Category: Social Emotional Learning

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.

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#playbasedlearning
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#everychildcancreate

The Art of Indian Cooking | Leopards Annual Day Showcase

23/6/2021

What do you need to prepare a dish? Recipe duh, right? That's what our children thought too till they read 'The Art of Cooking'.

Why is it art? Isn't there a lot of science involved? What makes it an art? Why are these instructions so different from the recipes we are used to seeing? Really - can you really make any kind of broth if you learnt this skill? Wow!

We wondered, explored, experimented, empathized, created personas and discovered that the problem was to learn the skills in cooking that could lead to unlocking the treasure trove of recipes and the ability to work with a plethora of ingredients. Voila! We had magic in our hands.

Children spent time interviewing, designing and curating the skills that could help different kinds of people discover their inner cooking persona as well as learn and upskill themselves to become better cooks.

This year for the Annual Day, our Leopards (4th and 5th graders) explored 'The Art of Indian Cooking' from first principles and designed something that each of us can use and work with. Along they way they had some magical moments of bonding with their families, embracing the inner scientist in them while some of them brought out their inner chefs. And well, what got cooked? Find out for yourself by watching the video!

But before that, let's let Ms. Poorva Agarwal take us through the cooking of this whole process.

And here, the final product!

Here we have our wonderful parents reflecting along with us, and sharing with us their sides of the story as well. Have a look!

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#creativethinking
#thinkingasaprocess
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Re-imagining Books And Innovating On Problems Related To Books

14/6/2021

Have you ever wondered about all those unread books sitting at different parts of your house, or class, or school...or just about anywhere? What might we be able to do with them?

What about those who write those books, the authors? How about the jitters authors feel about publishing new books? What can be done to ease that?

We wondered the same with our children and it goes without saying, that they bubbled with a variety of ideas. Needless to say, it was such a treat to hear and watch them ideating. Of course, we documented this process, and here is the result: a case study of an ideation process that shows children to convert problems into opportunities for innovation.

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#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#ideationprocess
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
#everychildcan
#childasanentrepreneur
#problemsasopportunities
#learningforkeeps

Case Study: Developing Emotional Intelligence

12/6/2021

Children learn to respond to situations better when their emotional intelligence is developed. The first step is to develop self awareness and awareness of emotions in others and Esha has demonstrated that very well in this case. Here is a short case study of transformative learning from our Afterschool Program on how a child who developed Emotional Intelligence transferred her learning to the home environment.

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#socialemotionallearning
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#afterschoolprogram
#learningforkeeps

Are Bottles The Only Thing You Can Open With Your Strength?

9/6/2021

P, a 4 year old, came to me to open her water bottle. It's usually a little tight for her to open by herself, so she asks for help. Yesterday, Ak, another 4 year old, helped her voluntarily. He considers himself strong and he was excited to help the moment he saw her struggling.

Today when the same scenario happened, S got to P first. Ak also ran to her, causing a tiff. Now S and Ak were at it, wanting to open the bottle. Eventually S opened it and Ak was visibly upset. I called him to ask what had happened,

F (Facilitator): What happened?
Ak, with teary eyes: S opened the bottle. But ma'am, yesterday S opened Ad's bottle also.
F: Okay, but yesterday you also opened P's bottle all by yourself too.
Ak: But ma'am, he opened so many bottles.
F:How do you feel when you saw him opening bottles?
Ak: Sad.
F: Why?
Ak: Because he opened Ad's bottle and so many bottles.

I figured he was upset because he considers himself quite strong but he was failing to see that his strength could be used anywhere he wanted to and not just opening the bottle. After acknowledging what he felt was okay to be felt when he did not get a turn, we continued our conversation.

F: Hmm, Ak, you know you are super strong right?
Ak: Yes.
F: And that helps you open bottles for others. Right?
Ak: Yes ma'am. (Slightly smiling)
F: Are bottles the only things that you can do with your strength?
Ak seems to be thinking.
F: What else can you do with your super strength?
Ak: Climb ladder, draw...

His options went on and on, and so did his mind. The more options he came up with, the more calm and content he seemed.

F: Ah, see you can do so many things with your hands and strength. So next time you get upset about not being to open somebody's bottle, what can you do?
Ak: Find something else.
F: Awesome!

We finished out conversation with a hi five and off he went to sip water.

When children feel stuck one way, building the skill of creative decision making could help them shift their emotional states into productive states that can help them bring in the flexibility to handle situations differently, just like how Ak started seeing how he could use his strength in multiple other areas too himself, and not just use it in opening bottles. Flexibility is a muscle that can be built overtime which can enable decision making in creative ways, also helping one to see multiple pathways when one feels stuck.

