GIGI BYTES-Edition-15

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Importance of Empathy in Preschool

Empathy is crucial in preschool because it fosters emotional and social development, helping children understand and respond to others’ feelings. When young children learn to recognise emotions in their peers and show compassion, they build stronger relationships and develop important communication skills. Empathy promotes cooperation, reduces conflicts, and creates a more inclusive, supportive classroom environment. By learning empathy early, preschoolers develop emotional intelligence, which lays the foundation for respectful and kind behaviour throughout their lives. It also enhances problem-solving and helps children navigate their own emotions effectively. Empathy is a key life skill that benefits children beyond the preschool years. It is linked to success in personal and professional relationships, leadership abilities, and overall emotional resilience. Developing empathy in early childhood sets the stage for positive social interactions and emotional health throughout life.

Incorporating empathy-building activities, such as role-playing, sharing stories, and encouraging open discussions about emotions, allows preschoolers to practice and deepen their understanding of this crucial skill. Promoting empathy creates a more compassionate, harmonious, and supportive learning environment for all children.

Swapnali Medhekar

Center Head

Kanakia Kids, Mira Road

SUBJECT FEATURE

Literacy Circle

The Literacy Circle in preschool plays a foundational role in fostering a love for reading and language while developing essential communication skills in young learners. It is a collaborative space where children are encouraged to engage with stories, expand their vocabulary, and practice speaking, listening, and comprehension. Through structured yet fun activities, the Literacy Circle nurtures the early building blocks of literacy that set the stage for future academic success. The Literacy Circle provides an interactive platform for children to explore language in an engaging manner. Children enhance their vocabulary, pronunciation, and understanding of sentence structure through storytime, group discussions, and phonics-based activities. This exposure helps them become more confident in expressing themselves both verbally and in writing. Working in a group setting during the Literacy Circle promotes cooperation, patience, and social interaction. Children are allowed to share their thoughts, ask questions, and listen to others, boosting their confidence in communicating with peers and adults alike.

Literacy Circle in preschool creates an interactive and engaging environment where young learners build their literacy skills while developing a passion for reading. By focusing on language development, comprehension, and early writing, sets the foundation for successful literacy learning throughout their academic journey.

CLASSROOM CONNECTION

Within the classroom, building connections among students, teachers, and peers is vital for fostering social and emotional development. Through collaborative activities and play, children learn key life skills such as sharing, communication, and teamwork. Teachers play an essential role in creating a warm, inclusive environment that ignites enthusiasm for learning and supports positive interactions.

NURSERY

ENGLISH

Learners engaged in a picture talk session, identifying hospital figures like doctors and nurses, enhancing cognitive understanding. They practised rainbow tracing the letter ‘a’, improving letter recognition and fine motor skills. Learners also explored the sound ‘d’ through phonic songs and created paper doughnuts, supporting sound recognition and creativity.

Domains: Language and Literacy, Physical Development

Competencies: Phonics, fine motor skills, creativity

Learning Outcomes: Enhanced letter and sound recognition, and fine motor skill development.

MATH

Learners recapped numbers 1 to 10 through a ball-passing game, improving number recognition and sequencing. They explored the colour green through a colouring activity, reinforcing colour recognition and fine motor skills.

Domains: Numeracy, Physical Development

Competencies: Number sequencing, colour recognition

Learning Outcomes: Strengthened number sequencing and colour identification.

THEME

Learners were introduced to community helpers, exploring their tools and roles through flashcards and discussions, enhancing social awareness and cognitive skills.

Domains: Social Studies, Language Development

Competencies: Social awareness, language skills

Learning Outcomes: Improved understanding of community roles and language development.

JR.KG

ENGLISH

Learners were introduced to new sight words to enhance reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. They also learned the letter ‘g’ and its phonics, improving their writing skills. The Show and Tell activity focused on the letters ‘h’, ‘r’, and ‘m’, encouraging phonetic recognition and speaking skills. Additionally, they recapped Christmas and community helpers, learning about their roles and responsibilities.

Domains: Language and Literacy

Competencies: Vocabulary development, phonemic awareness, speaking skills

Learning Outcomes: Enhanced reading fluency, improved vocabulary, and understanding of community roles.

MATH

This week, learners reinforced colour recognition and visual skills by playing a hunting game with pink and orange objects. They introduced numbers 25 and 26 by forming numerals with clay, enhancing number recognition and fine motor skills. They also practised identifying “before numbers,” boosting number sense and logical thinking.

Domains: Numeracy

Competencies: Number recognition, fine motor skills, logical thinking

Learning Outcomes: Improved colour recognition, enhanced number understanding, and logical reasoning skills.

SR.KG

ENGLISH

Introducing naming words in early education builds grammatical knowledge and vocabulary, helping children associate names with objects. Learners also explored vowel patterns, such as the long vowel ‘U’, to support spelling and reading fluency. Additionally, decoding digraphs like ‘ch’, ‘sh’, and ‘oo’ through games improved reading accuracy.

Domains: Language and Literacy

Competencies: Vocabulary development, phonics, decoding, reading fluency

Learning Outcomes: Improved recognition of naming words, vowel patterns, and digraphs for better reading and spelling skills.

MATH

Learners explored greater than and less than concepts through flashcards and games, reinforcing comparison skills and number vocabulary.

