Home Fun Work: Click here to download this week's "Connect the Dots" assignment. This is a fun activity page to help your child learn Sanskrit numbers (1-20.)
Click here for the next drawing page in our "Animals" series.
• Om Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Hanumaan (click here for text)
• Shree Krishnah (click here for text)
Quiet Time: None (click here for game instructions)
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (click here for audio and text)
Letter of the Week: O is for Obedience
Story: "Quick and Quack" This is a story about 2 ducklings who did not listen to their mother's instructions about not swimming in the middle of the river. The ducklings thought they were old enough and strong enough ... so when Mother Duck went to gather some food, the two ducklings decided to have a race in the river. Things were going good ... that is, until they got caught up in a strong current and were carried downstream. Fortunately, a cow was grazing nearby and heard their cries!
Likhita Japa: The children spent 15 - 20 minutes performing creative likhita japa in their journals. Afterwards we gathered in a circle to share about our feelings while we were writing. Some of the feelings the children described were "peaceful," "calm," "proud," "happy," "love," "quiet," and "God." Great work, Kids!!!
Ending Prayers:
• Om Poornamidah (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)
Comments: Well, parents ... your children are definitely ready for 1st grade. We are so pleased with everyone's classroom participation, how well they are doing — and how much they have matured over these past few months. What a great blessing for the aunties to be able to witness their growth!
The children did not miss a beat today. We practically started on time and immediately immersed ourselves in our prayers and Geeta Chanting. Nearly everyone has the shloka for Shree Krishna memorized — and "Shree Hanumaan", (which at first seemed way too difficult for us) is now being pronounced with ease and confidence!
As always, we recapped all the letters we have learned so far (A-N) ... with the children helping the aunties understand the meaning of each word. Then we moved on to "O is for Obedience." We talked about rules and why we need them ... who we should obey (our parents, our Guru, our teachers, etc.) and why we should obey them, even if we don't really agree :-) For example: babies love to explore and sometimes they try to play with things that are not safe – like electrical sockets. When mother picks the baby up and takes him away, does the baby always agree? No — usually they cry, and fuss! But mother knows best and she will do what is necessary to keep the baby safe ... even if he throws a temper tantrum :-)
To illuminate our word's definition, we then told the children a tale about two ducklings who got into serious trouble by not listening to their mother's advice: "Don't swim to the middle of the river, you're not strong enough." Fortunately, for the ducklings, a cow grazing nearby, came to their rescue as they were being swept downstream by a strong current! By the end of the story, the ducklings realized their wrongdoing and swore to always listen to their mother ... even if they don't agree with their mother's rules. Our moral for today: Parents (and Guru) knows best!!
As you can see from our outline above, the children spent quite a bit of time performing likhita japa in their journals today. These kids are doing amazing stuff! Not only are they able to sit quietly — focused on their writing ... but they are eager to "get down to business" and do more! Please take a few minutes to view our art gallery link above to see their work. We hope to have a gallery showing at the end of the year for all the parents. The kids gave quite a hearty laugh when we told them that the parents will have to "look with their eyes, not their hands!" — just like in a real museum :-)
We wish you all a wonderful mini-break. This weather is invigorating —and we hope that you take full advantage of it! This auntie is pulling her bike out from the garage this afternoon ...
Lots of love to our young friends — we'll miss them next Sunday.