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

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatordiaries
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
#problemsolving

Education, an Unconventional Career Path?

8/6/2021

In today's fast pacing and ever-changing world, the requirements of children are also rapidly and constantly shifting. To be able to help them access their highest potential and become the best versions of who they can be, those around them also need to adapt and evolve, and we can start from the basics - our education system.

Today's education system needs a major transformation so that children's needs can be catered to in a holistic manner. It goes without saying that educators play a huge role in this. Here is our founder, Ms. Sreeja Iyer, in conversation with The Better India about today's education system and its role in shaping today's generation and the many more to come, and why it could be an 'unconventional' career path.

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#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
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#youngachieversacademy
#21stcenturylearners
#socialemotionallearning
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#thebetterindia

Top SME Business of the Year 2021 Award

12/5/2021

Top SMEs of 2021 award

"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

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

CareerGuide's Career ChangeMakers Awards 2021

17/4/2021

We believe that the world needs Changemakers today who are learning to heed to problems around them as wake-up calls. Those who can think beyond themselves and walk the road less travelled to create new forms of what journeys and destinations can look like.

It all starts with empowering children today with skills like creative expression, innovative thinking, problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking, sharing ideas, a sense of community, an awareness of global citizenship going beyond the knowledge and skills that schools can easily assess and grade upon.

This needs a systems-level innovation at schools and thinking differently to create an ecosystem that can cultivate changemaker mindsets in children today. And we are deeply humbled and inspired for this grand recognition of Top Innovative and Creative Skills Related Initiatives in School Awards Category by CareerGuide's Career ChangeMakers Awards.

We would like to extend our immense gratitude, love and support we have been constantly receiving from our community all these years, and the adventures we have been undertaking together.

We have stood together and stood strong through these tough times and we will continue to grow strong together.

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.

Our Little Engine can do anything!

14/3/2021

Every morning children sing different SM welcome songs to greet each other before beginning the day at school. One morning, our 2 to 4 year olds looked like most of them did not eat breakfast, no energy at all. Can you visualize how a flower without water how it looks? It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration if I told you that our children looked the same way.

This inspired me to read a book called "The Little Engine", to get them back up on their energy levels. This book is about how the little engine did not give up when faced with challenges till the end and also helped the others in the process. His favourite chant so that he won't give up was, "I Think I Can", which was what I hoped would energize the children today.

So I checked with the children if they would like to listen to a story. As expected, they were all aboard!

While reading the book, my gaze panned through the class. This was what I saw: pin-drop silence, all their eyes glued to the images, nobody blinking. They were focused and paying attention without a movement in absolute silence. At the end of the story, I saw a lot of clarity in their faces, a bunch of warm smiles and some who showed a variety of mixed emotions.

During our reflection of the story, post the usual questions on what was the story, did they like the story and such, we jumped into a specific question,

What did you like in the story?

A:Train is carrying a lot of toys, even I have a lot of toys at home.

As she was sharing the other children pitched in and shared their toys’ details too. They together counted their toys, specifying the features and at a certain point they started to argue with each other too until T said: “I have a little engine at my home!"

Facilitator (F): Oh wow! What do you do with that little engine?
T: I play with it

This got the others to share about what do with trains too such as, “We play with it, we put things on it to carry, I go on a ride and have lot of fun”...

F: Very nice! What do you think the little engine is doing here?

D: Ma’am, it is helping.
F: Who is it helping?
V: big train
A: blue train

F: Why is it helping?
D: Because it is big it is heavy.
Ari: It can't move.

F: How is it helping?
V: I think I can
T: It's pulling the big engine and saying I think I can

Upon hearing this, In chorus everyone started singing, "I think I can! I think I can!"

F: What did you learn from this story?
A: I think I can
D: I think I can

And they continued singing it some more…

Suddenly I heard a voice that said "I think I can help".
As everybody was singing out loud, this little voice wasn’t very audible. So he was asked to repeat.
Ari:" I THINK I CAN HELP! "

F: what do you mean by that Ari?
And he said, “I can also help others” Meaning that he can be like the Little Engine and help others too. This inspired T and she added, “I THINK I CAN DO IT!”

Post this, we saw children religiously following it, reminding each other when they did not follow.

After a month or so, I received a video recording from a parent to see the child repeating the said slogan and not giving up in tough situations. It was definitely a surprise for both the parent and me to watch.

When children are given the freedom to personalize their learning, they start showing ownership of the learning. They customize it to their liking and use it at the required spaces. At SM, when a child learns something new, they learn it as an experience by going in depth through various forms. They then connect this learning not only at school, but also everywhere, gaining knowledge and mastery at it! They show us that learning is fun!

Contributed by Sheela Peter, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

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