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!”
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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