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. 

​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.

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#everychildcan
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​For a very long time I only thought the world was doomed (in an environmental way, and maybe some other ways) but I only voiced it out I never really took much action. That was until I was able to be involved in a journey that I’d always wanted to be part of.  Here’s the journey…

HOW IT STARTED?
At Sparkling Mindz we aim to change the world, to be changemakers and what I soon learnt was we can’t wait for the opportunity of change to be given to us. No! We had to grab it.
With the help of our facilitators grab we did. Our mission this time was about looking at our world, the one we live in, and turn it into the best world it can be. To bring it back to the once  sustainable, original and “green” form. We tried empathising with the land in which we live in and we figured out if kept at the rate at which we were going (which is carelessness of our natural resources and abundance of harmful litter) we weren’t going to go far. So that’s how we started TRUI.

OK, WHAT’S TRUI?
Tinker, 2Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), Upcycle and Innovate. TRUI, simple, right? Wrong.

TRUI was a mission that needed blueprints, stepping into it just like that wouldn’t necessarily be an ideal plan. The process involved using waste materials and turning it into something useful, TRUI made You the magician. It was one of the centres of our learning this year, making all out learning areas revolve around it. How? Well, taking a pieces of junk and recreating which connects to so much that we have learnt in our learning areas (in other words, all the subjects we learn).  And it reflected in our output.

OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
So as said before our learning areas really helped in the ideation process of using TRUI. And here’s our  output. We were able to come up with  a set of ideas which involved making coasters, wind chimes, lamp shades and dust bins. Each learning area helped us in the process of getting here. We’ve already started attempting these and so far it has been fun and we still have so much more to do.

MY LEARNING
Through out this journey I have learnt many things, some I may have known and actually played out and some I found out on the way. There were many learnings that played a role in my learning areas and yet so many that I know I will use in the future for my academics. So other than learning how I can be an innovator, I learnt how being a part of a change that is going to impact the lives of so may people just makes me a better person along the way.

So there it is, a short yet fairly detailed glimpse of our TRUI journey and from the beginning till now I felt like magician, except that I knew the magic that was released was real.


Contributed by Maya Nair, Falcons (Grade 8), Sparkling Mindz Global School.

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#joyouslearning
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​#inspiringconfidentlearners

 Our theme for this new academic year is 'Being Change Makers' and all of us facilitators are busy setting up for the year, making notes, brainstorming stories, finding connections, connecting with the children. To keep all of us inspired, we, the team, decided to take turns and do an activity everyday morning together. As we did a lot of games in the entirety of last week, we decided to read an article and reflect for our morning inspiration today.

The article was about a lot of starfishes that a little boy was throwing back into the ocean when an older adult walks over and asks him why he was doing that, as it didn't make much of a big difference. The boy then picks another one and says, "It makes a difference to this one", and throws it, out of the millions, back into the ocean.

After taking turns to read out loud, we all quietly sat, reflecting, wondering about the story and relating it back to our previous discussion on 'Being Change Makers' (what being a changemaker means, how we are already change makers, and why we need to be change makers) an overwhelming amount of inspiration took over. These are some of the things each of our facilitators said,

"I feel I am also doing my bit as a change maker. Whatever small thing I am doing is contributing to change. I considered it small or insignificant until now. But now that also makes a difference and I am contributing it in my own way- whatever I do at home- reject water not wasted, fixing leaking pipes, waste segregation etc. I ensure all my family members are also aware of it, and practice it. . Now that I am aware of the value of my contribution,  I feel good about it and want to spread the message to those close to me."- Jennifer 

""It made a difference to that starfish", he emphasized on value, the magnitude does not determine value. We find excuses that let us be ignorant. As humans, our natural instincts work best when we are faced with a stimuli that has a direct effect in us, which explains our slow response to climate change and fast response to a pandemic. 
The boy wasn't looking for attention, he didn't see himself as a hero. He had just one intention, saving a starfish's life, so it didn't matter to him how many he saved or if he was the only one. He had a clear purpose." - Tasha

"I always thought about environment from a very young age. Nature has its own way to bring all natural things into use. Being part of SM, part of an organization into change making., everyone's opinion matters. That's a door to change. Because I knew my voice will be heard, I proposed my opinion and it was applied. I'd proposed to remove the trash bags to reduce plastic and now, on a regular basis, at least 3 trash bags we have changed- as an organization, I am a part of change making. I always go to a shop with a cloth bag. I even educated my maid on burning plastic with wood - that isn't good for health, so educated her about how it affects health, she looped back to me saying how it has stopped. 
"There are people throwing so much. Will I  make a difference?" Yes!"- Neha

