Category: Fun Places For Children

A Melody of Colors in a Medley of Droplets!

17/7/2021

When we think about painting with liquid paint, our thoughts normally go into paint brush, water, a palette with colors we need to create what we are about to paint.

Now let's imagine this, we are given lots of paint but no paint brush? Along with it, a big white canvas. And we are told, "Paint whatever you want!"

What will we do?

A similar situation happened at our Cubs' class today. Our 4 to 5 year olds were invited to paint today with a twist: dip only the palms and SPLASH!!!!!

And the result? A melody of droplets in a medley of colours (below).

ITP (Invitation To Play) at SM is the first few minutes of the beginning of their day where children are invited to simply let go and play!

From giving a specific set of materials to lots of different kinds of materials, to sometimes no materials, children are given the space to explore from ranges of semi- to unstructured play.

ITP, for facilitators, is also the time when they get to see so much more about their children than what they can see such as, how do they work together, how independently can someone play, what all happens in their imagination, what emotion are they carrying, and so much more.

Play being an important component in the development of young children (especially), in Reggio Emilia learning philosophy itself, the value of play is immeasurable indeed and ITPs are a space of celebration here at Sparkling Mindz!

On this particular day, this first 15 minutes of the starting of their day not only uplifted their spirits, bringing in joy, love, excitement, wonder, and more, but also developing a sense of camaraderie and collaboration between each other too, as there were just 5 bowls full of paint, and 12 children. And in this particular Cubs' classroom today, there were lots of laughter, wonder, awe, 'what else can I create', 'what does this look like', to a loooooooot more of 'Oh WOW, look at these colors!'

And merrily they went looking forward to begin day in unison, to learn and grow together.

Is play only for children though? When was the last time you simply...played? Do let us know in the comments below.

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

#inspiringconfidentlearners
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#playbasedlearning
#reggioemiliainspired
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
#everychildcancreate

Role of Parents at SM

16/3/2021

SM's holistic approach to learning and life cannot be complete without our parents. But what is the role of parents at Sparkling Mindz? How do we continue to keep child in the centre, keeping the caregivers in mind? What are the expectations from our parents?

Let's listen to our founder, Ms. Sreeja Iyer, give us a sneak peak into our culture.

Our Little Engine can do anything!

14/3/2021

Every morning children sing different SM welcome songs to greet each other before beginning the day at school. One morning, our 2 to 4 year olds looked like most of them did not eat breakfast, no energy at all. Can you visualize how a flower without water how it looks? It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration if I told you that our children looked the same way.

This inspired me to read a book called "The Little Engine", to get them back up on their energy levels. This book is about how the little engine did not give up when faced with challenges till the end and also helped the others in the process. His favourite chant so that he won't give up was, "I Think I Can", which was what I hoped would energize the children today.

So I checked with the children if they would like to listen to a story. As expected, they were all aboard!

While reading the book, my gaze panned through the class. This was what I saw: pin-drop silence, all their eyes glued to the images, nobody blinking. They were focused and paying attention without a movement in absolute silence. At the end of the story, I saw a lot of clarity in their faces, a bunch of warm smiles and some who showed a variety of mixed emotions.

During our reflection of the story, post the usual questions on what was the story, did they like the story and such, we jumped into a specific question,

What did you like in the story?

A:Train is carrying a lot of toys, even I have a lot of toys at home.

As she was sharing the other children pitched in and shared their toys’ details too. They together counted their toys, specifying the features and at a certain point they started to argue with each other too until T said: “I have a little engine at my home!"

Facilitator (F): Oh wow! What do you do with that little engine?
T: I play with it

This got the others to share about what do with trains too such as, “We play with it, we put things on it to carry, I go on a ride and have lot of fun”...

F: Very nice! What do you think the little engine is doing here?

D: Ma’am, it is helping.
F: Who is it helping?
V: big train
A: blue train

F: Why is it helping?
D: Because it is big it is heavy.
Ari: It can't move.

F: How is it helping?
V: I think I can
T: It's pulling the big engine and saying I think I can

Upon hearing this, In chorus everyone started singing, "I think I can! I think I can!"

F: What did you learn from this story?
A: I think I can
D: I think I can

And they continued singing it some more…

Suddenly I heard a voice that said "I think I can help".
As everybody was singing out loud, this little voice wasn’t very audible. So he was asked to repeat.
Ari:" I THINK I CAN HELP! "

F: what do you mean by that Ari?
And he said, “I can also help others” Meaning that he can be like the Little Engine and help others too. This inspired T and she added, “I THINK I CAN DO IT!”

