Hari Om Parents,
Today was the 7th class of Balavihar. Here is the summary of what we covered in the class today:
Sloka time: We all chanted three OMs and then chanted the Opening Prayers - Sahana Vavatu followed by Vakratunda Mahakaya, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Krishnaya Vasudevaya and Ramaya Ramabadraya. Today few children independently chanted the shlokas. It was very heartwarming to listen to them chat independently and confidently. Please continue practicing with them.
Recap : We recapped that we are learning Vedantic Alphabets to develop a Sweet mind and we did the A,B,C in a song pattern as below
Clap clap Snap Snap
A is for Aspiration,
I want to be a ...........
Clap Clap Snap Snap
B is for Brotherhood,
The whole world is one big Family!
Clap Clap Snap Snap
C is cleanliness,
Cleanliness is Godliness!
Clap clap Snap Snap
D is for Daddy,
PitruDevo Bhava!
Children enjoyed the activity very much.
Introduction: We asked Children to share some E words and we got responses including words such as Excellent , Earth, Energy, early, explore etc.. As Earth was mentioned, We discussed that Earth is also considered as our Mother. How? Earth bares plants , which is the basis for all our food, Anything and Everything we use in our life comes from Earth. The Children thought about it and discussed how we can care for Mother Earth. Don't waste food, water, recycle, reuse were some of the ideas that came up. We said that we can show gratitude to Mother Earth every morning, by prostrating when we step out of bed and reciting the below shloka :
समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डले ।
विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्वमे ॥
Samudra-Vasane Devi Parvata-Stana-Mannddale |
Vissnnu-Patni Namas-Tubhyam Paada-Sparsham Kssamasva-Me |
विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्वमे ॥
Samudra-Vasane Devi Parvata-Stana-Mannddale |
Vissnnu-Patni Namas-Tubhyam Paada-Sparsham Kssamasva-Me |
We introduced Letter E is for Enthusiasm -is to experience joy and excitement while striving for a goal. Discussed by various examples of situations when they feel excited and joyful. Kids happily shared and participated by providing answers.
Story Time: through story of the Little Squirrel, we learnt that it does not matter how small we are, when we do things with enthusiasm, we can accomplish anything no matter what physical impediments we may have.
we continued the chanting,
Clap Clap Snap Snap
E is for Enthusiasm,
Go Go Go and Fly
Soar Soar in the sky
Work Work Hard and try,
You'll make it, just don't cry!
Exploration: We played weed out activity where children were divided into two groups, and they had to sort out various color paper shreds. While this was tedious task for some, we learnt that if we are enthusiastic, it lets us do any activity happily.
Next, we played Dog and Bone and children played the game enthusiastically.
Geeta Chanting: Then we recited Gītā using the Chanting video telecast of verses 4 & 5. Sharing link below for practice at home.
Activity sheet : The children colored E for cleanliness coloring sheets.
Next class is on 24th Nov, 2024. Looking forward to having another wonderful class with our children.
Pranams,
Shreya and Veda
