Sevikas: Nayna Gohel, Nanda Subbarao, Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines
Homework Fun: Print this page for your child and discuss who this picture is of and why he is important to us. (click here for coloring page)
Likhita Japa for Home: Please print this page and have your child fill it in with colorful ऊँs. (click here for activity page.) Feel free to encourage your child to be creative and draw their own picture inside the mandala. They can also write in both English and Sanskrit.
Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishaH (click here for text)
Quiet Time: 1 whole minute of complete silence — with no movement!!! We still need to work on our quiet, focused counting ... but given the number of kids we had today, everyone definitely gets a "4 thumbs up!" (Ask your child to show you how to get a "4 thumbs up" :-) (click here for game instructions)
Geeta Chanting: None
Letter of the Day: "E is for Enthusiasm"
Story: How the squirrel got his stripes
Craft Activity: Made a spinning top (click here for project's instructions)
Likhita Japa: none
Ending Prayers: Aarthi and Pledge was performed in the auditorium
Comments: Bright and early this morning we learned that Asha Aunty needed to stay home with a bad cold. We were definitely sad to hear that she was not feeling well. BUT then we realized that we had an opportunity to turn something not so good into something great ... we combined both of our kindergarten classes! It was great to be together and we certainly had lots of fun at our Party with God!!
And if that wasn't enough ... Nanda Aunty joined us for the day, and we couldn't have been happier to have our "E is for Excellent" Storyteller back :-)
After our morning prayers, we began the class with an alphabet review. We quickly discussed the meanings of "A is for Aspiration," "B is for Brotherhood," "C is for Cleanliness," and "D is for Daddy." Then we jumped into some possibilities for the letter "E." We had some good suggestions from our young friends, such as "E is for Energy," "E is for Excitement" "E is for Explore" and "E is for Excellence." And then, someone shouted "E is for Enthusiasm" — how cool is that??!! She was right, today we were going to learn about enthusiasm. (Although, in the process we were going to also learn about our other examples that were suggested, too.) But what exactly does "enthusiasm" mean? And better yet, how could we describe it?
Nanda Aunty came to our rescue. She knew a story that would help us understand ... it was a story about some squirrels who desperately wanted to help the monkeys and bears build a bridge to Lanka, so that Lord Raama could cross it to rescue Mother Sita. Most of our kids were familiar with this story about the bridge, but hearing it with a emphasis on the enthusiasm of a little creature's determination definitely gave us some new insight. :-)
We then settled down to make a paper spinning top to always remind us what enthusiasm kinda looks like. For example, if we "kinda" give the top a spin, it dies down very quickly and rolls over. However, if we are focused and happily give it a good, steady whirl, we get to watch the top spin for a really long time — and it can't help but give us tremendous joy and a sense of satisfaction!!!
Ahhhh, steadiness, focus, and joy ....
Because of our large class size, we had to improvise our curriculum a bit. Unfortunately, we did not get to do our likhita japa (which got some "aawwws" from some of our friends.) And because of time constraints, we were not able to do our Geeta Chanting either. Fret not, however, next week the aunties are back on schedule.
The weather today is unbelievable! We hope that each and every one of you are right now outside romping around in the sunshine! This aunty's bike is certainly calling her from the garage ....
Hope you all have a great week — and lots of hugs to our young friends.
Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda
