Announcements

Balavihar for the year 2012-13 will start at Cross Roads South Middle School at 10 a.m. on September 16th.

For registering online, visit http://chinmayavrindavan.org/

We are looking forward for a fun filled year of learning and growing at our balavihar!

Class Recap May 19th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

It is hard to believe that our session for 2012-2013 is coming to an end. It seems that we started our grade 1 class just yesterday! It was such a pleasure getting to know your kids and sharing such a productive and fun time together. We are surely going to miss all our students.

Our last class is on June 2nd and we would like to invite all the parents to our class for a short presentation from our kids. Please plan to arrive to the class by 11:00 AM.

We want to wish all the students a very happy and safe summer vacation. We will see you coming September. Thank You.

Hari Om

Class Recap May 12th (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

First of all we would like to wish all the moms a VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. In class we talked about this special day and each one of us shared what they loved about their mothers. Some of us shared that the food cooked by them is always delicious some said they loved it when their mother read them a story or played baseball/basketball with them. There were many wonderful things we learned about our mothers and how it makes our life so special.

We started our class with Prayers and Shlokas. After meditation couple of students shared stories. We heard lots of interesting stories. We sang two bhajans with action. Please mark your calendar to be in the class for a short presentation by our grade. We would like to show you what we have learned this year. We will send emails for exact timing.

We had sweet treats for all our students. One of our parent got it for all of us. Thank you so much and we hope kids enjoyed the treat. Aarti and pledge were done in auditorium. We will meet for our next class on May 19th.
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Have a good week and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Class Recap April 21st (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

We had a great class today. Since we have concluded the story of Ramayana, we talked about sage Valmiki who wrote this great scripture. We heard about his background and how he got his name. How he got inspired to write Ramayana. Since we are encouraging our students to tell their favorite story from now on, one of the student shared the story of "Ganesha and Karthikeyan" and how they were asked to circle the earth three times. While Karthikeyan rode on his peacock to go around the earth, Ganesha simply circled his parents three times.

After the story we all circled our tables three times pretending we were Ganesha circling around our parents.It was so much fun.The coloring books have been returned back to the students. Please see that your child has finished every page in the book. Please make sure that they bring the coloring book to every class.

Congratulations to all who participated in Geeta Chanting competition. We saw the beautiful medals that each participant received and applauded them.We have started learning a new sholka that summarizes the whole Ramayana. We will practice more during the coming classes.
The class ended with aarthi and pledge. We will not meet on April 28th. Also we are celebrating annual function on May 5th. Please plan to attend as it will be packed with beautiful performance from Balavihar kids. Our next class will be on May 12th. Thank You and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Class Recap April 14th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

Today was a very special day as we finished the story of Ramayana. The most exciting part was that one of our students told the story. He came up with lots of confidence and narrated how Ravana got killed , how Rama and Sita got together and the happy ending with the coronation of Sri Rama.From next class onwards we would like to encourage students to come up and share their favorite story. They can practice at home and narrate during our regular class session.We all have learned so many precious lessons from Ramayana. In coming classes we will discuss them in detail and revisit the important parts of the story.

We also did our regular chanting and Bhagwat Geeta shlokas. We sang "Atmanivasi Ram" and "Kahte bhi Ram bolo". We are looking forward to learning some more new things in future. We played four corners and the students enjoyed moving from one corner to the next according to the instruction.

Aarti and pledge happened in auditorium. There was a presentation from the youth group. Congratulations and best of luck to our seniors who graduated from Balavihar today. Many of them started when they were little like our 1st graders.

Thank you and we look forward to see you coming Sunday (April 21st).

Class Recap 7th April ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

It was really nice to assemble together after the break. The children looked excited and happy. We all shared what we did over the spring break. We all recited our prayers and shlokas loudly. Some of us have been practicing diligently all through the break. Meditation was next. We all did a great job and were excited to know what happened in the story of Ramayana.

We covered chapter 35. We learned how Indrajeet injured Rama and Lakshmana and how Hanuman leaped up and flew towards the Himalaya to find the herb that could cure them. Since he could not distinguish the healing plant, he lifted the entire hill and flew back. Finally Rama and Lakshmana were revived.

After the story we all concentarted in learning Bhagwat Geeta shlokas. April 10th is the last date to register for the competition. The kids have been practicing regularly in class. Please register them. It will be a unique experience to participate.

We sang our bhajan "Atma nivasi Ram" and " Veer Maruti, Gambhir Maruti. Aarti and pledge happened at the end.

Enjoy spring weather and we will see you coming Sunday.

Geeta Chanting Competition

Hari Om Parents,

Please register your child for Geeta Chanting competition. The last date to register is April 10th.

Thank You and we will see the children in class this Sunday.

Class Recap March 17th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

It was a cold Sunday morning today. We had very low attendance as well. Nevertheless we started with our usual enthusiasm and energy. After our morning chants and meditation, we continued with our story.
Rama announced the battle with Ravana. The vanar sena marched towards the beautiful city of  Lanka. The grand city was going to get destroyed by the war between the two parties.One after the other rakshas came to fight and everybody got defeated by the great vanar sena. Ultimately Ravana came into the battlefield but lost his chariot, crown and weapons fighting with Rama. Rama was so kind and fair that he granted Ravana to leave the battle field and come back the next day after taking rest and getting new weapons. Ravana was terrified and thought that only Kumbhkarna could save him and Lanka. Kumbhkarna was awaken from his slumber. The students really enjoyed the description of how Kumbkarna was woken up. Once he was awake he came to know Ravana's deeds. He said to Ravana that he had done wrong by abducting Rama's wife by force. But since Ravana was his brother he agreed to help him. He went to the battlefield and destroyed and killed many vanaras. But at the end he could not stand the power of Sri Rama and died.

After the story we all marched around the class chanting and screaming " Long live Rama" and "Victory to Rama". We jumped and hopped like monkeys and pretended to uproot trees and boulders while we marched. We also pretended that we were Kumbkarana and woke up with loud roar.

Today we reviewed the pages of our coloring book. We looked at the map and discussed the trail that Rama had taken from Ayodhya to Lanka. We also looked at the drawings in each chapter and discussed various incidents that occurred throughout the story.

We sang "Atma Nivasi Ram". We finished with aarti and pledge. There will be no balvihar class for next two weeks. We will see you on April 7th. Thank You.

Class Recap March 10th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

 Hari Om parents,

We started with breathing and screaming exercises to get rid of the yawning and sleepy look some children had. Since the clock advanced by an hour, this was expected. Also, the attendance was disappointing. Please try not to miss Balvihar classes. The kids are getting more familiar with the chanting of daily prayers and we do not want that to be broken with being absent.

After the chanting and meditation we plunged into the story of Ramayan. Rama with his able vanara army landed in Lanka. They were struck by the beauty and grandeur of the city and Rama was unhappy that the city was soon to be destroyed. But he was determined to get Sita back. Rama however decided to give one last chance to mighty Ravana to save his life by returning Sita and sent Angadha, son of Vali, to Ravana. Of course, the evil Ravana chose to face Rama and risk his life and the beautiful city. Ravana was also persuaded by his grandfather, Malyavan and his own ministers not to underestimate Rama and to make peace with him. But the wicked Ravana proceeded with arrangements for a battle and posted his warriors to guard the city-gates. He also had an evil plan to deceive Sita using his magical powers. He tricked Sita with a model of Ramas head  and to yield to him. The noble Sita just wept but soon became hopeful when she heard the blaring trumpets and the beating of the drums of the vanara army. Thus the two sides were all set to start the war. We concluded the story with the singing of Atma nivasi Ram. Students colored the pages and also marked the last paduka in the trail map of Rama.
There was assembly in the auditorium and the sixth graders were putting up a show, a skit from Mahabharata. It was grand, colorful and entertaining. A simple request at this juncture. Please do take your child for arati in the auditorium and never skip it. It is not a good example to set. Always factor in that extra 20 min in your schedule. Please register for Geetha chanting. Also, mark your calendar on May 5th. It is our annual day and children put up a grand show.

 Hari Om.

