Gaia Preschool and Childcare Center

Happiness is best celebrated together!

An important aspect of education in today's world is creating awareness and building environmental consciousness in our future generations.

Our parent of Avyan and Anya Stuti conducted an informative and interesting PST session on the need to preserve our oceans and protect our beaches. Stuti and her family are actively involved in beach conservation efforts in Goa through the organization Drishti Lifesaving, which collaborates with the Government of Goa to train and deploy lifeguards, and in the preservation of beaches in the area.

We discussed the effects of littering beaches, the impact it has on ocean waters and sea creatures, the right way to segregate and manage waste, how to care for stranded dolphins and turtles and much more. By the end of the session our children were able to identify categories of waste and even segregate them successfully. Lifeguard Ananyaa spoke to us about the importance of being safe while at the beach, the role of lifeguards, and the importance of keeping our beaches clean.

Thank you Stuti and Ananyaa for taking the time out and organising such an insightful session for our children!

It is truly a privilege and always heartwarming to have such talented parents come in for a Parent Show & Tell session and put up a puppet show that is fun, captivating and full of heart. Thank you so much Sandhya Kumar, Rima Chawla and Karamvir Chawla for so kindly volunteering your precious time, for the meticulous planning and ex*****on. Clearly there was a lot of practice that went into putting up a puppet show that was thoroughly enjoyed by our children and teachers! The puppet show was based on the famous book *Gajapati Kulapati* and I’m so Sleepy from the Snoring Shanmugam series by Tulika Publications

One of the most effective, time-tested and proven methods of engaging with children, or for that matter with adults too, is through storytelling.

Today we had a very special guest visit us at Gaia, to give us a first-hand experience of just how enthralling and captivating storytelling can be. Our children and teachers enjoyed listening to him as he beautifully used movement, rhythm, expression and humour to deliver a simple story in the most impactful manner. Can you imagine a bunch of 4-year-olds staying put in their seats for a good 45 minutes! Unbelievable, isn't it? And that's the magic of Paul John Dear, our guest today, and his Expressive Rhythm Stories technique of storytelling.

Paul has been working with school children for over 20 years. He is an accomplished drummer and educational specialist and has facilitated programs throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.

Thank you for making time to visit us and for that extraordinary experience today! You brought to life the jungle and its animals through your powerful narration and made it such an enjoyable experience. We look forward to having you back again!

A little peek into what Cultural Day @ Gaia looked like this year. What a memorable evening it was! So much colour, energy, fun and laughter, all packed into an unforgettable celebration of our diverse culture, topped with lip smacking regional delicacies and the sheer joy of being together.

A big shout out to Jimmy, Anna and the whole team at Jugaad & Co. for a spell binding performance. We thoroughly enjoyed "The Day the Crayons Quit". It was interesting, engaging, funny and thought provoking and left us all pumped up and jumping up in joy. Thank you!

And a big thank you to our Gaia family - children, parents and staff, for their enthusiastic participation and for making this such a festive and colourful celebration, not to forget the delicious food, prepared with much love.

_"The best inheritance a parent can give to his child is a few minutes of his time each day."_

After a long hiatus we are delighted to reinstate our fortnightly Parent Show & Tell (PST) sessions. Our Gaia daddy, Rahul Urs spent some quality time connecting with our K2 and K3 class this week while he shared some fun and interesting details about his recent Himalayan adventure that was especially relevant since they are currently learning about India, it's geography and physical borders. Thank you

What a wonderful way to connect with young minds and introduce them to new and exciting experiences through stories and show and tell. After all parents are our first teachers!

Children open up to learning and imbibing new concepts with much ease when the process is made more relatable, hands on and fun. Giving them a practical feel of the world around them is most invaluable which books alone can seldom do.

Our K2 and K3 children enjoyed their field trip to the Hebbal Fire Station today and got to see our brave firemen in action. A big thank you to our parents who volunteered.