Post this, we saw children religiously following it, reminding each other when they did not follow.

After a month or so, I received a video recording from a parent to see the child repeating the said slogan and not giving up in tough situations. It was definitely a surprise for both the parent and me to watch.

When children are given the freedom to personalize their learning, they start showing ownership of the learning. They customize it to their liking and use it at the required spaces. At SM, when a child learns something new, they learn it as an experience by going in depth through various forms. They then connect this learning not only at school, but also everywhere, gaining knowledge and mastery at it! They show us that learning is fun!

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

#inspiringconfidentlearners
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#sparklingmindzglobal
#reggioemiliainspired

I Wonder What Mud Roti Tastes Like!

9/3/2021

It was a serene evening when the sun was setting and it was time to wind down and leave school for the day. I was intrigued by a couple of kids busy making a cauldron of mud and water mixed together, cheerful as their hands, clothes and feet were covered with mud.

It took me back to my childhood memory of playing hours in the sun and led me to wonder what they were up to. So I went closer and asked, looking at them busily toiling and moulding the mud, "What are we making here?"

N looking at me says without a blink, "I'm making chapatis and lollipops!"

Being pulled into his imagination, I continued, "Oh, I wonder how it taste like?"

"It is brown chapatis because it is made of chocolate and it tastes chocolaty", was the response I received without a second further spent in the imagination.

I was struck by the thought of how play goes beyond what it seems like outwardly, to a process that involves imagination, thinking, connections and logic, innovation, reasoning, motor skills and a lot, lot more.

Play revels the inner creator in kids. They blend culture with passion and create a world of their own. A world where chocolate chapatis are the norm and they can make as many of them as they want with abandon.

Here at SM we believe that play is just not an act but a deep learning process that a child involves in with all their senses and enriches with learning.

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

How do we sing our Welcome Song while we are about to wind up???

6/2/2021

While discussing on the take homes (homework) from the weekend, Aaditya, our 5 year old Joey, raises his hand and says in a rush, "Maaammm, we forgot to do welcome song!!", and puts both his palms cupping the both sides of his temples.

Welcome Song is sung usually in the morning when we all come together where we wish each other good morning, welcome each other, and overall bring the energy of the group up! Today, as we all got into a mood of wanting to share with each other the take homes from the weekend, we got carried away.

"Oh no! What do we do? It's almost time to wind up for us today...How do we sing a welcome song now?", they were asked by their facilitator.

With this question came a bunch of surprised, curious and funny expressions.

Children then started to wonder about how to sing a welcome and wind up song together, which sparked their curiosity and they started to come up with their own various versions of a song we called 'Welcome-Wind Up Song'. As it was time for our wind up for the day, they were left to think more about it as their take home that day. The below video was the result, as they were left to think about it as their take home.

"What is in a song?", after all that's just entertainment right? Also, why should we worry about a child wanting or reminding about a song that was missed? At SM, for us every single thing that children explore has learning in it.

"Children have a 100 languages to learn from and learn with and we intend to keep it that way. " - Sreeja Iyer, CEO, Sparkling Mindz Global

Each of them will take this richness of learning as an experience away with them into their lives as they grow, learning just the alphabet or numbers without the purpose, the songs, the stories, the clay, the mud, the sunshine is moot! If there was ever a time to create changemakers, it is today and if there was ever to create changemakers that care let's start with caring about the whole being that they are so they can then shine that light to others and their world too.

Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool, edited by Sreeja Iyer, CEO, Sparkling Mindz Global.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#everychildcan
##reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#youngachieversacademy
#emergentlearning

Raising Confident Learners!

4/2/2021

Inspiring Confident Learners

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

An, "We have to play with everyone and we can't leave others."
Av, "Do not play with only one best friend but others too."
F , "Why?"
An, "If we get used to only one friend and when that friend is not there we will have no one!"

, "What do you think child 3 should have done?"
Ang "The child 3 should have asked them can I join you"
Sh " Ask yourself what else can you do and do that"
Em, "Play with myself"

Scenario 3

Facilitators enacted a scene where they were comparing and complaining about their skin tone and not liking the way they look.

Reflections

F, "Why do you think we are telling ourselves this?"
Sh, "Because we don't like ourselves."
F, "Hmmm. Has anybody felt this way?"

A couple of hands went up.

F, "What did you do when you felt that way?"

There was no answer at this point.

After a couple of questions,

An, "If you were dark you would want to be fair, you will always want to be like someone else!"
Ad, "It doesn't matter what color we are."
Aa added to spark some creative thinking and humour, "Only chameleons change color..."
Ash, "If we become someone else then we cannot get back our own color!"
Ad shared how he felt bad one morning when his peers made fun of his color.
Sh after some thought, "If we are different that's what makes us special!"
Meh, "Our parents love us no matter what!"

