L’avenir… the future an  integral  education  preschool  of  The  Gnostic  Centre      

JOY GROUP-REPORT (APRIL-SEPTEMBER 2015)

Our endeavour this term was a smooth transition of children from Smile to Joy group. Since the children were familiar with the surroundings and Didis they felt secure and connected with their group-mates. They freely explored around and with a little curiosity settled well in the Joy group area. Our main aim for the group was to help the children transit smoothly and integrate with the five new children and one new Didi who had joined in this year. Once we felt that the children had bonded well with us we decided on structured learning and we also focused on: - Setting ground rules for children’s safety - Developing children’s fine and gross motor skills - Enabling the children to observe, experiment and explore - Helping the children see beauty in everything they do What we noticed was that the children were visibly happy in class, always ready to share talks/stories, sing, dance and participate in all the activities as their energy was channelized productively and positively. We felt that it was a good opportunity to work with a particular theme. ANIMALS While working with the group in April we noticed that the children were showing interest in recognizing and playing with different animal toys and listening to the stories. They spoke a lot about the horses and wanted to visit and feed them every day. Some children showed resistance and strong fear to touch the horses. We also figured out that even though the group was settled, the children had not developed the sense of working together in a group. Our aims for the Animals topic were: - To develop group dynamics - To help children become more sensitive towards animals and their surroundings - To help children to know and identify the animals and their habitat - To help children develop friendship with different animals and overcome the initial

fear

Since the children were already secure and connected with their group, they freely interacted and explored in the class and participated in all activities with a lot of enthusiasm. Our approach during the first month was mainly focused on: - Creating an atmosphere of calm in the classroom - Being sensitive to the needs of the children by creating an atmosphere of love

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- Building trust and love and being a companion and playmate to them The activities performed and the topic highlights were: - Walk to the stable to feed the horses - On another trip they were lucky to see the foals and the horses together - On another occasion they saw the farrier fixing the horseshoe - They were thrilled to see the horses being bathed - A few of them loved the bulls and the bullock cart - Seeing the puppies was a big treat for them - On the way to the stable the scarecrow in the nearby farm was a fascinating sight - The children heard stories and flash cards about animals were shown - Animals and their sounds activity was done - Animals and their young ones were covered through worksheets - They made a farm and placed toy animals in it - They learnt a number of rhymes on animals The topic was a success; quite a few children had pets and spoke about them. We could sense by seeing their involvement in animal related activities like making a kennel or a shed that they were enjoying themselves thoroughly. They were quite curious to know which one was the Papa Horse and which one the Mumma horse and they also questioned where the Mumma of the puppies was. This topic helped the children to know how nature has created a space for all living beings and how all live in perfect harmony. WATER AND STRESS ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES In July, the children came after the two-month summer break and shared their experiences of what they had done during that time. Since it was a rainy month and they were talking about water and rain every day, asking us where the ‘Paani’ was going, we decided to help them know more about water. Also, we noticed that they had missed the physical activities at school the most. So our next topic was “Water and stress on physical activities”. The broad aims were: - To speak about water conservation - To encourage and help children try the new challenges in physical - To ensure each child is participating - To ensure the safety of each child For water conservation we used limited water to wash their hands. - They also used limited water to wash hand towels - They learnt about evaporation and put their handkerchiefs to dry in the sun - Floating and sinking activity was performed individually - They mixed oil in water to see the results - A river was made on a plank and pieces of wood, stones, leaves etc. were placed and

water was poured to show what floats and what settles down - Experiment on colour mixing was performed - Children watered the plants regularly - While discussing the usage of water they mopped and cleaned the class

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- They made sea animal mobiles - They made lemonade, mango squash and rooh-afza - Water cycle was explained to them in a simple manner - They did experiment on pouring and volume of liquid - They made jelly The children were keen and enthusiastic, and participated in every activity related to water. This topic helped the children in - Widening their observation - Developing their fine motor skills (while washing and pouring water) - Enhancing their imagination - Gaining exposure to a lot of information and listening to rhymes and stories We provided the children enough time outdoors and they did not require a push for this, they were willingly practising the physical apparatus enthusiastically. While working consciously on the physical theme we observed that the children were showing a lot of interest in trying the different challenging apparatus. The children showed progress compared to their earlier performance and children who had shown signs of fear earlier had overcome it to a great extent. We felt that the children still wanted to try new challenges and perfect the ones they already could do, as we saw them doing the same thing again and again. Therefore we decided to take forward the previous week’s need i.e. physical, the following week as well along with fine motor skills. The following were our aims: - To develop a strong hand grip - To help them develop their body movement, balance and stamina - To inculcate in them the sense of safety while doing physical activities - To help overcome fear (especially while jumping from a height) The children showed progress in physical activities. All the children were willingly trying the apparatus. Those children who were confident wanted to do it again and again to perfect it and those who were not very confident were willing to work harder. The children were following the safety instructions while outdoors. The children had started following the broad daily routine (quiet time, physical, tiffin, indoor activities, free play, quiet time, and wind up) that we follow in the group. We provided them with different activities for fine motor growth. We felt that most of the children needed more practice on the fine motor skills. We provided the children with different activities as below: Indoor Activities Outdoor activities Painting (thin brush) Balancing (a glass of water on a tray) Paper tearing Jumping from a height Pasting Jungle gym Pasting thermocol balls Physical apparatus Play dough Sand pit

