Holistic Development
Visual Arts
When children are exposed to open-ended art experiences at an early age, it kindles their creativity and their sense of wonder about their world. At Mars1, art is an integral part of our curriculum and is woven into our daily lessons thus aiding in the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of our learners.
Music
Research has shown that music education boosts concentration, memory, and self-expression. At Mars1, we include age-appropriate music experiences in every lesson. This promotes physical and cognitive development as our learners explore the fundamentals of music. The music curriculum at Mars1 allows our astronauts to engage with music and performance and lays in them the foundation for musical literacy.
Yoga
Yoga supports and nurtures children through their developmental milestones while engaging their natural curiosity and playfulness. At Mars1, we teach our learners mindfulness, balance, strength, coordination, patience, and cooperation through yoga poses and breathwork. These also help towards assisted development of fine and gross motor skills. Our yoga class makes our learners confident and comfortable in their bodies while having fun.
Dance (Music and Movement)
The way a child moves often conveys a lot about their emotions. At Mars1, we create a playful and non-judgemental environment for our astronauts to comfortably and unselfconsciously dance to rhythm and music. This helps them convert impulsive desires and imaginative ideas into coordinated movement and also helps them to communicate both verbally and nonverbally.
Physical Education
Along with keeping children active, physical education helps develop skills such as problem-solving, showing sportsman spirit, and working as a team. It also helps hone gross and fine motor skills. At Mars1, we have made physical education an extension of our classroom learning. Our astronauts start with learning how to follow simple 3-step instructions through games and once they become confident in doing so, they are given more complex instructions to master. And once learners become confident to follow the complex instructions, they are introduced to a variety of sports and fitness drills which go a long way in strengthening their self-confidence.
Dramatic Play
Children learn how to navigate the world through role-playing. One of the most important aspects of role-playing is that it is a process of learning through play. Role-playing helps children to develop communication, language, and social skills, to learn about different cultures and how to empathize with others, to satisfy the curiosity of their world through explorations and experimentations, and to develop self-awareness and awareness about others. And at Mars1, we provide them with ample opportunities to do all of this.
Guest Speakers
Inviting guest speakers to share their knowledge is a classic teaching strategy that we at Mars1 wholeheartedly believe in and adopt. We arrange for guest speakers to come and share stories with our young learners intermittently through the academic year. These interactions along with bringing variety into their routine, also provide our astronauts with different perspectives, demonstrate the collaborative nature of learning, highlight the importance of subjects and topics being explored in the classroom and help understand the connection between their curriculum and the real world.
Field Trips
At Mars1, we are committed to offering our astronauts every opportunity we can for seeing the real world and organising field trips is a step towards that commitment. We plan our field trips to align with the theme of the term so that our learners have a deeper learning experience. Field trips are organised to a variety of locations, such as the fire station, catering units, and the zoo.
Involvement of Parents or Primary Care-Giver/s
The first teacher in every child’s life is their primary caregiver and this teacher’s teachings are the foundation of all that the child learns through their lifetime. We at Mars1 cherish this relationship of teacher and learner between the child and their primary caregiver and strive to make it an integral part of the learning process within our premises.
- Primary caregivers are invited to Mars1 for story-telling sessions which are part of the curriculum for the learners.
- Event calendars are created such that primary caregivers can be actively involved in events that showcase the progress of the learners.
- Primary caregivers are invited to expert sessions on topics related to young learners and their learning process.