Class Recap March 3rd ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

We had a great time today with loads of fun and excitement. Today we had almost a perfect attendance.We started with our usual chants and morning prayer followed by meditation. Before the meditation , students were asked what is meditation and why do we do it. Some of the answers we got were; We talk to God when we meditate, it helps to make us calm and quiet and it helps us to focus better so we can do a good job in our home work! Great answers.

Story time is becoming more and more interesting with each chapter. Today we heard that Rama finally got the news about Sita. The vanar sena assembled together and started their march towards Lanka. When they reached the seashore all of them were puzzled as to how to cross the mighty ocean. Finally the ocean God helped them and asked them to make the bridge. The construction of the bridge finally ended.

We all played the game where we pretended to be vanaras and marched with our groups chanting the name of Lord Rama all around the class. Every body enjoyed a lot and had lots of fun. In between we played the game of freeze so it was a loud chanting of Rama followed by pin drop silence.

One of our students chanted the Bhagwat Geeta shlokas.The rest of us followed him. We also talked about participating in the competition and decided to bring our medals (in the next class) from the previous competition to inspire everyone.

We colored our books quietly. We discussed the chapters in coloring book. Soon it was time to go home.

Take care and see you all next weekend.

Class Recap Feb 24th (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,


We had a very good class today full of fun and excitement. We started with morning prayers followed by meditation. In story time we covered the topic of Hanuman finally reaching Lanka and finding Sita in Ashoka vatika. We learned how beautiful the city of Lanka was and how Ravana was full of pride. Although he had lots of power, he was using it in a wrong way. We also learned how intelligent and humble Hanuman was and also he was full of devotion to Lord Rama. In each and every step he took he remembered Rama and asked for his guidance and blessing in his mind.

After the story we played the game "obstacle". We created some obstacles in the class room and the students were asked to hop on one foot and reach the goal. The one who reached without any problems were declared Hanuman. Guess what our whole class became Hanuman. We had a whole vanar sena!

We sang our favorite bhajan "khate bhi Ram bolo" and then did some Geeta chanting. Afterwords we colored our books. We concluded after Aarti and Pledge.

See you all next weekend. Take care and stay warm.

Class Recap Feb 10th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,
,
The Balavihar session on Feb.10th was interactive with great enthusiasm from students and teachers alike. The session began with morning prayers followed by meditation.( It would immensely help if parents can help their child with reciting those short prayers at home regularly.) We then jumped into retelling the fascinating story of Ramayana. Students were able to recall the story told earlier using Q&A and the much awaited story began. Sugriva who is lost in royal pleasures is persuaded by Hanuman to wake up and take action to fulfill his promise to Rama and Lakshmana. He forms a large canard army to go in all four directions to search for Sita. Rama has a premonition that Hanuman who is heading South with Jambavan, Angada and other vanaras, would probably bring good news about Sita's whereabouts and blesses him. Hanuman and his group have an encounter with Sampati, Jatayus brother and find out that Sita has been taken by Ravana across the ocean and is sitting lonely under a tree in a beautiful garden. Of course, it is Hanuman who is chosen to cross the ocean and he encounters obstacles on his way and finally lands in Lanka.

The story led to a discussion about not giving up, trying harder, being focused and reaching the goal just like Hanuman. We all pretended how we could grow big and strong with our arms and legs spread wide and lifting our bodies up, symbolically conveying that we can gain strength and power through concentration and effort.
We sang the bhajan, "Atma nivasi Ram" with action and added a new one about Anjaneya, "Veera Maruti, ghambheera Maruti". Students colored the appropriate page in the coloring book.
A question about Lord Ganesha has been thrown in for kids to find out -  What does Ganesha hold in his four hands?  Pl. Help if you know.
Please recite the DAILY prayers with the children at home. Reminder - registration is open for Geetha Chanting Competition. Next Balvihar class is on 24th Feb. see you all!

Class Recap 3rd Feb. ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

We had a wonderful class today. Like always we started with morning shlokas followed by meditation. Every body was eager to know what happened in our story.So story time came next. Today's segment was particularly long. Lots of events occurred. Rama and Lakshmana met Hanuman. Then they met Sugriva and heard his side of the story. Both (Rama and Sugriva) promised to help each other. Finally Bali got killed by Rama and Sugriva became the king of "Kishkindha". Now it was Sugriva's turn to help Rama and Lakshmna find Sita. There were lots of interesting side stories as well.