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Sand pasting Tree house Segregating mixed pulses Yoga hall Sponge painting Sponge squeezing Thread and beads Thread and plastic Flower CARE We observed that the children were doing the physical apparatus with a lot of interest and energy, in spite of the humidity. Their level of energy was also reflecting inside the classroom. There was a lot of screaming and shouting inside the classroom. We felt that we needed to work on this aspect and channelize this energy into something softer and calmer. We decided to work on the theme “Care” – care for myself, care for friends, care for plants, care for things etc. The following were our focus areas: - To inculcate in the children a sense of care for self - To care for things - To care for others - To care for the environment - To continue the physical activities and fine motor skills While doing the topic of Care of self and material around, besides doing stories we did a lot of practical activities like mopping the table after having tiffin, washing hands before eating, keeping the table and space neat and clean. Children have imbibed these instructions and are following them voluntarily. In fact, they are telling each other to take care while eating and not talk. This theme is appropriate for their age level and all of them are taking care of self and their friends. Since the children are doing meditation daily and like to watch the flame of diya in silence and with concentration, we have really been able to bring up their concentration level which is being reflected in their classroom activities. INSECTS AROUND US Due to the rainy season we could see many insects around. Many children were hurting the insects by stepping on them and enjoying it; therefore we felt that we need to develop sensitivity and care towards insects, and we took the topic “Insects Around us”. We also worked on the individual aims along with the week’s theme .The following were the main aims: - To develop sensitivity and care towards insects - To introduce insects’ names to the children - To share facts about insects with the children

We did the following activities: Indoor Activities Outdoor activities Making a caterpillar Creating an insect world Observation game Feeding the insects

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Pasting activity Nature walks Play dough Physical (indoor or outdoor depending on the rain) Puppet show Yoga Hall Rhymes Story Thumb painting Video Worksheets

We went by the topic “Insects Around us” and did lots of stories, colouring, art and craft work, Nature walks etc. We observed that by the end of the week the children had become sensitive towards insects and enjoyed watching the insects but were not harming them. They also learnt the names of a few more insects. We went for nature walks and observed the bees suck nectar from the flowers, watched insect movements (slug, snail, honey bee, dragon fly, centipede, fly, grass hopper, ants, beetle, bumble bee, moth, earth worm, etc.), fed the ants, etc. We took the topic further to the next week as the children were still curious to learn more about insects and our main focus was: - To let the children explore their curiosity HEALTH AND HYGIENE After their nature walks we noticed that the children would sit down to eat without washing their hands and the parents too while dropping and picking up the children were constantly talking about the children not eating fruits and healthy food, not brushing their teeth, drinking directly from the bottle etc. So the need for the topic “Health and Hygiene” arose. While exploring the topic besides stories we did a lot of practical activities such as cleaning and mopping the table after having tiffin, cleaning one’s face and washing hands whenever they are dirty, wiping the children’s nose with tissues, keeping the space neat and clean while eating tiffin. All these activities helped children acquire the basic ground rules to maintain hygiene. The children really enjoyed and most of them learnt to put the things back, to ask before going to the toilet and to keep their shoes on the shoe rack. Further, to enhance this activity the children were asked to get a toilet kit from home. The children enjoyed brushing their teeth in school and washed themselves with soap and applied moisturizer, they also enjoyed combing their hair and standing in front of the mirror. The outcome of the above activities has been that everyone has started getting fruit in their tiffin and the boys have started going for regular haircuts and a few have started drinking milk from the glass. Besides exploring different themes, we have also celebrated a few festivals in the school such as Rakhi, Janmashtami, Sri Aurobindo’s birthday and Independence Day.

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During the month of September, we continued speaking to children during circle time about healthy eating habits. We pasted a healthy body cut-out; we sang the rhyme ‘make my body very strong’, emphasized on a lot of physical activities, taught the children to eat without dropping their food, to wash their hands and to clean their face after meals. Through stories and sand play we emphasized on beauty and health and hygiene. The topic went on successfully; the children have developed an interest in tasting fruits and trying healthy food. They have also realized that they could participate better in physical activities after having a healthy meal and vice versa. Their levels of energy and concentration have gone up and they actively participate and try to focus on their personal health and hygiene. Your children must be happily reciting a number of new poems. The poems done till now are: - Roll, roll, roll your bobbin - Naughty pussycat - Open and shut them - The scarecrow song - The caterpillar song - Elephants have wrinkles - Make my body very strong In Hindi, the rhymes done were: - Ek haath mein paintbrush - Doodh, wonderful doodh - Lal peeli motor - Suraj ki garmi se dekho - Chhoti chhoti boondein - Pari birthday song We would like to sum up the group report with a small poem:

“It’s a joy to see

The Joy group children sing, dance and play To cut with scissors

To knead the dough, and make clay

It’s a pleasure hearing their talk And a bliss going out with them on nature walks

Everything they do touches our heart In our daily lives, they are an important part

Our next six months we will treasure together And our bond with each other will become stronger and better”

- Sangeeta and Mamata