Homework Fun for the kids (and family)
Make a Diwali card (click here for instructions and sample)
Make an origami lotus diya (click here for instructions and sample)
Make a likhita japa drawing of a diya (click here for instructions and template)
Click here to view our Walkathon's Team Page.
Today was a very special class. We gathered at Mercer County Park for our annual CORD Walkathon. The weather was absolutely fantastic — and the enthusiasm was high!
We really want to congratulate everyone for their tremendous work in spreading the word about CORD, and getting donations for sponsorship. As each person did their part in helping this day become a success, we really put into practice one of our greatest Kindergarten lessons: "B is for Brotherhood."
Here's some more great news: Our class fundraising goal was $1,200 and as of Saturday at midnight we had exceeded our goal — our class raised $1,341.00!
And that's not all, folks ... Priyanka Ranganath received a prize (an Apple Nano) for being one of the students who raised the most throughout all the classes! Boy, she really took our commitment to helping CORD to heart and sent emails to all of her friends and family all over the world. She really showed us that if we simply embrace all the significant work that CORD is doing in India, people will automatically and willingly respond with big hearts! Thank you for teaching us this important lesson, Priyanka :-)
Before our walk on the path today, we spent a few minutes talking about how we are putting into practice the first three letters that we have studied so far. "A is for Aspiration," "B is for Brotherhood," and "C is for Cleanliness." We reviewed that aspiration is "dedication to fulfilling a goal," and we did that by diligently working for sponsors. We aspired — and we succeeded. Next we talked about Brotherhood — which we defined as sharing, caring and loving ... not just with our immediate family members, but with others throughout the world — even those we do not personally know. Well, our efforts today were all about helping women in rural India, so we agreed that this was a great way to practice Brotherhood! Hmmm, now how exactly are we practicing "C is for Cleanliness?" A child raised her hand and shared that we are cleansing our minds and hearts by sharing and helping. How cool is that??!! ... pretty sophisticated stuff for 5/6 year olds. :-) After our moment of stunned admiration, we then went on to discuss how the money we were raising would help bring clean water to the villages, and how everyone would be able to have healthier lives with clean water.
Guess the lesson the aunties have learned from the day is that most of our entire curriculum can be exemplified by this single focused event. And to think that we can have lots of fun in the process of practicing our lessons!!
No doubt everyone is tired from the day. The weather was unbelievable. Gurudev clearly made this day possible ... don't know about you, but this aunty is incredibly grateful to have been part of it.
Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful Diwali. We send you all of our love for a very healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year!
See you all in a couple of weeks —
Hugs to our young friends.
