Sevikas: Mamtha Rau and Jacqueline Gaines
Homework Fun: Click here to print out this page. Have your child make their own colorful likhita japa rangoli using different colored markers. Also, be sure and encourage them to write in both Sanskrit and English — each language creates a very unique texture :-)
Click here for the "Lord Ganesha" Likhita coloring page
Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Krishnah (click here for text)
Quiet Time: One minute of silence with some awesome shell counting — great going, kids!!! (click here for game instructions)
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1 and 2
Letter of the Week: "D is for Daddy"
Activity: Kids made an "I Love You, Dad" card (click here for photo album)
Story: How Father's Day became a national holiday.
Likhita Japa: 10 minutes of drawing OM and ऊँ inside a Lord Ganesha Mandala. (click here to view coloring page.)
End of Class Prayers:
• OM PoornamidaH (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)
Comments: First, we want to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year — we hope you all had a wonderful Diwali!
It sure was nice being back in class again this morning. After having so many consecutive classes in September and October, a real void was felt last week while we had our mini-break. We spent our first few minutes of class doing some sharing — what we were for Halloween, how many sweets we collected from neighbors and friends and all of our fun Diwali celebrations. Then we finally settled into our morning prayers and quiet time activity. The kids didn't miss a beat — everyone chanted beautifully, and loudly :-)
Today's lesson was "D is for Daddy." We spent some time going over all of our dad's good qualities, and what great things he does for his family. Then we listed all of the great qualities of God and what things he does for us. After we made our lists we then looked for a connection — and it was clear as sunshine ... Dad is like God to us!! We talked about how Father's Day came to be an important holiday in recent American history ... and how we really should be celebrating Father's Day every day. Though it's really cool to have one day a year dedicated to our dads ... it doesn't fully speak to how great they are! After all, we don't just have one day a year that we celebrate God, thanking him for all he does for us :-)
When we finished our discussion, we settled down to make Father's Day cards. Definitely take a few minutes and view our slideshow above. The kids did a fabulous job and really got into expressing their love for their dads.
Next week we will be learning about the letter "E." Good luck in guessing what the letter E stand for, kids. Here's a hint: it's not elephant or ear. Gotta warn everyone: make sure you are all to class on time — our lesson's activity will be making a fun toy — finishing up with a class race.
Ahhh, this should keep your mind working ... :-)
Rishika, we really miss you and can't wait for you to return from India. Please give your mom a hug for us and let her know we are sending her lots of love.
Also, before we end this post, we want to extend a very warm welcome and "Hari OM" to our new friend, Simi. She joined us for the first time today. We hope you have lots of fun with your new friends, Simi!
Can't wait for our next class party with God — see you all in 7 days!
Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda
