Category: Reggio Emilia Inspired Preschool - Sparkling Mindz

Shapes in my World

29/10/2024

Where do you find shapes around you?

Take a few seconds and look around.

What do you see? Maybe a square wall or a rectangular window. You might even see a cone-shaped hat!

Guess what, our three-year-olds from Sparkling Mindz Global school, found shapes in their food!

"See this sandwich, it's a square!"
"No, It's a triangle!" said another.
"No... See, my hand is like a triangle."

Oh, how true!

All the things around us can be broken down into simple shapes.

Here is a glimpse of the things they created using the simple shapes!

"This is a person!" said E, arranging shapes together and lying on them, replicating it.
"This is a rocket space shuttle," declared A as he stepped on it and pretended to fly to places unknown!
"This is a house," giggled P and T as they took shelter under a large square shape and sat on a chair.

What else did they create, you ask?

E stacked two circles to make a colourful burger.
T pretended to fold a circle to create a sandwich with veggies inside,
P and A arranged them into a tall clock, a robot and a Mantis just by rearranging a couple of shapes.

Just by rearranging a couple of shapes, their imagination came to life. With just a shape over their heads, they felt safe from invisible rain. A few twists and turns, and they brought the world to their fingertips. Stay tuned to find out what else our Preschoolers explore through the year!

Shapes, shapes! Oh, how shapes shape our lives.

Contributed by Maanasa, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inpiringconfidentlearners
#playbasedlearning
#reggioemiliainspired

Cultivating Empathy, One Small Visitor at a Time

26/10/2024

The recent floods brought an unexpected visitor—a small crab, missing one of its pincers, who found its way to us.

Before we knew, we had our preschoolers crowding around the crab, wonder in action. Instantly, the children’s curiosity sparked a wave of questions and ideas:

“Can we give it food?”
“Why is it opening its mouth?”
“What if we give it an egg?”—“No, he won’t like egg.”
“Then let’s give him a potato!”
“Maybe we should ask H Sir what crabs eat.”
“It has green eyes!”
“We want to take care of him.”

One child chimed in, “I like to eat carbs.” Another giggled, “You like to eat this crabs, huh?”
“Can we put it in our turtle pond?” someone asked. “Because it likes to swim!”
“I’ve only seen pretend crabs.”

Together, they gently carried the little crab to their turtle pond, believing this would be the perfect home. With wide smiles and hands held tight, they watched over their new friend, buzzing with excitement as though they’d accomplished something truly special and their collective joy filled the space.

In moments like these, nature’s disruptions become opportunities for empathy, connection, and joy. Despite the floods changing our routines, they can’t wash away the children’s sense of wonder. This little crab, with its missing pincer, is more than a visitor—it’s a reminder of how young hearts can learn resilience, kindness, and care for the world around them.

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Learning Facilitator and Preschool Coordinator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#empathybasedlearning
#wonderbasedlearning
#facilitatordiaries
#problemstoprojects

Mixing the Language of Materials

22/10/2024

Children learn through Hundred Languages!

During ITP (Invitation to Play) in Sparkling Mindz Preschool, they play with hundreds of materials that have their own language. Children, in turn, learn to listen to these languages!

Today was the language of Cotton!

They explored with various techniques -

An, aged 4, shared, “I am making it like a dough, I am pressing it and pinching it."

Au, aged 5 declared “I'm breaking the little pieces to make a forest."

Pr, aged 3, pounded the cotton with his fist and said “Making a chapati."

Sia, aged 5, stacked and pressed cotton pieces together so it would hold its shape.

As they did this, J, aged 6, excitedly asked, "Can I have some foam?” and all of a sudden, and a clamour of “Me too!” resounded through the atelier.

But why did they want foam?

“To make curd, Foam and Cotton is white and it will make white curd!”
“To make a cake, I need foam...”
“If we mix foam and cotton, we can roll it.
“I want to experiment!”

And guess what happened?

These experimenters went aboard the explore train.

Here are some of the things they found-

“By the time I wiped it, the cotton became so big, like a radish.”
“It turned yellow when I rubbed it!”
“It is becoming slimy like curd!”
“It is becoming sticky."
“I'm pulling the foam from the cotton now!”

