GIGI BYTES-Edition-14

FROM OUR DESK

Block play

Block play is a crucial aspect of early childhood development, helping children build essential numeracy and cognitive skills that form the foundation for future math learning. Through activities such as stacking and organizing, children naturally engage in counting, spatial awareness, and pattern recognition. These activities introduce key concepts like geometry, measurement, and problem-solving in a fun and interactive way. Beyond math, block play enhances fine motor skills, creativity, and teamwork while fostering patience, persistence, and problem-solving through trial and error. Block play in early learning establishes a strong base for more complex math concepts, nurturing a love for exploration and lifelong learning. For example, building structures like towers, houses, or bridges with blocks of various sizes helps children develop spatial awareness by understanding balance and spatial relationships, as well as problem-solving skills as they figure out how to stabilize their structures. It also strengthens fine motor skills through improved hand-eye coordination and dexterity. Activities like colour sorting and stacking encourage children to enhance their colour recognition and cognitive skills by identifying and categorizing colours, following instructions, and developing control and precision. Pattern building, where children create specific patterns using blocks (such as alternating colours or shapes), introduces mathematical skills like sequencing, pattern recognition, and early geometry concepts while fostering creativity, logical thinking, and an understanding of order and repetition.

Swapnali Medhekar

Center Head

Kanakia Kids, Mira Road

CLASSROOM CONNECTION

Connecting with our students is paramount. As educators, we know that emotional presence and attunement to each child's unique needs are vital for fostering a love of learning, creativity, and critical thinking. By being fully present, we create a supportive environment where students feel validated, empowered, and encouraged to grow.

SUBJECT FEATURE

Yoga

Yoga plays a vital role in the holistic development of preschoolers, positively impacting their physical, emotional, and cognitive domains. Children build strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination through regular practice, enhancing physical competencies like motor skills and body awareness. Yoga also fosters emotional regulation, helping children manage their feelings by focusing on breath control and mindful movement. This practice promotes calmness, reduces anxiety, and nurtures emotional resilience.

On a cognitive level, yoga sharpens concentration, memory, and self-discipline, building key cognitive competencies that support attention and mindfulness. Group activities in yoga further develop social-emotional skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and teamwork, while encouraging a sense of community. Introducing mindfulness through yoga helps children stay present, teaching them to manage stress and cultivate inner peace.

Yoga, as a holistic practice, nurtures the complete well-being of preschoolers, laying the foundation for a healthy, balanced lifestyle that promotes physical health, emotional stability, and cognitive sharpness.

NURSERY

ENGLISH

This week, learners explored the sound /m/ through phonic sounds and associated pictures. They reinforced their understanding by creating a mushroom with a paper plate and pom-poms, nurturing creativity, fine motor skills, and phonemic awareness.

Additionally, they traced bumpy and humpy patterns in foam, promoting tactile learning, fine motor control, and hand-eye coordination. This sensory-rich activity also supported focus, sensory awareness, and early writing skills, aligning with the Language and Literacy, Cognitive, and Physical Development domains.

MATH

In our recent session, learners discovered how orange colour is formed by blending paints, enhancing their creativity and understanding of colour recognition. They also completed a worksheet to reinforce their learning.

The concept of "far and near" was introduced using objects, helping develop spatial awareness, cognitive skills, and observation abilities, aligned with Cognitive Development. This hands-on activity kept everyone engaged and excited.

JR.KG

ENGLISH

In this cycle, learners concentrated on recognizing and forming the letters "m" and "d," along with mastering their phonic sounds and correct writing format, thereby enhancing their early literacy skills. The fingertip painting activity for the letter "d" not only reinforced the letter's shape but also boosted fine motor skills and creativity. Learners also engaged in a fun sight word practice activity, which helped build early reading skills and increased their confidence in word recognition. These activities contributed to both academic development, by improving literacy, and personal development, by encouraging self-expression and independent learning. The combination of these hands-on and engaging activities fostered creativity, fine motor coordination, cognitive growth, and self-assurance, supporting learners' overall progress in their literacy journey.

MATH

Learners explored numbers, colours, and shapes through engaging activities that supported both cognitive and sensory development. They identified colours in their surroundings and completed a worksheet on circling the orange colour, improving colour recognition and visual skills. By discussing and identifying the oval shape in everyday objects, they enhanced their geometric understanding. A fun missing number maze reinforced number recognition, sequencing, and problem-solving skills. These activities fostered curiosity, critical thinking, and confidence, helping learners connect numbers, colours, and shapes to their daily experiences.

