It's Poetic Soiree time of the year again and the preschoolers are busy practising their poems. The two 4 year olds in Cubs class at SM Preschool were reciting their poem called Invention by Shel Silverstein, which goes like,

I've done it, I've done it!
Guess what I've done!
Invented a light that plugs into the sun.
The sun is bright enough,
The bulb is strong enough
But, oh, there's only one thing wrong...
The cord ain't long enough.

Post this recital, the Cubs weren't happy with leaving the ending in a way where the invention seemed useless. So together they solved the problem, and came up with an extension to the poem with the help of the facilitator,

' So I take six ladders,
Put them together as one.
Then I take a few cords,
Attach them together
And plug it into the sun!'

Children used empathy as a tool here to come up with solutions. They stepped into the shoes of the poet, became the poem and realized that they could help figure out what the poet can do to make the invention work! At first they were unhappy with the original ending, as they found it ending with a problem and not a solution. And almost immediately, with no intervention required, they started exploring various solutions for the same. They moved around the class, pretending the sun to be at a high place, having a short cord, asking each other what they can do. And in a matter of less than 5 minutes, they solved it together as a group! 

When children are invited to wonder, the world of curiosities open up. They step into that world and emerge out victorious with questions, solutions, answers...Perhaps that's all we need as children and adults, a safe space to wonder, be curious, ask questions and figure things out. 


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

The 5 year olds classroom had a problem: Take homes were not being brought back regularly. As we gave them work that could help them connect with their learning and tried to make it as interesting as it could be. We figured the motivation levels with self-work at home seemed to be low and how might we increase it?

So, one day, the facilitator explored the option of giving points for take-homes that was done promptly, for better participation in class discussions, and for following the ground rules in the class. The idea was to motivate the children to complete their homework regularly, concentrate during class to ensure better learning and to maintain positive discipline.

After a while it was noticed that some children who usually followed all the ground rules started accumulating points very easily. Over a period of time, these children started getting obsessed over getting more and more points, though they did work towards it. Whereas, the others started giving up on their efforts to become better since the goal seemed very far away to achieve.

Obviously, the system was not working. A change was needed. While discussing with the team we figured that like we give them victory claps from their baseline and view their growth from their baseline​, what if there can be individual goals set for each child to work towards so that goals can seem more motivating.

To initiate this process, children were shown a video, ”We’re different, but we’re the same”.
This video talked about how our looks, appearances and nature may be different but still we all
belong to the same group. Based on the video, a discussion was held in class where we discussed
about how each of us have different strengths and challenges.  Children were
encouraged to think about how they can aim to become better by comparing themselves with
their our own previous performances rather than comparing themselves with others. This set the stage for children to work on setting goals for making themselves better.

​​Children started identifying areas where they need to improve and came up with their individual goals. 

Children who were just learning to read, or usually showed reluctance to participate in reading activities, came up with the goal , “I will learn to read”.
Avner identified that he gets easily distracted during discussions and came up with the goal, “I will not play in the class (during discussions)".
Ananya decided to challenge herself by coming up with goals to learn new words and share new
ideas.
Children who were not very regular in doing their take-homes decided to do their take-
homes regularly.
Naitik and Vineet identified specific topics or worksheets which they found to
be challenging and came up with goals like, “I will learn to do clock worksheet well", "I will
do syllabication worksheet well".

Daniel who was yet to learn to write in cursive, made his goal as, "I will learn to write in
cursive." 
Vineet who tends to cry and shout when he gets upset decided, “I will not cry and
shout”. 
Some children who seek their parents’ help for their take-homes, instead of attempting
to do on their own, came up with the goal to do their take-homes on their own.
Chirag identified that other children in the class get hurt because he tends to jump about in class and decided,” I will not hurt”. Children who usually prefer to sit, talk and play with only their friends, decided to make new friends...

​​The goals have been put up in the class and children have embarked on their journey in
MAKING THEMSELVES BETTER! Here all the children are equally challenged as they were
working on their individual shortcomings. And also, the goals seemed achievable to them. For example, the facilitator helps Avner by putting tally marks on the board every time he gets distracted, and every day he is now working towards gradually reducing the number of distractions. Rithanya, Nithin and Eden have started saving time for reading practice every day during the snack break. Mishka and Vineet have started working on doing their take-homes regularly. Mohammed is trying to make new friends by sitting with different children during activities and circle time.

