And we begin in earnest...

Our class began with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance. 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 the first 2 verses of the bhajan - Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210). We also revised the first verse and learnt verses 2 and 3 from the Gruru Sthothram (pg 85-86).

Soorya did a wonderful job of helping us revise the portion of the Bala Ramayana that we covered in the last class. We learnt about what great students Rama, Lakshmana, Bharat and Shatrugana were and what great qualities they had. Rama was the favorite of the whole kingdom and everyone wanted their child to be like him. We also read about the great sage Vishwamitra coming to Ayodhya for help against the asuras disturbing his yagya. Dasharatha did not know the purpose of Vishwamitra's visit and promised him anything that the great sage wanted. But when he came to know that Vishwamitra wanted Rama's help to get rid of the asuras, Dasharatha was not happy and offered to go himself. But that angered Vishwamitra.That would mean that Dasharatha was going back on his word and it was unacceptable in those days to break a promise. So, finally, on the advice of his guru Vashishta, Dashratha agreed to send his sons Rama  and Lakshmana along with Vishwamitra.

The kids have been given a couple of pages to color from the Ramayana story. We also practiced our vowels in Sanskrit. 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 3. 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.

Back in Session!

Hari Om!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer. Its great to be back at the Jersey City Balavihar as a teacher for the first graders yet again! It is time to bid adieu to the long summer days of fun and lazing...

Now it is time to come back refreshed and relaxed, ready to start another year of making new friends, learning new prayers and bhajans, hearing new stories and ofcourse, revising all that we have learnt in the past. So, let me begin by extending a warm welcome to our first graders for the 2014-2015 year as well as their families.

I would like to take this opportunity to request the parents to please practice the shlokas at home as a part of their daily routine. This would help us proceed right along with our curriculum instead of starting from square one every Sunday.

Also, I will be giving a bit of homework every week, not too much, just about 15-20 minutes of work. I don't want the kids to feel overwhelmed or pressurized but at the same time, revisiting whatever they learn in class, will help them feel better prepared at the next session.

This year we will be having Ms.Preetha assisting me in class. We welcome her to Grade 1 at the Jersey City Balavihar.

All the shlokas and bhajans that we will be covering during this year are from the My Prayers Book. Please be sure to purchase a copy of the same if you have not done so already.

For this first session, we began by taking the attendance. Then we introduced ourselves so we could get to know each other.

We practiced the 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. All these prayers have been covered in the previous years, so we will be doing a quick run through at the beginning of each session. Raghav remembered all his prayers and was able to confidently lead through most of these. I am sure by the end of the year, all the kids will be comfortable with these.

We practiced the bhajan Rama Naama Thaarakam (pg 211)

We also learnt the first verse from the Gruru Sthothram (pg 85-86).

We will be covering "Bala Ramayana" with the first graders this year.  Sathvik did a great job of telling us the story of Ramayana in brief and then we read the first couple of chapters from the book. We got an introduction to Ayodhya and King Dasharatha. We learnt about the importance of having a guru in our lives just as King Dasharatha turned to his guru, sage Vashishta, for advice, when he was sad about not having any children. We also covered the yagna performed by King Dasharatha, on the advice of his guru, 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!

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

As a part of their homework I would like the kids to write a couple of lines of "Ram" in Sanskrit on the given sheet of paper.

See you at the next class. All of you should be having folders/binders given during the previous Balavihar year. Please empty the contents and remember to bring you folders to class.