In this way, the children learned to listen to the mixed-up languages of two different mixed-up materials, creating a mix-up of multiple experiences too!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#playbasedlearning
#21stcenturyskills
#reggioemiliaapproach
#preschoolers

Contributed by Maanasa, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

Everything Is Connected, Can You See It?

15/9/2022

Children make connections all the time, that's one of the ways they make sense of the world around them. The more their connections expand the more deeper and wider their thinking become. Here is an instance of how a child made a connection to what he learnt in a different context.

This morning during the book reading session with out 3- 4 YO we read a book called The Way I Feel by Janan Cain. Children began by revisiting the emotions they were already familiar with through a song and picked 2 new vocabulary "Silly" and "Scared" from the book to go deeper. Children explored silly by showing different funny expressions and scared by drawing instances where they felt scared.

Later that day during the Sports hour, children were learning to kick the ball in the playground. 4 YO K with all his strength kicked a ball and his shoes went flying in the air. He picks his shoes and comes running towards the facilitator for help and says "Silly!"

Connection making is a crucial skill that helps in the cognitive development of children, the skill involves recalling information from our memory, compare and contrast and chunking and sorting. Eg. K made a connection between the shoe flying and how that made him feel and used the new word he learnt to describe it.

When these connections are brought to their notice, it'll enable them to make more connections across different areas of their life and in different context helping them see learning as integrated rather then in fragments.

At SM connected learning in one of our values, we believe that learning is deeper and wider when all the learning areas (Math, Science, Social Studies, Languages) are connected to each other and in turn connected to life. And children learn concepts in connection to their life hence making learning purposeful and whole. Additionally here, when you can learn to laugh at yourself it's a gift the child takes for life.

Contributed by Yashika CG, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#21stcenturylearning
#makingconnections
#everychildcan

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

24/6/2022

'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

Look at Who Will be Welcoming Our Preschoolers Back Next Month!

26/4/2022

An environment is a living, changing system. More than the physical space, it includes the way time is strucutured and the roles we are expected to play. It conditions how we feel, think, and behave; and it dramatically affects the quality of our lives. The environment either works for us or against us as we conduct our lives.
- Jim Greenman

Space is an indispensable component in the Reggio Emilia approach towards education. The space or the environment is considered to be the third teacher after parents and facilitators according to the philosophy. Being a Reggio inspired school, space set up is an integral part of our curriculum planning and every element of space is thought through and placed with an intention to enable communication between children, with adults in the system and with the space itself.

This year as we plan to embarked on another exciting academic journey, we decided to redesign our space by bringing our unique Sparkling Mindz characters to invite children to be part of their inspiring stories of exploration and wonder. We used the glass sliding doors in each classroom as portals to the world of interaction, exploration, imagination and movement.

Each door holds a scene from the stories of Cloudsy, Braiynee Bee, Flexi Daisy, Treeous, Q.marq, Randall and Animo's adventurous lives painted carefully with an objective to spark thinking and discussions as we eagerly await children to return to school post their summer vacations.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioemiliainspired
#designthinkingprocess
#spacedesign
#21stcenturylearning

The 100 Languages of Our Preschool Children!

27/1/2022

"The child is made of one hundred" - Loris Malaguzzi

This Children's Day our preschool children explored their 100.

What does this 100 stand for? And what are these 100 that children are made of? What does it exactly mean?

When we asked children what they thought about it, this is what they shared,

"All our hands together make hundred hands"
"We have hundred brains, million words and powers"
"Hundred thoughts and infinite powers"
"Hundred ways of playing with cars"

Children understood that the '100' are not literal things but a representation of the variety within them, and the diversity of their potential.

We then set out on a journey together to explore further how these hundred ways of thinking, expressing, and wondering translated in our classes.

Take a look and journey along with us.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#100languagesofchildren
#reggioemiliainspired

That Time When Our 2 Y/O Saw The Rain!

