Gita Chantig

Dear Parents, here is a copy of the Gita Chanting verses. The kids are expected to learn 8 verses this year. The few minutes that we spend learning these at balavihar will go to waste if we don't practice the same at home. Please help the kids revise whatever they learn in class.

Thanksgiving Special Class Journal

Time for the balavihar class journal update :)

As usual we began with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance. For the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book), we went around asking each child to say the prayer out loud. We revised the Guru Sthothram (pg 85-86) till the 9^th verse and also sang the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram. It would be great if the kids say their prayers regularly at home as it would help them to retain the verses in their memory and we could move forward.

In Ramayana, we discussed the story of Rama preparing to go to the forest after obtaining the blessings of his mother.  Just as he advises his mother Kaushalya that she cannot accompany him to the forest because a wife’s place is with her husband, Sita convinces him that she is ready to bear any hardship as long as she stays with Rama. Lakshmana also insists on coming along and Rama agrees to it. He requests Dasharatha and Kaikeyi for simple clothes, baskets and spears to help him survive in a forest. When the people of Ayodhya get angry and upset and insist on going with him, he calms them down and tells them to not get upset with Bharata and support him instead as he is not to be blamed. The people and the minister Sumantra follow Rama till the banks of the river Ganges where everyone decides to rest till the next morning. The chief of that village, Guha, provides food and refreshments and offers any aid needed. Rama accepts his offer of a boat ride to cross the river the next morning.  Rama gets ready to leave with Sita and Lakshmana before day break, so that the people of Ayodhya, who are still sleeping, will not follow him into the forest.

As this was a “Thanksgiving special” class, I had the kids trace out their hands and make a colorful turkey. On each finger the kids were asked to list out whatever they were thankful for. Right from parents to teachers to toys, the list made for some entertaining reading. 

We concluded the class with the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19)

Enjoy your thanksgiving break. See you at the next class. Please be sure to bring you folders.

Class Journal Update (Test Time!)

The last class saw a 50% turnout - guess it is the vacation season. Even if you have not attended the class, please have the kids go through their prayers and alphabet practice as we are proceeding with our syllabus.

Our class began with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance. For the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book), we went around asking each child to say the prayer out loud. We proceeded onto the 9^th verse of the Guru Sthothram (pg 85-86) and also sang the bhajans Rama Naama Thaarakam and Atma Nivasi Ram. Parents are requested to please have the kids chant their daily prayers as a few of them are still not comfortable with all the shlokas.

In story time, we covered the chapters of everyone returning to Ayodhya after the marriage of Rama and Sita, the four brothers and their wives settling into a routine with their responsibilities and gaining the love and respect of the people of Ayodhya.  We moved onto the story of Manthara poisoning Kaikeyi’s mind when King Dashratha decided to crown Rama as the king. The kids were pretty sad to hear about Dashratha granting Kaikeyi’s boon of crowning Bharatha instead and banishing Rama to 14 years of exhile.

We discussed real life scenarios (such as mom cancelling a pizza dinner due to unavoidable work or missing out on a favorite movie) wherein the kids could react as calmly as Lord Rama did on hearing that he had to go to the forest. We decided that even if we get upset, we will not throw a tantrum but accept our parents’ decisions calmly and look for alternate solutions.

I conducted a test of the Sanskrit vowels. Amit scored the highest followed by Vedant. The kids still need to work on their alphabets. We also learned to write the vowel “ऋ”.

For their homework, I have given out a practice sheet for the vowels in Sanskrit, please have the kids complete it. 

We did a quick revision of Sanskrit colors and body parts. We concluded the class with the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19)

See you at the next class. Please be sure to bring you folders.

Happy Diwali!

The past Balavihar session was a special one as we celebrated Deepavali. All the kids were dressed up in traditional clothes and were in high spirits!

We began our class with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance and the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book). We also revised the Gruru Sthothram till verse 8 (pg 85-86). We ended the first part of the session with singing Atmanivasi Ram – we are just left with the last verse in this bhajan, which we will learn after we finish the Ramayana story.

Please ensure that the kids practice all their prayers at home. Some of the kids are not at the same level as the rest of the class. Daily practice will help us proceed with the rest of the curriculum for the year.
Instead of carrying on with the chapter wise story telling of Ramayana, we skipped lessons and covered the story of Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya as we wanted to discuss the reason for celebrating Deepavali. We learnt that Deepavali means “Row of Lights” and that the people of Ayodhya lit lamps and were celebrating on the streets as they were happy about Lord Rama returning to the kingdom after completing an exhile of 14 years and defeating Ravana. The sparkling lights helped Lord Rama’s group to see the way and know where to land their Pushpavimaan as it was very dark.