We all had a thoughtful discussion about the comparison between  Rama / Bharata and  Sugriva / Bali. All of us agreed that although each pair were brothers there was a huge difference. Rama and Bharata were ever loving towards each other but Sugriva and Bali had jealously and power of hunger amongst themselves.

Afterwards we played the game zip-zap-zop. Also we played the game where we all pretended to be mountains, trees and tiger etc. It was so much fun.We did coloring and sang our Bhajan "Atma Nivasi Ram".

Before we knew it, it was time to go home! Have a wonderful week. Stay warm.

Class Recap 27th January ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

 Today was one of those cold winter days  when everybody wants to stay in front of the fireplace sipping hot chocolate,yet we had a class full of happy, smiling and energetic students. Thank you to all of you who make the commitment to come on time every week.

We all started with our shlokas. We also discussed the meaning of various shlokas chanted on different times of the day. Story time came next and we learned about the slaying of Kambandha and heard the beautiful and heart warming story of Shabari.

Since we had been sitting down for a while we  got up and performed some exercises. We also sang our Bhajan" Atma Nivasi Ram". Please ask your children to sing it to you with actions. It was so much fun.

Coloring came next. We all colored the chapter that we discussed today and also traced the route that Rama took on the map of our coloring book. We realized that Rama had travelled almost the entire India.

After Geeta Chanting we all did Aarti and Pledge and it was time to go home!

Have a good week and we look forward to see you on Feb. 3rd.

Class Recap January 13th (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

As always we had another beautiful class day, full of learning and fun. We all started promptly at  ten and the best part was that most of the students had arrived by then! We encourage all the children to come on time so everybody is able to participate in all of the activities. After the morning prayers and shlokas we did the meditation. We all enjoyed a minute of complete silence before we started with other activities.

Geeta chanting came next. We had couple of kids lead the group. It was nice to see that the children have started practicing at home. We would like a one hundred percent participation at the competition. So all should recite and practice regularly.

Story time came next and we learned how the beautiful deer that Sita wanted ,tricked Rama by taking him deeper and deeper into the forest and when Rama  shot an arrow at him he turned back into the raksasa body and started to scream "Lakshmana, Sita save me" in Rama's voice. Also when Lakhmana went to help his brother, evil Ravana kidnapped Sita and took her with him to Lanka. Brave Jatayu tried to save Sita but could not do so. Rama was full of grief when he did not find his beloved Sita at the ashram. We will unfold more details in coming class.

We all did coloring and sang a brand new Bhajan "Atma Nivasi Ram". We learned actions along with the Bhajan. It was so much fun. We will finish the it next time. After the bhajan we all did aarti and pledge and the class came to an end. We do not have class on the 20th of January,so see you all on the 27th.

Take care and have a wonderful week.



Class Recap January 6th (Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

Happy New Year to all of you and a warm welcome back to all our little ones. Hope everyone had a nice holiday break. It was so good to see all the kids after the break. Everyone looked enthusiastic and ready to learn more. Our morning prayer recitation was loud and cheerful. Everyone participated with enthusiasm and energy.

Since we assembled at the beginning of the new year, the students at each table  were asked what they wanted to accomplish or do during the year. We had an interesting set of goals and desires for the upcoming year from our kids. Some of them are;

Learn to hoola hoop,swim and jump rope , get better at soccer, learn more about outer space, eat less junk food, play less video games, watch less television, try water coloring, learn more prayers, come to Balvihar everyday on time (love that one),learn to read, follow rules at home etc. We had such a thoughtful bunch of students.

We continued our story after recapping what we had covered before. We learned about how Maricha became a beautiful golden deer with silver spots and tried to enchant Sita. How Sita became instantly attracted to him and wanted to play with him. What happens next ? We will see in our next class.

We did our games and exercises (including hoola hooping, jump roping and swimming!) and sang and danced to our favorite bhajan. After coloring books, it was time to go home. We all enjoyed yummy kit kats today as a new year treat.

Have a good week and see you all next Sunday. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!