The last scenario's discussion will be taken forward in their own individual classes as most of the children seemed to relate and did not know what to answer. This will need more time and hence children wound up for the day after this, as it was the last hour for the day. It is important to address situations like this as they start off itself so that children are equipped to handle themselves, and others if needed. They become empowered citizens who can think for themselves, empathize and grow with growth mindset. And they learn to accept themselves for who they are instead of seeking constant approval from others.

Let's raise a generation of confident learners!

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#joyouslearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners

Our Joeys Learned to Daydream!

1/2/2021

Children love to daydream, children grow when they daydream. All the gadgets, technology, onslaught of media and the constantly on culture has robbed them of the stillness and the purpose of daydreaming. The joy of letting our mind wander and make random connections, the very well from which creativity feeds is being robbed off our children.

We also saw that it was something the children were yearning for. Little voices of boredom and big parent voices of constant TV watching or needing someone to engage them were clear indicators that children needed a more mindful tool for themselves. And just like that, we embarked on the daydreaming mission.

Little voices of boredom and big parent voices of constant TV watching or needing someone to engage them were clear indicators that children needed a more mindful tool for themselves. And just like that, we embarked on the daydreaming mission.

This is our story of how our children learned to daydream.

The 5 to 6 year olds' just had a daydreaming hour!

This was done to help them learn to engage themselves comfortably without finding the need to have someone or something around to engage them.

Post the daydreaming session children reflected and spoke about how they felt as they dreamed.

S says, "I was dreaming about the stars and was feeling calm and comfortable"
T "I saw a shooting Star that sparkled on me and I was feeling curious to learn about it, I also heard a bird chirping in my heart and I love birds"
Pr "I felt like people sitting around me and I saw lot of colors in the sky and I felt happy because I've never seen a colorful sky like that"

San an animal lover said that, he imagined going to an aquarium and saw a leopard seal that made him feel shocked looking at its hugeness.
Av was curious about animals and said that he had created new animals in his head.
Sa was able to think about what she could do when she gets home and agreed that she does not know how she felt.

Ar, swam into the ocean with Sharks, touched it and it felt soft.

When children learn to spend time with and by themselves, they learn to start valuing their ideas, wonder about their thoughts and learn to plan things ahead. Most importantly, they start to learn to listen to their own voice and pay attention to their feelings thus, building and eventually mastering an essential skills of self-sufficiency.

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Facilitator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners

Song Creators - How things fly?

12/11/2020

The pre-schoolers (3 to 4 year old) showed a lot of curiosity with regards to flying objects during our discussions on what magic is according to them while reading the book 'Witchety Sticks and The Magic Buttons'. This progressed to them seeing a video of things that fly (which emerged from their discussion on what are some of the magical things they see around and why they are magical) and what they came up with post that is nothing short of magical.
When asked about what they think are flying things, a wide variety of answers came in as responses from the children:

Aa: Aeroplane
S: Butterfly
Aa: Jet
Ab: Eagle
K: Those triangle things that guys take and fly. When there is wind they can fly (kite)
An: Dragonfly and bees
S: Helicopter, aeroplane
H: Parrot
Aa: Jet packs can fly when we wear and we press the button
S: Chicken, hen
F: Can they fly?
S: They have wings
F: So does everything with wings fly?
Collectively: Yes.

Post this they moved onto watching the video of birds, balloons, kites, helicopter, aeroplane, etc. flying and we had a discussion on they each flew. They explained about how each of them fly,

K: Ma'am, I can see one bird and one baby bird. Balloons can also fly
F: But balloons don't have wings. So how do they fly?
H: With the air
H: When the wind, when somebody leave hands, they go up.
K: It can be popped like this <claps his hands together> pop!

Then came a kite,

F: How does a kite fly?
H, K: Air , Wind

Then a bird and a helicopter,
K: Eagle! It has wings like this <pretending to fly>
F: Next. What's this?
Collectively: Helicopter!
F: How does this helicopter fly?
K:With its wings
S: Propeller goes tugh tugh tugh
An: Helicopter go like this (up and down motion)
K: I have a drone in my house. Makes sound and hand movements

Out came an…..?K: Aeroplane!!!
F: How does an aeroplane fly?
An: Wings!
K: I know how to make the aeroplane with my hands
S: This aeroplane looks like it has wheels on the wings
F: That's an interesting observation. Why do they have wheels on the wings?
An: To land. When they are going up and come up, they need wheels to come down.
F: What about a helicopter? Does it have wheels?
K: No.
F: Then how does it land?
An: It jumps down
Ab: It'll go down

Sees a spaceshuttle flying

S: Rocket! Only space shuttles can go outerspace. Only spaceshuttle have fire

The conversations went on and on about various things that fly. Since children were fond of singing 'Fly Fly Fly The Butterfly' nursery rhyme, we thought it would be a great idea to get them all together and create extensions to it to sing about some of their favourite things that flew other than the butterflies.

