* ॐ सहनाववतु - Om sahanaavavatu (My prayers, pg. 6)
* वक्रतुण्ड महाकाया - vakratuNDa mahaakaayaa
* सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhayam (My prayers, pg. 44)
* गुरुर्ब्रह्मा - gururbrahmaa (My prayers, pg. 9, 3rd shloka of 'gurustotram')
Meditation: 1 minute
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, shloka 1, 2, 3, 4
Story: ahalyaa
Words of the week: ahalyaa; gautama rishi
Activity: Coloring page of stone turning into ahalyaa
Game time: I spy... along with questions
End of class:
- ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH.
- aarati and pledge in the auditorium
Comments:
Rashmi aunty and Kusuma aunty:
The children are getting into our balavihar routine wonderfully! They know the scheme of activities and are ever ready with their enthusiasm throughout the class. After our beginning prayers, in order to celebrate 'vijayadashami', we also chanted 'annapUrNe sadaapUrNe...' During meditation, we focused on 'raama naama' (remembering Lord raama during meditation). Looks like a lot of the children are practicing the geeta chanting at home. They were very comfortable with the words to the first verse. They needed leading for the 2nd and 3rd though. We also started the 4th verse today. At this pace, if they keep practicing regularly, come April, all of them will be pros at chanting :).
We spoke about the story of ahalyaa in story time. We saw how indra disguised himself as sage gautama and tricked ahalyaa. She had turned into a stone. On the touch of raaama's divine feet, she regained her original form. mahrShI gautam came back. Then raama, lakshmaNa went towards mithilaa nagara with sage vishwaamitra. We were all very curious as to what happens there. Here's a hint - someone is getting married! We've told the children to come dressed up in colorful (preferably Indian) clothes, to celebrate the wedding :).
They colored the picture of the stone turning into ahalyaa. Then, practiced writing राम (raama) in sanskrit. Parents, please make sure you send the composition books with them every class. It is very important for them to carry with them, all the supplies needed, for each class.
We played a game of 'I spy...' Aunty would ask a question and the children had to point out the picture from the chart. They sure know their raamaayaNa trivia so far :). They did very well!
We have a bunch of smart kids really. We got talking about good vs bad. Where is God? Why don't we see him physically? How come if God is in the food, we eat Him? We ended up talking about bad guys, to bullying at school as well! They certainly know their ground rules. They were reeling away ideas regarding how to handle such situations!! Talk to you kids about these discussions. It is quite interesting and entertaining as well. It is also amazing how much they know and how far they think!
Happy vijayadashamI to all. Make sure you register for the walkathon online. Next week is a balavihar week. But we will be assembling at the Mercer County park. Follow chinmayavrindavan.org for schedules, etc. See you all at the park on 24th.
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Ruchi aunty and Meera aunty:
Before our class started with our usual agenda, we all agreed to keep our stuff in a more organized fashion. Couple of our young volunteers helped in making sure that our shoes were lined up, our bags were neatly place in one assigned table and our jackets were stacked properly. We learned that in order to have a productive class, it is very important for all of us to cooperate and keep the place neat and organized. Thank You for all the help!!
The class started with opening shlokas. All of us recited with lot of enthusiasm and energy. We did our morning meditation and tried to chant the name of Sri Rama as we sat with closed eyes. We all did very well . There was absolute silence. We have already discussed the importance of meditation and how this practice will keep all of us focused and sharp during our studies.
Today we introduced third shloka of Bhagwad Geeta (chapter 11). Kids are doing very well chanting the first two shlokas. We will be practicing more in upcoming classes. Please keep practicing at home.
The story session was very interesting. Before we started today’s story we had a little quiz on the previous chapters. It was really good to see that kids remember all the details from the previous chapters. Since we covered “Dandaka Forest” and “Tatka”, there was a lot of interesting conversation about beauty of forests and what is scary about the forests etc. We talked about Tatka and how she was killed. We also listened about Maricha and Subahu and how Rama and Lakshmana helped sage Viswamitra protect their Yagna .
We all did the coloring and made sure that we are following Sri Rama’s trail properly on the map. We did not do the likhita japa because of time constraints.
We all will meet next time in Mercer county park. We will be taking attendance there so make sure you all are there with your sneakers, caps and sunscreen.
Let’s all make the “Walkathon” a Huge success!!
Hari Om
