Message from our desk
Challenging Activities
Challenges are everywhere and we all need to learn how to overcome them. Facing challenges and navigating one's way through them builds resilience capacity. Knowing that one can overcome obstacles, learn to deal with any problems lays a solid foundation for success in later life.
Challenging activities require learners to engage in critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. We can challenge students with an activity, material, and thought. These activities help to progress, develop new ideas and when challenges are overcome, Children will tend to feel confident and good about themselves.
This is important for several reasons. The more children relish challenges, the less likely they are to give up. They will see mistakes as opportunities to learn and help to develop positive thinking in future prospects.
Ms.Swarachita Kumari
Pre-primary Coordinator
Olive Trails
Teachers should bond with learners at multiple levels, emotional bond is very crucial. We cannot have a standard approach for all learners. Every child has a different capabilities, style , pace of learning etc. Each child has the capability to succeed and achieve their full potential. Teacher as a mentor and a coach should encourage and guide learners to achieve their goals in the field of education.
Learning engagements @ Nursery
English: Picture talk
The learners explored the concept of understanding and identifying different rooms through ‘Picture talk’. Through this activity, they were asked to identify various rooms from their picture workbook. The learners seamlessly identified rooms, such as kitchen, rawing room, bedroom, etc. Through this exercise they were able to enhance their recognition and cognitive skills.
Math: Intro of 'Yellow' colour
“Yellow is the warm sun while a cool breeze blows on your face. Yellow is exciting without being loud or angry.” We can also relate yellow colour with sunflower, sun, citrus food such as lemon, sweet lime. Tiny buds of nursery were introduced to yellow colour through flash cards, videos, real objects and a song on yellow colour. At the end of the session, teachers asked the learners to create sun using yellow clay. Ultimately it was the fun filled session for the kids and this activity enhanced their colour recognition and cognitive skills.
Curious Explorer: Sink or Float?
Toddlers and their curiosity go together. Their natural curiosity is the heart beat of science. After all, isn’t every toddler’s favourite words, “but why?” Tiny buds of nursery were explained the concept of sink and float through a demonstration by the homeroom teacher. The teacher demonstrated and showed them that the heavy objects sink and light objects float on water. The learners were very thrilled as they also did this activity with full zeal and enthusiasm. They understood the concept of how the objects sink and float in water.
Horticulture
Horticulture is the field of science dealing in the growth of plants, flowers, fruits and shrubs in our gardens or orchards. The little learners of nursery were explained the importance of plants and how care of plants impact our environment. They were demonstrated the process of growing and nurturing plants, by sowing seeds in the soil and nurturing the plants by watering and taking care. Kids learnt the activity of germinating seeds and they sowed seeds in the soil to sprout small plants . Learners exuberantly participated in the activity.
Music
Music is another artistic medium that has proven to be very beneficial to the success of young students. Music helps young children build powerful thought networks that fortify their learning in areas as varied as language processing, visual perception, memory, mathematics, and, of course, creative expression. Nursery learners participated actively in singing and learning the song "Papa mere, Papa".
Learning engagements @ K1
Theme: Role play- Community Helpers
Role play exercises, give students the opportunity to assume the role of a person or act out a given situation. A role play area is a fun and a 'playful' activity but also a key component in children's learning. It is a social space that develops speaking and listening skills, as well as giving children the opportunity to reflect on and develop their knowledge of a topic, whilst sparking and enhancing creativity and imagination. K1 learners participated in a role play exercise of Community helpers. Community helpers are the individuals who live and work in our community and ensure that the community stays healthy, safe and happy. These community helpers do everything they can to help us and make our lives easier by providing us with goods and services. Accordingly, the learners enacted the role of community helpers such as doctors, Fire fighter, Policeman, teacher, baker, farmer etc. Overall, the learners enthusiastically participated and whole heartedly enjoyed the activity
Math: Writing numbers using paint brush
Writing with pencil and paper is an essential skill, but writing numbers in other media can help children learn to write them correctly and have a better control and stability in their writing skills. So, our little ones dipped their paint brushes in various multiple colours to explore their talents and specialities. The learning benefits of this activity is self-expression with paint, eye and hand coordination and fine motor development.
