The season of celebrations
The month of August witnessed joy, warmth and togetherness as children of Classes I-IV came together to celebrate Independence Day, Rakhi and Janmashtami. Bright orange sun peeping from behind the clouds, first monsoon showers and the glistening droplets of water added to the zest and festivities. Floral rangolis and art displays created out of recycled material adorned the front lawns and corridors.
Context was created through age relevant circle time discussions, stories and themes. Looking for similarities, children of Class I shared ‘Janmashtami is Krishna’s birthday and Independence day is India’s Janmashtami.’ The spirit of caring and sharing was reflected as children tied rakhis to trees, MarshMellow, their didis and peers. Cultural diversities were explored through songs, art forms, clothing and food. Reflections and discussions were facilitated to understand ‘freedom’, as shared by a child, ‘Freedom means to read a book sitting under the Champa tree.”
Display of summer experiences – Class II
The school reopened to a spectacle – that was the culmination of classroom themes taken forward by the children during their summer holidays.
After coming back, the children were enthusiastic to share their holiday experiences. To culminate their experiences, didis and children together decided to set up an exhibition in the respective groups. Children enjoyed displaying their explorations and experiences by setting up respective corners for activities such as green club, models out of reused and recycled material, travelogues and maths games. They pro actively took up their individual responsibilities of their corner and took joy and pride in explaining about them to their peers from the same groups as well as other groups. They exhibited immense confidence while interacting with peers and were whole – heartedly engaged in the process. The exhibition helped taking forward their journey of the summer break experiences in an innovative and beautiful manner.
First Open House interaction – (Classes I – IV)
The First Open House interactions for the session 2017-18 (Classes I – IV) were scheduled on Saturday, 29th of April, 2017.
Purpose of the same was to share some of the experiences that our children go through at school and enable parents to relate to perspectives and approaches to learning at Shikshantar. This was also an opportunity for parents to interact with their child’s new group and subject facilitators. Some of the groups elected their new parent representatives.
Experiential corners in respective groups set the premise for collective sessions. Sessions were organised keeping in mind specific needs of each age level. They included ‘Three Principles of Learning’, ‘Math through Manipulatives’ and ‘Approaches to Subjects’.
Children of Class IV explored the theme on Ruskin Bond in Trinachiketa. They discussed about the books they have read, researched about the author and expressed it in the form of posters.
Our bond with Ruskin Bond
It is Ruskin Bond’s birthday,
We want to celebrate,
Look what we have made!
We have written about him
After reading and researching,
You also will get to know,
How’s our bond with this author,
We have written about, who is so well known.
The books of Ruskin Bond we like,
He has written many books of many types.
His books are based of nature,
Cherry tree, The island of trees, The blue umbrella,
Angry river and many more.
Which is the book you like to read?
-Falak, Luft group (Class IV)
3rd Open house interaction Pre Primary
The third and final Open House of the academic session 2016-2017 saw enthusiastic participation by the parents of the Pre-primary block. The experiences designed for them, relating to activities enjoyed by their children, helped them connect to the child within them. Creating river systems in the sandpit, building housing complexes with wooden blocks and singing lullabies to their imagined young ones, they did it all with complete enjoyment. Understanding the relevance of ‘free play’ helped them feel more relaxed and connected to their child’s life.
Mann Karta Hai
Mann Karta hai chidiya ke jaise udhne ka,
Mann Karta hai painting karte rahne ka,
Mann Karta hai ki Mamma Papa ke saath khoob saare songs gayoon,
Mann Karta hai ki Dadu ko dikhaoon main kitne tez bhagta hoon.
These and many more wonderful moments were together shared by the families of Playgroup children, along with their group didis, on the day of ‘Mann Karta Hai’. The children surprised all with their stamina, enthusiasm and expression of simple joys.
