Category: Inspiring Confident Communicators

A Paper Mache Adventure By Our Preschool Facilitators!

27/4/2021

Inspired by the nature, Reggio-Emilia system, and wanting to use less of the non-degradable materials, our facilitators decided to take things into their own hands and create bowls using paper.

So they got together on a Saturday morning, during the weekly training session, and embarked on an adventure to creating paper mache!

Once the torn papers were soaked for the weekend, on Monday post class, they got back together to continue their journey towards creating bowls. The soaked papers were mashed with flour, oil, fevicol and water to create the below, and put out to dry.

At Sparkling Mindz Global, it's not just the children who have fun learning and creating, but the facilitators too; making mistakes, learning through them, co-creating a safe, happy and creative environment for each other and growing together as a community!

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatorlearningdiaries
#learningneverstops

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

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.

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.

Happy 72nd Republic Day, India!

26/1/2021

Children at Sparkling Mindz Global School have been having conversations on what freedom means, since the beginning of this academic year.

In the context of India's freedom, they explored cultural colonisation and what it means for cultures and choices to be free.

Against the backdrop of exploring India's relationship with the world and our own local and global identities, Archita Anish, our 7th grader created this Republic Day greeting. Archita has been inspired to write her own poems since the dawn of the Poetic Soiree (our annual celebration on Children’s Day; many children choose to write their own poems which they receive feedback on and iterate). Archita co-wrote a poem along with her classmate early on this year and the seed that was sown at that time grew on. Since then, Archita has been writing more poems and also started attempting to write poems impromptu. She even wrote her reflections at the end of our Open House (space where SMzians (our Founder, facilitators, children and parents) and prospective parents and their children share for them to have a peak into what our SM culture is all about) in the form of a poem! Archita has been learning to use the very many of the poetic devices and iterate her poems in the process.
In this poem, she uses symbolism to represent various nations and their relationship with India. She has also used a ‘refrain’ - the purpose and use of which she learned during her journey of writing poems over the last few months. Most importantly, she has also taken feedback and tried to empathize with the reader to decide how much to explain and how much to leave to interpretation…

As you, our reader, read the poem, we invite you to wonder, interpret, connect and explore with us.

We, the Sparkling Mindz Global family, wishes each and everyone of you a very 72nd Happy Republic Day!

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#covid19learning
#72ndrepublicday
#childrenled
#pregressiveschooling
#poetryshowcase

Pegasus' Poetic Soiree

25/12/2020

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.

Sit back and enjoy the show!

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#deeplearning
#poetryshowcase
#covid19
#socialemotionallearning
#21stcenturylearning
#everychildcan

My Success story of how I relieved myself from migraine headaches

8/12/2020

Working at Sparkling Mindz has a facilitator has been an amazing journey of self-growth and self discovery for me. Thanks to the passion and dedication of my mentors, Sreeja ma'am and Minesh who motivate and drive each one of us - at times, encouraging me to tread in paths which are beyond my comfort zone, trusting in my potential more than me, and being there to constantly support and pick me up when I fall. One such instance was when they came to know that I suffered from migraine headaches and reached out to help me. And lo, the story unfolds...

I have been suffering from migraines for several years now, and have tried all kinds of medications from allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy and what not, but to no avail. And then I pacified myself that this is hereditary and since my mother also has it, I will eventually have it ( after careful analysis of how my triggers and symptoms match hers). Now that I have accepted migraines to be part of me, I tried to shift my focus to prevent the triggers like constipation, going out in the sun, untimely meals, travelling etc. Still it was not possible to prevent the triggers all the time, and when something had gone off, I found myself waiting for my symptoms to start, dreading the intensity and pain. And along with it, suffering from guilt that I am not able to do my work well or fulfil my responsibilities, or being a burden for others at home.

