Chinmaya Kindergarten Balavihar

June 5 Class: Section 1

2011-06-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

Wall Hanging made by Swetha Karthikeyan

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines
Very big thanks to our helper moms today -- we don't know what we would have done without you!

The aunties want to thank all the children for a wonderful Alphabet Safari year! We learned so much from all of you ... and we had oodles of fun in the process!

We're kind of sad ... and glad ... that today is our last class together. Sad because we are going to miss seeing all of your cheerful faces every Sunday. But glad because we were blessed with the opportunity of watching you grow over the year. Everyone of you is an incredibly special and talented person ... and there is no question that the world is a better place because of you!

We hope you all have a very safe and fun summer. And don't forget to wear your helmets when you ride your bicycles and scooters :-) ... and most importantly, don't forget to do your OM Work Homework!!! The stuff you did in class was outstanding!!!

We love you all -- big hugs!

May 22 Class: Section 1

2011-05-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Morning Prayers:
• OM Sahanaavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Hanumaan (click here for text)
• Shree Krishna (click here for text)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1-8 (click here for text and audio)

Letter of the Week: "Z is for Zeal"

Likhita Japa: Children learned how to design mandalas. Then they filled them in with their likhita japa.

Ending Prayers:
• OM Poornamidah (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: First we want to welcome our new friend, Divya, who joined us for the first time this morning! We are sorry that we will be having only one more class together before summer break, but we really look forward to spending a fun year with you after vacation. And we hope that you are going to enjoy spending Sunday mornings with all of your new friends!

We were delighted to see so many students to class on time -- especially because many of us were out late last night due to our Bhiksha with Swamiji. (We all admitted that it was a little hard to get up this morning ... but we did it!!) The aunties had a lot of fun with everyone last night, and it was such a pleasure to meet and spend time with the students and families from the other Kindergarten class.

Today we reached our last letter of the Alphabet Safari ... "Z is for Zeal." This one was not too difficult for us to comprehend. In fact, we all agreed that you can't help but know it's meaning, if you just listen to how you feel when you say the word -- ZEAL! You can just feel the vibrations and know that it's got some long-lasting power :-) ... pretty much like "Enthusiasm."

After we reviewed our letters A-Z, we settled down to share some techniques that the children can use over the summer in their likhita japa journals. We expect them to keep up their great work!! We showed them that anytime they want to make a mandala or drawing, they simply have to look around the house for a cool shape. It could be a bowl, a cup, a bottle cap, a box ... pretty much anything. And then they trace it onto their paper -- and fill it in with more shapes and likhita japa. They really did such a great job this morning, and we are pretty confident that there are going to be some amazing drawings coming out of these youngsters over the summer. We hope they will show us their journals when Balavihar resumes in the fall :-)

You gotta know ... the aunties are sad that our Balavihar Year is coming to an end. We are definitely going to miss these wonderful children. It has been such a blessing to watch them grow over the past 9 or 10 months. So much so that we can already feel their long-lasting presence in our hearts. Just know, parents: they have been instructed to come back to the Kindergarten Class and give us a hug every now and then :-) So don't scold them when they say "Wait a sec" and then run down the hall to our room.

In preparation for our summer break, we thought it would be fun to have a class party on June 5th. We are trying to get "management" approval to take the kids outside for the morning ... where we will play games, run around, blow bubbles, and eat yummy snacks. Once the aunties hear from our "boss," then we will send out an email, letting you know whether you should send along a visor and sunblock.

Bet many of you are going to take it easy each this afternoon ... maybe even go to bed early tonight. The aunties definitely are!

Sending oodles of hugs to our young friends!

(We want to thank all the parents who helped with our class activities last evening. And many, many special thanks to Madhi and Priyanka's parents for pitching in and "going that extra mile." You all made the evening Super Extra Enjoyable!

May 15 Class: Section 1

2011-05-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Morning Prayers:
• 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)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1-8 (click here for text and audio)

Story: Talked about Swamiji and why our Guru is important to us.

Art Project: Worked on our gift for Swamiji, and made Clay Ganeshas for the Ananda Mela Children's Art Exhibit. (See the slide show above.)

Ending Prayers:
• OM Poornamidah (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: First we want to extend a very big "Hari OM" to our new friend, Raghav! He joined us for the first time today -- and even though we have just a few more classes left, we hope that he will be having lots of fun with us ... and we look forward to being in first grade with him next year!! It's always fun to see our family grow ...

We all agreed that our class today was a little topsy turvy. We did things a little out of sequence. Normally we spend the first part of the class focused on the alphabet safari, but because we have been gifted the great opportunity to have bhiksha with Swamiji next weekend, we decided to spend some time talking about our Swamiji -- and all the great things he does for us! For many of these children, the word "Swamiji" conjures up some mystical person ... who doesn't really have a clear face to us. So, we thought this would be a perfect time to share with the children some little "dibs" on our Guru. We even "let the cat out of the bag" -- that he always has little treats for children :-) ... and he tells really funny stories and jokes!

On May 21st, both classes will be joining Swamiji at the ashram for an evening bhiksha. It'll be lots of fun, because even though we "know" about the other class, we don't really KNOW each other. So this gathering will be a nice way to meet our other brothers and sisters, and learn about what they've been doing throughout the year!

Expect at least one more email to reach your in-box this week. Mamtha Aunty will be coordinating the bhiksha menu with all the parents, as well as helping answer any questions you may have about the evening. There is nothing to rehearse at home with your child, so please don't fret! Our kids have been discussing the alphabet safari all year round, and this is exactly what we will be sharing with Swamiji ... our presentation shouldn't be more than 10 minutes, at the most. We want the children to be completely relaxed and excited to meet Swamiji, not nervous! After our Alphabet discussion, the children will present a gift that they all helped create. This gift is to show Swamiji their appreciation and love for his teaching and guidance. Each child in our class will be represented in this gift, whether they are able to attend bhiksha or not. Once everything is assembled, we will photograph "it" and post in on the blog next week. That way everyone can enjoy it.

We want to thank all the kids for making such wonderful clay Ganapatis! They are all so sweet and full of kindergarten character. We know that these sculptures will hold a very special place in the Mela's exhibit. Mark your calendars ... it's on June 12th!

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Looking forward to seeing you all at the ashram Saturday evening -- and then back at Balavihar the following morning.

Love to our "Soon to be First Graders ..."

May 8 Class: Section 1

2011-05-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

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 (click here for text)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1-8 (click here for text and audio)

Letter of the Week: Y is for Yagna

Story: Talked about Gurudev and why he is so important to us!

Likhita Japa: Children colored pages of Gurudev and wrote likhita japa around him. (Click here for page.)

Ending Prayers: Done in auditorium

Comments: Today was an energetic one — the weather was so beautiful, and the kids were in great spirit! Everyone jumped right into our disciplines ... and we didn't miss a beat!

Now that we are at Letter Y, we decided that the kids were pretty well-versed in our Vedantic Alphabet. So, we decided to do things a little differently. Random letters were thrown out and the kids then told us what they stood for, plus the meaning. We gotta say ... these guys have it down! The aunties couldn't stump anybody, and the kids didn't have to think twice about what the meanings were.

Also because it was Gurudev's birthday, we spent a lot of time talking about how our Gurudev truly embodied yagna, in every possible way. The children learned that they have a couple of families. The first being their mom, dad, brothers, sisters, etc ... and the other one is the Chinmaya Family. It was mind boggling to think about how Gurudev's family is spread throughout the world is so many different cities and countries! But the coolest thing is that on May 8th, we all celebrate his birth by doing Seva.

At this point we discussed the meaning of "seva," (which we all agreed should be in our Vedantic Alphabet.) And so, on this note, we told the kids that not only should they be hugging their moms all day, telling them how much they appreciate and love them :-), but they also need to do something nice for someone or something (can be a person, an animal, or the environment) ... and the most important thing to remember is that they need to do this with love in their heart, and with no expectations of a "thank you." This is what Gurudev wants us to do.

It's hard to believe that the Balavihar School year is coming to an end. Although, daily trips to the pool are sounding pretty good right about now :-) Be sure and mark June 12th on your calendar. We will be participating in the Ananda Mela at the ashram. There will be lots of great food, fun activities for the kids, and cool exhibitions and displays to peruse. We have signed up our kindergartners to contribute some of their wonderful likhita japa drawings for the Balavihar Childrens' Art Exhibit ... so please don't get rid of any of their art work! Also, we will be making some art projects over the next two classes for the kids to display. We're sure they'll tell you all about it.

So remember: "May 8th is "S is for Seva Day." Today's the day to do something nice for someone. And Gurudev taught us that Seva is a great feeling — you will be the one who benefits the most!

Lots of love to our young friends.
See you next week!

April 10 Class: Section 1

2011-04-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

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 ...

April 3 Class: Section 1

2011-04-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

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.

March 20 Class: Section 1

2011-03-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work:
• Click here for the next drawing in our animal series
• Click here for राम tracing sheet
• Click here for Vedic OM tracing sheet

Extra Home Fun Work:
• Click here for our "Sponge Art Animals" Flashcard Set

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)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence followed by our shell counting game (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1-8 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "U is for Unity"

Story: "Stone Soup" by Jon J. Muth (click here to view book cover)

Likhita Japa: Continued working in our journals and learned how to draw a Vedic OM (click here for the tracing sheet)

Ending Prayers:
• OM PoornamidaH (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: Boy, did we have a busy class!!! We tried to stay very focused for all of our morning disciplines so we could move on to our letter of the week. The aunties must say that these kids did great — their Geeta Chanting is coming along very nicely, they stayed with the pebble count during our quiet time (nearly everyone got the right number!), and they recited the alphabet letters we have learned thus far — with complete definitions. Gee, if only the aunties had studied the Vedanta alphabet when we were their age :-)

Now comes the juicy part ... today's letter was "U is for Unity." We asked the kids if they knew what the word meant. It got quiet for a few seconds, and then someone shouted out "Being Together!" That was exactly what we were looking for — "togetherness." But then we asked, "Does it mean that we should all be doing the same thing at the same time?" A lot of the kids shook their heads yes. This was a great opportunity to elaborate on this very complex word. We talked about how we have only one body, yet our body has many different parts that need to do separate functions in order to make the body work. For example, our eyes cannot smell, our ears cannot taste, our hands do not pump blood, etc. In the same way, if people are united and work for a common (and greater) goal, then that is unity -- and everything will function just as it should!

A few raised eyebrows caught our attention. At this point, we decided to read our much loved book, "Stone Soup" by Jon J Muth. If you are not familiar with this very rich and beautiful children's story, definitely put it on your list to borrow from the library. Jon J. Muth has taken this traditional European tale and turned it into a true treasure. He shows us that unity and sharing is what happiness is all about. This story is set in an old Chinese village with three monks on a quest to find out "What makes one happy."

After our story time, we moved on to our likhita japa segment. In the spirit of our letter of the week, we spent some time talking about the many different OMs that are written throughout the world. We saw the Tamil OM, the Telugu OM, the Malayalam OM, the Balinese OM, the Tibetan OM, the Sanskrit OM and the Bengali OM. Oh yes ... and the coolest one of all was the Vedic OM. We studied the many differences in their appearances, yet we all agreed that they all represent the same thing — unity with God. The kids then settled into their journals learning to write the Vedic OM with a tracing sheet. And they did extremely well!! (We will try our best to have some made for the other languages, too.)

And so, it looks like we are on another mini-break. Next class is scheduled for April 3. In the meantime, don't forget to go outside and play. And, even more importantly, don't forget to "Keep Smiling" — remember, this is an instruction from our Pujya Gurudev! In fact, why don't we leave "being serious" to the ol' fuddy duds — it's just not fun!

Lots of hugs to our young friends.

Mar 13 Class: Section 1

2011-03-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work:
• Click here for the next drawing in our animal series.
• Click here for a mandala drawing to practice likhita japa with.
• Click here for a tracing sheet to practice writing राम
• Click here for a tracing sheet to practice writing ऊँ नमः शिवाय

Extra Home Fun Work: Click here for Flashcard Study Set. Practice identifying the God/Goddess in each picture. And see if you can identify some of the names in Sanskrit!

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Navaavatu (click here for text)
• OM Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Krishnah (click here for text)
• Shree Hanumaan (click here for text)

Quiet Time: None (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1–8 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "T is for Truth"

Story: The Empty Pot, by Demi (click here to view book cover)

Likhita Japa: The children continued to write in their journals, finishing some of the mandalas from last week. We also introduced a new mandala for them to begin working on.