"I love the environment and I can't do anything consciously that will hurt the environment or the beings living in this environment. When I was in University, I used to use more organic products, use less plastic, and such. Slowly, I started to not do it as much thinking my contribution is not going to help, and those around me used to discourage me. Post our discussion on being change makers, I am a lot more aware of my thinking along the lines of the passion towards the environment and how my contribution, even if it is little, matters- like closing the tap, fixing leaks, and such. I know it's just one person but I don’t ever want to back down on what I believe in, which is my love for this planet and the beings living in it. It is my home, our home and I want to do what I can, no matter how little, to take care of it." - Sruthy

""Change starts with us", and also if everyone could think like the boy rather than the man... Collectively we could have saved the star fishes. Starfish is a "metaphor" for so many things that requires change. I can equate it to corona too...if one person follows social distancing well and seeing that another person too supports and practices the same and so on and so forth we could have brought it down and eventually have it not affect us for this long. This story helps me see how we can make a difference in the bigger scheme of things and we need to become these change makers in the world to truly bring about shifts in things we think need to change to better the world we live in, not only for us but for the sustainability of all kinds of living beings on this planet for generations to come." - Kruthika

"Most of the time when people want to do things, they don't get the right kind of motivation and they end up not trying anything new. The right kind of motivation and inspiration, or sometimes nothing said in response also help people to move forward. For me, trying new things is important and when the progress I see on it, however little, is satisfying. And that is my first step towards success." - Sheela

The said article started with a quote, "A single, ordinary person still can make a difference- and single, ordinary people are doing precisely that every day." - Chris Bohjalian, Vermot- based author and speaker.

So now to our readers,
What comes to your mind when you hear  'changemaker'?
And moreover, do you think you can be a changemaker?
Do you know what change you want to make, that one (or many) cause(s) you are passionate about and feel it burning deep within you?

What contribution did you make today?


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#21stcenturylearning
#everychildcan
#inspirationstandup
#teamspiration

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

Covid-19 lockdown has visibly affected this entire world. We are literally all in this together. During times like this, it can get difficult to stay motivated and carry on as usual due to the obvious factors such as not being to get together with our friends, extended family, colleagues, and so on. When we couldn't even go out to get our groceries, it can definitely take a toll on our wellbeing in general. How can we stay inspired so we come out of this lockdown stronger than ever?!

​Well, at SM, we have our morning Inspiration Stand-Ups to keep us up and going throughout the day. One of those days, our morning inspiration was to do something creative and share how that inspire us. Here's the results,

Sheela inspired herself by reflecting on nature, writing a poem,

 Nature  

Nature is everywhere, Nature is everywhere
With beautiful trees and plants, with different shades of green, some yellow, some brown that make them grow every day 

Nature is everywhere, Nature is everywhere 
With beautiful birds and animals, flowers and fruits, human, and all other things that grow.
It attracts everything around to admire it.

Nature is beautiful in every way that you have ever imagined off 
its wonderful, exciting and home for all of us 
it needs our care to survive forever 

So listen, learn, and do your part to keep nature alive and beautiful forever.

Here's what she said, "Today's prompt was to do something different that you have not done before inspired me to write a POEM. 
I choose Nature
In this lockdown, we are locked inside our house and facing our own challenges.
But the nature around us is free without any pollution and it's alive, as there is no one to cut it down or to hurt it. That is making it grow green and blossom too.
 This is inviting all the animals and birds to rest and move around it without any fear.
This inspired me to write a poem about Nature when I looked out and saw all this beautiful things around."
​

Neha got inspired by two of our facilitators and wrote a poem.

"I attempted expressing what I feel through a poem.. inspired by Yashika ma'am's article about Shiva, and one of recent INSPU (Inspiration Stand-Ups) thoughts by Happy Sir."

 Extremes of ME

Sometimes I am this cool person who knows a lot of things and at times i am the dumbest of all,

I long for all the luxuries in the universe and sometimes I just need is two meals,

At times I contradict all what I say, and sometimes I stand by my side as firm as a rock,

There are a few times when I want to burn the world in my anger, and most of the times I feel to fill every heart with love,

I wish to drop all the identities and just be clean slate and at times pick as many as I can and be one in all,

I become an open book and at times I am the darkest secret,

Am I this or that...

Our team constantly find ways to inspire ourselves and each other. Tell us about what you do at times like these?


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#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspirationstandup
#teamwork
#teamspiration
#youngachieversacademy
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#covid-19

**Long Post Alert**

If you think of the word interview and the words ‘nervous’, ‘scary’, ‘dread’, ‘boring’ or any of those come to your mind, it is clear that you have probably not had an interview at Sparkling Mindz Global School. At SM, we have a learning area called ‘LIFE’, short for Learning Is Forever and Everywhere, and we take that very seriously. Even an interview is a learning experience for both, the interviewer and the interviewee. In the beginning of April, we had an interview which led to the resolution of deep-seated beliefs about the learning of math for one of the facilitators who was part of the interview team. It was also a refreshing experience for the interviewee, S, who saw math and math anxiety in a whole new light. As if this was not enough, all the people involved in the interview also had an ‘aha’ moment about maths during the interview! 

