Blog

At Northstar, we have been emphasizing the fact that our learners learn in different ways, in different places and from different people, including the teacher, peers, community members and themselves. We believe that education should not be about memorizing facts, but about nurturing the curiosity of learners and guiding the development of the skills needed to pursue and learn about any interest. Sharing a few recent instances of the industry experts invited at The Northstar School.

We invited Dr. Milly Bhatt, a dentist, to speak to our preschool learners about the value of dental care and to demonstrate the proper way to clean their teeth as part of the Health and Hygiene unit. Our learners had a wonderful opportunity to learn about the significance of dental care. The session was extremely interactive.

Learners in grades 3 and 4 recently experienced an excellent story telling session by Souberi Chakrabarty as part of their exploration theme 'Magical World of Stories,' which was followed by a puppet making activity that the children thoroughly loved. In her session, Souberi Ma'am showed how different emotions might be evoked by the act of storytelling.

Mr. Ajaysinh Vaghela, Head of the Civil Engineering Department at RKU, was invited to assist in introducing our learners of grades 5 & 6 to the type of map used for architectural purposes under the topic of Cartography in their Explorations domain. For a hands on experience, Ajay Sir would supervise to create a basic map layout of any room, class, or location.

Learners in grades 9 through 12 attended two insightful sessions with our guest speakers, who are professionals in their fields. Mr. Gandhi Bose spoke about banking and finance, while Ms Anisha expertly covered the topics of considerations before changing jobs.

Grade 11 and 12 biology learners visited RK university to learn about the Digital Haemoglobin Analyzer, which can be used at home and is portable. Additionally, the learners volunteered for a Hb camp that the entire Northstar School staff attended.

Our team of educators makes a lot of effort to plan and invite reputable industry experts for wonderful learning opportunities for our learners.

At Northstar School, learning from real-life scenarios and exposure to industry professionals has always been a prominent teaching strategy. Although we think that theoretical knowledge is significant, what is actually seen and experienced shapes our learners’ understanding in a concrete way. Here are a few examples of recent Northstar School field trips.

K1 learners recently went on a field trip to Rajkot Dairy in connection with the unit "My Needs," where they observed a range of milk-based products and discovered the process of how milk reaches to them at their doorstep.

Learners in grades 5-6 and 7-8 were exploring the topic of Space in Science and Explorations, respectively. A field trip to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition in Ahmedabad was organized as part of the topic. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was introduced to the learners, along with information on its history, role in space exploration and scientific research and development, past and present missions, and key satellites.

Learners in grades 11 and 12 visited Airport Rajkot as part of their study of signals and waves in the Physics curriculum. To better understand how signals are crucial for communication in order to control air traffic and ensure safe landings, learners visited the CNS (Communication Navigation and Surveillance) and ATC (Air Traffic Control) departments. Additionally, they observed how the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Very High Frequency Omni Range (VOR) guide the aircraft to the runway.

The Northstar School holds the belief that education is not just confined to formal classroom settings. Outdoor learning opportunities are beneficial.

From early infancy, children begin to use their senses to explore and make sense of their surroundings.

At Northstar, we think it's important to introduce our learners to real-world scenarios. We recently prepared “Land of Senses" as part of the unit "My Body - Senses" at the Northstar Nest campus. Our aim was to engage the learners in authentic exposure and hands-on activities related to all the different senses, including seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling touch.

Land of Senses included the following areas:

1. Sense of Hearing: The music wall had a xylophone, drum, rattle, mouth organ, tambourine, castanets, laptop, speaker, and a clip of real-world sounds like thunder, rain, water drops, sparrows, etc.
2. Sense of Sight: The vision wall featured kaleidoscopes for viewing numerous objects.
3. Sense of Smell: The aromas comprised a variety of scents including perfumes, fresh flowers, fresh leaves, disinfectants (Dettol, phenyl), etc.
4. Sense of Touch: To create a path, 12 tyres were filled with a variety of texture-enhancing materials, including loofah, synthetic grass, small stones, rough stones, leaves, sponge, water, sand, marbles, thorns, and tiny stumbling obstacles.
5. Sense of taste: A taste land featuring flavours like "Salty," "Sweet," "Sour," "Spicy," and "Bitter" was set up on the lawn area.

For each area, one educator provided explanations and let learners explore all of the resources through their senses. The day was fun-filled with experiential learning for our little ones.

NEY learners are currently learning about various Community Helpers. Through a variety of activities and discussions, they gain knowledge of the functions of various community helpers as well as the tools they use. As a part of this topic, we had invited our Gardening team to give the learners a briefing on their daily tasks and the equipment they use to maintain the beautiful gardens.

Learners were given an introduction to common gardening tools such as watering cans, a lawnmower, a sickle, gardening scissors, and a shovel. The gardening team also gave lessons to learners on how to look after and maintain the gardens. They pruned a few plants, cut down on the grass, and demonstrated to the learners how to shape the trees and plants.

Through this process, learners gained an appreciation for labor and a stronger connection to nature.

Learners in grade 3B recently performed Reader's Theater based on the tale of The Town Musicians of Bremen for their Community Gathering.

Through this story, they demonstrated the Habits of Mind, which are crucial to a child's development at The Northstar School. Reading fluency can be increased by adopting reader's theater, which involves interpreting the text using voice, facial expressions, and body movements.

When it rains, let the children grin while holding an umbrella. Rain does not deter our toddlers at the Northstar NEST from playing, exploring, and learning. Our surroundings inspire and engage with invitations to embrace nature.

To feel the monsoon vibe, the learners had to bring umbrellas and raincoats in addition to their colourful casual attire. For kids to enjoy and sail their boats in the rainwater, colourful papers were used to create paper boats, paper fish, paper flowers, paper leaves, and butterflies, among other things. They enjoyed playing with balls, colourful toys, and tubs.

Our Preschool learners had a wonderful time celebrating Monsoon Day. Here are a few snippets of the same.

One of our favorite childhood memories would be of carefree summer days spent playing in the mud.

Perhaps International Mud Day is an opportunity to introduce a new generation to the wonders of messy play. Mud Play has several health benefits for young children, including improved immune systems, emotional well-being, increased creativity, imagination, independent learning, and teamwork. Additionally, it aids in the growth of children's touch and sensory abilities.

On International Mud Day, learners at the Northstar School engaged in a variety of mud-related activities, including pottery observation and the construction of mud castles, buildings, forts, and other shapes.

Take a look at how the celebrations at The Northstar School went down.

Wet mud, smudged hands, and happy kids.

What a sight to behold.

After a relaxed summer break, learners in grades 1–12 have returned to campus. We are happy to welcome them back; the first week will be a transition week, planned by our educators to assist learners in familiarizing them with their new surroundings before the start of the new academic year. There's a lot to learn and a lot to do.