#noviruscanstopus
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#annualdaycelebrations
#ohtheplacesyoullgo
#drseussinspired
#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#playbasedlearning
#funplacesforchildren

​Happy women's Day to all the amazing, beautiful women who have touched my life in innumerable ways. 

I rise  (Inspired by Maya Angelou's - Still I rise)

Like the tides in the ocean 
That have seen many lives
I rise

Like the gentle breeze
That touches everyone
I rise

Like the specks of dust
Trampled beneath
I rise

Like the vapour in the water
When brought to a boil
I rise

Like the fury of the fire
Stoked by a gust of wind
I rise

Like the clouds that gather 
All their might 
I fall

But, fierce and mighty
Like the sun
I rise again and again and again.

And, like a ray of hope
Amidst despair and gloom
I will always rise.

- Sreeja Iyer
​
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngacgieversacademy
#sundaymusings
#everychildcan
#poetry
​

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!
​

As the title goes, no event at SM is ever complete without extending gratitude for all the support and love that was present and received. So post the Poetic Soiree event, the house representatives from all the four houses (Sphinx, Phoenix, Pegasus and Griffins) came together, along with their facilitators to express the same, that made the event possible, along with their experiences of the event. The 'Thank-You' note also touches upon all the effort that was put into making it all happen, in just the right amounts to end the event with the perfect amount of joy and appreciation!

 Let's sit back and soak in all the love and joy. Have fun. :) 

This is our SM's way of expressing gratitude. How about you? Do leave a comment below on how you show your appreciation, love and gratitude. 

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#poeticsoiree
#covid19
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
​#learningforkeeps

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
​

"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
#everychildcan
#21stcenturylearning
#deeplearning
#creativethinking
​#socialemotionalearning
​

The Covid-19 took the whole world by surprise. Before we knew it, the entire world went into lockdown. The regular life came to a pause. It started to show up in everybody's lives differently. When we look back at it a few years, decades and centuries from now, what will people see or talk about?

​As the children in the school embarked on a newsletter project on - No Virus Can Stop Us, they asked Sreeja Ma'am to write a column about it. She chose to write a poem in her role as a mother of all children in the system and it's an exploration of the mother and child together of the situation that they suddenly find themselves in as well as a promise of hope to the ones who can't see the light.

 Let's read on.
​

The machines came to a grinding halt
The morning rush no longer the default
People scared, holed up in no virus can stop us listening to me homes
A sight one heard of only in tomes

Did the virus win? What happened next?
Mummy, please don't stop just yet
How did everyone live like that?
In fear of a virus from a bat!

Did everyone put down their arms?
What about workers and the farms?
Did everyone stop everything?
From factories to market gathering?

No one went out to play?
Or on a holiday?
No one strolled in the park?
What a sad story with no spark!

Sonny boy! Not all that meets the eye
Is the truth or what we should buy
Let's Look further and beyond
To see how humans respond

There were doctors and nurses
Who without a care for themselves
Served every needy sick and patient
Despite lack of equipment

Tough decisions they had to make
Who to save and who to forsake
It broke their hearts and soul
Yet, they focused on the goal

To prevent loss of life and reduce pain
They tried hard, sometimes in vain
What made them not give up
Mummy, of what are they made up?

Pain and adversity have their way
They go deep within to find a way
Through the hurt and the pain
To build out the power within

Some families drew closer together
A few others broke altogether
Industries, workers had to heed
Very harsh realities indeed

Less fortunate were losing homes, 
Migrating by foot, hurt by stones
Hungry for food, blisters on feet
Breathing their last on the street

Briefly, students cheered
No exams that they feared
Soon boredom and despair loomed
Everything seemed to be doomed

Through these times, a few discovered they could
Work from home
Work on their own
Do house chores 
Cook
Dream
Sing
Dance
Tell stories
Play
Connect
Be generous
Serve
Discover themselves
Generally, do with less

Mummy, do tell me more
Did they forget how they lived before?
My dear boy, people didn't forget
But people didn't regret

They ventured forth to create - 
New ways of being
New songs for dreaming
New dances for creating
New books for seeing
New forms of working
New norms of serving
New connections for making
The world a better place
And each of our lives worth living.

It's your turn to reflect on how you are taking this pandemic, and how you are choosing to spend your time. Let us know in the comments. 


Contributed by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Co- Founder, Sparkling Mindz Global School and Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#youngachieversacademy
#covid-19
#deepthinking
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#21stcenturylearning
#reggioinspiredschool

It is the Poetic Soiree season and like you rightly can guess, Poetry is in the air. Unlike, other times, we have inspired poetry and children's own poetry being shared. As children express themselves, some of their innermost thoughts and struggles resonate. They are all learning to love themselves and not get influenced by other's opinion of themselves. 

Children very easily get influenced by what their friends think or say about them. They easily internalize negative messages about themselves  and make it their own. 

We have been talking to children about their internal voice and keeping it positive. Sharing a poem I wrote based on the inspiration.  This has been an ongoing process for us, so this poem was written in Aug 2017.

-When I love myself--

When I'm harsh on myself
I can't see anything good
When I love myself
I'm okay even if they're rude

When I judge myself
Every finger points at me
When I love myself
They are just being free

When I criticise myself
I lose the will to fight
When I love myself
I gather all my might

When I look for flaws in myself
I stare down a deep, dark hole
When I love myself
I find ways to make myself whole

When I don't trust myself
I get angry at all my mistakes
When I love myself
I'll learn and up my stakes

When I care too much
About what others will think
I lose sight of what I hold dear
And what I value in the fear

When I live in fear
Of being found
For the fraud I'm
I cry, I run, I hide

When I live in joy
Of discovering
Who I'm
I stay, I learn, I grow

--Sreeja Iyer
CEO, Sparkling Mindz 

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#poemforthesoul
​#growthmindset