Ending Prayers: Done in the auditorium

Comments: We missed a lot of our young friends today ... hope you guys aren't sick and just forgot about the time change :-)

Today was a shortened class because we went to the auditorium for our ending prayers. We started our morning with the usual chit chat ... catching up on all the "happening details of our kindergarten friends." Afterwards, we settled down for our weekly disciplines and Geeta Chanting. We gotta say: "These kids are doing great!!!" Not only were we completely surprised to learn that most everyone in class has the Shree Hanumaan shloka memorized, but these youngsters were really belting out the first 7 shlokas of Geeta, Chapter 11!! Pronunciation was perfect! Posture was looking good!! We were originally scheduled to start Shloka 8 in our first April class, but we thought because everyone was doing so well, we could go ahead and start chanting all 8. We are very confident that these children are going to do well in May!

Our letter of the week was "T is for Truth." This is always a fun letter to discuss, because we all know that we must always tell the truth — no matter what. But the real question is: Do we always do that? And if not, why?? We investigated some of the reasons why someone might hesitate to tell the truth ... such as: "being afraid of getting in trouble," "wanting to impress your friends," "trying to act cool," etc. Everyone had a story to tell :-) So, before we moved to our Likhita Japa segment, we read a really great story about Truthfulness to help us punctuate how important it is to be honest. The book is called "The Empty Pot" by Demi. (You can hear it read in this week's video selections — see the announcement section.) Anyway, we were all moved by the brave act of little Ping in bringing his empty pot to the Emperor. (This aunty never fails to get a little choked up when the Emperor questions Ping.) It proves that we must always be brave and truthful, even if it seems difficult — only good things will come of it.

And ... we talked about the beauty of the illustrations. In this book the artist chose to paint the pictures in the style of the traditional Chinese landscape art — where the landscapes are quite majestic, and the people are always shown very small in scale (unlike our Western art.) This lead to a discussion on the word "Humble." which we all agreed we could add to our Vedanta alphabet.

Before we knew it, time was up and we had to get ready to head to the auditorium for the 9th grade performance — which was really fun to watch, by the way.

We hope you all have a great week — and we look forward to seeing everyone again next Sunday. Hopefully, the effects of our time change will be over :-)

Hugs to all our young friends!

March 6 Class: Section 1

2011-03-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work:
• Click here for राम tracing sheet.
• Click here for ऊँ नमः शिवाय tracing sheet.
• Click here for the next drawing in our Animal Series

Extra Home Fun Work: Click here for an abstract "Color by Number" page in Sanskrit.

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunḍa Mahakāya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• śrī Hanumān (click here for text)
• śrī Krishnaḥ (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence and shell counting game (click here for instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1 – 7 (click here for text and audio)

Letter of the Week: "S is for Smile"

Focus Game: "Try to make me laugh!"

Likhita Japa: Finished Lord Shiva Mandalas for our journals. Some children worked on Lord Krishna's peacock feather.

Ending Prayers:
• Om Poornamidaḥ (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Mission Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: First we want to welcome Gowri to our class! Today was her first day in Balavihar and we are extremely happy to have her join us. We hope that she will have lots of fun with all of her new friends every Sunday!

Well, we certainly had a tremendous amount of energy in class today. If you happened to be in the hallway this morning, you no doubt heard the children proudly chanting The Geeta (and the Alphabet Safari :-). Great going, Kids — we hope you keep up the energy for the competition in April!

After our morning disciplines, we settled into our lesson for today — "S is for Smile." We talked about the scientific studies that have been discovered about smiling ... 1) that it's good for your health; 2) it takes more energy and muscles to frown; and 3) it's contagious! Smiling definitely makes the world a much happier place and no one is immune to a happy smile. A genuine smile can take all the sadness away and before you know it everyone around you is smiling! To prove our point, we had the children try to keep a frown on their face while the aunties laughed away. As you can imagine, everyone was roaring with laughter before we knew it. We mustn't forget Gurudev's instructions: "Keep smiling!"

Happily, we had 20 minutes to work in our likhita journals today. Some of the children completed the Shiva Lingams from last week, while other children worked on Lord Krishna's peacock feather. Parents: these children are doing amazingly well! We can't wait for you to see all of their work at the end of the school year. They are becoming very focused and showing a lot of confidence in their writing. We are also pleased to see so many Home Fun Work pages at the beginning of class. It's wonderful that your children are doing their likhita japa at home. Please take a few minutes and look at their great work in our weekly art gallery (slideshow above.)

We started Shloka 7 today in our Geeta chanting. It was very clear that these kids have been working during the week :-) Because the preliminaries are the end of next month, we are going to introduce shloka 8 at the end of March. This will give us four classes to practice chanting all 8 shlokas before the competition begins. Please take a few minutes and register your child for the competition. For your convenience, online registration is available. (click here for registration.)

No doubt about it — spring is around the corner. Aunty reminded us that we are having a time change next weekend, so make sure you remember to set your clocks. In the meantime, enjoy this marvelous weather. It's such a joy seeing some of the color shifts in nature ....

Hugs to all of your kids. Look forward to our next party with God!!!

Feb 27 Class: Section 1

2011-02-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work:
• Print out this Shiva Lingam Mandala and have your child color it and then do their likhita japa around the border. They can write"ऊँ", "ऊँ नमः शिवाय" or "om namaḥ śivāya" — their choice! Please make sure, however, that your child brings this page to our next class so we can put them in our journals.

• Click here for the next drawing page in our animal series.
• Click here for our Flashcard set of Animals (in Sanskrit) — with pictures

Extra Home Fun Work:
• Print out this Tracing Sheet of ऊँ नमः शिवाय (om namah shivaaya) and have your child practice writing this mantra.

Morning Prayers:
• Om Saha Nāvavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunḍa Mahākāya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• śrī Hanumān (click here for text)
• śrĩ Krishnaḥ (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: R is for Right

Story/Activity: Right or Wrong?

Likhita Japa: Finished our mandalas from our last class and practiced drawing a Lord Shiva Lingam Mandala in our journals.

Ending Prayers: Prayers and Aarti were conducted in the auditorium.

Comments: We missed a lot of our young friends today ... hope everyone hasn't come down with the nasty bug who seems be making the circuit. Today's class was a bit abbreviated due to the 6th grade performance and aarti in the auditorium. But all that aside, we sure accomplished alot!!

After our prayers and Geeta chanting, we decided to do our silence activity and shell counting game. We haven't done this in the past few classes, so we thought it would be good to put our focus to the test. Boy, were we a little "off" — we all all agreed that our attention kept wanting to be on the chanting that was being done in the next room :-)

Geeta Chanting is going fantastically well — congratulations to all of you!!! Most everyone is right up to speed and has shlokas 1-6 completely memorized. We will start shloka 7 in our next class (March 6) and have all agreed that we will now begin to focus some attention on our posture. We told the children that even though pronunciation is most crucial in the competition, so, too, is their posture and facial expressions important. Hands folded in prayer, legs criss-crossed, back straight, and love pouring from their expression — after all, we are chanting the Lord's Divine Song!!

Today's letter was "R is for Right." This definitely threw everyone off course :-) The kids were certain that we were on the letter "P", because this is the letter that comes after "O." Well, true .... but not in the Vedanta Alphabet. P and Q come after Z. Seeing that P stands for Prayer and Q stands for Quiet — these qualities come only after we have practiced and perfected all the other letters. How's that for a twist?!!

After reviewing our alphabet we spent a few minutes talking about Shivaratri (March 2) and how this is Lord Shiva's most favorite day. On this day, adults will be fasting, chanting, performing pujas, and staying awake all night dedicating all sorts of activities to the Lord. We shared a rudraksha mala with the children and talked about how this seed is Lord Shiva's favorite, and in fact, originated from the Lord's tears. Each child has a rudraksha seed to treasure and care for. (I think Auntie put them in his/her coat pocket — so check there :-)

We then settled down into our likhita japa journal segment where the children learned to draw a Shiva Lingam Mandala. Their assignment for Wednesday is to color in a Lingam Mandala (see above Home Fun Work) and then perform likhita japa on the border. Please, please, have your child bring their drawing to our next class so we can put this in our journals.

Well, the weather is truly amazing. Spring is clearly around the corner ... we saw some green poking up from the ground on the way to Balavihar this morning :-) Hope you all have a wonderful week — and may the blessings of Lord Shiva bring all of you much peace, happiness and good health!

See you next Sunday ...

Feb 13 Class: Section 1

2011-02-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Click here for our Weekly Art Gallery

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.

Click here to practice Sanskrit numbers 1-10 with our Flashcards

Click here to practice Sanskrit numbers 11-20 with our Flashcards

Click here for the Animal Flashcard set (with pictures)

Morning Prayers:
• 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.

Feb 06 Class: Section 1

2011-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Click here for our weekly Art Gallery

Home Fun Work:
• Click here for a "Connect the Dots" activity page. Be sure and have your child count aloud as he/she completes the drawing!
• Click here to print the next drawing page in our animal series.

Extra Home Fun Work:
• Coloring Pages for Sanskrit Numbers 1-10 (click here to download)
• Coloring Pages for Sanskrit Numbers 11-20 (click here to download)

Click here for Flashcard Set: Numbers 1-10 (in Sanskrit)

Click here for Flashcard Set: Numbers 11-20 (in Sanskrit)

Click here for Flashcard Set: Animals (with pictures) (in Sanskrit)

If you wish to download these flashcards to your iPhone, click here for instructions

Morning Prayers:
• Saha naavaavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Hanuman (click here for text)
• Shree Krishna (click here for text)

Quiet Time: none (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Ch 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "M is for Mother" and "N is for Noble"

Likhita Japa: 5 Minutes of Likhita Japa Game (click here for instructions)

Activity: (Click here to view project ) Made a watercolor mandala which is to be completed by the child at home. Please have your child spend a few minutes each day performing likhita japa in one of the concentric circles — starting with the outer circle and ending with the inner circle. These should be brought back to our next class to put in their journals.

Ending Prayers:
Poornamidah (click here for text)
Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: Before we start talking about our morning's activities, we want to extend a very big "Hari OM!" to our new friend, Uday. He joined us for the first time today — and we're very excited to have him in class. Uday, we hope that you will have a lot of fun with all your new friends every Sunday morning!

Well, today was definitely a busy one — we sure covered a lot of material. After our prayers, we jumped right into our Alphabet Safari ... reviewing letters A through L. It's clear that these kids have a pretty good handle on all of the definitions we've been discussing these past few months :-)

This week's class combined two letters – "M is for Mother" and "N is for Noble." We spent some time talking about all the great things our mothers do for us ... how much they sacrifice and work for us. Just like Father is God, so, too is Mother ... Mother is God. We pointed to the story that we told in "I is for Intelligence" — Lord Ganesha circling his parents for the celestial fruit. He showed us that parents are God and the world to us! We then went on to talk about other Mothers we worship. For example, we have Mother Nature, Mother Earth, Mother India, Mother Shruti, and the sacred Mother Cow. No question about it — Mother is to be worshipped!! As an assignment for this week, the kids have all agreed to do something nice for their mothers — without telling them about it, or asking for anything in return. Let's see how that goes ... :-)

This led us to our next letter "N is for Noble." Things got a little more complicated at this point ... not an easy concept to grasp (not even for us adults :-) So, to illuminate this value we told the story of Punyakoti — an all-time favorite! Nothing can shine light on the definition of "Noble" like this story!

We began our likhita japa journal workshop today — and we had a great time!! The kids did amazingly well with the likhita japa focus game — most of them got it! We will be doing this exercise weekly. Parents: please note that we have the children's likhita japa paintings from last week – we are putting them in their journals. The aunties will be keeping the journals until the end of the Balavihar year. At that time we will hand the books over to your children for safe keeping (and continued summer work :-)

Unfortunately, we did not have time to paint our drawings today. If you have a paintbrush at home, please have your child brush water onto their drawings to make a water color painting. If you do not have a brush, dipping a crumpled up paper towel in water, and then rubbing gently onto the paper, should do the trick. Regardless, please have your child do their likhita japa in one of the rings each day. Don't forget to bring the painting to class on Sunday so we can put it in their journal!!

We were so impressed with the children's work from last week ...

The sun is calling all of us to venture outdoors ... what a wonderful change from our icy week! We hope you all have a great week and we look forward to seeing you next Sunday.

Hugs to all of our young friends!

Jan 30 Class: Section 1

2011-01-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Click here to view this week's Art Gallery.

Home Fun Work: Click here for another printout in our animals series. Have your child draw a picture of a cat. Don't forget to ask him/her to practice saying बिडालः (biḍālaḥ) aloud while admiring the beautiful finished drawing!

For extra fun work: Click here for a color by number page in Sanskrit.

