​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

My relationship with food has been very fascinating. My mom once told me that, when I was less than 2years old, I managed to climb up onto a table and finish half a dozen of bananas, seeming no less than a monkey.

 As I grew up, most healthy foods became repulsive; eating used to be an arduous task. This phase involved people constantly commenting on how thin I was and how I should eat more and put on more flesh, muscle and fat. This eventually started causing insecurities within me about my body until college, when I shifted my focus from what I was not, to embracing myself completely; surprisingly my body changed after that. It was the first time I felt a sense of liberation in surrendering to what is. 

My college days saw me develop a huge fetish for street food exploration. This was also backed by shows on TLC and Fox traveller that glorified food. Then, when I started working, I could afford the luxury of eating out at fancy restaurants and experiencing different cuisines and flavours (not that they were all very authentic). 

Today, I settle for terribly simple food; something that feels soulful if not plentiful.
It's funny how my relationship with food is constantly evolving; of course in coherence with my ever-morphing beliefs.

In retrospect, I learnt a few things about myself. I'd like to call them my superpowers - 

- I experience food (and pretty much everything I deeply connect with) with all my senses; I immerse myself in it and connect very deeply with it. I've had people wonder 'how could someone be so passionate about food?' 

- It wasn't just the experience that I would crave, but also sharing that with others. I had the superpower to describe food, with every morsel of detail, that would leave someone's mouth watering to experience it themselves. 

- My brain loves getting fired up with new experience; flavors and textures that tickle my taste buds. 

Now, I'm still in the process of looking at myself, identifying more such superpowers and figuring out how I can leverage them purposefully across all sections of my life.

​Contributed by Disha HK, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global School.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#foodasanexperience
#joyfullearning
#facilitatordiaries

Working at Sparkling Mindz has a facilitator has been an amazing journey of self-growth and self discovery  for me.  Thanks to the passion and dedication of my mentors, Sreeja ma'am and Minesh who motivate  and drive each one of us - at times, encouraging me to tread in paths which are beyond my comfort zone, trusting in my potential more than me, and being there to constantly support and pick me up when I fall. One such instance was when they came to know that I suffered from migraine headaches and reached out to help me.  And lo, the story unfolds... 

I have been suffering from migraines for several years now, and have tried all kinds of medications from allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy and what not, but to no avail.  And then I pacified myself that this is hereditary and since my mother also has it, I will eventually have it ( after careful analysis of how my triggers and symptoms match hers).  Now that I have accepted migraines to be part of me, I tried to shift my focus  to prevent the triggers like constipation, going out in the sun, untimely meals, travelling etc.    Still it was not possible to prevent the triggers all the time, and when something had gone off, I found myself waiting for my symptoms to start, dreading the intensity and pain.  And along with it, suffering from guilt that I am not able to do my work well or fulfil my responsibilities, or being a burden for others at home. 

When I discussed all of this with my mentor, Minesh, he suggested two things.  Identifying and working on what is bothering me at the moment and working on my emotions which may also be a trigger and then using Creative Visualisation to deal with the physical symptoms.  The suggestions did seem easy to work on, but it required lot of courage to look into myself, identify the emotional contribution to the problem and accept the fact that 'yes, that is affecting me'.  It was easier to mask my feelings and say 'I'm okay',  'I'm not that kind of a person who would take all this seriously', 'Ya, this happened .  But still it's fine'.  

Once, I identified the disturbing situation, I was taught how to change my reaction to the problem, by accepting it, acknowledging my thoughts and feelings, and bringing in more awareness to the whole schema of things - this awareness helped to reduce the intensity of the trigger and sometimes nullify it too.  And then came the second step where I spoke to my body, saying that 'I understand that through this headache you are trying to bring something to my awareness and letting me know that something is wrong.  Thank you.  Now I have understood. So it's okay for the pain to fade away.  Ta ta.  Bye Bye.'   And lo behold the pain was gone.  I was left in awe at this magical redemption from so many years of suffering.  Is this really possible that I could just talk to my body and it would just listen to me?  But yes, it actually did!!!   Oh what a miracle!!!  And all this while, to know that my body was actually trying to tell me something through the headache, and I was not listening to the underlying fact; instead I was trying to treat the physical symptoms on a superficial level.  

I went back to happily share this experience with my mentors and express my gratitude to them.  Now that I found success in managing my migraine once, I started applying it every time.  The headaches do come back, but I am able to resolve the issue before the pain aggravates. I first start looking for things that are affecting me at the moment and start working on them.   And also having managed it once, twice, gives me the confidence that I can handle it anytime.  Oh what a relief !!  And the most beautiful fact is that I found the " POWER WITHIN ME' to manage my emotions and the physical problems triggered by those emotions.  