The kids described how they celebrate Diwali at home – getting up at the crack of dawn, taking a shower and wearing new clothes, lighting lamps, candles and fairy lights at home, bursting crackers, eating lots of sweets and other homemade goodies as well as visiting friends and family. We also touched upon the fact that in some places Diwali is celebrated over a period of 4-5 days and includes Dhanteras, Lakshmi Puja and Bhai Dooj/ Bhau Beej.

For their activities, I gave out earthen diyas to the kids and they decorated it with sparkling stones and rainbow stickers. Then each of them placed a candle in the diya, which they said they would be lighting in the evening.

We concluded the class with the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19). The kids are now familiar with the prayer as well as its meaning.

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels and prayers. I will be testing them in this upcoming class.

 See you at the next class. Please be sure to bring you folders.

Fancy Dress Day Journal

It was wonderful to see the kids all dressed up for the Indian fancy dress this past weekend. Here is the update for the previous balavihar session.

We did a quick run through of the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance and the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We also revised the Gruru Sthothram till verse 8 (pg 85-86). Please be sure to practice the verses at home as some kids are having trouble saying them with the rest of the class.

In Ramayana, we discussed the story of how Janaka, the king of Mithila, found Sita while ploughing the fields for a yagya and accepted her as a gift from Bhumadevi, took her home and brought her up as his own daughter. The kids also learnt about Valmiki reaching Mithila along with Rama and Lakshmana and how Rama took up the challenge of breaking Rudra’s bow to marry Sita. Everyone in class was in a festive mood as they were dressed up as the characters at the wedding.

For the activity we continued to trace Lord Rama’s journey on the map of India. All the kids are requested to please bring this map to every class along with their folders. Also, since we were attending a wedding, we discussed what gift we should give. For this, each kid got a sheet of paper on which they were asked to write down whatever bad habits they wanted to get rid of. They folded the sheets and put it in a gift bag that I assured would reach Lord Rama. The idea is that God will accept these bad habits and convert them into good ones for the kids. That would be the best gift we could give!

We concluded the class with the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19). We also revised the meaning of this prayer.

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels and the Gurusthothram upto verse 8. Also, color the picture of Sita Swayamvar that has been sent home.

See you at the next class. Please dress up in traditional clothes as we will be celebrating the festival of Deepavali.

Class Journal Update - A Guest Helper Today!

Our session covered the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance and the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book). We had a new student Sai in our class. We also had Varun from the higher grade as a guest in our class and he assisted me with the activities.

We practiced the bhajan Rama Naama Thaarakam (pg 211). We also revised the Gruru Sthothram till verse 7 and learnt verse 8 (pg 85-86).

In Ramayana, we covered the chapters involving the great sage Vishwamitra coming to Ayodhya for help against the asuras disturbing his yagya. We discussed how Rama and his brothers were excellent sons and students. We learnt about how Rama and Lakshmana travelled with Vishwamitra through the Dandaka forest to the ashram of Vishwamitra and how the asuras Maricha (who will play an important role later) and Subahu were defeated. We also learnt about Ahalya. That led us to the next verse of the bhajan  Atma Nivasi Ram – Ahalyodharaka Ram (pg 209-210).

As a part of the day’s activity, we traced the footsteps of Vishwamitra, Rama and Lakshmana from Ayodhya to Vishwamitra’s Ashrama. Please bring this map of India to every class as we will continue to mark Lord Rama’s journey right upto the defeat of Ravana. We also discussed the story of Vamana Avatara. The significance here is that the place where Mahabali got immortality from Vamana is where Vishwamitra’s ashram was situated.

Varun helped answer some of the questions the kids had regarding these chapters. Next week, we will cover the chapter of Rama’s wedding to Sita. As this coincides with the fancy dress day, we decided to dress up as characters for the wedding. Varun made chits and the kids picked the characters from the chits. For those not present in the previous session, please pick any character from the Rama-Sita wedding excluding Rama, Lakshmana, Bharat, Shatrughna, Sita, Urmila, Kauhsalya, Kaikeyi and Dasharatha as these characters have all already been picked. It would be nice to see the kids from first grade be a part of the Ramayan.

I know this is short notice, so if you don’t find any appropriate costume/prop, please come dressed in traditional Indian wear.

We concluded the class with meditation followed by the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19). We also learnt the meaning of this prayer.

Thank you Varun for helping out.

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels and the Gurusthothram upto verse 8. After the Diwali class, I plan to take a test of the vowels so that we can proceed with Sanskrit writing.