Click here for our Flashcard set of Sanskrit numbers 1-10

Click here for our Flashcard set of Sanskrit Colors

Click here for a short animation on Sanskrit Colors

Morning Prayers:
• Om Saha naavaavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Krishnah (click here for text)
• Shree Hanumaan (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence followed by our shell counting game (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (click here for text and audio)

Letter of the Week: "K is for Kindness" and "L is for Love"

Likhita Japa: None (click here for our likhita japa game instructions)

Activity: The children created a likhita japa flower mandala made of hearts. They are to fill one petal each day with "OM" and bring back to next class for show and tell (Click here to view project instructions and sample)

Comment: Today we combined two letters in one class: "K is for Kindness" and "L is for Love." We spent some time talking about what kindness means. The kids all came up with great answers ... "sharing," "helping," and "caring" — to name a few. Okay, so kindness we all had a handle on, but how do we define "Love." And what is love, exactly?!! This was a little harder for us. So to help us comprehend the power of love we shared a story of Mahatma Gandhi and how he completely transformed a thief into a follower by showing a true and simple act of love and kindness. When the thief was caught stealing in the Mahatma's ashram, Gandhiji lovingly insisted that he this man must be hungry and he should be served lunch. The Mahatma's disciples were baffled, because they all insisted that the thief be punished for his crime. But Gandhiji remained unaffected — this man was to sit and join him for lunch! The man, so moved by Gandhiji's genuine love and kindness, broke into tears and swore to never steal again. He became a life long follower.

We tied all this love and kindness together in our activity project today. The children colored a heart/flower mandala with water soluble pencils and then brushed the drawing with water to turn everything into watercolor paint. Their results were really lovely! Their job is to spend a few minutes each day and perform likhita japa. We asked them to only fill in one petal a day, finishing the week with the mandala border. On Saturday, they should see a very beautiful likhita japa painting — filled with love! Please have them bring their painting to class so we can see their finished work.

Next week we will begin our likhita japa game and journal keeping activities. Our sketchbooks are supposed to arrive this week, so if all goes according to plan, the kids will begin working in them next week. Please note that we will be keeping their journals for them, so you don't need to worry about making sure they are in the backpack each Sunday mornings On the last day of Balavihar, your child will be bringing his/her journal home ... and hopefully, he/she will continue to work in the book throughout the summer :-)

We are absolutely delighted with the kids' Geeta Chanting – they are doing great and it seems like nearly everyone is right on schedule! We will begin with shloka 6 in our next class. So please keep up the great work at home!

Hope you all stay warm. And if it turns out that the kids are going to get another snow day on Tuesday, I'll post a really yummy recipe for Castillian Hot Chocolate for you all to celebrate with ...

Look forward to seeing everyone again next Sunday. "M is for ...."

Jan 23 Class: Section 1

2011-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work: Here is another little friend from our "animal series" — a mouse. Click here to print out the page and have your child draw this animal. Make sure to have your child practice saying मूषकः (mūṣakaḥ) a few times while he/she is admiring his/her finished art work.

For extra Fun Work: We have posted a "connect the dots" picture for your child to practice their Sanskrit numbers (1-20) with. Click here to print this page.

Click here for our Flashcard set of Sanskrit Numbers 1-10.

Click here for our Flashcard Sanskrit Numbers 11-20.

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)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of some excellent quiet time! Nice shell counting, too!! (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "J is for Japa"

Activity: Made a Likhita Japa Painting (click here to view project sample)

Likhita Japa: See Activity above.

Comments: Well, word in the kindergarten scene is: "Angry Birds" is one awesome game!!! We spent the first few minutes talking about just how cool this game is. After posting this blog entry, this aunty is going to visit the app store to buy the game — I just gotta see what all the excitement is about.

Parents: You are definitely to be congratulated on how well your children are doing with their Geeta Chanting. We cruised through the first 4 shlokas, and barely struggled with the 5th. We will be starting shloka 6 in our first February class. Kids: we're nearly two thirds through our assignment — and you guys are unbelievable!! Keep up the good work!

Today's letter was "J is for Japa." Other than "B is for Brotherhood," this letter is probably one of our favorites! We posed the question "What does OM mean?" to the kids. Seeing that we say this all the time, we should probably understand it, right? Lots of really great answers were offered: "Peace," "Happiness," "Love," and "God." We then asked them "If we wanted to write one word for all the Gods and all the great things in the world, what would we write?" The room remained silent for a few minutes and then someone shouted out "OM!" That was the magic answer!! We talked about how OM is everything — all sounds, all Gods, the universe (and other universes) etc. OM was everything we could see, and everything we could not see.

We then talked about what Japa was (the recitation of the Lord's name with complete love) and what are all the great benefits we gain from performing japa. For example: we get a heart filled with love for God, tremendous peace, calmness, amazing concentration — and the ability to see the world clearly. After discussing the different ways we can perform japa (mentally, verbally and written) we settled down to do our activity. We made a likhita japa painting. (Please be sure to take a few minutes and view the children's work in the gallery above.)

Our activity began with a simple game: The children were asked to choose one pen color to write OM in their mandala with. However, when their mind shifted from saying OM, they were supposed to put that pen down, pick up another color, and continue writing. These kids were able to sit very quietly for about 10 minutes, completely focused on this activity before we heard any restlessness. Absolutely fantastic!! Some of the older kids can't even sit this long without talking :-) Anyway, this is an activity we will continue to do for the remainder of the year ... and hopefully, we will see the number of colors on the paper reduce with every week :-) We will be keeping a journal of this activity, and at the end of the year each child will be able to see how much stronger their concentration has become as a result of likhita japa.

We want to extend a very big "Hari OM!" to our new friend, Swathi, who joined us for the first time this morning. We are really happy to have her be part of our Sunday morning fun.

Okay, now it's time to go check out "Angry Birds."

Hope everyone stays warm — and we look forward to seeing you again at our next Party with God ...

Jan 09 Class: Section 1

2011-01-09T02:47:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Click here to see this week's art gallery.

Home Funwork:
• Practice writing राम (Raama) Click here for the tracing sheet.

• Print out the following two activity pages and have your child draw the animals. Practice pronouncing the words, in Sanskrit, with them.

Lion (click here for page)

Fish (click here for page)

For extra fun: Click here for the Flashcards (at Quizlet.com) to learn some animal names in Sanskrit. This aunty uses Quizlet flash cards to study with. They are really fun — in addition to using them for learning, you can also play games and test yourself :-)

Click here for more card sets and have fun!! We will continue to add learning sets throughout the Balavihar year — so be on the lookout ;-)

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)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence with very accurate shell counting! (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3 and 4 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "I is for Intelligence"

Story: Ganesha Circles His Parents

Activity: Drew an elephant (click here for activity page)

Likhita Japa: None (click here for tracing sheet)

Comments: Boy it sure was great to be back in class again today. All of our young friends were well rested and ready to go — on time!

We began our very busy class with our morning prayers. We added a new prayer, "Shree Hanumaan" to our weekly curriculum. The children did a super job in repeating the shloka after the aunties. We also spent some time talking about what this prayer means.

After our morning disciplines, we then moved to our letter of the day: "I is for ....." We got lots of great answers from our friends ... some of which were pretty sophisticated, we might add. "I is for Infinity," "I is for Impossible," "I is for India," and "I is for Indra." Then someone shouted out the magic word — "Intelligent." That was it!!!

We spent a good chunk of time talking about "What is a mind?" and "What is Intelligence?" "What is the difference between the two?" "How are we different from animals, who also have a mind?" We discussed how our mind is responsible for learning about things. And that also our emotions — happiness, sadness, fear, etc. come from the mind. But that our intellect is far more subtler. This is what is responsible for our actions. Our decisions about how to act, in a "right" or "wrong" way, is based on using our intellect. Not easy stuff to digest ....

And so, to illustrate this concept a little more concretely, we told the story of Lord Ganesha circling the world for the celestial fruit. Ahhh .... just what we needed — this definitely helped us understand more clearly!!

We are sorry that we were not able to do our Likhita Japa segment today. Time ran out. Please print out the tracing sheet (above) and have your child continue to practice at home. We have another mini-break coming up and we certainly don't want the children to forget the writing strokes. We will be introducing journal keeping at the end of January ... with their very own personal likhita japa book.

In the meantime, stay warm. Forecast calls for more snow — go figure. Kids, we'll keep our fingers crossed for a "Snow Day." Drink lots of hot chocolate ....

And keep practicing your Geeta shlokas. You guys did great today!!

************

Jokes from some of the kids during our circle time:

1) What do a tree and elephant have in common?
a trunk

2) Why was 5 afraid of 6?
Because 7 8 9.

Dec 19 Class: Section 1

2010-12-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Funwork:
• Click here to print out a coloring page. Discuss with your child who this picture is of, and why he is so significant to us.
• Click here to print out "Color by Number" page in Sanskrit. (Please note that this is a bit more complicated than the previous coloring pages —if your child has not yet done those, please do them first.)
• Click here for a mandala outline for creative likhita japa. Have your child practice writing राम (Raama.) Be sure and let them use as many colors (and write in any direction) that they wish!

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree Krishna (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute and 30 seconds of quiet time. Today we really witnessed a big leap in the children's maturity during this segment. Great job, guys!! We will move on to 2 minutes of silence when our classes resume in January. (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3 and 4 (click here for text and audio)

Letter of the Week: "H is for Happiness"

Activitiy: Read "Little Yash is Happy Right Now" (click here to to see cover of the book)

Likhita Japa: Wrote राम (Raama) 21 times (Click here for tracing sheet)

Ending Prayers: Om Poornamidah (click here for text)

Comments: We were delighted so see all of our friends again today after another mini-break. Once everyone found their name tags and sat down, we spent a few minutes catching up on all the things that have happened over the past few weeks.

We reviewed all the letters we have learned thus far. "A is for Aspiration," "B is for Brotherhood," and so on. Everyone shouted out the meanings with clear definitions :-) Then we approached our letter for this week — "H." The kids offered some great possibilities about what this could be for ... "H is for Hanumaan," "H is for Healthy," and "H is for Hungry. A couple of the kids then spoke up and said "H is for Happy." Bingo!!! That was our magic word for the day. We then asked the kids to describe this word. For example, if we met up with an alien from another planet and he asked us what this word meant, how exactly would we explain this to him? We all agreed that this was definitely a hard word to describe ... so we pulled out our book "Yash is Happy Right Now" to help us understand what this word means. And by the time we finished the book we were all pretty clear that "happiness" is an attitude and not something to be found in a toy or favorite food! We even talked about how we may feel termporarily sad sometimes, but that does not mean we don't have a happy attitude deep down inside.

The children are doing exceptionally well with their likhita japa!! Some of our young friends have begun to write without a tracing card ... and are choosing to do likhita japa mandalas during our segment. They sit quietly, saying each letter as they write. Today we spent a few minutes and talked about how we felt when we write राम (Raama). Some of the descriptive words we heard were "cozy," "peaceful," "warm," and "safe."

Our Geeta Chanting is definitely coming along. We have now completed the first 4 shlokas — so we're halfway there :-) We noticed that many of the kids are pretty familiar with shlokas 1, 2 and 3 ... so that's a great sign that they're practicing at home! Shloka 4 is a little rusty ... but that's to be expected seeing that we've had lots of mini breaks lately. In January we will spend the first few classes reviewing Shloka 4, but will also plan to introduce Shloka 5. Please continue to work with your child over Winter Break. We don't want the kids to forget everything they've worked so hard on.

And so, in the spirit of our "letter of the week," we want to wish all of you and your loved ones a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Ashwin, don't forget to bring back some fun pics of your trip to Mexico ... and make sure to eat a quesadilla (with a fresh limeade) for this aunty :-)

Lots of warm hugs to all of our young friends — see you all next year!!

Dec 05 Class: Section 1

2010-12-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work
• Print this page. Have your child fill it in with राम (Raama).
• Print this "Color By Number" page in Sanskrit. Be sure to have your child say the numbers and colors aloud as they fill in the triangles.

Click here for Sanskrit numbers 1-5 (with English translation)
Click here for Sanskrit Color Names
Click here for short video on Sanskrit Colors.

For extra, extra work: Click to print Coloring Pages on Sanskrit Numbers 1-10.

Morning Prayers:
• OM saha naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati namastubhyam click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute and 30 seconds — and a great round of shell counting! (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1, 2, 3 and 4 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: G is for God

Activities:
• Reviewed Sanskrit colors (click here for text)
• Reviewed Sanskrit numbers 1-5 (click here for text)

Likhita Japa: wrote राम 21 times (click here for tracing sheet)

Ending Prayers: Aarti and Chinmaya pledge were done in the auditorium.

Comments: Sure was good seeing everyone today after our mini break! We started our morning off with a quick "show and tell" of the work that the kids did over Thanksgiving break. The aunties were definitely impressed with everyone's likhita japa practice — and someone even took the challenge and did the mystery "Color by Number" page in Sanskrit. Please take a minute and view their art work in the slide show above. :-)

Well, we weren't at all rusty with our shlokas — the kids lead the aunties in prayers ... and chanted very nicely (and loudly.) We even got some very detailed descriptions about the prayer's meaning.

