Feb 9, 2025 - Kindergarten (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents,

This Sunday was the 15th class of Balavihar!!  Here is the summary of what we covered in the class today:

Opening Prayers:  We together chanted three OMs and then chanted the Opening Prayers - Sahana Vavatu. We followed this with Ganeshji , Saraswati ma , Krishnji and Ramji Slokas we have learnt so far. Many children chanted the prayers by themselves and made us immensely happy!  Huge Thank you to parents for continuing the learning at home!!! 

Today we were joined by our friends from Grade 1 and Children were very excited about it. 

Recap : We did a recap of the letters L and N that we learnt in the prior class. We shared some pictures of Noble people and children were able to remember and recollect . 

Introduction of the Next Letter: Introduced the next letter 'O' .

We started with a game similar to Simon says, being Krishna Says. Later children were asked what they were doing in the game. They all agreed that they were following directions/Listening without any protest, and the O word for that is "Obedience". 

Brainstorming: We discussed situations to help children understand who they need to obey.  

Would they obey a stranger offering candy? 

Would they obey a friend who wants to be naughty?

Emphatic NO!

Children responded they would obey Parents, teachers, grandparents, Uncles/Aunts etc.. because we trust a 100% that they know and wish only what is good and best for us. We also discussed that by obeying, we are learning the value of "Self-Discipline"

Story time : Through the story of "The Obedient Child" , we learnt that Being Obedient helps save oneself from trouble. 

We discussed on what happens when we don't obey , say, no one follows traffic rules or you don't obey teacher at school, or you don't obey the storm warnings while beach visits? Children agreed that they get into trouble and misery follows. 

Children were able to share beautiful examples of people who were obedient and listened to elders despite being intelligent and strong themselves like Rama , Hanuman and even Shravan Kumar. They also could relate to examples of Sita, Ravana from Ramayana who did not obey and got into trouble , or say fictional characters like Nemo and Simba who got into misery not listening to their Dad's. 

Exploration: We explained about the 3 Guru's and explained that parents are also our Guru's as they teach us the right thing to do, and we need to obey them at all times. And we all together chanted:

 ' GururBrahma GururVishnu GururDevo Maheshwaraha

  Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha '

Attendance :  Children name were called out and they responded with "Hari OM"

Introduction : We covered the next letter P. 

Brainstorming: We discussed what is prayer? Showing our love, appreciation and thankfulness for what God has given for us to live this life. and why do we pray? Prayer brings us closer to God and keeps our mind and action pure. 

What happens when we pray.? We discussed what happens when a lamp is lit and when they go near the lamp.  Children responded that when they get too close to a lighted candle we feel the heat which is quality of candle. Similarly when we pray to God, we get closer to him , feel his presence and we are able to emulate His qualities.

And what are the ways to pray? Bhajans, Japa, going to Temple, doing yagna, chanting slokas, meditation, reading scriptures, helping others, helping the needy, donating food, clothes, books, doing pooja etc., 

Sloka : We learnt and explained the meaning for below sloka. 

tvam-eva mata ca pita tvam-eva

tvam-eva bandhushca sakha tvam-eva,

tvam-eva vidya dravinam tvam-eva

tvam-eva sarvam mama devadeva

Storytime 1:   Through the story of the Gajendra Moksha explained how Bhakti towards God saved the Elephant King Gajendra and how he attained moksha. Talked about how Gajendra remembered God during his life's struggle with an alligator. We learnt that "Total Surrender to God will Help to live better life and attain Moksha"

Storytime 2:  Through the story of a King who does not believe in God and his son we learnt How his young son taught the king about the Creator of the entire world by looking at nature. Then we talked about the Sun, moon, mountains, river, valley and all aspects of creation. 

Game: We asked each kid to say what they are Thankful to God for. And each of them happily shared and we heard some wonderful responses.

We had a wonderful time with the children and are looking forward to next session.

Next class : No Class on 16th Feb, Next class will be on 23rd Feb.

Pranams, 

Shreya and Veda