See you at the next class. Please remember to bring you folders.

Happy Navaratri

The last class followed the usual routine of the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance and a quick revision of the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We practiced the bhajan Rama Naama Thaarakam (pg 211) and revised the first 3 verses of the bhajan - Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210). We also revised the Gruru Sthothram till verse 7 (pg 85-86).

Since it was the class scheduled for celebrating Navaratri, we discussed the significance of the festival. We spoke about how the first three days are for worshipping Goddess Durga, the next three days for Goddess Lakshmi and the last three days for Goddess Sarasawati. The kids discussed how they celebrate Navaratri in their homes. All different aspects from fasting moms, to Dandiya Ras and Golu were shared. We also spoke about how kanchakas are worshipped and Prasad (halwa puris) are distributed in some homes while in others Sundals are distributed as prasadam and the women and girls are called for haldi kumkum and given gifts.

Then we related it to Ramayana by discussing how Ravana was killed on Vijaya Dashami. We got to know about Ram Leela and how processions and jhankis are carried out India comprised of characters from Ramayana and how someone dressed as Rama gets to shoot a fire arrow at the Ravana effigy which burns amidst much fanfare and fireworks depicting the end of war between Lord Rama and Ravana.

In keeping with the Navaratri theme, the kids drew, colored and decorated a picture of Goddess Durga. Finally, we concluded the class with meditation followed by the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19).

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels and the Gurusthothram upto verse 7.

See you at the next class. Please remember to bring you folders.

Namaste :)

Our class began with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance. We had a new student in class today and when I asked the other kids to tell her about our attendance routine, we had some light moments when the a couple of kids ended up saying “Present/here” instead of “Hari Om” as we usually do J . Next we had a quick revision of the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We learnt an interesting thing from two of the students – Shreya and Vedant, who taught us the significance of joining the hands in a “Namaste” pose for prayers. We join our hands and our thumb fingers point to our chest; this represents our praying for those who are dearest to us – our friends and family. The upright index fingers represent us praying for our teachers, the middle fingers, being the tallest, represent us praying for our leaders, the ring finger being the weakest, represents us praying for all those who are sick, poor and needy. Finally comes the tiny pinky finger, which represents us praying for ourselves.

We practiced the bhajan Rama Naama Thaarakam (pg 211) and revised the first 3 verses of the bhajan - Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).We also learnt verse 7 from the Gruru Sthothram (pg 85-86).

From the Bala Ramayana we covered the yagna performed by King Dasharatha resulting in the birth of the 4 princes – Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The children learnt about sharing as the queens Kaushalya and Kaikeyi shared their kheer with Sumitra. The kids were very amused and excited by the knowledge that Lakshmana and Shatrughna were twins born to Sumitra as a result of her eating two portions of the kheer!

We practised writing "Ram" in Sanskrit. We also practiced our vowels in Sanskrit. The kids got to color a couple of pages from the Ramayana story. We practiced the colors in Sanskrit by locating them on the rug. Finally, we concluded the class with meditation followed by the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19).

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels and the Gurusthothram upto verse 7. Color the Ramayana sheet sent home, write your name and grade and insert the sheet into the folder.

See you at the next class. Please remember to bring you folders.

Have a good week! See you on at the next class.

First Day Of Balavihar - Welcome!

Let me begin by extending a warm welcome to our family of first graders for the year 2013-2014! I am really excited and looking forward  to this year's sessions...

Our class started with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9). This was followed by an attendance/introduction session. It was wonderful to see that the kids remembered their daily prayers (Om Sahana Vavatu, Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We sang  the first 3 verses of a new Bhajan - Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).We also learnt verse 6 from the Gruru Sthothram (pg 85-86); the first 5 verses were covered last year.

We had a "fun" first class. Amidst getting serious with the regular shlokas, bhajans and activities, the kids shared a few tidbits about their plans for the day and their thoughts on "Ramayana". We will be covering "Bala Ramayana" with the first graders this year - each one had their own input to give as they are all familiar with the story in general. We discussed the first chapter from the book which was an introduction to Ayodhya and King Dasharatha. The children then proceeded to make their name tag with "Ram" written on it and decorated it with the image of a bow and arrow. They also drew and colored a picture of what they thought Ayodhya looked like at the time of King Dasharatha.

We practised writing "Ram" in Sanskrit. Finally,we concluded the class with meditation followed by the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19).

As a part of their homework I would like the kids to revise their vowels in Sanskrit which they have already covered last year. We will be going over that in the next class before moving on to other things. Also, practice till verse 6 from the Guru Sthothram.

See you at the next class. Please remember to bring you folders.