After our quiet time we immediately moved to our Geeta Chanting segment. We chanted Shlokas 1 and 2 with ease, but discovered that shlokas 3 and 4 were a bit tricky. Parents: please don't hesitate in using the blog for at-home practice. We will be working with the first 4 shlokas throughout December and will then introduce Shloka 5 when we restart classes in January. It is our goal to complete all 8 shlokas by April — which will then give us a month to work solidly on all 8 shlokas together.

The children are doing beautifully with their likhita japa segment. They are understanding the sound that each letter makes as they write राम (raama). And we gotta say — their handwriting is quite impressesive, to boot! We definitely encourage you to print out the tracing sheet and have them continue to write over break. Once we feel that they are getting the letter sequence and strokes down, we plan to move our likhita japa segment into journal keeping and the importance of writing in it daily. If this aunty can get it together over break, one of our class activities in January will be having the children bind their own books the authentic way — with needle and thread :-)

After we reviewed the alphabets we learned so far, we moved on to our topic of the day: "G is for God." We spent a good chunk of time discussing "Who is God?" "Can we see God?" "Why can some people see God?" "Where is God?" "How do we thank God?" These kids are clearly smart beyond their years! It is obvious that they are understanding the concept of the need to continuously cleanse our mind and heart. Then, and only then, will we be be able to see God always — everywhere. We must learn to talk to Him constantly with prayer, likhita japa, quiet time, etc. Boy, this auntie sure wishes that when she was 6 years old, she attended Balavihar and knew half of what these kids know :-)

Hard to believe, but we are are now in the midst of another mini-break. There will be no class on December 12th. Instead, we invite you to make your way to the ashram for the yagna that will be taking place. It sounds like it's going to be a very grounding, spiritual retreat.

In the meantime, we wish everyone another relaxing and peaceful week. Stay warm ... the kids told us today that snow is in the forecast during the next few days. Hopefully, it will be enough to make a snowman or igloo with.

Hugs to everyone — especially to a few of our friends who were not able to make class today.

Eric Carle Museum

2010-12-03T03:55:00.000-08:00

If you ever find yourself in Amherst, MA — this is the place to visit! Be sure and check out this site even if you don't have any travel plans in the near future. And while the kids are surfing around, here's a good game for them: Find the picture of Lord Ganesha :-)

Click here for the Eric Carle Museum site.

Nov 21 Class: Section 1

2010-11-21T05:36:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rao and Jacqueline Gaines

Fun work to do at home over break:
• Print out this page and have your child fill it in with likhita japa.
• Print out this page and have your child say the numbers and colors aloud as they color.

Click here for Sanskrit numbers 1-5 (with English translation)
Click here for Sanskrit colors (with English translation)
Click here for short video on Sanskrit Colors

For extra, extra work: Print out these coloring pages to learn Sanskrit numbers 1-10

Morning Prayers:
• OM sahanaavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of complete silence and very good shell counting!!! We're going to try and sit for one minute and 30 seconds next class .... (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11: Shlokas 1, 2 and 3 (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "F is for Friend"

Story: Sudaamaa and Lord Krishna

Activity:
• Read Blue Hat, Green Hat (by Sandra Boynton) in Sanskrit (click here for translated text)
• Colors in Sanskrit (click here for text)
• Numbers in Sanskrit, 1-5 (click here for text)

Likhita Japa: राम (click here for tracing card and video)

Ending Prayers:
• OM PoornamadaH (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: Well, we certainly got a lot accomplished today — nearly everyone arrived on time, so we were able to get right down to business. Good going, kids!

To begin with, the aunties want to congratulate all of our young friends for their very successful "Quiet Time" segment. Today was the first time we barely saw any movement at all. Therefore, we all agreed that it's time to move up to a minute and a half. So next class we're going to give it a try :-)

We also want to acknowledge how well the kids are doing with their "Home Fun Work" assignments. We were extremely delighted that so many children brought in their creative likhita japa to share with us. Please make sure to pause and take a look at the slide show above. Their efforts are truly amazing — and we are thrilled that they are continuing the likhita japa practice at home!!! We think the kids are going to enjoy doing the one we posted for this week — do please be sure and print it out for them. Hopefully, it will remind them of this week's lesson, "F is for Friend." (We told the story of Sudaamaa and Lord Krishna.)

We finally began Shloka 3 of Chapter 11, Geeta Chanting. No question about it: this shloka is a bit tricky. Therefore, the aunties have instructed your children to use your computers to do some homework over break :-) Chapter 11 has been completely broken down line by line and is now available on the blog (see the link above.) This is really a great tool — and we highly recommend that your child use this on a daily basis. All is takes is a few minutes each day ... and before you know it, both of you will have memorized the shloka with perfect pronunciation!

Because the children have worked so well at home practicing their ऊ, we decided to introduce a a new tracing card for our likhita japa segment. Today the children learned the writing strokes for राम (Raama.) As we wrote राम, we carefully said the sound each letter made. Honestly, we were amazed at how well everyone did!!! Clearly, these kids are ready for the next level :-) Please feel free to print out the tracing sheet and have your child continue practicing at home. The link is posted above for your convenience.

Before our story of Lord Krishna and Sudaamaa, we spent a good amount of time talking about a quote from Gurudev. "Learn to always speak softly, words of love and affection, then friends multiply." We defined some words like "affection" and "multiply," and then re-read the quote with a deeper understanding.

Our class ended with a few minutes of some Sanskrit Learning fun. We introduced 5 color names and counting (1-5). We also read Sandra Boynton's silly book "Blue Hat, Green Hat" in Sanskrit. Whenever time permits, we will try and bring out some games and books for a little fun. God's language is truly a most beautiful one — and there is no question that we should be having fun while learning it, too! Please be advised, however, that we will not be teaching any grammar rules. That is done in the language class :-)

We'll certainly miss everyone over our mini break. Enjoy the long weekend coming up ... and don't forget to go outside and breathe in some cool fresh air ... it feels really good! Can't stay inside all the time just because it is starting to get cold :-)

Rishika, it was really good seeing you again today. We missed you while you were away and are glad to have you back!

Lots of love and hugs for all of our young friends!

Nov 14 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-11-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

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.

Nov 7 Class: Section 1

2010-11-07T02:26:00.000-08:00

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!

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

2010-11-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Click here for the website.

Parents: Here is a great site to explore with your child while they are on break from school this week. Be sure to browse around the site for some fabulous digital images of their collection! click here to view a picture of Elizabeth Brunner with a painting she did of Gurudev after meeting him in Delhi.

Class for CORD

2010-10-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Homework Fun for the kids (and family)
Make a Diwali card (click here for instructions and sample)
Make an origami lotus diya (click here for instructions and sample)
Make a likhita japa drawing of a diya (click here for instructions and template)

Click here to view our Walkathon's Team Page.

Today was a very special class. We gathered at Mercer County Park for our annual CORD Walkathon. The weather was absolutely fantastic — and the enthusiasm was high!

We really want to congratulate everyone for their tremendous work in spreading the word about CORD, and getting donations for sponsorship. As each person did their part in helping this day become a success, we really put into practice one of our greatest Kindergarten lessons: "B is for Brotherhood."

Here's some more great news: Our class fundraising goal was $1,200 and as of Saturday at midnight we had exceeded our goal — our class raised $1,341.00!

And that's not all, folks ... Priyanka Ranganath received a prize (an Apple Nano) for being one of the students who raised the most throughout all the classes! Boy, she really took our commitment to helping CORD to heart and sent emails to all of her friends and family all over the world. She really showed us that if we simply embrace all the significant work that CORD is doing in India, people will automatically and willingly respond with big hearts! Thank you for teaching us this important lesson, Priyanka :-)

Before our walk on the path today, we spent a few minutes talking about how we are putting into practice the first three letters that we have studied so far. "A is for Aspiration," "B is for Brotherhood," and "C is for Cleanliness." We reviewed that aspiration is "dedication to fulfilling a goal," and we did that by diligently working for sponsors. We aspired — and we succeeded. Next we talked about Brotherhood — which we defined as sharing, caring and loving ... not just with our immediate family members, but with others throughout the world — even those we do not personally know. Well, our efforts today were all about helping women in rural India, so we agreed that this was a great way to practice Brotherhood! Hmmm, now how exactly are we practicing "C is for Cleanliness?" A child raised her hand and shared that we are cleansing our minds and hearts by sharing and helping. How cool is that??!! ... pretty sophisticated stuff for 5/6 year olds. :-) After our moment of stunned admiration, we then went on to discuss how the money we were raising would help bring clean water to the villages, and how everyone would be able to have healthier lives with clean water.

Guess the lesson the aunties have learned from the day is that most of our entire curriculum can be exemplified by this single focused event. And to think that we can have lots of fun in the process of practicing our lessons!!

No doubt everyone is tired from the day. The weather was unbelievable. Gurudev clearly made this day possible ... don't know about you, but this aunty is incredibly grateful to have been part of it.

Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful Diwali. We send you all of our love for a very healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year!

See you all in a couple of weeks —
Hugs to our young friends.

Oct 17 Class: Section 1

2010-10-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha and Jacqueline

Home Work Fun: Please click here and print out this picture for your child to color. Discuss with your child what this picture is of — and what it means to us.

Likhita Japa Homework: Click here for Diya image. Have your child fill it in with ऊँ.

Morning Prayers:
• 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: 1 minute of absolute silence and an excellent round of shell counting! (click here for the game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1 and 2

Letter of the Week: "C is for Cleanliness"

Activity: Made an origami lotus diya (click here for instructions)

Likhita Japa: Filled in a Lotus Mandala with colorful ऊँs (click here to view)

Ending Prayers: Aarti, prayers and pledge was in the auditorium

Comments: Even though our class was cut short because we had a program in the auditorium, we managed to get through our very busy curriculum. Whoosh!

Today our letter of the week focused on "Cleanliness." We talked about how important it is to be clean ... not just on the outside but also on the inside. Being clean on the inside? How exactly do we do that??!! This was a great opportunity for us to talk about the beauty and significance of a diya — and how it burns away all of our "bad stuff" and replaces it with clean, pure thoughts and feelings. There's no question about it — prayer and meditation is the only way to cleanse our insides!!

After our alphabet review we got out our colorful markers and started to fill in a mandala with ऊँs for our likhita japa segment. Some of the children did a lotus flower, while others did a diya. Please check our children's art gallery (click here) to see their fabulous work. And then, while everyone was busy doing their likhita japa, we set up a separate station for learning how to make origami lotus diyas. We worked with children in groups of 5, until each one of them completed their very own diya. Hopefully, they will remember some of the folds so they can make more during Diwali. If not, be sure and visit the activity link above to view a video on all the moves.

This is our last week to prepare for the CORD walkathon. If you have not registered your child for the 24th, please take a few minutes and do it today! Next Sunday is an official Balavihar Class and we will be taking attendance. Our class goal is to raise $1,200 for CORD, and we are pleased to announce that we nearly half way there! Once you have registered your child, don't forget to create a fun web page for them to email to all of your friends and family. We can't stress enough that our primary goal is to raise awareness of CORD and what great work they are doing! We are not asking your children to reach into their piggy banks and donate (although that is definitely okay :-), rather we are asking them to work for CORD and raise money by getting sponsored for their participation in the walkathon. If each Balavihar member raises only $50.00, then collectively we will be able to send $50,000 to India. How great this would be!!! "A is for Aspiration!" right kids?

Don't forget to wear comfy clothes next week. Everyone should wear sneakers and sweat pants — no fancy Indian dress, please. Our kindergarten kids have been instructed to take over the playground once they have completed their walk :-)

And speaking of playground, today's weather is shouting for some outdoor fun. Hope you all get a chance to romp around after lunch. Get out those scooters, bikes and hoola hoops. Don't waste God's gift to us today!!

Can't wait until next week —we are definitely going to have a lot of fun!
Lots of love to our young friends.

Oct 10 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-10-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha, Nayna, and Jacqueline

Today was a combined class. Next week we will be back to normal.

Homework Fun: Click here and print out this Lotus Mandala picture. Have your child fill it in with colorful ऊँs. This is a great way to keep them practicing their likhita japa at home, while exercising some creative freedom :-) Have them bring in their finished likhita japa so we can photograph it and put in our kid's art gallery. Have fun, kids!

Coloring Page: For those of you who did not get a chance to color this page last week, we've left it up one more week. Parents: print this page and discuss with your child who this is a picture of and why he is so very important to us.