THEME

This week, learners embraced the festive spirit and explored community helpers. They began with a Diwali recap, discussing safe celebrations and expressing their ideas through drawings, fostering creativity and reflective thinking. They then learned about the role of a baker, creatively drawing various treats, and enhancing imagination. Learners were introduced to firefighters, gaining awareness of their bravery. In a recap session, they matched tools related to firefighters in worksheets, reinforcing cognitive skills and occupational awareness.

SR.KG

ENGLISH

Learners are progressing in blending, a key skill for reading a phonics development. This week, they explored consonant blends 'bl', 'cl', and 'fl', which strengthened their decoding skills and enhanced word recognition. Additionally, they practiced 'u' family words and action words, supporting vocabulary growth and language development. Through interactive sessions, learners connected words to their meanings, improving communication skills and helping them transition from single words to forming phrases. These activities not only boosted phonemic awareness and vocabulary but also enhanced cognitive development, memory, and confidence, laying a strong foundation for more advanced reading and communication.

MATH

This week, learners enhanced their number sense by practising addition through concrete objects and picture flashcards, helping them recognize numerical patterns and understand number relationships. They also explored shapes like squares and cubes, using concrete objects to build spatial awareness and visual organization skills. Additionally, they practiced writing numbers in both forward and backward sequences, strengthening their numerical fluency and estimation skills.

THEME

Recreation, a fundamental human need, contributes to well-being, character development, and community bonding. Learners explored various forms of recreation like circuses, amusement parks, and movie theatres. The teacher emphasized the importance of recreation and leisure in daily life, fostering self-awareness and emotional development. Learners further reinforced their understanding through worksheets, enhancing their social skills and emotional intelligence.

Literacy Circle

In Jr.Kg, reading the story Tom Cat and Jim Rat with the teacher's guidance allowed learners to practice letter and word recognition while using their pointer fingers to track the text. This method not only enhanced their reading skills but also improved phonemic awareness by helping them focus on the sounds within words. Additionally, tracking the text made it easier for them to recognize sight words in context, laying a strong foundation for independent reading.

For Sr.Kg learners, reading My Lost Bear with teacher support helped them understand the importance of reading comprehension and its role in building empathy, knowledge, and imagination. By circling sight words, learners developed vocabulary skills while actively participating in the reading session, which improved their social and emotional development. The story helped them connect with characters and situations, enhancing their ability to express emotions and relate to others, fostering both cognitive and emotional growth.

Overall, the reading program helped improve the learners' phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and social-emotional skills, making it an essential part of their learning journey.

Horticulture

Nursery- In horticulture, learners explored various leaves, observing their shapes, sizes, and colours. They used creativity to arrange and affix leaves to paper, enhancing fine motor skills and fostering a deeper connection to nature.

Sr.Kg- This week, learners planted tomato slices in soil, guided by the teacher, to understand the process of growing plants. This activity promoted environmental awareness, healthy eating, and responsibility while teaching patience and optimism as they observed the growth.

STREAM

Jr.KG: In the STREAM session, learners explored the moon's phases, discovering that it changes shape over time. The teacher explained concepts like full moon, half-moon, and crescent moon, helping learners recognize and arrange the phases using flashcards. This activity fostered observational skills and pattern recognition.

Sr.KG: During the STREAM session, learners designed and built parachutes, learning about gravity and air resistance. By cutting, folding, and assembling materials, they enhanced their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Engaging in the scientific process, they made hypotheses, conducted experiments, and discussed the outcomes, promoting critical thinking and collaborative skills.

Nursery: This week, learners engaged in warm-up exercises and flat races, promoting physical fitness, coordination, and flexibility.

Jr. KG: Excited to play the tennis ball game, learners practised how to hold the racket correctly and took turns hitting the ball with partners. This activity enhanced their motor skills and teamwork.

Sr. KG: Focusing on fun warm-up exercises, learners participated in a march past, developing rhythm, direction-following, and teamwork as they marched in place and moved in line with peers.

Event

Hindi Diwas Celebration

For our Hindi Diwas celebration in the pre-primary section, the teachers captivated the young learners with an engaging skit that highlighted the significance of the Hindi language. Through lively performances, they told a story where characters speaking different languages eventually come together through Hindi, emphasizing its role as a unifying language. The skit was both entertaining and educational, sparking joy and excitement among the children, who enthusiastically engaged with the performances. The celebration made Hindi Diwas a fun and meaningful learning experience for all.