When I discussed all of this with my mentor, Minesh, he suggested two things. Identifying and working on what is bothering me at the moment and working on my emotions which may also be a trigger and then using Creative Visualisation to deal with the physical symptoms. The suggestions did seem easy to work on, but it required lot of courage to look into myself, identify the emotional contribution to the problem and accept the fact that 'yes, that is affecting me'. It was easier to mask my feelings and say 'I'm okay', 'I'm not that kind of a person who would take all this seriously', 'Ya, this happened . But still it's fine'.

Once, I identified the disturbing situation, I was taught how to change my reaction to the problem, by accepting it, acknowledging my thoughts and feelings, and bringing in more awareness to the whole schema of things - this awareness helped to reduce the intensity of the trigger and sometimes nullify it too. And then came the second step where I spoke to my body, saying that 'I understand that through this headache you are trying to bring something to my awareness and letting me know that something is wrong. Thank you. Now I have understood. So it's okay for the pain to fade away. Ta ta. Bye Bye.' And lo behold the pain was gone. I was left in awe at this magical redemption from so many years of suffering. Is this really possible that I could just talk to my body and it would just listen to me? But yes, it actually did!!! Oh what a miracle!!! And all this while, to know that my body was actually trying to tell me something through the headache, and I was not listening to the underlying fact; instead I was trying to treat the physical symptoms on a superficial level.

I went back to happily share this experience with my mentors and express my gratitude to them. Now that I found success in managing my migraine once, I started applying it every time. The headaches do come back, but I am able to resolve the issue before the pain aggravates. I first start looking for things that are affecting me at the moment and start working on them. And also having managed it once, twice, gives me the confidence that I can handle it anytime. Oh what a relief !! And the most beautiful fact is that I found the " POWER WITHIN ME' to manage my emotions and the physical problems triggered by those emotions.

The journey was painful, but worth the effort -because I have become a more confident ME and bear this torch of self discovery to light many more lives along the way - as a facilitator, as a teammate, as a friend, as a neighbour, as a family member.

Now that I have resolved one issue, I have embarked on the next journey of working on my self-confidence, identifying areas which need work, identifying and working on my limiting beliefs, fighting the resistance to dig deeper and deeper. I already hear you wishing me 'All the best'.  Thank you!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatorselfgrowth
#powerwithinme
#learningforkeeps

Contributed by Jennifer Christy, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

"Happy Independence Day, India!", by our 4 year olds!

22/11/2020

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

Mistakes as growth!

20/11/2020

Growth through mistakes

We tend to grow up afraid of making mistakes. What do mistakes mean to a lot of us? Do making mistakes mean the end of a chapter, or that the object we made a mistake on/with can't be worked on, that we can't work on ourselves?

Do mistakes define us? Possibly- but if we got to define it for us: whether we choose to call it a lesson through which we grew, or give up and turn away?

We have the power of choice. Our growth is up to us.

So, what would you choose? What goes on in your mind when you make a mistake?

Being A Changemaker

14/11/2020

A lot of us have grown up 'rebels', throwing tantrums, opposing views, walking out on things that didn't feel right, etc. And most of us have labelled them as rebellious acts. Now to wonder on them, did we really create a positive impact doing those acts? Did that help anybody? If we could do certain things differently, how would we change them?

Being a changemaker is a shift in identity where, we create a change within ourselves first, before venturing out into the world to shift and change. Being a changemaker is so much more than what we call a rebel. A changemaker is a learner for life, a problem solver, an inspiration, an empowered being.

So how can one become a changemaker? Is being a changemaker for everyone? Moreover, do you think you are/ can/ want to be a changemaker?

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#youngachieversacademy
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#21stcenturylearning
#everychildcan
#beingchangemakers

Start With Why

12/11/2020

Often times when we embark on acquiring a new skill, a new adventure, or a new experience, we tend to jump in without asking ourselves why we want to attempt that. When the purpose of what we are doing is not clear, we tend to not continue what we are doing, as we don't know why we are doing what we are doing.

Learning with depth comes through practise, time spent learning it, having clarity on what we would like to learn, and many more. But first, starting with 'why' is what makes that journey worthwhile.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#beingchangemakers
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#socialemotionallearning
#21stcenturylearning
#startwithwhy