Morning Prayers:
• Saha naavavatu (click here for text)
• Karagre Vasate
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence followed by the shell dropping game (click here for game instructions)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1 and 2

Letter of the Week: "B is for Brotherhood"

Storytime: "God's Dream" by Archbishop Desmond Tutu (click on the title for book details)

Activity: Sharing Game (click here for instructions)

Likhita Japa: Because of our class size, we were not able to do our likhita japa. However the children agreed that they would practice their japa at home this week. Please see our homework assignment at the top of this page.

Ending Prayers:
• Om Poornamidah (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: Today's "Letter of the Day" is probably one of the most significant ones of the year — "B is for Brotherhood." And, seeing that we are gearing up for our CORD Walkathon on October 24, we thought this could be a great opportunity to discuss with the children real ways that we can demonstrate caring and sharing — no matter how old or young we are!

After we read our wonderful book by Archbishop Desmond Tutu , we played a game which helped us understand how great it feels to give and receive ... and how "not so good" it feels to do nothing at all. Please click on this link to see how the game is played. We are really proud of these kids! Most of them volunteered to share their chocolates, even after we had just confessed that sometimes its not easy to share with others. We spent some time discussing what God's Dream is — that we share, care and love one another ... and how we are all one big family — no matter what our skin color is, what language we speak, or how we talk to God.

The class lesson "B is for Brotherhood" became a perfect segue into CORD and how important it is for us to lend a hand, however we can. We explained to the children that in two weeks we will be having our class at the Walkathon — and that we want all the kids to participate and help raise money to send to India. No doubt they are telling you all about it now :-)

Therefore, we can't stress enough how important it is to register your child for the CORD walkathon. It really will only take a few minutes — and it's extremely easy! As you know from our previous emails we have a class goal of raising $1,200 for CORD — which is a very doable goal. All it will take to accomplish this is for each child (and sevika) to mail their personal Walkathon page to family members and friends, asking them to sponsor your child for this very worthy cause. We really feel that this is a great opportunity for our kindergartners to learn the importance of giving ... and that no amount will ever be too small if it is put to good use. We are truly blessed with this opportunity for self growth and awareness, and it would be a shame to not "give it our all." Definitely take a few minutes and visit the CORD Walkathon's blog. (click here for the link.) Also, just so you know, our kids will not do the full 5 miles (unless they want to, of course!) We will probably do 1 or 2 miles ... ending with lots of play on the playground!

And, when your child is registered, please have them email us their webpage so we can write an encouraging message for them. We really want to support their efforts and congratulate them on their spirit of "Brotherhood."

Well, today sure was a lot of fun — and God has given us some fabulous weather to romp around in! We wish everyone a wonderful Navaratri — and look forward to our next get together on the 17th!

Oh yeah, try not to eat too much of all that delicious food while visiting everyone's homes ... gotta save some room for Diwali sweets and Halloween treats :-)

A very Happy Birthday to Neil! He turned 6 on October 5.

Hugs to all of our kinder friends!

2010-10-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

This aunty was riding her bike today ... and look who was quietly sitting in the river! After a few minutes of admiring this beautiful creature, it became clear that the swan was cleaning herself for a very important puja that will be happening soon (during the last 3 days of Naavaratri.)

Okay kids ... which Goddess sits on a swan?

What an amazing sight — and a true joy to see! Just had to share ....

Oct 3 Class: Section 1

2010-10-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

If your child is missing a lightweight blue jacket or a white cotton handkerchief with purple flowers, please see one of the aunties.

Sevikas: Mamtha Rau and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Work Fun: Please print out this picture and discuss with your child who this picture is of, and why he is so important to us. (click here for image.)

Morning Prayers:
• Saha navaavatu (click for text)
• Karagre Vasate
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click for text)
• Sarasavati Namastubhyam (click for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click for text)

Quiet Time/Focus Activity: One full minute of silence and some pretty good shell counting! We have promised to try and trick the kids next class :-)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shlokas 1 and 2

Letter of the Week: "A is for Aspiration" and "A is for Ahimsa."

Story Time: Mahatma Gandhi and what he aspired for.

Activity: Each child took a turn spinning cotton on a Book Charkha. (click here to see a picture of the charkha .)

Likhita Japa: ऊँ 21 times (click here to view tracing sheet.)

Ending Prayers:
• Om Poornamidah (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: Whoosh — this morning sure was busy! We added a new prayer today — Shree KrishnaH. We spent a few minutes talking about the meaning of this prayer ... and why it is so incredibly beautiful!

You will notice that the children have begun their Geeta Chanting for Chapter 11. We introduced Shloka 2 ... and everyone did Absolutely Awesome with repeating after the aunties! We will continue working on Shlokas 1 and 2 for the month of October — and then we will add one new shloka per month.

Our topic today was "A is for Aspiration" (defined as "dedication to fulfilling a goal") — and there is no better person to exemplify aspiration than Mahatma Gandhiji! We talked about how this shy little boy grew up and became the Father of India. We then went on and talked about one of the Mahatma's aspiration for the world ... "Ahimsa" and what that word meant. After we spent a good chunk of time talking about his life, hard work, dedication and devotion, we pulled out a book charkha to show the children what Gandhiji loved doing most ... spinning cotton. Each child got a turn to spin some cotton on this wonderful little tool ... and then took some cotton and thread home to put in their treasure box.

As you know, we are starting to gear up for the October 24th CORD walkathon. Our kindergartners will definitely be participating in this event, so please be sure and mark your calendars. Also note that we will meet directly at the park on this day. Please keep checking the blog for more details — which will be posted shortly. We'll even be bombarding you will lots of emails over the next few weeks :-)

Well, fall is definitely here. Naavaratri, Diwali, and of course, Halloween are lurking around the corner. We wish everyone lots of fun preparations and look forward to seeing you all again next Sunday. And even though everything seems really crazy and busy right now, don't forget to go outside and take a walk every now and then ... just to admire God's great paintings!

Sept 26 Class: Section 1

2010-09-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha Rau and Jacqueline Gaines

Home Fun Work: Print out this page for your child to color. (Click here for page.) Spend a few minutes with your child discussing who this picture is of and why he is so very important to us.

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Karagre Vasate
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)

Quiet Time/Focus Game: The children did great today — 1 full minute of silence followed by our focus game with shells.

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, Shloka 1 (See comment section below.)

Story Time: The teacher who asked the children to eat their apples in a place where God was not.

Activity: Find the hidden ladybug

Likhita Japa: ऊँ 21 times (click here for the tracing sheet)

Game: KrishnaH Vadati (click here for full text) Verbs we introduced today:
• उपविशतु (upavishatu, sit)
• उत्तिष्ठतु (uttiSThatu, stand)
• भ्रमतु (bhramatu, spin around)
• उत्पततु (utpatatu, jump)
• हसतु (hasatu, laugh)
• रोदितु (roditu, cry)
• नृत्यतु (nRtyatu, dance)

Ending Prayers:
• PoornamidaH (click here for text)
• Chinmaya Pledge (click here for text)

Comments: Today was our official, 1st full class — and we certainly were jam packed with oodles of activities and learning!

We began our Geeta Chanting this morning. Your children will be responsible for memorizing the first 8 shlokas for the competition this Spring. In order for them to be completely at ease and prepared for the "Big Day," we decided there was no better time to start than the present! Our goal is to add one new shloka each month. This way we will have 3 classes to familiarize ourselves with each shloka before introducing another. Parents: Please note that pronunciation will be very important for the judges this year. We will do our very best to help the children work on memorization, pronunciation and presentation in class — but obviously you will be the best and most most effective teacher for your child. We urge you to take a few minutes each day to practice — and if you start now, then come Spring your child will feel very comfortable with the chanting and the judges. Beware: this chapter is a bit tricky ... :-) CD's were handed out to all the families this morning to so we can do some "self-study." If you did not receive one, please make sure that you stop by the front desk and pick one up. These cd's are extremely helpful with pronunciation. Also, chapter 11 will soon be posted on the "Geeta Chanting Blog" in its entirety. You can reach this blog by visiting Chinmaya Vrindavan's website.

We spent some time with the children talking about our Alphabet Safari lessons for the year and how we will be going on a journey of different values with the ABC's. The lesson today, however, was a discussion on "Who is God?" and "Can we see God?" .... "Where is God?" The kids had lots of ideas of this topic, and it was fun exploring this subject with them :-)

After our discussion, we did Likhita Japa. We found that a few of the children were very comfortable writing ऊँ. However, many do not know how to make the proper strokes. So we will be using our tracing cards over the next few weeks until we all feel confident with our writing. Once we are all on the same page (so to speak,) we will then introduce राम. Late fall the children should be ready for keeping a Likhita Japa journal. This is a wonderful leap in their learning — and the aunties always get excited when they see everyone sit quietly writing the Lord's name ... it's truly amazing to see.

We ended our class with a a few rounds of "KrishnaH Vadati (definitely one of this auntie's favorite games.) This game is performed much like "Simon Says," except in Sanskrit. In this activity we aim to introduce the children to simple verbs with instructions (in the imperative) from our Lord Krishna hand puppet. Everyone has a lot of fun with this — and by the end of class we all welcome the opportunity to get up and jump around a little. And it's extra fun doing it in God's language!

Hope everyone has a great week — and we look forward to another "Party with God" next Sunday!

Sept 19 Class: Section 1

2010-09-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Mamtha and Jacqueline

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)

Quiet Time: One minute of silence followed by our focus game (see comments below)

Story: Ganesha Goes to a Party

Craft/Activity: Made a small Lord Ganesha out of modeling clay. (click here to view sample and directions on how to make.)

Comments: Parents, we've gotta say that these children are more 1st graders than kindergartners! Everyone did so well on their first day ... not one tear ... and lots of enthusiasm!

We started our class with the morning prayers listed above. Afterwards we spent a few minutes and talked about what each "Shanti" means at the end of the prayer. The first Shanti is asking for peace of the universal elements (like thunder, heavy winds, monsoons, etc.) The second Shanti is for environmental disturbances around us (like dogs barking, kids arguing, car horns beeping, etc.) And the third Shanti is for ourselves ... which is why we say it softer. We are asking for peace on the inside.

We then did our "quiet time." For the parents not familiar with this segment: The children sit quietly for one minute with their eyes closed. At the end of one minute they hear a stone drop into a bowl. Then another ... and another ... and another. The children are instructed to count the stones (in their head) as they drop. When aunty says "Okay, open your eyes," we go around the room and ask each child how many stones they counted. As you can imagine, our numbers vary quite a bit in the beginning. However, by the end of the year our young friends will be able to sit absolutely still for two whole minutes with very focused attention and counting — we guarantee it!! :-) This is an activity that we will be doing in every class.

Next week will be a full class — no auditorium. Just bring your child directly to our classroom (C-106). We must warn you that the aunties are "sticklers for time" — and we will be starting precisely at 10:00. Please make sure that your child arrives a few minutes early so they don't miss out on any of the learning fun. And we will always have some set-up chores for them to help with if you decide to come 10 or 15 minutes earlier :-) If, however, you must come late, please PLEASE respect our "Do Not Enter" sign on the door. This sign will be placed outside when we are doing our "Quiet Segment." You won't have to wait any more than 2 minutes ... we promise.

The kids don't need to bring anything to class — just their smiles and enthusiasm. The aunties will take care of all the crayons, scissors, glue sticks, etc, so no need to send in a back pack. The less number of things the kids have to keep track of in class, the better.

We're really looking forward to a fun year of learning with your child. Just so you know, we like to think of our Sunday get togethers as a "Party with God!"

Enjoy this fabulous weather ... this aunty is now going out for her bike ride.

About This Blog

2010-09-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hari Om!

Welcome to the Kindergarten Balavihar Blog for Section 1. The sevikas for this class are Mamtha Rau and Jacqueline Gaines.

We hope that you will continue to regularly visit this online journal to learn about your child's weekly Sunday morning activities. This blog will serve as our main communication tool, so we highly encourage you to check in on a weekly basis. All announcements and class reviews will be posted each class day by 6:00 p.m.

Also, feel free to browse around to read about our previous year's activities. We have included some fun activities, videos/animations, and other websites for you and your child to explore. If (and when) we stumble across new sites and info to share, we will most certainly post them ... so do take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with this blog. It is our hope that this on-line journal will not only provide classroom information for the parents, but will also become a source of fun and enjoyment for the kids when they are at home.

For your convenience, we have made this blog available for subscription. Just click on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" at the bottom of the page to set your preferences. By subscribing, you will be instantly informed of any new postings or updates. This blog is for class review only – we are not hosting a discussion forum. If you need to get in touch with one of the sevikas, please email us directly and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We look forward to spending a very fun and spiritually enriching year with your child!

The Kindergarten Sevikas
Section 1

Vedic OM

2010-08-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is a great tracing sheet for learning how to make a Vedic OM!
(courtesy of Roy Goodwin, "Return to the Center")

Click on image to print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size and brightness, if necessary.

