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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. 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. #inspiringconfidentlearners #sparklingmindzglobalpreschool #sparklingmindzglobal #reggioemiliainspired While discussing on the take homes (homework) from the weekend, Aaditya, our 5 year old Joey, raises his hand and says in a rush, "Maaammm, we forgot to do welcome song!!", and puts both his palms cupping the both sides of his temples. Welcome Song is sung usually in the morning when we all come together where we wish each other good morning, welcome each other, and overall bring the energy of the group up! Today, as we all got into a mood of wanting to share with each other the take homes from the weekend, we got carried away. "Oh no! What do we do? It's almost time to wind up for us today...How do we sing a welcome song now?", they were asked by their facilitator. With this question came a bunch of surprised, curious and funny expressions. Children then started to wonder about how to sing a welcome and wind up song together, which sparked their curiosity and they started to come up with their own various versions of a song we called 'Welcome-Wind Up Song'. As it was time for our wind up for the day, they were left to think more about it as their take home that day. The below video was the result, as they were left to think about it as their take home. "What is in a song?", after all that's just entertainment right? Also, why should we worry about a child wanting or reminding about a song that was missed? At SM, for us every single thing that children explore has learning in it. "Children have a 100 languages to learn from and learn with and we intend to keep it that way. " - Sreeja Iyer, CEO, Sparkling Mindz Global Each of them will take this richness of learning as an experience away with them into their lives as they grow, learning just the alphabet or numbers without the purpose, the songs, the stories, the clay, the mud, the sunshine is moot! If there was ever a time to create changemakers, it is today and if there was ever to create changemakers that care let's start with caring about the whole being that they are so they can then shine that light to others and their world too. Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool, edited by Sreeja Iyer, CEO, Sparkling Mindz Global. #sparklingmindzglobalpreschool #inspiringconfidentlearners #everychildcan ##reggioemiliainspiredlearning #youngachieversacademy #emergentlearning PART 4/4 "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 PART 3/4 "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 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 It's been a very different year for all of us collectively, this year. But that has not stopped us from exploring, especially during this Independence Day! Explore what? You may ask. Well, we explored our culture, identities, and much more. And we would like to share it with all of you through this video. #sparklingmindzglobalpreschool #inspiringconfidentlearners #everychildcan #21stcenturyleanrning #reggioemiliainspired #socialemotionallearning #independenceday  A lot of us have grown up 'rebels', throwing tantrums, opposing views, walking out on things that didn't feel right, etc. And most of us have labelled them as rebellious acts. Now to wonder on them, did we really create a positive impact doing those acts? Did that help anybody? If we could do certain things differently, how would we change them? Being a changemaker is a shift in identity where, we create a change within ourselves first, before venturing out into the world to shift and change. Being a changemaker is so much more than what we call a rebel. A changemaker is a learner for life, a problem solver, an inspiration, an empowered being. So how can one become a changemaker? Is being a changemaker for everyone? Moreover, do you think you are/ can/ want to be a changemaker? #sparklingmindzglobalpreschool #sparklingmindzglobalschool #youngachieversacademy #inspiringconfidentlearners #21stcenturylearning #everychildcan #beingchangemakers  Often times when we embark on acquiring a new skill, a new adventure, or a new experience, we tend to jump in without asking ourselves why we want to attempt that. When the purpose of what we are doing is not clear, we tend to not continue what we are doing, as we don't know why we are doing what we are doing. Learning with depth comes through practise, time spent learning it, having clarity on what we would like to learn, and many more. But first, starting with 'why' is what makes that journey worthwhile. #sparklingmindzglobalschool #beingchangemakers #inspiringconfidentlearners #socialemotionallearning #21stcenturylearning #startwithwhy The pre-schoolers (3 to 4 year old) showed a lot of curiosity with regards to flying objects during our discussions on what magic is according to them while reading the book 'Witchety Sticks and The Magic Buttons'. This progressed to them seeing a video of things that fly (which emerged from their discussion on what are some of the magical things they see around and why they are magical) and what they came up with post that is nothing short of magical. When asked about what they think are flying things, a wide variety of answers came in as responses from the children: Aa: Aeroplane S: Butterfly Aa: Jet Ab: Eagle K: Those triangle things that guys take and fly. When there is wind they can fly (kite) An: Dragonfly and bees S: Helicopter, aeroplane H: Parrot Aa: Jet packs can fly when we wear and we press the button S: Chicken, hen F: Can they fly? S: They have wings F: So does everything with wings fly? Collectively: Yes. Post this they moved onto watching the video of birds, balloons, kites, helicopter, aeroplane, etc. flying and we had a discussion on they each flew. They explained about how each of them fly, K: Ma'am, I can see one bird and one baby bird. Balloons can also fly F: But balloons don't have wings. So how do they fly? H: With the air H: When the wind, when somebody leave hands, they go up. K: It can be popped like this <claps his hands together> pop! Then came a kite, F: How does a kite fly? H, K: Air , Wind Then a bird and a helicopter, K: Eagle! It has wings like this <pretending to fly> F: Next. What's this? Collectively: Helicopter! F: How does this helicopter fly? K:With its wings S: Propeller goes tugh tugh tugh An: Helicopter go like this (up and down motion) K: I have a drone in my house. Makes sound and hand movements Out came an…..?K: Aeroplane!!! F: How does an aeroplane fly? An: Wings! K: I know how to make the aeroplane with my hands S: This aeroplane looks like it has wheels on the wings F: That's an interesting observation. Why do they have wheels on the wings? An: To land. When they are going up and come up, they need wheels to come down. F: What about a helicopter? Does it have wheels? K: No. F: Then how does it land? An: It jumps down Ab: It'll go down Sees a spaceshuttle flying S: Rocket! Only space shuttles can go outerspace. Only spaceshuttle have fire The conversations went on and on about various things that fly. Since children were fond of singing 'Fly Fly Fly The Butterfly' nursery rhyme, we thought it would be a great idea to get them all together and create extensions to it to sing about some of their favourite things that flew other than the butterflies. Here is the result: F: So let's make a song now. What all things fly? H: Balloon Aa: Jet pack, rubber band S: Rocket K: Space Shuttle An: Ribbon L: Bird, aeroplane S: Helicopter  Song: Tune of 'Fly Fly Fly the Butterfly' Fly fly fly the balloon fly Up in the sky it's flying high We try to catch it but it's too high Fly fly fly the balloon fly Fly fly fly the jet pack fly I am going to fly very high Then I land to the station Fly fly fly the jet pack fly Fly fly fly the rocket fly In the night to the space it flies Then it flies and lands on the moon Fly fly fly the rocket fly. Fly fly fly the ribbon fly In the meadow it's flying high With different colours it flies to the sun Fly fly fly the ribbon fly Fly fly fly the birdie fly Up in the sky it's flying high Quick quick quick it's sitting in the nest Fly fly fly the birdie fly * quick being the sound it makes when it sits in the nest. Fly fly fly the aeroplane Up in the sky it flies so fast All the around the world it's flying high Fly fly fly the aeroplane fly. Fly fly fly the helicopter fly Up propeller and back propeller Turn turn turn turns really fast Fly fly fly the helicopter fly Fly fly fly the rubber band fly We pull it and leave it It fly so high and lands on the ground Then we pick it up and throw it up again! Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool. #sparklingmindzglobalpreschool #inspiringconfidentlearners #reggioinspiredphilosophy #21stcenturylearning #emergentcurriculum #everychildcan |
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June 2020
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