely , "I like the way I have painted.""
F2, "So what did we learn from this?"
An, "To be kind to others and ourselves."

And the facilitator added, "Saying good things to ourselves and what we choose to do is not for other people's approval."

Scenario 2

Facilitators role played 2 kids playing and talking about their interests. Another child who wanted to join them did not want to join them as he did not get invited, and how the child 3 feels sad.

​Reflections

PART 2/4
"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words." - Robert Frost.'

We have all read/ learned/ wrote poems as kids, in our teens...a lot of which followed well into our adulthood. Poetry to some is an inflow/ outflow of expressionism while to some it is an appreciation of art. Well, you get the idea.

Our children, at SM, found themselves living, breathing, consuming poems and the process of poetry, creating their own, channelling the ones they connected with; pretty sure that this inspiration and love will be life-long. And during our annual Poetic Soiree event, they came together in their houses (Griffins, Pegasus, Phoenix, Sphinx) to express themselves through poems. As our pandemic motto, 'No-Virus Can Stop Our Learning!', they marched through with might and grit, fun and laughter, love and play, and a little bit of 'Learning Never Stops!'. So here they are, showcasing their poems to you.
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Sit back and enjoy the show!
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#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#deeplearning
#poetryshowcase
#covid19
#socialemotionallearning
#21stcenturylearning
#everychildcan
​

Our 5 and 6 year olds have been going on a learning journey with one of the characters of SM, called Treeous, who is a traveling tree who loves adventures. One day, during one of his vacation days, he travels to a forest here in South India and gets lost while awaiting his friend who promised to meet him there. Children, journeying with Treeous in the forest, went through their imagination of the different kinds of forests they were in, and created them at home.

Owning and personalizing learning goes beyond class hours. From the limited number of hours with their school mates and facilitators, children take their interests, curiosities and exploration to their lives around them, making their learning deep, wide and connected. After all, imagination knows no bounds indeed!
 
Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.
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#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioinspiredlearning
#21stcenturylearning
#emergentlearning
#progressiveschool

It's been a very different year for all of us collectively, this year. But that has not stopped us from exploring, especially during this Independence Day!

Explore what? You may ask.

​Well, we explored our culture, identities, and much more. And we would like to share it with all of you through this video.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#everychildcan
#21stcenturyleanrning
#reggioemiliainspired
#socialemotionallearning
​#independenceday