The journey was painful, but worth the effort -because I have become a more confident ME and  bear this torch of self discovery to light many more lives along the way - as a facilitator, as a teammate, as a friend, as a neighbour, as a family member.  

Now that I have resolved one issue, I have embarked on the next journey of working on my self-confidence, identifying areas which need work, identifying and working on my limiting beliefs, fighting the resistance to dig deeper and deeper.  I already hear you wishing me 'All the best'.  Thank you!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
​#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatorselfgrowth
#powerwithinme
#learningforkeeps
​
Contributed by Jennifer Christy, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

**Long Post Alert**

If you think of the word interview and the words ‘nervous’, ‘scary’, ‘dread’, ‘boring’ or any of those come to your mind, it is clear that you have probably not had an interview at Sparkling Mindz Global School. At SM, we have a learning area called ‘LIFE’, short for Learning Is Forever and Everywhere, and we take that very seriously. Even an interview is a learning experience for both, the interviewer and the interviewee. In the beginning of April, we had an interview which led to the resolution of deep-seated beliefs about the learning of math for one of the facilitators who was part of the interview team. It was also a refreshing experience for the interviewee, S, who saw math and math anxiety in a whole new light. As if this was not enough, all the people involved in the interview also had an ‘aha’ moment about maths during the interview! 

The interviewee, S, writes: 

Expect the Unexpected 

“Expect the unexpected” that’s exactly what you should expect in Sparkling Mindz. And I had my first such experience in my Interview itself!!! 

I had to do a demo session on Parallel lines for 4-6th graders... After the 1st demo session, I had a few comments as the areas of improvement and then the very next day I had to redo the session. 
All the feedback was explained well with examples and the need for making the specific changes. I was able to relate to them and understood how to implement the same. With all those inputs and a quick connect with one of the facilitators helped me to gather my thoughts and structure my day 2. 

All Set!! 

My session was now on an overarching umbrella - Lines... the students were a mix of those liking math, those not liking, some knowing some of the topic, some not knowing much of it......But when I started, each one of them was enthused and excited, because I asked them to draw their favourite imaginary toy!! 

That’s how we started “the lines” After putting their imaginary toys on the paper, talking about them a little.... It was the moment I introduced the lines – vertical, horizontal, slanting... 

Then I brought in the second line!! 

So while explaining the parallel lines, One of them called out- 
“Ma’am are all HORIZONTAL LINES Parallel lines? 
Woooohhhhhhoooo!!! that was the Aahaaaaa moment!! 

It was exciting... the student discovered something so did I... And so did my interviewer who was silently watching all that was happening in the session!! 

All VERTICAL LINES are PARALLEL lines too!!! The joy and the pride on the face of the student for being able to say something so important was satisfying and is unexplainable in words for me.......It was not a part of my script.... 

While there will be those difficult questions that the I would not have thought thru during the preps and may throw me completely off track, I realised at that moment, there will also be THESE moments when I will discover many the wonderful things with children!!!And that’s what all the hard work will be worth for! 

The Facilitator, P, writes: 
The Class in which I found math (and the ball found it’s lines) 

As I sat for the second math class of my adult life, I was not sure if history was going to repeat itself. Well, it had already repeated itself yesterday, when in the middle of the class a veil fell upon me. The old familiar veil of ‘I can never get this’. Now this is a transparent veil, and it is difficult to spot it. Also this is a layered veil. It is made up of many emotions and thoughts, like: ‘I hate this’, ‘I am not getting this so this must not be worth getting’, ‘But the others are getting it so maybe it is worth getting but I lack the ability to get it’. Between all of these though, and the most difficult one to spot, is ‘I want to get this!’

This veil has often been the reason I have had a strange relationship with math. As I write ‘have had’ in the past tense, I realize that an opening has been made and I have a chance to open the veil and look through in some way. 

So, what made the unimaginable happen?

This was a repeat of the class on parallel lines conducted by one of the interviewees, S at SM. Just yesterday, I thought parallel lines are a farce, an illusionary concept that does not exist in life. I gave a lot of feedback during and after class to the interviewee with the view that another child shouldn’t ever sit through a math class and feel anxious like I did, another child shouldn’t have to face the veil and be helpless about it and if I could do anything to change how a child might feel in a math class I’d do it. So, today again, despite my meltdown and math anxiety, I went with an open mind. Let me give the person a chance, let the person use the feedback that was given by us to account for the emotions of students, look at the big picture of a concept and not just narrowly look at parallel lines, define and establish purpose and connect for the students etc. - I went to try and understand what lines are, what line segments are. I told myself let me not be that student in the English class who, in the middle of a very evocative poem, asks,“but how can the moon talk!?”...It can’t, but the poem does not mean to say the moon is talking literally, it is a representation, a symbol, a form. So I thought let me not break apart the form of mathematics. Let me stick to the piece of paper, to line segments and see what unfolds. Little did I know that a lot was going to unfold. 

