May 23 Class: Sections 1 and 2

Sevikas: Nanda, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline. Many thanks to our helper moms and dads today!!!

Home Work Fun: Click here to print out this coloring page. Discuss with your child who this picture is of. What was his name when he was a child? Where was he born?

Rehearsal Photographs: Click here to view

Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Saraswati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Quiet Time: 1 minute 30 seconds of complete silence and excellent counting with our focus game. We were determined to trick our young friends — but couldn't do it. The aunties will try again next week for sure! Wish us luck ... :-)

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati (click here for text and audio)

Likhita Japa: None

Letter of the Week: None

Story: "Punyakoti" and "How the Squirrels Got Their Stripes"

Games and Activities: KrishnaH Vadati (click here for complete text)

Comments: Many thanks to all of the parents for bringing your children early for play rehearsals. We really appreciate your understanding about our last minute auditorium assignment. This will be the last time that we get to work with the stage before our End of the Year Program (June 13.)

The kids did great this morning with the rehearsal!! And boy, are things really coming together nicely. It seems like all the chaos and confusion has finally passed, and we are in the "smooth sailing" mode. We will be having another mandatory practice at the ashram on June 5. We request that you bring your child for this get together. The more we are able to practice, the smoother the performance will be on the big day :-) We should have the ocean backdrop completed and ready to use for this rehearsal. (Sarvesh, get ready to do your part!) We know that sometimes the kids have been a bit bored waiting for the rehearsals to take shape ... trust us we completely understand. But, please reassure them that those days are long gone ... rehearsals will be much shorter and efficient from now on. We really applaud these kids and their perseverance — they have been super troopers — starting from Day 1!

Many thanks to the moms who stayed in class today and helped sew the waves onto the ocean. You did a fantastic job — and these finishing touches are going to make the backdrop look so much better. At this point, it seems like we are just going to be doing some touch-ups on all of our props. So, if any of you want to exhaust some creativity — please continue to join us at the ashram on Saturday from 4-6. We'll be needing to do some color touch ups and ironing the wrinkles out of the coconut leaves.

Also, please don't forget that your child should be dressed in black or navy blue on June 13. The clothes do not have to be formal, just dark in color. Make sure to pack along their "nice clothes" to change into after the performance.

We've been told that we're having an ice cream party on June 6th — so don't forget to pack your appetite. Congratulations to all the Kindergarten and Pre-K children for having the most registrants in the Geeta Chanting Competition. You are all winners in our book — you guys did a super job!!

Guess we're now getting a mini break — Memorial Day Weekend is coming up. We hope everyone has a very peaceful, safe and relaxing weekend. For those of you who are attending the Memorial Day Camp — we hope you have a wonderful time and can't wait to hear about all the fun.

And, of course, the best news about Memorial Day Weekend is: "The pools are finally going to open!!!!"

See you all on the 5th of June at the ashram play rehearsal.

May 16 Class: Sections 1 and 2

Sevikas: Nanda, Kalpana, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Homework Fun: Click here to print an Abstract Coloring Page. Have your child say the color names and numbers aloud (in Sanskrit) as they color the page.

Rehearsal Photographs: Click here to view our class pics

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)
• Shree Hanuman (click here for text)

Quiet Time: One absolute minute of silence with some fantastic focus counting. Way to go, Kids!!! This aunty was sure that you were going to be tricked today ... but it just didn't happen.  Boy, have you guys grown over the year ...

Likhita Japa: None

Letter of the Week: None

Story: None

Activity and Games: None

Comments:  After we did our morning prayers and quiet time, we immediately jumped into our play rehearsal. We were reminded today that we have only two more classes before our end of the year performance — so we still have some work to do.

The kids did great today. (We took some photos of the class chaos today. Make sure you check them out.) We must have run through the play two or three times, and it was hot in the cafeteria, to boot. Now that we are pretty clear on the sequence of the different actions, we will try and run through the entire play from beginning to end in our next class. For the parents who have volunteered to help on the stage: Please join us next class — we need you!!!

Also, we would like to remind you that your child will need to be dressed completely in black (or navy blue) for the performance on June 13. It would be really great if we could do a full dress rehearsal on June 6. So, please have your child's outfit ready to wear by then. Yoga or sweat pants are fine. We prefer for your child to have a long sleeved shirt, if possible. The dark colors are going to be absolutely essential for the puppet show to look its best :-)

Kids, because we are in the cafeteria for our rehearsals, the aunties are going to bring a nice sweet treat for all your hard work. So, let's make sure that we get right down to business again when we meet!

Can't wait to see you all next week — parents, too!

Time for that nice long bike ride ... this weather is absolutely divine ....

May 9 Class: Sections 1 and 2

Sevikas: Nanda, Kalpana, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Home Work Fun:  Print out and color this picture. Discuss with your child who this picture is of — and how we celebrate Gurudev's birthday, which is May 8. There is a great article on Him in this month's issue of "Balavihar" magazine. Take some time and read it to your child!

Rehearsal Photographs: Click here to view pictures taken by our young photographer, Anoushka.

Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute 10 seconds of complete silence with very good shell counting — nice work, Kids! The Aunties really tried to trick you this time, but couldn't do it. Guess we'll have to work a little harder next week :-)

Gita Chanting: Congratulations to all of our young friends who entered the Gita Competition. We are very proud of all of your hard work and dedication in learning the first seven shlokas! You guys did great!!

Likhita Japa: none

Letter of the Week: none

Story: none

Activity and Games: none

Comments: Well, first we have to congratulate our young friends on all of their hard work with the Geeta Competition. Even though only one child was selected first place for every group — we have got to say that every single one of you kids went home a winner last weekend! You worked towards the goal of memorizing the first seven shlokas and came to the ashram to participate in the competition. You definitely gave a living example of "V is for Victory." And guess what? We've got a bonus surprise for you — our class, along with the pre-k class won the ice cream party for having the most children enter the competition. So, Double Thumbs Up! We'll be sure and let you know when the ice cream is coming to Balavihar ...

Today we focused our class time on the play rehearsal for the End of the Year Program.  It seems as though we will be doing this from now until the end of the year ... which is only another 3 classes away. We are still working on cues and movement on and off the stage — but those things aside, it feels like the play is definitely moving forward. Once we receive more details regarding rehearsals from Nanda Aunty, we will be sure to post them immediately. Please continue to regularly check back with the blog to see if new announcements have been made. You will find them in the "Announcement" section at the top of this page.

Also, parents please note: next week will be a shortened class because Swamiji will be holding pravacan for the adults in the auditorium, followed by our monthly Balavihar program — which is being performed by the fourth grade class. Please pick your child up in one of the front rows after we have completed our prayers and aarti.

It sure is hard to believe that the year is nearly over. We are certainly going to miss spending Sunday morning with our young friends. We can see how much they have matured over the year — and we couldn't feel more blessed to watch them grow! No question about it, they are really ready for first grade...

Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms!! We hope that you have a very relaxing and peaceful afternoon with your families. And, kids — we hope that you will be an extra help to mom today. Helpfulness is one of the best gifts a person can give ...

Look forward to seeing you all next week for another round of rehearsals and fun.

p.s. Sanjit, we hope you are feeling better ...