Children's Day

At Golden Bead there was a small program by the children to mark Childrens Day. Saniya, Ambar and Subhiksha introduced the significance of Children’s Day to everyone in Hindi, English and Kannada respectively. In India, November 14^th, the birthday of the country's first Prime Minister - Jawaharlal Nehru, also called Chacha (Uncle) Nehru - is celebrated as Children’s Day in recognition of his lifelong passion and work for the welfare, education and development of children.

On the occasion, children put up a program showcasing talents and interests – they danced, sang, played instruments, performed mimicry and showed some projects. 

Karnataka Rajyothsava

 On Nov 1st 1956 all the Kannada language-speaking regions of South India were merged to form the state of Karnataka. On this day we now celebrate Rajyothsava. Elementary children at Golden Bead wrote about the state of Karnataka and made paper state and national flags.

Diwali 2011

Diwali, one of the biggest Hindu festivals, is celebrated according to the lunar Hindu calendar and falls on different days each year. Diwali was celebrated at Golden Bead on October 28th 2011. The children came dressed in traditional clothes.

Sangeetha aunty narrated the story of Diwali and its significance. According to Hindu mythology, Prince Rama and his wife, Sita, were banished for fourteen years from their home in Ayodhya to the forest by their father, King Dashratha. Ram’s brother, Lakshmana , accompanies them. While in the forest, Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and taken to Lanka. Rama however vanquishes Ravana and his army and rescues Sita. The people of Ayodhya lit diyas(oil lamps) to celebrate Rama’s victory over Ravana and welcoming Rama and Sita back to Ayodhya where Rama was crowned King of Ayodhya.

The pre-primary children sang traditional songs, painted diyas and performed a pooja. 

The elementary children made diyas in pottery class and painted them. Joyti helped made a beautiful Rangoli and the children shared sweets with each other. 

Eid-ul-Fitr Celebrations

On Eid a guest - Asiya was invited to the elemetary classroom. She explained the significance of Eid and Ramzan or Ramadan to the children.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and a time when Muslims across the world fast during the daylight hours. Muslims follow a lunar calender, so Ramadan moves forward by ten or eleven days each year. 

During Ramadan, get up early before dawn (Fajr) and have a light meal. This time is known as Suhoor. At the end of each day (Maghrib), Muslims traditionally break their fast with a meal called the Iftar. Following the custom of Prophet Muhammad, the fast is often broken with dates, then followed by a prayer and dinner. 

Ramadan is a time of worship and contemplation. Muslims celebrate the time when the verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. A time to strengthen family and community ties. Ramadan concludes with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. 
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan. Lasting 3 days, it is a time for family and friends to get together, for celebrating with good food and presents for children, and charity. It's date is decided by the sighting of the new moon. 
Asiya taught the children some songs (Nasheed). The children they did some painting on the theme of Eid and later applied mehendi on their hands. The celebration ended with everyone enjoying some sweet 'sheer kurma'.
 

Independence Day 2011

Independence day was a holiday but on 16 August 2011 the elementary children performed a Hindi skit - 'Hans aur Siddharth'. The skit was directed by Thea. Saniya and Ambar also spoke about the freedom fighters of the nation.

Earth Day 2011

Golden Bead elementary children celebrated Earth Day on Monday June 13^th 2011. Arnav made a presentation on Earth Day. He said that it was a special day just like a birthday to celebrate our home - the earth. It was started on April 22^nd 1970 in San Francisco, California and every year America and 100 other countries celebrate this day. 

We had two parents - Shalini and Preeta - come over to talk with the children about the environment.  The children had made beautiful artifacts from recycled items at home and they showed and spoke about these. They also enthusiastically planted seeds and saplings that they had brought from home.

Earth Day was a perfect time to reflect on how we can help the environment. The children spoke of environmental concerns and had a long discussion on what each of us could do like plant a tree, car pool, give plants as gifts, conserve water, etc. At the end of the day the children decided that each of them would contribute something everyday to the environment - beginning by watching less T.V and saving power!

Metamorphosis 2011

On Feb 6, Golden Bead participated at Metamorphosis 2011 - a festival organized by IIMS (Indian Institute of Montessori Studies) bringing together Montessori educators and schools from across Bangalore. There was an exhibition of resource materials, childrens work, presentations and performances by children.
 Golden Bead elementary children presented an abbreviated version of their Christmas Play.

Makar Sankranti

Watching the Pongal cook

Makar Sankranti marks the northward movement of the Sun from Dhanu rashi(Sagitarius) to Makar rashi(Capricorn) and is celebrated 3 weeks after the Winter solstice. Unlike most Hindu festivals that follow the lunar calender, Sankranti, being a solar event remains relatively fixed on the Gregorian calender at Jan 14th.

At Golden Bead, Sankranti or Pongal is a time for fun and traditional festive food - yella, bella, piping hot pongal (salty Ven Pongal and sweet Chakra Pongal), roasted peanuts, sweet potato. Anita aunty explained the significance of the festival to the children : how Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over" or "spill over" and the boiling over of milk in a clay pot symbolizes material abundance for the household.

Aunties cooked the salty & sweet pongal by boiling rice & lentils with slat or jaggery in new clay pots & later topping the sweet pongal with brown sugar, ghee, cashew nuts and raisins. The elementary children formed small groups and got to roast and cook their own peanuts, averekai and sweet potato on small open stoves using the coal and dry sticks they had collected. Of course, keeping the fire alive wasn't as easy as it looked!

The pre- primary children watched the elementary children cooking and also made a salad using the lentils and vegetables. Finally everyone sat down to a delicious festival lunch on banana leaf !

Golden Bead COLOURS OF INDIA Mela

On Saturday Jan 22 2011, Golden Bead hosted the annual school Mela at the school grounds - this time with a "Colours of India' theme.

Many of the parents put up stalls selling  food, clothes and various other artifacts.

There were various games stalls that kept visitors occupied as well as various creative activities for children such as block printing, tile mosaic making.

There were puppet shows held in the morning and afternoon with traditional string puppets entertaining the crowds to filmi folks tunes.

Youngsters from Kinderdance gave a small performance in the morning.

The food stalls catered to different tastes with dosa, biriyani, Sri Lankan buns, cakes, cotton candy & coffee.

All in all we think everyone left with their stomachs full and pockets empty :-) !