The interviewee had taken the feedback well and planned a very different class. At the outset, we were asked to draw an imaginary toy and I drew a ball. Why did I draw a ball when I could have easily drawn something with straightforward lines on it? Well, partly to test mathematics, and partly because well: I think it was just to test mathematics. 
“Oh! You say lines are everywhere. This is my ball, where are your lines?” 
“A circle is a curved line.”
 Okay, I melt a little bit. 

It's Poetic Soiree time of the year again and the preschoolers are busy practising their poems. The two 4 year olds in Cubs class at SM Preschool were reciting their poem called Invention by Shel Silverstein, which goes like,

I've done it, I've done it!
Guess what I've done!
Invented a light that plugs into the sun.
The sun is bright enough,
The bulb is strong enough
But, oh, there's only one thing wrong...
The cord ain't long enough.

Post this recital, the Cubs weren't happy with leaving the ending in a way where the invention seemed useless. So together they solved the problem, and came up with an extension to the poem with the help of the facilitator,

' So I take six ladders,
Put them together as one.
Then I take a few cords,
Attach them together
And plug it into the sun!'

Children used empathy as a tool here to come up with solutions. They stepped into the shoes of the poet, became the poem and realized that they could help figure out what the poet can do to make the invention work! At first they were unhappy with the original ending, as they found it ending with a problem and not a solution. And almost immediately, with no intervention required, they started exploring various solutions for the same. They moved around the class, pretending the sun to be at a high place, having a short cord, asking each other what they can do. And in a matter of less than 5 minutes, they solved it together as a group! 

When children are invited to wonder, the world of curiosities open up. They step into that world and emerge out victorious with questions, solutions, answers...Perhaps that's all we need as children and adults, a safe space to wonder, be curious, ask questions and figure things out. 


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

Our cubs (4 year olds) were sitting on the mats near the doll house and were enjoying looking at other classes practice for Sports Day. The practice was paused for a bit to ensure a water spill was cleaned up. As I looked at the cubs from a distance, I saw them all watching keenly at the cleaning in complete silence. It looked as though something was running in their minds, and I was curious to know more; hence I took a place next to them on the mat.
 
Driti broke the silence looked at me and said, “It looks like we are sitting in an island, full of water”
Saanvi with a sad face said, “Yes we are stuck here forever”
I asked “What can we do now, how can we escape?”
“We can swim and escape”, said Driti casually.
Saanvi exclaimed, “I don’t know how to swim!”
Aliyah who was listening for a while agreed to Saanvi saying, “Me neither. Maybe we can build a
Ship and escape”
Saanvi agreed, “Oh ya! We can build one”
 
Just then Aliyah who was thirsty went to get water for herself from her bag.
Looking at Aliyah going Saanvi cried out, “Oh a big fish has eaten up Aliyah!”
To which I immediately asked to further tickle their imagination, “Should we help her? ”
Driti caught question and carried on, “But she knows how to escape, she can swim and come out of the fish easily, because the fish is big and Aliyah is small inside the fish!”
After a few seconds Aliyah returns not knowing what had happened.
 
Driti then said, “There! Aliyah has escaped”
She then held my hand and continued,  “I know to swim, so you can all hold me and keep swinging your hands pretending to swim, I will swim and take you out of the water”
All of them held hands and pretended to swim, Roshni, Zohar and Sara who were enjoying listening to the story joined us, all sitting in one row held each other’s hands and started swaying.
 
Just then Driti looked at me and said, “Ma’am swing the other hand too”
After a while of pretending, “Ah! Now we are out!” rejoiced Driti.
Everyone sighed with a relief of being escaped from the island.

It is such moments that show us children's vivid imagination, their inner voices in the face of challenges and how they motivate themselves to come out of even the most difficult of situations. The stories are not merely stories, they are maps for how they can swim through the ocean of this uncertain world and maps can be updated, refreshed and new ones can be drawn up. It's upto us to ensure they stay flexible that way.

Every moment of creative imagination is a chance to build a confident, inspired learner. Have you captured one with your child yet?

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
​#everychildcanbecreative
​
Contributed by Grace Veronica, Facilitator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool