Pods

Coordination with the core academic curriculum is an additional goal. Based on this objective the BEYOND ACADEMICS has accommodated exciting and age-appropriate Pods for this year to help students to be creative, innovative and logical in their approach to life. Students from Grade 1 upwards shall opt for four Pod activities in a year, two per term.

pods offered from this year include:

Dance This club is designed to introduce students to the art of dance through the study of the evolution of movement into the present day forms of dance. Students will learn about viewing and appreciating dance in various contexts. We will explore and discuss dances from numerous periods throughout history.
Music This club is designed for students who like creating music, listening to music, performing music, writing music, or simply MUSIC and sharing musical interests, talents, and experiences with peers. The Club offers a place for students to come together and share their love of music. The music club will feature guest performers too.
Math Mania Math Mania allows students to expand their math skills by playing games. As they play, students reinforce a wide range of skills from simple addition to Real life problems. Students set the pace of their work and earn points as they master various concepts geared to their grade level. Weekly sessions provide students the opportunity to practice math skills and reinforce learning in an engaging and interactive forum.
Life Skills Knowledge and awareness do not have much value unless one knows how to apply them appropriately in different situations of life. The Life Skills club hones the ability to do so with a variety of tasks pertaining to real life and encourages them to use the knowledge acquired to find solutions to problems, make wise decisions, give guidance and advice and be conscious of their own and the others' responsibilities as members of society
Quiz Bowl Kids test their knowledge of fun facts in the Quiz Bowl Club. The teams work together to answer trivia questions covering all academic areas, plus current events, culture and sports. In some sessions, the questions are very academic and in others they are entirely non-academic.
StoryTime The Storytelling Club helps bring storytelling into the 21st century. The club uses a variety of programs that allow students to incorporate pictures and audio into their original tales. These stories are then shared with peers and an opportunity for feedback is provided.
Planet Saviour This Club provides students with an opportunity to learn about and discuss environmental issues at local, national, and global levels. Club members brainstorm and exchange ideas about keeping our planet clean. Each session features a project based on the week’s topic that students can do at home. The next week, students are encouraged to share the results! Special guest speakers participate in the club as well, adding breadth to the knowledge student gains from participating.
Kitchen Science The student’s kitchen doubles as a laboratory where he or she will conduct safe, simple experiments, then discuss them online with fellow students. Students complete a variety of hands-on experiments exploring density, buoyancy, color, light, plants, and pressure. As experiments are completed, students post their findings on our online Message Boards. Throughout the year, students will learn the importance of each experiment and its impact on modern day life.
Stage Play Groups will work toward putting on their own version of either a story or play or any classic work of literature and will culminate with a show for family and friends in the final week. The aim is to introduce children to interesting stories, characters and texts in an imaginative and unique way. As well as developing their performance skills, we seek to inspire children to read in full the stories they rehearse and also research issues, settings and historical context of the works.
Thinking Skills Games and activities are designed to put Thinking Skills in students to optimal use. They solve problems, make decisions, ask questions, construct plans, link and evaluate ideas, organise information, forming concepts, metacognition and create objects.
Geocentric The Geocentric Club focuses on local geography, specifically to solve major community problems. This club is open to students who are respectful and responsible, and who enjoy learning about the world around them. The members compete among themselves in Geo-quiz and Geography Bee too.
Brain teasers The Brain teasers Club is all about critical thinking and problem solving for online students. Club members engage in a variety of brainteasers such as anagrams, pattern puzzles, logic stories, Sudoku puzzles, and word searches. To take it to the next level, students are challenged to create their own brain teasers and an opportunity for sharing and feedback is provided to all.
Debate Students learn the arts of public speaking and critical thinking. Participation in this club allows students to socialize and build friendships with teammates while collaborating and sharing ideas. Club members build their individual abilities to reason and employ analytical thinking as they strive to understand all the possible arguments about the week’s topic. Each group’s decisions, research, and presentation tactics help determine which side is deemed most convincing. Facilitators’ help students gauge the impact of current events, develop position statements, support arguments, think analytically, abide by debate rules, and become comfortable with friendly discussion in a virtual environment.
Pens and Lens It’s a pen or a lens? Which is more capitative? It’s a club which develops the skills of review and preview of images they’ve captured. And to appreciate students as an artist and to make them understand how the narrative of creativity and image-maker coincides.
Movie Members learn about film genres, acting, special effects, and musical compositions centered around themes. Student film buffs gain opportunities to demonstrate their creativity and collaborate with others to create their own movies as part of a virtual show case.
The Monitor The Monitor is Balsam Academy's student-managed, student-staffed monthly newspaper. As they work together, students learn about group dynamics, organizational strategies, and team-building exercises while researching, writing, and editing stories on current events, sports, entertainment, automobiles, gadgets and fashion. The students shall also design the school newsletter and e-magazine.
STEM STEM club is a powerful and highly enjoyable way to engage students with Science and Technology Engineering and Math. It gives students hands-on experience working with the scientific method, planning experiments, and observing the world in which they live. It also allows students to expand their math skills by playing games. As they play, students reinforce a wide range of skills from simple addition to algebra. This club encourages members to identify the ways science and Math affects their lives and their community.
CORP Community Out Reach Program provides opportunities to demonstrate how school activities connect to students' lives with the “community as the laboratory” for real life learning lessons in actual situations. Students become engaged learners once they can see the relevance . They are involved in a lot of community outreach activities that make them feel that what they do makes a difference, contributes to the welfare of others and believe that they too can make a change. It provides a whole picture of the society our students live in.
Design & Technology Design & Technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, students design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and other's needs, wants and values. Through the evaluation of past and present D&T, students develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world, and prepares them to engage in tomorrow's rapidly changing technologies. Students encourages children to become creative problem solvers and thinkers, and to persevere when faced with challenges.
MUN Also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation and/or academic competition in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. MUN involves and teaches researching, public speaking, debating, and writing skills, in addition to critical, teamwork, and leadership abilities.
Math Olympic The Math Olympic is an enrichment program that focusses on having fun with mathematics designed to foster the pursuit of individual excellence in problem solving while enhancing creativity and resourcefulness. The students learn methods and share knowledge to prepare for Math Olympiad too. It takes considerable efforts and determination from members.