​When given the opportunity, these 5-7 year olds proved that they were capable of self-
introspection, leading to self-awareness of their strengths and challenges, and setting goals for
self-improvement! How amazing?!

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

​A bright sunny morning, our 5-6 year olds were at the playground. They were divided into two teams to play a game of Dodge Ball. The rules were set and the teams were rearing to go. An had the ball in her hand as it was decided that she would start the game but Av wanted to be the one to start the game. He was trying to forcefully pull the ball away from An's hands. 

Seeing that his repeated requests are not working Av starts to cry. Soon the other children gather around. Some try to coax An while others try to convince Av, as they are keen on
getting back to the fun of playing the game. 

​D (walking up to An, trying to negotiate): An, see how Av is crying. Let him have the ball.
Av, now has an even more sad expression, looking for more supporters.
Few of the children agree saying Av should have the ball.
Av: Yes, An look how I am crying. Let me have the ball.
An is still not convinced.

D: Crying children only should have the ball. An, give the ball to Av.
Then turning to me, he says,
D: Ma’am, crying children should have the ball. Please tell An to give the ball.
Me: Okay, so every time a child cries, and we give the child what he wants, what will the child
learn?
Na: He will think, if I cry, I will get it
Me: Exactly, so is that a good solution?
Most of them disagree.

Me: Then D, if we now give the ball to Av because he is crying, are we helping Av?
D: No, ma’am.

This idea is dropped and they start looking for other ways to solve the problem. Av now decides
to wipe away his tears realizing that this is not working. 
​

Now the children have separated into two groups, one group working on convincing Av and the
other group on convincing An. In Av’s group, D comes up with a proposal.
D: Ok, Av, you do one thing. When we go back to the class, you hold the ball.
Av suddenly brightens up and agrees. Now this group walks up to the other, to see if An would
agree to this proposal.
D: An, you can start the game now. When we go back to class, Av will hold the ball. Okay?
An: I’m okay with that

With Av and An agreeing to D’s proposal, finally the problem was resolved and the game
resumed. In the process, all of them had flexed their conflict resolution muscle and gained confidence that they can figure out solutions to problems no matter how unsolvable and unreasonable they may sound to begin with.
​
As we step back and reflect on the incident, we realize that there are several things that children did right
1. They didn't give up in the face of repeat set backs to solve the problem
2. They came up with newer solutions from different dimensions, it was never more of the same
3. They didn't write off or judge either of their friends
4. They didn't take sides
5. They resolved the issue as a class, as a team
6. Despite emotions running high, they kept an ear open for a suggestion that would work
7. They understood that, perhaps, the dispute was just about who got to hold the ball, not about who started the game, that led to their creative solution (showing sprouts of empathy here!)
8. At no point, did they ask the facilitator to solve the problem for them, they persevered, they trusted themselves enough to continue working on it
9. The facilitator stepped back and only stepped in when there was a pull from the children (only to the extent necessary)

Children who experience trust in their capabilities from adults around them and learn to take ownership of their relationships, learning and more become confident problem solvers. They are an inspiration to each one of us, as children should be!

We wonder what inspirational lessons we will learn from our 5 year olds next?

Documented by Jennifer Christy, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool
Edited by Sreeja Iyer CEO Sparkling Mindz Global

T, a 3 year old, came to the facilitator every day for weeks requesting for help to open and close her water bottle.

T: "Open please"
F: "Why don't you try?"
T: "No, you."

After a few times facilitator helping her open her bottle, she finally opened it all by herself with a lot of her strength. Both the facilitator and T were overjoyed and elated by the act of her opening the bottle all by herself! 

F: "Oh amazing! WOW!!"
T: Smiling widely than ever, "Yeah!! Now close", and hands the bottle to the facilitator. 
F: "Why don't you try to put the bottle on the floor and try pressing on the cap with all your strength?"

T did as she was suggested to, and figured out that she can now open and close her water bottle all by herself! She looked like she had just achieved something great that she'd being trying to do for a long time, like there was a new-found confidence about her where she felt like she could achieve anything that she puts her mind to.

Just because she opened her bottle doesn't mean she understood that she could close it too. Children take multiple problem solving successes sometimes to learn that they are capable of solving their own problems and taking ownership at their level. Many a times as adults who work with children at home  or in schools, we treat the children as kids who need help in every little thing and do the work for them without demanding ownership or using it as an opportunity to teach problem solving. Building independence in each child is a key factor to their development as it is to ours.

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