Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines
Home Fun Work:
• Print out this Page for the next drawing in our Sanskrit Animal Series
• Print out this Page for your child to practice likhita japa with. Have him/her create their own mandala design ... making sure to fill it in with likhita japa!
• Print out this sheet for learning how to write राम (raama)
Extra Home Fun Work:
• Click here for a coloring sheet. Ask your child who this is a picture of and why he is so important to us. Here's a tricky question: What was his name when he was a child?
Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha naavaavatu (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 (click here for text)
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1-8 (click here for audio and text)
Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence, followed by shell counting game (click here for game instructions)
Letter of the Week: "W is for Work"
Story: The Grasshopper and the Ant
Likhita Japa: Worked in our journals finishing up mandalas from previous weeks.
Ending Prayers:
• OM Poornamadah (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)
Comments: Well, Parents -- congratulate yourselves ... we started class on time today!!! Everyone was ready to get going as soon as they entered the room :-)
We certainly hope that you, by now, have registered your children for the Geeta Chanting Competition. If not, definitely take a few minutes and do it as soon as you're done reading this entry. The children are doing fabulously well with their chanting. During our first round, we started to lose a little enthusiasm towards the 6th shloka. But once we pointed this out to the children, they sat straight up, got back on track, and continued to chanted very loudly. The aunties were thrilled to hear such clear pronunciation and enthusiasm!
We are nearing the end of our alphabet (which also means that the Balavihar School Year is also coming to an end soon,) Just a couple more letters to go :-) Please keep your eyes out for information on the Mela Event which will be held at the ashram on June 12th. And just so you know, there will be a tent exhibit hosting the Children's Balavihar artwork from throughout the year. And as you, no doubt, can guess, we are definitely going to be submitting our young artists' Creative Likhita Japa!
In the meantime, enjoy this super fab weather -- we heard that it's going to crawl up towards 80 degrees Monday ... unbelievable!! Time to clean up the back yards and get ready for some planting ...
Keep up the great Geeta Chanting.
Hugs to all of our young friends.
Can't wait to get back together next Sunday ...
Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda
April 10, 2011
April 3, 2011
April 3 Class: Section 1
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.
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.
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