3/8/2021

A bunch of 2yr olds were on the school terrace when it started to rain. We all took cover and started singing a rain song. Just then-

A: Ma'am it's raining!
Me: How do you know that? Can you see it?
A (and others in chorus): We can hear it.
Me: Why can't you see it?
A: Is white, no color (perhaps indicating transparent)

Suddenly the rain pours

A: Is loud.
Me: What does that mean?
T: It means it is coming fast, fast
R: I can even see it now!

Suddenly it stops.

A: Ma'aaam, it stopped
Me: How do you know that?
T: No sound
Me: Do you think it will come back to play with all of you?

They all laugh and giggle and we continue our song.

Children feel closely connected with nature and puzzle over natural phenomena and try to make sense of it all! They feel joy in feeling like they have control over it and they can predict and understand it.

Do any of you have children's rain stories to share?

Written by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Co-founder, Sparkling Mindz Global School & Preschool

#inspiringconfidentlearners
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#natureplay
#reggioemiliaapproach
#playbasedlearning
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning

Child is Not Just a Roll Number

1/8/2021

I heard a parent in one of our Parenting as a Skill Workshops say, "My child at Sparkling Mindz is not just a roll number".

The moment that I captured there seemed to have awakened something within me and took me to remembering the days when I was perhaps just another number in my class all through the years of my school and college years.

This led me to wonder, does our education system look at children as just another roll number, another head to count in the attendance register? Or another business number?

I wondered some more. What about each child? What about their capabilities, curiosities, imagination, wonder, sense of belonging, identities? Are we raising children for them to be chiseled according to someone else's dreams/choices/perspectives? What about the individuality? The choices that they can make? Or truly hearing each of them out- their voice?

The more I wondered, the more suffocated I felt, like being wrapped up in a plastic bag.

Now imagine our children being wrapped in plastic bags until their formal education is complete. There then comes expectations higher than one's self of them ripping those bags open and flying high...expecting them to be independent, think for themselves, and be creative!

How would the child cope as an adult - having lived through someone else's realities and expectations? Where are they to develop the essential skills to live their lives from? A space where children are to be cherished, loved, nurtured and taught essential skills to manage themselves in every way, I asked myself, are we failing as a society? Is it not time for a change? A revolution, perhaps?

We at Sparkling Mindz believe that it is!

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global School & Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#parentingasaskill
#facilitatordiaries
#thinkingasaprocess

A Melody of Colors in a Medley of Droplets!

17/7/2021

When we think about painting with liquid paint, our thoughts normally go into paint brush, water, a palette with colors we need to create what we are about to paint.

Now let's imagine this, we are given lots of paint but no paint brush? Along with it, a big white canvas. And we are told, "Paint whatever you want!"

What will we do?

A similar situation happened at our Cubs' class today. Our 4 to 5 year olds were invited to paint today with a twist: dip only the palms and SPLASH!!!!!

And the result? A melody of droplets in a medley of colours (below).

ITP (Invitation To Play) at SM is the first few minutes of the beginning of their day where children are invited to simply let go and play!

From giving a specific set of materials to lots of different kinds of materials, to sometimes no materials, children are given the space to explore from ranges of semi- to unstructured play.

ITP, for facilitators, is also the time when they get to see so much more about their children than what they can see such as, how do they work together, how independently can someone play, what all happens in their imagination, what emotion are they carrying, and so much more.

Play being an important component in the development of young children (especially), in Reggio Emilia learning philosophy itself, the value of play is immeasurable indeed and ITPs are a space of celebration here at Sparkling Mindz!

On this particular day, this first 15 minutes of the starting of their day not only uplifted their spirits, bringing in joy, love, excitement, wonder, and more, but also developing a sense of camaraderie and collaboration between each other too, as there were just 5 bowls full of paint, and 12 children. And in this particular Cubs' classroom today, there were lots of laughter, wonder, awe, 'what else can I create', 'what does this look like', to a loooooooot more of 'Oh WOW, look at these colors!'

And merrily they went looking forward to begin day in unison, to learn and grow together.

Is play only for children though? When was the last time you simply...played? Do let us know in the comments below.

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

#inspiringconfidentlearners
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#playbasedlearning
#reggioemiliainspired
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
#everychildcancreate