Joeys Kaleidoscope
"A great education begins with a great kindergarten experience and children need the freedom to appreciate the INFINITE RESOURCES of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours."
When the first year of preschool starts, all the protagonists: children, families and school staff, each in his or her own way, know that an important story is about to begin. It is a truly special time: expectations are expressed, shared meanings are progressively constructed and procedures are put into place for building an experience together that everyone hopes will be rich, happy and memorable. At Joeys Ambli campus each day begins like a fresh ray of sunlight, enthusing positive energy, excitement and eagerness to create magical moments / experiences that will be etched forever in the minds and hearts of our learners. Hence, our fundamental aim is self-motivated education, self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play.
Children learn best through physical & mental challenges. Active learning occurs when children are keen to learn & are interested in finding things out for themselves. As children become absorbed about the world through their explorations, investigations and questions, they feel a sense of achievement and their self-esteem increases. Just as Maria Montessori says, "To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the first duty of an educator."
Upholding our benchmark of novelty, innovation and creativity, the academic year 2018-19 welcomed our children with "ME TIME". As we believe in the fact that undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts and to learn self-advocacy skills. So, children are allowed to explore a variety of play materials and spaces autonomously as they enter the campus in the morning before they go to their respective classrooms.
"There's no way that we can help children to learn to love and preserve this planet, if we don't give them direct experiences with the miracles and blessings of nature." A tree plantation program was held at our Joeys campus by Alps Foundation as a part of ongoing tree plantation drive all across the city. They explained the importance & uses of trees & encouraged the children to plant the trees. Students participated enthusiastically in the event & even named their trees.
"Busy hands, Busy brains." It is rightly said that kids become better learners when they believe that intelligence is malleable. Children are wired learners, discovering through movement, through their senses, curiosity, play and through hands-on materials. - Boggle The Mind sessions with a judicial blend of Montessori Method & hands on activities, teaching aids and tools, are designed with an aim to unleash the power of learning by doing. Research is showing that students learn & retain information better when they are given multiple facets. According to its name, this area has activities planned to nurture their curiosity and cognitive skills. Just like a food platter is set to cater different tastes and varieties in the same way our sessions are planned keeping in mind all learners with a set of differentiated instructions. The learners are taken on a progressive journey wherein every academic concept has an element of fun that learners can be seen changing their attitude & demeanor to achieve the goals in a stipulated time frame.
As an added bonus it teaches important social skills such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns, peer learning. When students explain and demonstrate skills to each other they are validating their understanding of the material being learned and will help their peers to build and master new skills. Moreover it fosters the ability to focus and lengthen the attention span. It gives meta-messages and life skills: "Never give up ; just when you feel despondent you might hit the jackpot and ascend up high. In short, BTM is the elixir for reaching out to the different types of learners.
Practical life activities: Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.”Allowing children to gain independence and self-discipline is the purpose of our Practical Life Activities.
Thinking Routines & Curiosity Corner:According to Reggio Emilia approach Light is described as "one of the great emotive components of our perception". Taking a cue from this we used 'light' as a material/ language to help support active investigation & discovery. We let the children explore multiple possibilities & variations by providing them different material like mirrors, CDs, baskets of different sizes and designs, coloured cellophane papers, torches in dark spaces and many more. Children examined the material provided & investigated what happened when they were illuminated by light. Also they were brought out under the sun (natural light) and they experimented with their own shadows and explored with the material given to them. There were many discoveries made which included moving mirrors on different surfaces, covering it with cellophane papers, waving it around to get reflection. It helped provoke their curiosity and proved to be an epitome of open-ended exploration, inquiry & play. Children were completely mesmerized.
Events & Celebrations: Celebration strengthens the bond, helps us to reconnect with the moral values and Indian culture. hence we celebrate the essence of all the relations, be it at school with their loving teachers or family members. Our regular sharing and growing sessions (Workshops) not only orient and update our parents with the classroom practices but also bridge the gap between school and home along with the useful tips and strategies to help the child at home. Family members are invited on special occasions like ( Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day & Grandparents' Day) for a musical morning where our little ones express their gratitude and unconditional love through mesmerizing performances and child friendly games. Not only does these celebrations endorses the uniqueness of the relationship but also reinforces the significance of the role of each family member and their contribution towards the well being of a family and society at a large.