Click on the animation to see the stroke sequence.

Rabbit Drawing

2010-08-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

Print the page below and draw a rabbit. We like to use these activity sheets in our Kindergarten class during the "Sanskrit Fun Segment." Feel free to copy the sample below, or better yet, create your own image!

Materials

Print out (see below)

Black marker/crayons

शशकः

śaśakaḥ

rabbit

Click on image below and print.

Make sure you adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Frog Drawing

2010-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Print the page below and draw a frog. We like to use these activity pages during our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." Feel free to copy the sample below, or better yet, create your own image!

Materials
Print out (see below)
Black marker/crayon

मण्डूकः

maṇḍūkaḥ

(frog)

Click on the image and print

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary

Spider Drawing

2010-08-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Print the page below and draw a spider. We like to use these activity pages during our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." Feel free to copy the sample below, or better yet, create your own image!

Materials
Black marker/crayon
Print out (see below)

तन्तुनाभः

tantunābhaḥ

(spider)

Click on the image and print

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Dog Drawing

2010-08-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

Print the page below and draw a dog. We like to use these activity pages during our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." Feel free to copy the sample below, or better yet, create your own image!

Materials
Print out (see below)
Black marker/crayon

शुनकः

śunakaḥ

(dog)

Click on the image and print

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Cat Drawing

2010-08-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

Print the page below and draw a cat. We like to use these activity pages during our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." Feel free to copy the sample below, or better yet, create your own image!

Materials
Print out (see below)
Black marker/crayon

बिडालः

biḍālaḥ

cat

Click on image below and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Lord Hanumaan

2010-08-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a coloring page for the children to practice their likhita japa with. Have them fill in Lord Hanumaan with राम (rāma) − using whatever colors they wish!

Materials
• Coloring page (see below)
• Markers or pens (different colors)

Click on image below and print

Make sure to adjust your brightness and printing size, if necessary

Likhita Japa Game

2010-08-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

The goal of this challenge is to document on paper how many times our mind shifts during likhita japa − the less number of color shifts, the better!! We like to use this to help the children learn to focus completely on their likhita japa — which can be a difficult task for 5/6 year olds :-) So, to make it fun, we ask them to do the following:

1. Place at least 2 different colored writing pens in front of them, along with their journal.

2. When the aunty says "OM" they are supposed to pick up one of the pens and begin their likhita japa, writing ऊँ (and thinking only of ऊँ!)

3. If they find themselves thinking of anything else (even for a split second) they are supposed to: a) put the pen down and pick up another color; b) take a deep breath and; c) start writing ऊँ again.

Repeat step 3 until the pre-determined time is up. We usually do 5 minutes.

We emphasize to the children that they must pay very close attention to their thoughts, and only they will know when it is time to change pen colors. When we gather for our "circle time review" we make it a point to praise the children for being honest with themselves. We then will talk about what distracted our thoughts, and how we can try and do better during our next session.

Note: Before we start this game, an aunty will demonstrate how we play − speaking her thoughts aloud, changing pens when she shifts from "OM," taking a deep breath, and then starting all over again. We never show any disappointment about color shifts. Instead we demonstrate how pleased we are with our efforts and how we're going to strive to do better next time.

Sanskrit Numbers 11-20

2010-08-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

These are coloring/activity pages to help children learn numbers 11-20 in Sanskrit. Please note that these numbers are in the neuter gender.

Click here to download pages.

Fish Drawing

2010-08-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

Print out the page below and draw a fish. We use this in our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." The children can copy the image below or, better yet, create their own image!

Materials
Page Print out
Black marker and/or crayons

मत्स्यः

matsyaḥ

fish

Click on the image below and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Elephant Drawing

2010-08-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

Print out the page below and draw an elephant. We use this in our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." The children can copy the sample below or, better yet, create their own image!

Materials
Print out page
Black marker and/or crayons

गजः

gajaḥ

elephant

Click on the image below and print.

Be sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Mouse Drawing

2010-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

Print out the image below and draw a mouse. We use this in our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." The children can copy the sample we have given − or, better yet, make up their own picture!

Materials
Print out page
Black marker and/or crayons

मूषकः

mūṣakaḥ

mouse

Click on the image below and then print.

Be sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Lion Drawing

2010-08-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Print out the page below and draw the face of a lion. We use this in our "Sanskrit Fun Segment." The children can copy the sample we have given, or better yet, make up their own image!

Materials
Page print out
Black markers and/or crayons

सिंहः

simhaḥ

lion

Click on the image below and then print.

Be sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Connect the Dots: Duck

2010-08-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is a fun page for children to practice Sanskrit numbers (1-20) with. Make sure to have them practice counting aloud as they work to complete the drawing. And don't forget to have them say कादम्बः a few times while they are admiring their finished artwork!

We used this page to accompany our story "Quick and Quack" for "O is for Obendience."

कादम्बः

kādambaḥ

(duck)

Click on the image below and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Little Yash is Happy Right Now

2010-08-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

Written by Nishita Chaitanya.
Artwork by Anand Chodankar and Sugandha Kaneka.
Chinmaya Bala Katha, Chinmaya Publications.

This is a great book for helping young children understand that "happiness" is an attitutde. We use this in our kindergarten class when we do "H is for Happiness." By the time we finish reading the story, the kids feel really confident that they have grasped this complicated concept. Our young friends give this book a "four thumbs up!!!"

The Empty Pot

2010-08-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

by Demi

1996, Henry Holt and Company, New York
Paperback edition
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-1217-0

This is a beautiful story of how the Emperor needed to find a successor for his throne. He had a hard time choosing someone, so he thought he'd let the flowers decide!

Flashcard Sets

2010-08-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some Flashcard sets for you and your child to explore. The aunties like to use these to study for class :-) and we thought we'd share them for your enjoyment. To view our different subjects just click on the title below. Be sure and try the "Scatter Game" and "Test Yourself."

Cards Sets (Sanskrit)
Animals (with pictures)
Colors (with pictures)
Numbers 1-10
Numbers 11-20
Fruits and Vegetables (with pictures)
Verbs
Gods and Goddesses (with pictures)

Also, these sets can be downloaded to your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad. You will need to purchase the "Flashcards Deluxe" app, which is a great app to own! You can "study on the go," edit the cards − and here's the best part: you can even record sound for each card ... which means your child can use their own voice in their studies :-)

Once you have the applet:

1. click on the "+" icon (in the upper right hand corner).

2. Click on "Quizlet Flashcards"

3. Click on the magnifying glass (search icon) in the upper right corner.

4. Click on "Creator"

5. Type in "jqg" and then hit "search"

At this point you will see all of our study card sets. You may download any (or all). We will be adding more sets throughout the Balavihar year − so check back every now and then.

Connect the Dots: Cow

2010-08-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is a fun page for children to practice Sanskrit numbers (1-20) with. Make sure to have them practice counting aloud as they work to complete the drawing. And don't forget to have them say धेनु a few times while they are admiring their finished artwork!

धेनु

dhenu

cow

Click on the image below and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Connect the Dots: Elephant

2010-08-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is a fun page for children to practice Sanskrit numbers (1-20) with. Make sure to have them practice counting aloud as they work to complete the drawing. And don't forget to have them say गजः a few times while they are admiring their finished artwork!

गजः

gajaḥ

elephant

Click on the image below and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Learn Colors (Sanskrit)

2010-08-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

Study these flash cards

Numbers 11-20 (Sanskrit)

2010-08-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

Study these flash cards

Numbers 1-10 (Sanskrit)

2010-08-31T06:25:00.000-07:00

Study these flash cards

Gods and Goddesses

2010-08-31T06:21:00.000-07:00

Study these flash cards

Colors in Sanskrit

2010-08-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

This is a short animation teaching the basic color names in Sanskrit. Click here for video

Learn Animal Names (Sanskrit)

2010-08-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

Study these flash cards | Study animals flash cards

Rangoli/Mandala

2010-08-31T06:05:00.000-07:00

Some of our kindergarten friends have been asking for more rangoli/mandala pictures to practice their likhita japa with. So here is another one .... have fun!!!

Materials
Crayons/Markers (colors)
Print out (see below)

Click on the image and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size and brightness, if necessary.

Shiva Lingam Mandala (Likhita Japa)

2010-08-31T05:26:00.000-07:00

We use this in our likhita japa journal workshop. The children color the Shiva Lingam and then write ऊँ नमः शिवाय (om namaḥ śivāya) around the border.

Materials
Black and red crayon/marker
Writing pen

Click on the image to print.

Make sure to adjust your printer's brightness and page size, if necessary.

ऊँ नमः शिवाय Tracing Sheet

2010-08-31T05:23:00.000-07:00

This is a tracing sheet to help the children practice writing ऊँ नमः शिवाय (om namaḥ śivāya) with.

Click on the image and print.

Make sure to adjust your printer's brightness and page size, if necessary.

Click on the video below to see the

writing strokes for ऊँ नमः शिवाय

श्री रामः (śrī rāmaḥ)

2010-08-31T03:02:00.000-07:00

आपदामपहर्तारं दातारं सर्वसंपदाम् ।
लोकाभिरामं श्री रामं भूयो भूयो नमास्यहम् ।।

āpadām-apahartāraṁ
dātāraṁ sarvasaṁpadām
lokābhirãmaṁ śrī rāmaṁ
bhūyo, bhūyo namāmy-aham

(I offer my prostrations again and again to Lord Raama, the remover of all misfortunes, the giver of prosperity, and the beloved of the world.)

रामाय रामभद्राय रामचन्द्राय वेधसे
रघुनाथाय नाथाय सीतायाः पतये नमः

rāmāya rāmabhadrāya
rāmacandrāya vedhase
raghunāthāya nāthāya
sītāyāḥ pataye namaḥ

(Salutations to the husband of Sita, Rāmacandra, Rāmabhadra, who revels in all living beings, who is the incarnation of Viṣṇu, and who is the Lord of the Raghu clan.)

Turtle Drawing

2010-08-31T02:16:00.000-07:00

Print the image below and draw a turtle. We like to use these activity sheets during our "Sanskrit is Fun" segment. Feel free to copy the sample given — or better yet, create your own image!

Materials
Print out (see below)
Black marker/crayons

कूर्मः

kūrmaḥ

turtle

Click on the image and print

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Bird Drawing

2010-08-31T00:54:00.000-07:00

Print the page below and draw a bird. Feel free to copy the sample below, or better yet, create your own image!

Materials
Print out (see below)
Black marker/crayon

खगः

khagaḥ

bird

Click on the image below and print.

Make sure to adjust your printing size, if necessary.

Creative Likhita Japa and राम

2010-08-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

December 5, 2010 Class
click here to view photos

Creative Likhita Japa and राम

2010-08-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

November 21, 2010 Class
click here to view photos

Spinning Tops for "Enthusiasm"

2010-08-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

November 14, 2010 Class
click here to view photos

"I Love Dad" Cards

2010-08-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

November 7, 2010 class.
Click here to view photo album.

Likhita Japa Drawings

2010-08-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2010 Class
click here to view

June 6 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-06-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Indira, Kalpana, Ruchi and Jacqueline. Many, many thanks to all of our helper parents today!

Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Saraswati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Bhajans:
• Ganapati, Ganapati click here for text and audio
• Subramanyam click here for text

Ending Prayer
• Om Poornamadah click here for text

Comments: Today was both a sad and joyful day for the aunties. We are sad that our Balavihar year has come to end. And we are very happy to have spent so many Sunday mornings with your children. What a great gift it has been for us to learn from our young friends as we journeyed through our Vedantic Alphabet Safari together. We hope that your kids have had as much fun as we have!

Well parents, all of our play preparation and practice is now coming to an end. At this point, whatever we have under our belt is what we're going to get on stage :-) It sure has been a lot of work — but we are certain that you will agree that it was all worth it next Sunday. Honestly, we really can't thank you enough for all of your support and encouragement as we worked our way through rehearsals and prop making.

Please remember to dress your child in dark clothes (either black or navy blue) for the performance next Sunday. Our guess is that even though the air conditioner will be on — the stage is going to be hot from the lights. So, lightweight clothing is suggested. Shorts and short sleeve t-shirts are absolutely okay. Also, if you want to change your child into traditional dress after the performance, don't forget to bring their clothes. We will have plenty of green room space for you to use.

We can't thank the Geeta Chanting Competition Committee enough for the fabulous ice cream party they gave us today. It was a welcomed treat on so many levels!! The ice cream was delicious — and it helped cool us down while we worked in our hot and stuffy space.

Well kids, this is it —rest up. We're going to have a big day next Sunday. In the meantime, we hope that you have a great week. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the rain doesn't take over too many of the days, so we can be outside riding bikes, swimming, or just plain ol' romping around.