Here is the result:

F: So let's make a song now. What all things fly?
H: Balloon
Aa: Jet pack, rubber band
S: Rocket
K: Space Shuttle
An: Ribbon
L: Bird, aeroplane
S: Helicopter

Song:
Tune of 'Fly Fly Fly the Butterfly'

Fly fly fly the balloon fly
Up in the sky it's flying high
We try to catch it but it's too high
Fly fly fly the balloon fly

Fly fly fly the jet pack fly
I am going to fly very high
Then I land to the station
Fly fly fly the jet pack fly

Fly fly fly the rocket fly
In the night to the space it flies
Then it flies and lands on the moon
Fly fly fly the rocket fly.

Fly fly fly the ribbon fly
In the meadow it's flying high
With different colours it flies to the sun
Fly fly fly the ribbon fly

Fly fly fly the birdie fly
Up in the sky it's flying high
Quick quick quick it's sitting in the nest
Fly fly fly the birdie fly
* quick being the sound it makes when it sits in the nest.

Fly fly fly the aeroplane
Up in the sky it flies so fast
All the around the world it's flying high
Fly fly fly the aeroplane fly.

Fly fly fly the helicopter fly
Up propeller and back propeller
Turn turn turn turns really fast
Fly fly fly the helicopter fly

Fly fly fly the rubber band fly
We pull it and leave it
It fly so high and lands on the ground
Then we pick it up and throw it up again!

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

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioinspiredphilosophy
#21stcenturylearning
#emergentcurriculum
#everychildcan

Not All Rules Are Bad

20/10/2020

A level 3 Young Achievers Academy Class. A game is laid out and a discussion ensues just prior to it.

N is a 12 year old who doesn't like rules.

N: I don't like rules, rules are bad.
F: When you are at a traffic signal do you tell your mom to keep going even if it is red light because rules are bad?
N: No!
F: What about in Nikhalasia (his fantasy land), what will you do there?
N: I'll build a bridge for people to walk above vehicles. So no traffic signals.
F: So then people have to walk above and vehicles have to go below - aren't they rules too?
N: Yes
F: Are they bad?
N: Well, no they keep people safe and moving happily. Not all rules are bad :)

"Children tend to take a generic stand towards a few aspects of their lives. It helps them simplify decisions, not necessarily comply because they disagree and is generally resourceful in many ways. " -Sreeja Iyer

Children tend to take a generic stand towards a few aspects of their lives. It helps them simplify decisions, not necessarily comply because they disagree and is generally resourceful in many ways. Changing that stance even to mild flexibility is a success because it means they have started to see some perspective beyond self-protection, they have started to understand logic beyond their own imagined fantasy. That's enough. Sometimes significant shifts come from very small cracks and the first crack is key.

#youngachieversacademy
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#sparklingmindzglobalschool

Written by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Founder of Sparkling Mindz Global School & Preschool (as narrated to her by Anita Ashok, Facilitator, Young Achievers Academy)

It's our Sports Day!

5/10/2020

"Hurray! It's our Sports Day!", screamed the children and facilitators alike. To us at SM, sports day is a celebration.

Celebrate what, you may ask? Well, we want to celebrate our growth, our togetherness, our hard work with respect to the trainings, learnings, pushing ourselves beyond our usual 'workout' days.

And this year, the preschoolers of SM were introduced to a new team game. They took it with open arms, learning about what it's like to work with a team, be part of a team, resilience, focus, etc. They learned so much in the field…what more? They learned to take all this learning back to their classes too.

Sports is not a goal or the finish line for us at SM, but an integral part of the classroom too, and this begins with our wide and deep disconnections on what sports means to them, what does it mean to fall, what can we do when we feel like giving up, and so on. These learnings they apply to their overall life too. Well, to get a glimpse on what Sports Day is to us and how the Sports Day of the academic year 2019 - '20 went, watch this video. We would like to extend our gratitude to Ajit Sivaram for capturing this culture beautifully.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#reggioemiliainspiredphilosophy
#21stcenturylearning
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#emergentlearning
#sportsday2019