Hari Om Parents,
We started our class by writing Likhitha jaapa (writing the name of any ishta devata god's name). This would help children to settle down in class before we begin the class then followed by daily prayers (Page 11 of My Prayers book).
We would like every kid to lead the prayers every class. Hence request parents to help children to learn the Daily Prayers.
We discussed the festival of Ganesha( Ganesha Chaturthi) and how it was celebrated at everyone's home. It was our house's inaugural day. Being Arjuna's Arrows we practiced our Slogan(Maha Veer Arjun ki Jai),Bhajan(Bolo Bolo Sab mil Bolo Om namah Shivaya) and went over the house values(Action and Perfection). We discussed the house activities and divided teams into making Ganesha, Making Torans and Making Backdrop.
It was time for our house to be inaugural and we all headed to the prayer hall.
We all enjoyed making Ganesha, Torans and Backdrop. After making Ganesha, Backdrop, Torans and modaks. We had a great team building activity and ganesh puja and visarjan.
One thing which was explained by uma ji who helped with Ganesha making was, after visarjan is done, we need to take a piece of clay and keep it with us. The reason behind was beautifully given as Formless Bhagavan(Clay) takes a form (Ganesha) for us and goes back to formless(here it is the Clay). This was one take away from our activity which we wanted to share with you all.
Please note that we don't have balavihar next two weeks due to the Navratri festival.
The curriculum for this year is
1. Mahabharata by Sri Raja Gopala Chari (please check in the ashram bookstore or it can be purchased in Amazon as well).
2. India the sacred land (no textbook).
3. Ganesha Panchratnam (Page 30 in My Prayers).
4. Nirvana Shatakam.
5. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 (1-29 shlokas) is available in the 2024-25 year handbook. The handbook was given to all kids. If not please collect from the book store.
Please make sure to send the below
1. An empty notebook to write Likhitha jaapa and notes.
2. Two sharpened pencils.
3. Daily Prayers book.
4. Curriculum for 5th graders
1. Mahabharata by Raja Gopala Chari.
2. India the sacred land (handouts will be provided by teachers).
3. Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 4 Shlokas 1-29.
4. Shlokas- Ganesha Panchratnam and Nirvana Shatakam.
4.1 Ganesha Panchratnam.
4.1.1 Link to rendition with lyrics in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4lZCKxeJFE or
4.1.2 Link: https://youtu.be/Oyo0FWP9fB8?si=ZaYVDepNkX0YWShI (play at lower speeds for kids to follow lyrics and hear clearly).
4.2. NirvanaShatakam.
Link to chant https://youtu.be/rKx7K13OvQ4?si=lM6g_ZtX0kdF5Sfo - Uninterrupted Line Guided Chant - YouTube
Please join the class WhatsApp group by using the link below
https://chat.whatsapp.com/E0cfUe3NUDYCBwYVKD7tyg
The WhatsApp group will be our primary medium of communication. Please feel free to reach us on our phones/ via WhatsApp or you can reply to this email as well
Regards,
Shivram & Anuradha