We sure are going to miss you guys this summer ...

Make sure that you keep on practicing all of your prayers, likhita japa, and quiet time. In fact, why not try the focus game on mom or dad and see if you can trick them :-)

And don't forget, we want to hear a super big "Hari OM" when we see you in the hallway — followed up by a "high five" of course ...

Lots of hugs to you all!

May 23 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-05-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline. Many thanks to our helper moms and dads today!!!

Home Work Fun: Click here to print out this coloring page. Discuss with your child who this picture is of. What was his name when he was a child? Where was he born?

Rehearsal Photographs: Click here to view

Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Saraswati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Quiet Time: 1 minute 30 seconds of complete silence and excellent counting with our focus game. We were determined to trick our young friends — but couldn't do it. The aunties will try again next week for sure! Wish us luck ... :-)

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati (click here for text and audio)

Likhita Japa: None

Letter of the Week: None

Story: "Punyakoti" and "How the Squirrels Got Their Stripes"

Games and Activities: KrishnaH Vadati (click here for complete text)

Comments: Many thanks to all of the parents for bringing your children early for play rehearsals. We really appreciate your understanding about our last minute auditorium assignment. This will be the last time that we get to work with the stage before our End of the Year Program (June 13.)

The kids did great this morning with the rehearsal!! And boy, are things really coming together nicely. It seems like all the chaos and confusion has finally passed, and we are in the "smooth sailing" mode. We will be having another mandatory practice at the ashram on June 5. We request that you bring your child for this get together. The more we are able to practice, the smoother the performance will be on the big day :-) We should have the ocean backdrop completed and ready to use for this rehearsal. (Sarvesh, get ready to do your part!) We know that sometimes the kids have been a bit bored waiting for the rehearsals to take shape ... trust us we completely understand. But, please reassure them that those days are long gone ... rehearsals will be much shorter and efficient from now on. We really applaud these kids and their perseverance — they have been super troopers — starting from Day 1!

Many thanks to the moms who stayed in class today and helped sew the waves onto the ocean. You did a fantastic job — and these finishing touches are going to make the backdrop look so much better. At this point, it seems like we are just going to be doing some touch-ups on all of our props. So, if any of you want to exhaust some creativity — please continue to join us at the ashram on Saturday from 4-6. We'll be needing to do some color touch ups and ironing the wrinkles out of the coconut leaves.

Also, please don't forget that your child should be dressed in black or navy blue on June 13. The clothes do not have to be formal, just dark in color. Make sure to pack along their "nice clothes" to change into after the performance.

We've been told that we're having an ice cream party on June 6th — so don't forget to pack your appetite. Congratulations to all the Kindergarten and Pre-K children for having the most registrants in the Geeta Chanting Competition. You are all winners in our book — you guys did a super job!!

Guess we're now getting a mini break — Memorial Day Weekend is coming up. We hope everyone has a very peaceful, safe and relaxing weekend. For those of you who are attending the Memorial Day Camp — we hope you have a wonderful time and can't wait to hear about all the fun.

And, of course, the best news about Memorial Day Weekend is: "The pools are finally going to open!!!!"

See you all on the 5th of June at the ashram play rehearsal.

May 16 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-05-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Kalpana, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Homework Fun: Click here to print an Abstract Coloring Page. Have your child say the color names and numbers aloud (in Sanskrit) as they color the page.

Rehearsal Photographs: Click here to view our class pics

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)
• Shree Hanuman (click here for text)

Quiet Time: One absolute minute of silence with some fantastic focus counting. Way to go, Kids!!! This aunty was sure that you were going to be tricked today ... but it just didn't happen. Boy, have you guys grown over the year ...

Likhita Japa: None

Letter of the Week: None

Story: None

Activity and Games: None

Comments: After we did our morning prayers and quiet time, we immediately jumped into our play rehearsal. We were reminded today that we have only two more classes before our end of the year performance — so we still have some work to do.

The kids did great today. (We took some photos of the class chaos today. Make sure you check them out.) We must have run through the play two or three times, and it was hot in the cafeteria, to boot. Now that we are pretty clear on the sequence of the different actions, we will try and run through the entire play from beginning to end in our next class. For the parents who have volunteered to help on the stage: Please join us next class — we need you!!!

Also, we would like to remind you that your child will need to be dressed completely in black (or navy blue) for the performance on June 13. It would be really great if we could do a full dress rehearsal on June 6. So, please have your child's outfit ready to wear by then. Yoga or sweat pants are fine. We prefer for your child to have a long sleeved shirt, if possible. The dark colors are going to be absolutely essential for the puppet show to look its best :-)

Kids, because we are in the cafeteria for our rehearsals, the aunties are going to bring a nice sweet treat for all your hard work. So, let's make sure that we get right down to business again when we meet!

Can't wait to see you all next week — parents, too!

Time for that nice long bike ride ... this weather is absolutely divine ....

May 9 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-05-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Kalpana, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Home Work Fun: Print out and color this picture. Discuss with your child who this picture is of — and how we celebrate Gurudev's birthday, which is May 8. There is a great article on Him in this month's issue of "Balavihar" magazine. Take some time and read it to your child!

Rehearsal Photographs: Click here to view pictures taken by our young photographer, Anoushka.

Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Saraswati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute 10 seconds of complete silence with very good shell counting — nice work, Kids! The Aunties really tried to trick you this time, but couldn't do it. Guess we'll have to work a little harder next week :-)

Gita Chanting: Congratulations to all of our young friends who entered the Gita Competition. We are very proud of all of your hard work and dedication in learning the first seven shlokas! You guys did great!!

Likhita Japa: none

Letter of the Week: none

Story: none

Activity and Games: none

Comments: Well, first we have to congratulate our young friends on all of their hard work with the Geeta Competition. Even though only one child was selected first place for every group — we have got to say that every single one of you kids went home a winner last weekend! You worked towards the goal of memorizing the first seven shlokas and came to the ashram to participate in the competition. You definitely gave a living example of "V is for Victory." And guess what? We've got a bonus surprise for you — our class, along with the pre-k class won the ice cream party for having the most children enter the competition. So, Double Thumbs Up! We'll be sure and let you know when the ice cream is coming to Balavihar ...

Today we focused our class time on the play rehearsal for the End of the Year Program. It seems as though we will be doing this from now until the end of the year ... which is only another 3 classes away. We are still working on cues and movement on and off the stage — but those things aside, it feels like the play is definitely moving forward. Once we receive more details regarding rehearsals from Nanda Aunty, we will be sure to post them immediately. Please continue to regularly check back with the blog to see if new announcements have been made. You will find them in the "Announcement" section at the top of this page.

Also, parents please note: next week will be a shortened class because Swamiji will be holding pravacan for the adults in the auditorium, followed by our monthly Balavihar program — which is being performed by the fourth grade class. Please pick your child up in one of the front rows after we have completed our prayers and aarti.

It sure is hard to believe that the year is nearly over. We are certainly going to miss spending Sunday morning with our young friends. We can see how much they have matured over the year — and we couldn't feel more blessed to watch them grow! No question about it, they are really ready for first grade...

Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms!! We hope that you have a very relaxing and peaceful afternoon with your families. And, kids — we hope that you will be an extra help to mom today. Helpfulness is one of the best gifts a person can give ...

Look forward to seeing you all next week for another round of rehearsals and fun.

p.s. Sanjit, we hope you are feeling better ...

April 25 Class: Sections 1 and 2

2010-04-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Indira, Ruchi and Jacqueline. Many, many thanks to all the helper parents today!

Home Fun Work: Print out and color this page. Discuss with your child who this is a picture of and how he is important to us.

Morning Prayers:
• Om Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of absolute silence and excellent shell counting during our focus game − उत्तमम्!!!

Gita Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6, and 7 (click here for audio, text and on-line registration.)

Likhita Japa
• ऊँ 21 times (click here for tracing sheet)
• राम 21 times (click here for tracing sheet)

Letter of the Week: Y is for Yagna

Story: The Enormous Turnip (Aunty did a very funny re-enactment of this story with the children)

Activity and Games: Sanskrit Learning (click here for our words this week)
• Reviewed our 5 colors (purple, red, blue, yellow and green)
• Reviewed our number identification in Devanagari (1-5)
• Introduced some animals
• Introduced you (masc. formal) and I/me
• KrishnaH vadati (we substituted animals' names for KrishnaH) (click here for complete text)

Comments: Our classes were combined again today — we will now continue to do this for the remainder of our Balavihar year. We have found that this is a much easier way for us to conduct class and do play practice. So, from now on please bring your children to the class nearest the front door.

We have to say that the children chanted their 7 shlokas today with tremendous confidence! We certainly hope that you have all registered them for the big day next weekend. Clearly these kids have been diligently practicing at home — उत्तमम् parents!!

After we did our prayers, quiet time, Geeta chanting and alphabet recap, we divided the class into two sections. A few of the aunties and all the helper parents took 1/2 of the children to the auditorium to do the play practice. The aunty posting this blog wasn't present, so unfortunately, she can't give you her first hand impression of the rehearsal, BUT word in the hallway is: "that things went EXTREMELY WELL on stage" Can't wait to see rehearsals at our next class ...

For the children who stayed in the classroom today, we focused our activities on some fun Sanskrit learning. We went over the numbers and colors that we have been learning. After our review we played a new game to help us learn some animals. Once we had a few animals "under our belt," so to speak, we then held up the picture of a color and a picture of the animal together — so that the children would start to create very simple sentences on their own. For example: a yellow bird, a green frog, a red cat, etc. We then tried a round of Charades using the animal pictures. The children are doing exceptionally well with remembering the games we have been playing. So, whenever we have to divide our rehearsals into two, we will be sure to bring out our game box for more learning. You can click here to view all the words we worked with today.

Our next play rehearsal and prop making session will be at the ashram on Saturday, May 1, 4-6 p.m. Please come and join us. The puppets are nearly finished! Next we will be working on the backdrop.

In the meantime, hope to see everyone on Sunday at the Geeta Chanting Competition. Have a super break and we'll meet back in class on Mother's Day, May 9th!

बहवः धन्यवादाः (bahavaH dhanyavaadaaH, many thanks) to all the parents who came to help with the practice today. We really appreciate your support and help with making this play a reality. We look forward to working with you again, and again, over the next several weeks!

April 18 Class: Section 1 and 2

2010-04-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Indira, Kalpana and Jacqueline. Special thanks to all the helper moms who joined the class today.

Home Fun Work: Print out and color this page
Have your child practice saying aloud numbers 1-5 and colors in Sanskrit.

Morning Prayers:
• Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)

Quiet Time: Three OMs followed by one minute of silence

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati (click here for text and audio)

Gita Chanting: none (click here for text, audio and on-line registration)

Likhita Japa: none

Letter of the Week: X is for Excellence

Activity and Games: Sanskrit Games
• Colors - red, green, blue, yellow and purple (click here for text)
• Identify Devanagari script numbers 1-5 (click here for text)
• KrishnaH Vadati (click here for complete text)
• Read Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton (in Sanskrit) (click here for text)

Comments: Today was another topsy-turvy day for us. We surprised the children by conducting our entire class on the stage in the auditorium. Because our annual program is literally less than 2 months away, we will be seizing every Balavihar opportunity we can to use the auditorium for class. We expect that the more our young friends can practice being up there, the less stage fright we will encounter on the big day itself.

After our morning prayers and quiet time, Aunty gathered all the children in a circle and reviewed the story of our play — "E is for Enthusiasm." For those who are not familiar with our play's script: we will be performing the tale when Lord Raama sroked the little squirrels for helping build the bridge to Lanka ... hence the three stripes that are on their back.

Our real fun and chaos began after the story recap. Several of the puppets were assembled and distributed to the kids. We started the rehearsal with learning how we should enter and exit the stage. After a few rounds of this, the kids clearly got the rhythm down. In fact, we all gave ourselves a huge two thumbs up — उत्तमम! (uttamam, excellent) This was a big moment of joy (and relief) for the aunties :-)

Now our challenge was how to rehearse with the puppets, script, and 40 children. After a few attempts to try and calm all the excitement down, we decided that our best strategy for today would be to divide the children into two smaller groups — one group remained on stage to practice their parts while the other group disappeared to the back of the auditorium and played games in Sanskrit. We're thinking that until our adult volunteers are able to consistently join us for rehearsals, that this might be the best solution to our "Kindergarten Enthusiasm."

Here's something hard to believe: our Geeta Chanting Competition is coming up in just a few weeks! Boy did time fly — it seems like it was just one or two months ago when we started working with the first two lines of the first shloka. Please be sure and reward your children for all their hard work this year by registering them for the competion. We have seen such growth with all the kids these past months ... with their pronunciation, enthusiasm and memorization. Clearly, the parents deserve a big "उत्तमम्" for all of their hard work!

