Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines
Home Fun Work:
• Print out this page for the next drawing in our Animal series
• Print out this page for your child to practice their likhita japa with. Have him/her fill in Lord Hanumaan with राम (rāma) using as many colors as they wish!
• Print out this tracing sheet for learning how to write राम (rāma)
Extra Home Fun Work:
• click here for our Flashcard set on Gods and Goddesses. Have your child try and identify the special qualities of each God/Goddess. Be sure and ask them to find the physical differences between Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda and Pujya Guruji Swami Tejoymayananda!!! (Hint: glasses and beard :-)
Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Hanumaan (click here for text)
• Shree Krishnah (click here for text)
• Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnuh (click here for text)
Geeta Chanting: Chap 11, Shlokas 1-8 (click here for audio and text)
Quiet Time: none (click here for game instructions)
Letter of the Week: V is for Victory
Story: The Tortoise and the Hare
Likhita Japa:
• The children filled in a drawing of Lord Hanumaan with राम, rāma. (Click here to view page)
• Finished up some drawings from the previous week.
Ending Prayers: Were conducted in the auditorium after the mini-program.
Comments: Well, Spring is definitely in the air ... the kids' energy was fantastic today!!
Parents, you should be incredibly proud of your children ... they all did really well with their Geeta Chanting. Some of us were a little sluggish towards the end of the 8th shloka, but we expected this during the beginning of April. Just so you know, for the next few weeks we will now be focusing on our posture, smile and confidence :-) We talked about how we must have a smile on our face at the competition – because, after all, we will be chanting the divine songs of The Lord!! Plus we can't ever forget Pujya Gurudev's instruction: "Keep smiling!" Because as we learned in "O is for Obedience"... not only should we obey our parents, but we have to obey our Guru, too!!
Our letter for the week was "V is for Victory." We asked the kids what they thought this word meant. Almost unanimously the children answered "Winning" (which we hoped they would say.) This gave us a perfect opportunity to talk about the differences between racing, competing, and winning. We reviewed the meaning of "A is for Aspiration," which we clearly understand as "Setting a goal and working hard for it." Then we pointed out that the definition of "Victory" is when you have achieved your goal. Speed is not the issue (although we do want to be as efficient and effective as possible :-) But the important thing to ask is: "Did I achieve my goal?" To further illustrate this concept we told the story of the "Tortoise and the Hare," and then spent a few minutes discussing why the Tortoise really won ... it wasn't just because "slow and steady wins the race," but what was more important was that the tortoise stayed focused and didn't get distracted. The rabbit did. Therefore, he lost.
Before our likhita japa, we played India's National Anthem "Jana Gana Mana." We happened to have a recording of Rabindranath Tagore singing — really cool!
Before we knew it class needed to come to an end. We sure did a lot of work today — and it was fun!! We hope everyone has a great week and takes some time to romp around outside ... it's nice to feel spring in the air again!
Lots of love and hugs to our young friends.
