In the month of February in GIIS, the kindergarten kids participated in a spelling competition called ‘Little Spellers’. Spelling is a critical component of communication. Spelling and reading skills are closely related and develop overall literacy. It is an art of correctly assembling words from their letters, which is one of the essential components of successful writing. It helps to cement the connection between the letters and their sounds.

Teaching young spellers the strategies, rules and concepts to grow their spelling and vocabulary knowledge benefits them in all aspects of their learning, as well as in their everyday life.  Learning to spell helps a child to develop a strong connection between the letters and their sounds and learning high frequency words will assist a child in both reading and writing. Accurate spelling is important for a child to get through their schooling years, as spelling is required in order to pass assessments.

Our little spellers of KG 1 and KG 2 participated in this competition in which they were asked to spell a broad selection of words which were of different degrees of difficulty. They were given a few words which they had to spell within a time limit. Many kids tried their best and some of them managed to spell almost all the words. They also did an activity where the kids celebrated Friendship Day. Preschool friendships are helpful in developing social and emotional skills. It has been found that early childhood friendships contribute to children’s quality of life and ability to adjust to changes within their environments as well. Research has found that children who lack friends can suffer from emotional and mental difficulties later in life. It helps children develop emotionally and morally. Through this, children can learn to negotiate, empathize, stand up for themselves, stand up for others, listen, ask questions and genuinely have an interest in people outside their immediate family.

The little tots of kindergarten celebrated friendship day by making friendship bands and blossom buddy flowers. They used small tissue paper rolls, coloured papers and colours to do this activity. Kids wrote the names of their friends and teachers on each petal. Some of them showed their creativity by using coloured papers and making designs on the petals using colour pencils and crayons. All in all students greatly enjoyed this activity and helped them to connect to their peers.