"Ma! I'm going to play," said Pari.

"But you haven't finished your take home yet," said her mom.

"I'll do it after I play," shouted Pari as she breezed out of her front room door.

Her mother could only watch furious, knowing very well that "the doing homework after play part" was never going to happen. She braced herself for another evening of shouting, screaming, blaming and clawing through the dreaded homework finishing chore.

This was their everyday story.  She would go down to play and not come back until late. It turned into extreme rude behaviour towards the mother and when the father tried to step in, the situation turned into a mayhem with a lot more aggression and violence.

The parent decided to take an appointment with me to tell me about the situation at home. Before that happened I decided to have a chat with the child.

Me: I heard about the situation at home, what do you think is happening?
P: I like playing and learning. Just because I go to play doesn't mean I don't like learning.

Me: Okay, so given a choice between learning and playing - what would you choose?
P: Playing
Me: Why?
P: Because it is running, catching and all my favourite games. I really like playing those games which are same as what we play at school too with my friends
Me: Ok and you don't like to learn because it is not as much fun as playing
P: Yes
Me: Have you thought about why?
P: I don't know
Me: Here at school when we make learning fun ,you enjoy right?
P: Yes, I do
Me: So, what is different at home?
P: I might make a mistake when I'm doing something at home
Me: Oh! And…
P: I don't think I can do it well also and sometimes I don't know what to do or how to do it
Me: Ok, I understand. So, you are telling me that you are not good at learning yet and that's why you like to play more than learn
P: Uh…yes
Me: Ok, so do you think you will get good at learning by going off to play constantly?
P: No
Me: So, what do you think you should do? How can you make learning your friend?
P: By sitting next to someone who will not distract me, by listening in class, by asking if I don't understand
Me: What happens if you don't think you make learning your friend?
P: I should tell myself I think I can
Me: But, do you think you can?
P (after a long pause): No. I think I can't. I think others are better than me
Me: Who says so?
P: My lazy brain
Me: What can your smart brain tell it?
P: That you can do it?
Me: Okay, what will make your smart brain believe that you can?
P: I've to show that I can. That I can't go under it, I can't go over it, I can't go around it. I've to go through it! I've to keep going through tough challenges then my smart brain will believe and it can tell lazy brain that, "I can do it". 

A child's confidence in learning can determine how they feel about it and hence, what kind of stories and attitudes they develop which in turn drives their behaviours of running away or towards learning. The way to a child's learning lies in that confidence and each of us plays a key role in building that.

Contributed by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Founder, Sparkling Mindz Global School, Preschool, & Afterschool

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#everychildcan

​Imagine running a shop by yourself. What could happen if you ask a group of 5 year olds to run a shop ?

3 toys shops called the Kids toy shop, Galacting Things for boys and girls and Toy shop operated for about 15 min and sold a total of 66 toys and made Rs. 450. Student D kept increasing his prices. Stuent V stared into his bill book entering the details and issuing bills. These mock toy shops meant the world to the dolphins of Sparkling Mindz.

They decided prices, added costs, collected money, gave change and counted items using addition, multiplication and subtraction. They worked on these skills in levels before getting to this mock market and also identified skills they need to learn to be able to go and comfortably operate in an actual farmers market.

Post the mock market student A said she could see the customers were coming too fast and she would like to learn how to add and multiply fast. Student C asked if we can learn about weights. Student D mentioned how we need to know prices before we go to the market otherwise we might be fooled by any cost a shopkeeper might sell at.

This group of students will soon be visiting a real farmers market to purchase, enquire prices and speak to farmers. They know the skills they need, they've decided the amount of work they would like to put in and they’re creating purpose as they go along.

​#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#mathwithmarkets
#funwithmath
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioinspiredlearning
​

'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la!

No no, not Christmas but jolly because our preschoolers are in school!

With wonder in their eyes,

They have embarked,

On a magical exploration train,

Soaking in all the sights and colours,

Experiencing play through all their senses,

Making new friends and playing together,

Challenging themselves every step of the journey!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioemiliainspired
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
​

Have you ever wondered how we can save the world from becoming a garbage pile?
Do you think there's something we can do about it? Any ideas? 
If so, how can you implement them? How can these ideas produce an output?

Well...that is what project T.R.U.I is for!

WHAT IS PROJECT T.R.U.I, you ask?
As sparkling Mindzians, we were troubled to know that the waste, whether we separate or not as dry and wet waste, usually end up in the landfills and all that talk about companies recycling are usually fake. Now knowing that the waste produced in our school will end up in landfills any way, we wanted to do something about it. And that was how the concept of T.R.U.I. emerged -Tinker, Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Up-cycle and Innovate. A project that will help us to not only T.R.U.I. our waste but also even probably sell it. 

