Hari Om Parents,
It was a very interactive class with kids, and kids shared interesting views and thoughts with all.
Note:
Have a wonderful week ahead!
Pranams
Shreya and Veda
Today was the second class of Balavihar!! Here is the summary of what we covered in the class today:
All of us assembled in our classroom 'Gopala'.We all sat in a circle crisscrossing our legs, hands together in Namaskar pose, kept our eyes closed, and then chanted the Opening Prayers - Sahana Vavatu.
Repetition of Opening Prayers & Shlokas : Then we chanted each line of the opening prayers individually, and made the kids repeat it multiple times. We all chanted "Vakratunda Mahakaya" , Children repeated several times and we discussed what the prayer signifies. Some kids who already knew, chanted it out in front of the class. We then went on to talk about the Goddess of Education, creativity and music , "Saraswati" and chanted "Saraswati Namastubhyam" and explained the meaning as well.
We will share the recording, please make children listen and repeat everyday.
Yoga : Children enjoyed doing " Thoppukaranam " 11 times as our offering to Lord Ganesha. Next we all did " Vrikshasana, or tree pose" for 10 seconds. We discussed how focusing on one object/Place/spot helps to stay on the pose better and longer. Finally we did 20 jumping jacks. The children participated very enthusiastically for the yoga and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Attendance: Attendance was taken and each kid responded by saying 'Hari Om'.
We did a quick revision of the last class on the Three Questions. After this, we started with the second Lesson from our curriculum which is 'How to See God?'.
Exploration time: Hide under the Sky: We had some discussion on whether we can hide from the Sky, and try not to be under it. We heard a lot of Fun ideas from kids where kids felt there was no Sky at a specific location and hence they could hide there like Garage, basement, bathroom. And then we learned that Sky is everywhere, similarly, God is everywhere.
Story Time: Through the story of Who is Watching? - We learned that God is watching us at all times, even though we may be alone. No one can hide from him. God is watching us, protecting us, and taking care of us at all times. He sees everything, hears everything, and knows everything.
Activity: LadyBug Search : Kids were asked to find the LadyBug in the Picture provided, with bare eyes we cannot find it, hence were asked to use the Special Instrument -the Magnifying Glass to help them. They had some fun looking for it and later coloring the lady bug. The activity sheet print out will be in their folder.
Brainstorming: Through small examples, we discussed What a Sweet Mind is? And who is a Sweet person? Kids shared on how they would respond to certain circumstances and whether it was the right response. And then we discussed, we become Sweet people when we develop a Sweet mind and we develop Sweet Mind when we attain special qualities which we can learn by learning the Vedanta alphabeta and start applying it in our life. And we learnt that we can See God through a Special Instrument called Sweet Mind! And using our Sweet Mind, we can get Closer to God!
Exit Ticket: What do they think A in the Alphabet Safari Stands for?
We have the House Inaugural Assembly coming up next weekend and our dear Sevaks are planning fun activities for kids around "Ganesha Chaturti festival".To get the children prepared and excited, We discussed about the festival and children shared how they celebrated at home - flowers, prayers, modaks, ladoo, Visarjan etc.. We also shared the Story of "Ganesha is first". Children were very excited about Lord Ganesha's intelligence and how he won the race. Parents are the universe for all children and Lord Ganesha was really Smart to go around his Parents - His Universe to win the race!
Bhajans : We learnt the first verse of our House Bhajan "Hey Murali Sreedhara". Children clapped and some danced and swayed to the bhajan.
Geeta chanting: We will be learning the Bhagavad Geeta Ch 5, "karmasannyāsayogaḥ." this year. Today the primer video for pronunciation was shared and children repeated enthusiastically. The link to the primer is as below , please practice with children.
And then we went to the Prayer Hall for Aarthi and Pledge.
It was a very interactive class with kids, and kids shared interesting views and thoughts with all.
Note:
Please help kids practice
- Geeta Chanting Ch 5 - primer link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkuUCKp3BW0
- Opening Prayers and Sloka chant - Recording Shared in Watsapp
- Bhajan - First Verse Shared in Watsapp
Next class : is on Sep 29, 2024. Please have children wear blue ethnic wear for the house inaugural to support Krishna's cowboy's!
Have a wonderful week ahead!
Pranams
Shreya and Veda