The interviewee, S, writes: 

Expect the Unexpected 

“Expect the unexpected” that’s exactly what you should expect in Sparkling Mindz. And I had my first such experience in my Interview itself!!! 

I had to do a demo session on Parallel lines for 4-6th graders... After the 1st demo session, I had a few comments as the areas of improvement and then the very next day I had to redo the session. 
All the feedback was explained well with examples and the need for making the specific changes. I was able to relate to them and understood how to implement the same. With all those inputs and a quick connect with one of the facilitators helped me to gather my thoughts and structure my day 2. 

All Set!! 

My session was now on an overarching umbrella - Lines... the students were a mix of those liking math, those not liking, some knowing some of the topic, some not knowing much of it......But when I started, each one of them was enthused and excited, because I asked them to draw their favourite imaginary toy!! 

That’s how we started “the lines” After putting their imaginary toys on the paper, talking about them a little.... It was the moment I introduced the lines – vertical, horizontal, slanting... 

Then I brought in the second line!! 

So while explaining the parallel lines, One of them called out- 
“Ma’am are all HORIZONTAL LINES Parallel lines? 
Woooohhhhhhoooo!!! that was the Aahaaaaa moment!! 

It was exciting... the student discovered something so did I... And so did my interviewer who was silently watching all that was happening in the session!! 

All VERTICAL LINES are PARALLEL lines too!!! The joy and the pride on the face of the student for being able to say something so important was satisfying and is unexplainable in words for me.......It was not a part of my script.... 

While there will be those difficult questions that the I would not have thought thru during the preps and may throw me completely off track, I realised at that moment, there will also be THESE moments when I will discover many the wonderful things with children!!!And that’s what all the hard work will be worth for! 

The Facilitator, P, writes: 
The Class in which I found math (and the ball found it’s lines) 

As I sat for the second math class of my adult life, I was not sure if history was going to repeat itself. Well, it had already repeated itself yesterday, when in the middle of the class a veil fell upon me. The old familiar veil of ‘I can never get this’. Now this is a transparent veil, and it is difficult to spot it. Also this is a layered veil. It is made up of many emotions and thoughts, like: ‘I hate this’, ‘I am not getting this so this must not be worth getting’, ‘But the others are getting it so maybe it is worth getting but I lack the ability to get it’. Between all of these though, and the most difficult one to spot, is ‘I want to get this!’

This veil has often been the reason I have had a strange relationship with math. As I write ‘have had’ in the past tense, I realize that an opening has been made and I have a chance to open the veil and look through in some way. 

So, what made the unimaginable happen?

This was a repeat of the class on parallel lines conducted by one of the interviewees, S at SM. Just yesterday, I thought parallel lines are a farce, an illusionary concept that does not exist in life. I gave a lot of feedback during and after class to the interviewee with the view that another child shouldn’t ever sit through a math class and feel anxious like I did, another child shouldn’t have to face the veil and be helpless about it and if I could do anything to change how a child might feel in a math class I’d do it. So, today again, despite my meltdown and math anxiety, I went with an open mind. Let me give the person a chance, let the person use the feedback that was given by us to account for the emotions of students, look at the big picture of a concept and not just narrowly look at parallel lines, define and establish purpose and connect for the students etc. - I went to try and understand what lines are, what line segments are. I told myself let me not be that student in the English class who, in the middle of a very evocative poem, asks,“but how can the moon talk!?”...It can’t, but the poem does not mean to say the moon is talking literally, it is a representation, a symbol, a form. So I thought let me not break apart the form of mathematics. Let me stick to the piece of paper, to line segments and see what unfolds. Little did I know that a lot was going to unfold. 

The interviewee had taken the feedback well and planned a very different class. At the outset, we were asked to draw an imaginary toy and I drew a ball. Why did I draw a ball when I could have easily drawn something with straightforward lines on it? Well, partly to test mathematics, and partly because well: I think it was just to test mathematics. 
“Oh! You say lines are everywhere. This is my ball, where are your lines?” 
“A circle is a curved line.”
 Okay, I melt a little bit. 

​I was having a conversation with children today on putting effort and how it's not easy, yet we do it. We reflected on it during our facilitators meeting. It inspired me to write a poem. Sharing...

Everyday 
I choose a fight
With my time
On what's right 

I choose to grow 
I choose the pain
I choose the joy
From deep within 

Everyday 
I choose to talk
With care
And deep thought

I choose to grow 
I choose the pain
I choose the joy
From deep within 

Everyday 
I choose to work
To make an impact 
For what it's worth

I choose to grow 
I choose the pain
I choose the joy
From deep within 

Most times I win
Even when I don't
I still choose the fight
As it's worth my might

If our children saw everyday as a challenge to grow and make themselves better. If they just started to see themselves as worthy of great things we would see them pushing themselves and picking battles that are worthy of everyone's time. 

Contributed by Sreeja Iyer, Founder, Sparkling Mindz Global School and Preschool