Stream
Stream is an essential field of knowledge which will enhance the future career growth and development of the kids. The stream teacher started the session with a short story about the ‘Tortoise and The Geese’. Learners participated in the exercise ‘Which falls first’, wherein they made parachutes of different sizes using tissue paper, newspaper, paper cup and woolen thread. This activity developed the ability of learners to question what they observe, through this activity such as how does the small and large parachutes fall on the ground even though they have differential weight.
Brain break: Challenging game- Juggling the balls
Challenging games test the limits of the mental and physical limits of the learners. They learn to challenge themselves and push their limitations thus becoming better at-risk assessment and problem-solving skills. As a part of the exercise the learners were assigned the challenging game ‘Juggling’. In this challenging game the learners had to juggle with multiple balls and through this activity they learnt the ability to manage the multiple tasks at the same time. This also developed their mental ability and their eye hand coordination.
Music
Music enhances the development of the learner’s mind, improves the communication, cognitive skills and social abilities of the children. Music provides natural avenues to the learners to build creativity and self-control. Music also enhances coordination among co-learners. Learners explored the basics of music and they sung the song “Tyoharo ka apna desh, rang dikhaye bahut anek.”
Learning engagements @ K2
Theme- Favourite Outdoor Games
Games are necessary for health and proper development of the body. Games keep us bodily fit and free from disease or illness. We learn to remain active and smart by playing. Thus, games cure us of laziness and make us physically as well as mentally alert. The games like badminton, cricket, football and volleyball are all outdoor games. They help people to increase physical stamina and fitness. Playing outdoor games makes our bones stronger. We can get our immunity build by playing. In fact, the overall health problems get resolved by playing these games. K2 learners showed their favourite outdoor games on the screen with full of energy and they were very excited to speak few lines on it
English – Tracing three letter words on flour/rava
Tracing can help children develop fine motor skills, which can aid them with other tasks, such as learning to write. It also helps students with developmental disabilities to develop math and language skills. Toddlers love to scribble as they explore their creativity and put their ideas on paper. It is also considered “pre-writing” – a task that gets them one step closer to writing letters and words. When you add tracing to your little one’s drawing time, it helps refine those pre-writing skills, laying a strong foundation for drawing and emerging writing. Other benefits of tracing include improvement in hand/eye coordination, dexterity and spatial awareness. K2 learners did tracing of three letter words on flour/rava which made them excited to know that we can write on flour without using any paper.
Curious Explorer- Ocean Salt
Children are explorers. Enable that curiosity and inquisitive mind! Every child is an explorer! K2 little learners took a sheet of paper, made random line using fevicol then sprinkled salt on the lines of fevicol and removed the extra salt on the paper, and allowed it to dry. Using dropper or paint brush, coloured the lines made using fevicol. It gives frost texture which develops their strength, flexibility and eye hand coordination. They also touched to feel the frost texture which they have created with their imagination.
Sports– Yoga -Tree pose
Everyone talks about the importance of fitness and exercise for kids – including us. Playing a sport is a great way for children to take a break from academics and release the pent-up energy. It also helps them lead fuller and happier lives as regular sports and fitness activities have proven to provide not only physical benefits but also social and psychological benefits to children. K2 learners very perfectly did the tree pose which builds their physical strength and their concentration power.
Brain break - Challenging activity – Solve the Maze
Problem solving: Mazes help your child to work on this executive functioning skills, such as planning and brainstorming various strategies (e.g. starting from the beginning of the maze or working backwards from the end of maze. Mazes improve the cognitive skills of children. They work like brain boosting exercises. While solving them, it makes them think, reason and remember. Simultaneously achieving all of these, sharpens their memory, builds their focus and increases the concentration level of their minds to a great extent. K2 learners did a fabulous job by solving the maze by helping girl in finding the way home..
