Welcome Note and Introduction:
Hari om everyone,
A warm welcome to all of you for the upcoming Bala Vihar year. We are very excited to start the new academic year with our new, as well as returning students!
I am Rashmi Kashi and will be teaching the JCHYK class this year. This class comprises students from the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, grouped together. Hence, our curriculum is also a 3-year plan. They will be learning the topics from the Bhagavadgeeta over the 3-year course cycle. We divide the Bhagavadgeeta into 3 shaTkam-s (6-chapter blocks) to accomplish that.
Hence, the curriculum for this year is Bhagavadgeeta Chapters 1 through 6. To support these topics, we will refer to topics from Guruji Tejomayananda ji's 'Vision of Gita' and Gurudev Chinmayananda ji's 'Self Unfoldment'! (We will discuss the remaining Geeta chapters in the subsequent academic cycles).
By the time they graduate, ALL our students will not only be familiar with all the chapters in The Geeta but will also be able to relate to, and look into the practical applicability of the teachings!! We will discuss in depth, how to see the day-to-day aspects of our life through Arjuna's eyes. This course will teach the students 'how to think' rather than tell them 'what to think'! In times of conflict, right thinking will enable them to make the right decisions!!
The benefit of going through this curriculum can especially be seen when our children graduate and go off to college. We have seen our students displaying exemplary resilience and can adjust to challenging situations, with utmost ease. As young adults, they have found it easier to stay on track without much struggle.
Please note the 3 important links below -
- We will be sending weekly updates via email. They will all be archived at CMNJ Parent Portal. Please bookmark this link to see all updates in one place.
- All Parents, join 'Parents ONLY' WhatsApp group for quick updates and to keep up with events and announcements. (Link sent via email)
- All Students, please join the 'Students ONLY' WhatsApp group for updates and fun interactions (Sorry, parents are not allowed on this group
). (Link sent via email)
With that introduction, we heartily welcome our students to our 2024-25 Bala Vihar academic year.
Let's get learning, because...
Sept 15, 2024 - JCHYK Gr. 10-12 (Sunday AM) class:
Hari om everyone,
We had a fun and short first class today. We started with a brief meditation and prayers.
With a quick survey, we learned that we have both new and returning students in good numbers.
We started with the QQ (Quirky Question) of the day. Every week, before attendance, the class will be asked a question. As the name suggests, it will be a tricky one. Each one of them has to think about the answer, without discussing it with their friends. After attendance, they can answer the question.
Today's QQ (Quirky Question) was - We all know Tom Sawyer. He was a smart but lazy fellow. He was asked to paint 28.5 mt of a fence around his house. So he bribed 4 of his friends with 2 apples each and made them do his job! It took them 49.5 hours to finish the job as it was a hot summer day. Now, if 4 of our Bala Vihar students were to paint the same fence, how many hours would it take?
One of them had worked out the math. He raised his hand and said 39.5 hours, aunty! After juggling their math brains a little (and not doing the work 
) the rest of the class unanimously concurred with his answer :). So, that made not only one student but ALL of them wrong .
) the rest of the class unanimously concurred with his answer :). So, that made not only one student but ALL of them wrong . We had to revisit the question. The crux of the question was, 'How many hours would it take to paint the same fence?' 'Same', being the operative word. The fence was painted by Tom's friends already. Why would we have to repaint it (or do the math) again?! So, the answer was 'Zero minutes!'
The question sure tripped them up. But more importantly, we wanted to establish something. Many times, we listen for the sake of responding, but not for understanding! Through this, we learned an important value - we need to listen with full attention to understand anything fully. This picture depicts this point very well -
When we pay attention, we absorb the teachings better as well. Our students promised to be attentive in class especially :).
We then created 4 teams and asked them to jot down at least 5 'Hopes and expectations' they had from this class. They came up with really nice and achievable goals except 'we want a class pet'. That ain't happening
.
.By then, we got our handbooks for the Geeta chanting script. We started learning to chant Chapter 5, the assigned chapter for the year. We learnt 2 shlokas. We will continue to learn and chant throughout the year.
It was a short class. We did a few trivia questions about the Geeta before parents came to visit our class. They were given a brief intro about the class structure and our WhatsApp groups.
Our class led the aarati and pledge in the auditorium.
Until next time, let's contemplate the picture above and stay alert. See you next week.
Regards,
Rashmi.
Rashmi.
Regards,
Rashmi.
