Republic Day Celebrations

Hari Om!

Let me begin by thanking the parents who got the kids all dressed up for the Republic Day Celebrations and helped them practice their bhajan :)

Our class sang the bhajan "Atma Nivasi Ram". I had made badges of the Indian National Flag that the kids wore and they sure looked smart in their traditional clothes. I am real proud of how they performed confidently on stage without any stage fright! Their obsession with the mike provided a few good laughs though :)

We also had Shrujana from our class along with Shriya, another Balavihar student, perform to a beautiful classical based song set to Bharatnatyam steps.

All in all, it was a wonderful day when the kids were stars :)

Next week I'll be out of town, but Anisha aunty has graciously offered to take the class on my behalf.

See you soon... 

A Day Of Tests & Reviews!

We had an interesting class this week. After the attendance, each child was asked to step up and recite a daily prayer. Most of the kids managed to earn a sticker during this activity :)

When it came to the Guru Sthothram, almost all of them are comfortable with the first 8-9 verses, the trouble starts after that! Athreya and Vedant were the only ones to recite the 12 verses that we have completed and earned another sticker. Please have the kids practice reciting the verses at home.

We practiced the Bhajan "Atma Nivasi Ram" (page  209-210 of the My Prayer Book). Please make the kids practice the same at home as they will be performing this bhajan at the Republic Day celebrations when we meet next.

The kids learned to write their names in Sanskrit. They were very excited about doing so and have expressed a desire to learn to write their names in their mother tongues as well!

In Bala Ramayana, we covered the chapters involving Rama, Sita & Lakshmana taking blessings from various sages in the forest and settling down at Chitrakoota.  Before doing so, they met Jatayu (a descendant of Garuda), who informed them that he was a friend of Dasharatha, and would deep an eye on Sita whenever Rama and Lakshmana went out in the forest to hunt. The children found it interesting that Lakshmana was skilled at building a hut all by himself, despite the fact that he was a prince. We discussed about how we should learn to do our own chores and not depend on others if we can do something ourselves.

We proceeded to read about their encounter with Surpanakha, who wanted to marry Rama, and how Lakshmana cut off her nose when she misbehaved and tried to harm Sita.

Since Pongal was approaching that week, we discussed how different people celebrated the festival. The kids learned a bit about the significance of harvesting of crops and why we offer thanks to the Sun God on this day of Makar Sankrati, about the act of burning old things and welcoming the new on Bhogi, the same celebrated as Lohri in the North over a bonfire surrounded by singing, dancing and munching of roasted peanuts and revdi! That made a couple of them as how come they did not roast marshmallows!! :) Then we talked about Maatu Pongal and why we worship cows on that day. Pranav mentioned that they usually had guests over on the last day of Pongal. The kids made a special mention of how they love Chakkara Pongal!

Then we had a written test of the vowels. Athreya, Shrujana and Vedant scored full marks while Amit and Pranav were a close second. The rest of the kids need to practice their Sanskrit writing. We also went over the first verse of consonants that we had learned in the previous class.

Finally we concluded the class with Sarve Bhavanthu Sukhinaha followed by Om Poornamadah. Each child received a mechanical pencil for doing well in their review tests.

I am looking forward to seeing how the kids perform the bhajan "Atma Nivasi Ram" at the Republic Day celebrations on 26th January. Please be on time and dress up in traditional Indian clothes.

There will be no class on 19th January 2014.

See you on 26th January...

Happy New Year!

First let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy new year!

Our first class after the break saw a 50% attendance, despite the extremely chilly weather :)

We went through our daily prayers - Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9), Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book. We have covered upto the 12th verse of the Guru Sthothram (pg 85-86). I have asked the kids to memorize the 12 verses thoroughly as I will be randomly calling out the kids to recite a verse or so, just to make sure they have all learned it - have promised rewards if they do :)

We have completed the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram. Please make sure your child is familiar with this bhajan as our class is planning on presenting this on the 26th of January during the morning assembly.

In Ramayana, we learnt about how Bharat returned to Ayodhya with Rama's Padukas. We also learnt of Rama, Sita & Lakshmana progressing further into the forest to avoid repeated contact from people of Ayodhya, and how they met and received blessings of sages they met during their journey. We discussed Sita's concerns about Rama still carrying weapons and fighting demons instead of leading a life of peace and prayer, and how Rama convinced her that he was doing his duty. We learned about their meeting great Saint Agastya and how he gave the divine bow, arrow and sword designed by Vishwakarma for Vishnu to Rama. As an introduction to Agastya's power, we covered the story of Agastya staying in the South of India to balance the world when all great saints rushed to attend Lord Shiva's wedding. Also there is a story of how he humbled the Vindhya's into bowing down. We traced the path of Rama's journey to their next stop - Panchvati. Please make sure the kids bring their maps to every class, if they don't they miss out on tracing the foot prints.

We went over the vowels and the first line of consonants again. Please make sure their homework is done, I'll also be testing them at random, to ensure they don't forget whatever they have learnt in the past.

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

For the next session, we will be talking about Sankranti, feel free to tell your kids anything they would like to share with us during the next class.

Also, I am planning on teaching the kids to write their names in the Devnagri script, please check your child's name and let me know if I have miss spelt it, I apologize in advance in case I haven't got anyone's name right...

अमित          आत्रेया          हरिणी            निकिता       प्रणव

संजना          साई            सान्वी            श्रेया          श्रुजना

विवान

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