Domains: Mathematical Development

Learning Outcomes: Learners develop comparison, vocabulary, and problem-solving skills.

THEME

Mind mapping was used to help learners organize thoughts and create drawings of amusement parks, making learning more engaging and focused.

Domains: Cognitive Development, Creativity

Learning Outcomes: Learners improve creativity, organization, and visual learning skills.

LITERACY CIRCLE

Sr.Kg

Reading “The Frog and the Fly” sparked their imagination and built reading fluency. Learners practised reading aloud and phonemic awareness.

Domains: Language and Literacy

Learning Outcomes: Learners improve reading comprehension, phonemic awareness, and communication skills.

STREAM

Sr KG
In the Sr KG STREAM session, learners engaged in designing and building parachutes. This hands-on activity promoted an understanding of engineering principles, as learners experimented with parachute designs to explore gravity and air resistance. By cutting, folding, and assembling materials, learners honed their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They also practised scientific inquiry by forming hypotheses, conducting experiments, and analyzing the results, developing their problem-solving skills and critical thinking in the process. This exploration enhanced their understanding of how design impacts function, particularly in relation to speed and distance during free fall.

YOGA

Nursery and Jr.KG

Mouse Pose

This week, learners practised Mouse Pose which is ideal for relaxation and mindfulness. This pose introduced them to the basics of yoga, encouraging calmness while developing physical flexibility and posture.

Domains: Physical Development, Emotional Well-being

Competencies: Relaxation, mindfulness, flexibility, posture

Learning Outcomes: Learners enhanced their mindfulness and relaxation skills while developing flexibility and body awareness through simple, calming yoga poses.

Sr.Kg- Pyramid Yoga Formation

Activity Description:

In this session, learners formed a pyramid shape with their bodies, promoting teamwork, balance, and coordination. This fun and interactive activity helped enhance gross motor skills and fostered a sense of community and collaboration.

Domains: Physical Development, Social Development

Competencies: Teamwork, balance, coordination, motor skills

Learning Outcomes: Learners improved their motor skills, developed a sense of community, and enhanced their ability to work collaboratively through this group activity.

MUSIC

Aesthetic and Cultural Development

The session began with a body warm-up to enhance gross motor skills, followed by a vocal warm-up to engage children’s voices. Our Nursery learners sang ‘In My Neighborhood’ song to foster listening skills and awareness of their surroundings, concluding with a revision of the ‘Family Song’ to reinforce language skills and familiarity with family roles.

Jr.KG learners sang the ‘Community Helpers’ song, focusing on pitch accuracy and dynamics to explore sound levels and volume control.

Sr.KG learner revised the ‘Community Helpers’ song, clapped to a birthday song for rhythm awareness, and practised clapping patterns to strengthen coordination and rhythm skills.

ART

Nursery learners explored 2D geometric shapes on a light table using transparent and colourful materials. They constructed and created various compositions, which fostered creativity, problem-solving, and self-expression. This activity was included under the Visual Art, Math, and Cognitive Development Domain. It also added competencies like Spatial awareness, creativity, problem-solving, and fine motor skills which helped learners improve their understanding of 2D shapes, enhance creativity, and develop early math and art concepts through exploration and construction.

Jr.KG learners enthusiastically engaged in a clay modelling activity where they crafted various objects using air-dry clay. This creative activity encouraged self-expression while enhancing fine motor skills and tactile exploration. Also helping learners improve their fine motor skills, express their creativity, and gain experience working with different materials.

Sr.KG students explored the element of Value by practicing shading techniques, transitioning from dark to light using pencils. This activity introduced them to the concept of depth and dimension, helping them understand how value influences the mood and structure of the artwork.

HORTICULTURE

Learners had a creative and engaging experience exploring plants and the environment through hands-on gardening lessons. During this cycle, they participated in a seed bomb activity, where they created small balls of soil, clay, and seeds and planted them in pots. As the seeds sprout, they will contribute to the growth of beautiful flowers and greenery. This interactive activity not only taught learners the basics of gardening but also emphasized the importance of plants in maintaining a healthy environment.

PLAY LAB

In the Play Lab, learners participated in a range of hands-on activities, exploring various sensory materials and interactive tools. These activities fostered creativity, enhanced fine motor skills, and promoted collaboration among peers.

In the foyer, the Maze Game offered an exciting challenge, where learners navigated a maze setup. This activity improved their critical thinking and spatial awareness while teaching valuable lessons in patience, focus, and perseverance in a fun and engaging way.

Domains: Sensory Development, Cognitive Skills, Physical Development

Competencies: Creativity, problem-solving, fine motor coordination, teamwork

Learning Outcomes: Learners strengthened their sensory and motor skills, developed problem-solving abilities, and learned to work collaboratively and with perseverance.

EVENT

On 28th September 2024, Kanakia Kids organized a special movie screening as part of the theme of recreation and entertainment. The classroom was transformed into a cosy theatre, with numbered seats, dimmed lights, and personalized tickets to enhance the learners' experience. The movie, "Kingdom Under the Sea: The Gift," was both fun and educational, focusing on themes such as friendship, teamwork, and valuable life lessons. As a takeaway, each learner received a pair of goggles, reinforcing the movie’s underwater theme. This event offered an engaging and immersive learning opportunity, combining entertainment with education in a memorable way!

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