SO, WHAT DO WE PLAN TO DO ABOUT IT?
After the tool T.R.U.I. was given to us, we wanted to start the work right away, and so we did. As a class, we sat together and brought different ideas to the table. From coasters to lampshades, sound amplifiers to keychains, pencil holders to racks, our ideas were limitless. We then needed to pick a few from that big pile of ideas. To do this, we came up with a set of parameters that will give us an idea of how 'good' the idea is, what the product will and can be. The parameters we came up with were: effective, useful, abundantly sourceable, sturdy, and aesthetically pleasing. This came in handy as it helped us pick the most matched ideas from the lot. 

LET'S DELVE INTO OUR DISCUSSIONS FROM T.R.U.I. EMERGED FROM
Our discussions started off with the big question, 'Where does our waste go?' We wondered about it for days and days. We enquired about it to many - our maintenance heads, the people who take the garbage and many others. Even after all that the answers were either “It goes to Bannerghatta.”, or “Why do you want to know?!” None of us were satisfied with any of the answers that we received. So many of these discussions and so many questions later, we finally arrived at T.R.U.I and the ideas started pouring in.

MISSION T.R.U.I
Now that T.R.U.I has stepped in and taken a very important role in all of our lives, we were ready to start making the items we came up with. But the facilitators helped us realize that there were more learning and skill set we needed to bring to the table to make this process easier. This created the mission T.R.U.I where all our learnings were connected to T.R.U.I., along with us learning the skills that will help us to create T.R.U.I. Ied items. 


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

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
​#everychildcan

​"I'm very happy to announce that we have been selected by Great Companies as one of the Top SMEs of 2021.

Right from when we started this journey we have been taking unique paths and unexpected turns as we work towards our mission of Inspiring Confident Learners and Changemakers amongst children today.

To all those who have believed in our vision and supported us through all these years, here's another validation and milestone of achievement. As always many, many miles more to go as our work has just begun.

Thank You for all the trust and support!"
- Sreeja Iyer, Founder & CEO, Sparkling Mindz Global School, Preschool, and Afterschool

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#21stcenturylearners
#socialemotionallearning
#reggioemiliainspiredlearningphilosophy
#awardsandrecognition

​

​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. ​

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. 

What are PFCs, you may ask.  Perhaps if I say PTA (Parent- Teacher Association meetings), it might click? 

Here at SM, our PTAs are called PFCs (Parent - Facilitator Connect). At SM, adults who interact with children are called facilitators. We believe that we facilitate learning in children and not 'teach' them, all this while going deeper in our own learning too; as we believe children are individuals who are capable of achieving just about anything in the world that they put their minds to. 

As it is the time of the year to wind up the current academic session, the third term, we have our third and final PFC just around the corner. All of us are busy with the preparations, digging through our notes after notes, reflections, e-mails we had sent... and that could have possibly looked like a lot of work or such a chore. But this is imperative so as to not miss even the tiniest of information about the growth of our children as we can. At one point, we realized we were lost in the nitty-gritty and needed some BIG INSPIRATION to keep chugging along. So we got together as a team and reflected on the prompt 'What does PFC mean to us?' It was an attempt to find our beliefs about PFCs and create the necessary inspiration and momentum. We each shared our beliefs and here is what we arrived at,

1. PFCs are for community building. We at SM strongly believe we are a community and not just a school with teachers, students and parents. When we say community, it means to us that we are all in this together, for the holistic development of the child. So when we come together for PFCs, we get to see where each child is at with regards to how they are at home, parents get to see how children are at school on a regular basis as we openly discuss about the achievements, milestones, patterns of the children and what parents can do to help the child move forward. Both parents and we are on the same side of the boat, working together as one entity, for the child, enabling trust on each other from both the parties.
2. PFCs are for bridging the gap. Connecting to the previous point, both the parties get to see a complete perspective of the child and not just one aspect of how the child is just in school. 
3. PFCs are for showing the parents how we see children (capable, curious, empathetic, creative, and so on). Sharing the developing and ever-evolving image of the child through stories of their growth, reinforcing our belief that children are so much more than just marks.
4. PFCs are also a  moment to reflect how we have grown as facilitators and they as parents.

Our discovered shared mission and purpose inspired us to power through the PFC documenting work with renewed energy and vigour. Like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle we had put together all of our varied thoughts on PFCs and built our very own PFC quilt to motivate us to work towards the higher purpose of working on the PFC documentations.

We, as a team, not only came out of the feeling stuck moment, we also know that if we do get stuck in the future, we can always refer back to our purpose and get going and know that we are not alone in this journey; we have this whole community cheering on with us!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#teamspiritstories
​#discoveringthepurpose

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