Back on Track – 2022
'Prepare the Child for the path, not the Path for the child'
The pandemic in 2020 has changed the lives and lifestyles of people around the world. Tiny tots suffered the most as they were confined to their homes and had become 'bunker babies'. As they were almost living in confinement most of them could not socialize and were hesitant to learn something new. Their school attendance became regular from the current academic year.
It was a thrilling time for our fledglings as they took their first flight out of the comfort zone in the world of learning; from the familiar embrace of their parents to warm welcome of new faces. We, at Joeys, were equally exhilarated to see smiling faces of our tiny tots and dedicated to make them feel happy and comfortable. Initially, the emphasis was given on developing a schedule like how to sit in the class, how to appropriately keep and arrange their belongings. A consistent daily schedule and step-by-step routines gave them a predictable day which helped the kids to feel in control of their environment, feel safe, secured and confident at home too. Once children were settled with their teachers and new friends, each grade facilitators‟ focus was on innovative ways to bind them, engage and enable them to demonstrate their understanding and make connections.
Pre K
Our Pre K facilitators were as thrilled as children to conduct bubbles experiment. As soon as they saw the bubbles, their jaws dropped in awe and excitement. The children responded with whoops and hollers. They rushed to pop the bubbles and kept asking for more. The Toy Shop was another such activity that took children aback when they entered the activity area and saw the set up. They shopped till their hearts‟ content with fake currency and relished the activity where they got to behave as adults, which reflected the impression they have gathered and created in their delicate minds.
K1
When it comes to child development take the risk or lose the chance to make them learn. We constantly strive to plan such activities which stimulate children‟s learning approach, where they have fun while doing them. One such activity was “Mystery Box”. We all know that “The unknown isn‟t always comfortable but it‟s where the magic happens.” Purpose of this activity was to make children aware of their senses, especially the sense of touch. They did explored different textures and different forms of the objects and were amazed to know how powerful their sense of touch is! They were not looking at the objects but still were able to recognise them - this was an authentic experience which nurtured their tactile skills.
K2
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato
Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness, including intellectual, socio-emotional, motor, language, and overall literacy. It helps the body and the mind to work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them to learn the sounds and meanings of words.
Thus, we designed a short program named „Musical Trivia‟ for the little people of our K2 to help develop awareness about importance of music in our daily lives.
Here we gave them the exposure through 5 different bands named as -
1. Joeys Band – A band with real musical instruments
2. Jhankar Beats – with handmade shakers
3. Kitchen Band – with kitchen utensils
4. Bongo Congo Drummers – with hand-crafted drums
5. Jal Tarang – with 7 bowls filled with different level of coloured water
This program continued for 2 weeks wherein Cedric Sir pitched in to impart the ABC‟S of music. Children were encouraged to create their own rhythm using different musical instruments.
Few 'AHA' moments were captured where we could see the children understanding the language of music and showcased the same by creating their own instruments using the material available at home; few shared their experience of learning piano at home, and many more. This experience confirmed that Music is a universal language that gives them a way to express effortlessly.
BTM (Boggle The Mind)
" Every happy memory created for children is another treasure of a life time." --- Donna Maria
We believe that kindergarten should work towards making children happy and our Activity Centre fondly known as BTM is the true manifestation of our belief. It has been observed that our little people from EYP to K2 discover joy in exploring child friendly materials and teaching aids. Hands on activities incite them to learn novel concepts and the mind boggling games aid in developing patience & decision making skills.
The aura of this area brings a smile on their faces which corroborates its positive atmosphere and freedom to explore. Here they learn to organize things and work collaboratively with peers. It inculcates flexibility and adaptability in them.
In BTM children's efforts are acknowledged. It inspires them to work hard and put in concentrated efforts towards completing a task /activity on hand independently.
All in all, their best acquisitions from BTM are 'Happy Memories!'