We promised the children that we will keep last week's "Home Fun Work" coloring page on blog. We did not tell them what the picture was off — it is going to be a surprise for them, and they will come to class next week and let us know what they colored.

Today was defintely one active day — this aunty is willing to bet that all the adults took a good rest when they got home.

See everyone next week for another fun class!

April 11 Class: Section 1 and 2

2010-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Indira, Aunty (Vinay's Mom) and Jacqueline

Home Work Fun: Print out and Color this page
Have your child practice saying the numbers 1-5 in Sanskrit. Practice saying the colors aloud, too!

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for view text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for view text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence — with some seriously accurate shell counting. Our kids are definitely moving up a grade!

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati (click here for audio and text)

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 (click here for audio, text and on-line registration)

Likhita Japa:
• राम (21 times) (click here for tracing card)
• ऊँ (21 times) (click here for tracing card)

Letter of the week: W is for Work

Story: Ant and the Grasshopper

Activity/Games: Sanskrit Games
• Numbers 1-5 (click here for text)
• Colors – red, green, yellow, blue, and purple (click here for text)
• KrishnaH vadati (click here for text)

Comments: It sure was nice seeing everyone today after our Spring Break. Lucky for us, we got to combine both of our classes for a very fun morning together. Didn't take long for us to get back into the groove. All the kids had fun stories to share about their vacation – many went away for vacation, some got to ride their bikes a lot, and one friend got a new dog!

Even though we had a shortened class because we needed to go to the auditorium for aarti, we managed to get through oodles of activities before packing up. Today was our first "official" play rehearsal for the end of the year program. We brought in some of our puppets — and the kids got a feel for manipulating them. After our prayers, chanting and story, we divided the classes into two. Half of the children left the classroom to begin rehearsals, while the remaining children stayed back and played some fun games in Sanskrit. (We were pretty amazed at how quickly they were able to identify the first 5 numbers and some colors — keep up the good work, kids!) From this point onward, we will be finishing our learning activities by 10:45 so that we can rehearse during the 2nd half of the class. Please continue to check the blog for our updates and reviews :-)

Geeta Competition, believe it or not, is only a few weeks away ... We really urge you to register your child, if you have not already done so. We have noticed that there are quite a few children in our classes that have all 7 shlokas memorized — and their pronunciations are perfect. Nicely done parents!

After our little cold front last week, this weather is truly appreciated and welcomed. Hope all of our young friends enjoy a good romp outside after their lunch. Kids, make sure to keep practicing your Geeta Chanting – and don't forget to print out the "Color by Number" page above. We're going to see how many of us were able to figure out what the picture is of :-)

By the way, the aunties were very impressed that some of you were able to tell us about our Chinmaya OM coloring page from last class :-)

See you all next week ...

Mar 21 Class: Section 1

2010-03-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Home Fun Work: Print out and color this picture.
Discuss the meaning of this picture with your child.

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text
• Shree Hanumaan click here for text

Quiet Time: 1 minute of complete silence followed by very accurate shell counting. Two thumbs up, kids!!

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati click here for audio and text

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. click here for on-line registration, audio and text

Likhita Japa:
• राम 21 times click here for tracing card
• ऊँ 21 times click here for tracing card

Letter of the week: "V is for Victory"

Story: The Story of Raja Harischandra

Activity: Stations where small groups of children had to solve a completely different puzzle than the rest of the groups. When everyone was finished with their project, we then posed the question: "Which group was victorious?"

Ending Prayers: OM PoornamadaH click here for text

Comments: Today sure was a fun-filled day! First, we want to thank all the parents (grandparents, too) who joined us for our class activities. We were really glad that you could be a part of your child's balavihar experience today, and hope that you got a good glimpse of how well your children are doing with their weekly disciplines and learning.

After reviewing the vedantic alphabet, we learned our letter of the week: "V is for Victory." To help us understand this concept, Auntie told the story of Raja Harischandra (the very same great story that affected Mahatma Gandhiji in a very profound way during his childhood!) After story time, we then moved into our activities to help us comprehend in a "kindergartener's world" what victory is. Five different puzzle stations were set up throughout the room (legos, mosaic picture making, blocks, etc.) We then had the children divide into groups of 4-5 and assigned them one particular station. When they completed their puzzle they were to raise their hand and tell us they were done — and then wait for the others. As they shouted out "We're done!" we would put a check mark next to their name on the whiteboard. The yellow team finished first. Then the red team, and so on. When everyone completed their puzzles, we then asked the children "Who was victorious?" On first impression, one might think the Yellow Team because they finished first. But then we talked about how everyone was victorious, because we each completed the task that was set before us ... no matter how long it took. We each had different tasks — and we each accomplished them!

Our Geeta Chanting is coming along nicely. We will be moving up to Shloka 6 in our next class on April 11. Please continue to practice with your child at home. We also hope that you make sure to register your child, on-line, for the competition in May. Pronunciation will be critical this year, so we urge you to not only use the blog for practicing and memorization, but you can also take advantage of the free classes that are offered at the ashram — which are conducted by wonderful Sanskrit instructors. We believe that they are on Friday evenings, but please double check the schedule by visiting the Vrindavan website, or by asking Vasavaji.

We will be resuming our End of the Year play rehearsals during next class. Parents, please don't forget to add your child's wardrobe to your "Things To Do List." We will be needing the kids to wear black pants and a black shirt for the big performance in June. Your choice of short sleeves or long sleeves .... just make sure that they are completely dressed in black.

We certainly hope that this incredible weather continues — boy, is it a day to romp around outdoors, or what?!! Maybe on one of the warm days in May, we can convince the kids to hold a balavihar class outside ... what do you think, kids — a good idea?

Anyway, many thanks again to all the parents for an enjoyable morning. We are truly grateful to be able to spend this time with your children ... not only is it an opportunity for us to forget that we are part of the "older generation," but there isn't a class that passes when we haven't learned something from our young friends!

Enjoy your spring break — and we look forward to getting back together in two weeks.

Mar 21 Class: Section 2

2010-03-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Kalpana and Indira

Today was a great day with parents and children! We had 20 children, and of course 20 parents visited us. All the parents came at 10:40 and our children greeted them with "Hari OM" and we had a fun day. Here is what we did:

• Before parents came for the class room visit, we had our morning prayers, followed by one minute meditation. (The children are getting good at keeping quiet for one minute!)

• We had an Alphabet Quiz between children and parents. Few children were able to tell stories related to Alphabet, especially Aditya. Children won the quiz.

• Bhajans

• Geeta chanting

• We did our alphabet "V is for Victory." Our story was about King Harishchandra and we also had a few lines of our National Anthem (Indian).

• We did a coloring page for "U is for Unity."

• We showed our cute Monkey and explained to parents about our "End of the Year Program."

We request that parents give negative and or positive comments and any changes they would like for future classes. The feedback form can be found in the announcement section on this blog.

Mar 14 Class: Section 1

2010-03-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Home Fun Work:
Print out and have your child color this picture.
Discuss with your child who this picture is of, and why is he important to us.

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text
• Shree Hanumaan click here for text

Quiet Time: One minute of silence. We had a distraction during our shell count ... so that was unfortunate. But next week, we all agreed that we will definitely sit quietly and focused ;-)

Bhajans: None

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 click here for text, audio and on-line registration.

Letter of the Week: "U is for Unity"

Storytime: Hunter and the Net

Activity/Art Project: Color by Number Page (in Sanskrit) click here to view

Likhita Japa: none click here for राम tracing card

Sanskrit Words of the Week: click here for complete list
• एकता (ekataa, unity)
• रक्तः (raktaH, red)
• नीलः (niilaH, blue)
• पीतः (piitaH, yellow)
• हरितः (haritaH, green)
• धूमलः (dhuumalaH, purple)

Ending Prayers: Aarti and prayers were conducted in the auditorium.

Comments: We missed quite a few of our regular friends today. Apparently, the rain and wind storm we had yesterday caused some flooding and road damage. Someone told us that in some cities they were having a hail storm this morning. (Mother Nature can certainly make us pay attention, when she wants ;-) Anyway, we hope that everyone stayed dry and safe — and look forward to seeing you all next week!

We learned a new prayer for Lord Hanumaan this morning. We all agreed that the words seemed a little hard at first, but with practice and by the end of the year, we will all be saying it with ease. The kids were reminded how Shree KrishnaH seemed a little hard just a few months ago — and now it's a breeze ... and they are able to listen for specific words and their meanings, to boot!

Our letter today was "U is for Unity." Aunty shared the much loved story of the "Hunter and the Net." Afterwards, to illustrate the beauty of unity, we did an activity of a "Color by Number" page. We discussed how when we look at the page at first glance — all we see are a bunch of triangles with a number. However, after we color #1 red, then the image starts to have some interest. We see a field of red, and a bunch of triangles. Then we colored #2, # 3, etc. After all the triangles were colored, what we had were no longer just triangles, but a beautiful picture made up of many colors. The colors all worked together to create a thing of beauty for us to enjoy.

We are delighted to learn that each child remembered their character for the play. Wow!! To be truthful, the aunties thought they would have to go over the roles again. However, when Aunty called out "Bear # 1" the children who are operating that puppet held up their hands. Everyone remembered their character perfectly! Just so you know: we will not be having play rehearsal in class next week. However, in our following get-together (in April), we will resume rehearsals. Our hopes (and plans) are to have a few working puppets for the children to practice with. Keep your fingers crossed!

Guess no one is going outside to play this afternoon — perhaps God thought we needed to spend a day indoors reading or doing puzzles. Hope you all stay warm and cozy ...

See you next week for our weekly party with God and Gurudev!

Mar 07 Class: Section 1

2010-03-07T05:18:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Ruchi, and Jacqueline

Home Fun Work:
Print out and color this page (click here.)
Have your child come to class next week and tell us who the picture is of.

Morning Prayers:

• OM Saha Naavavatu click here for text

• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Quiet Time: We're ready to try for 1 minute and 15 seconds. Today was a great success! Everyone sat still for one whole minute and got a very accurate shell count during our focus game.

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati click here for audio and text

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 click here for audio and text

Letter of the Week: "T is for Truth"

Storytime: The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf

Likhita Japa: none

Sanskrit Words of the Week: none click here to view complete list

Ending Prayers: OM PoornamadaH click here for text

Comments: We are clearly ready to move into 1st grade. Our young friends are doing extremely well with all of their morning disciplines — and eagerly share the meaning of the prayers that they have been learning. We promised them that next week we will learn a new prayer for Lord Hanumaan (click here for text.)

Our letter of the week today was "T is for Truth." Even though most of the children were familiar with the "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf," we spent some circle time discussing the meaning of this story ... and what exactly is "telling a lie, or untruth." We also discussed how important it is to be a person that everyone can believe and trust. Afterwards, we played a game that helped illustrate how difficult it is to lie ... that it takes a lot of work and thought to engage in untruths — not cool!!

We completed our second round of rehearsals for the play. It was definitely a bit chaotic in the classroom, but we finally got all the roles assigned — not an easy task, we might add :-) Just so you know: we will be posting the child's name and character within a few days. So please check back soon to learn more details.

Our puppet and prop production work is coming along nicely. We are now in the process of drawing the different animals life-size. Once that is done, then we will be able to color and decorate. Our goal is to have most of the puppets ready for April rehearsals. Wish us luck!

The kids' energy level in class clearly spoke to the need to be outdoors and enjoy this beautiful weather. Hope all of you have a great afternoon of romp and play! As for this aunty: no question about it — a super long bike ride is definitely in the plan :-)

Look forward to seeing you all next Sunday for another fun party with God and Gurudev!

Puppets – Phase II

2010-03-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hooray — they seem to be taking shape!

We tested regular crayons as our coloring medium — and the results turned out just fine! The colors seem to be coming out crystal clear ... and they retain the "kindergarten look" we're trying to accomplish. The monkey is completely done in crayons, as well as the Coconut Tree leaves.

Guess we'll be coloring this Saturday ;-) Let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Click on each picture to view enlarged.

Puppets – Phase 1

2010-03-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

Feb 28 Class: Section 1

2010-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Nanda and Jacqueline

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Quiet Time: One minute of silence and complete accuracy in shell counting. Good going, guys! We need to work on not moving, at all, during our silent time. Some of us still shift our bodies a little ;-) We will continue to work towards our goal of 2 minutes by the end of the year — and we all agree that we can do it!!

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, Shlokas 1, 2, 3 and 4 click here for text and audio

Letter of the Week: "R is for Right" and "S is for Smile"

Storytime: "Pollyanna" Our story today illustrated how even though things may seem difficult, we need to practice what Pujya Gurudev instructed us to do ... "Keep on smiling!"

Likhita Japa:
• राम – 21 times click here to view

Sanskrit Words of the Week: none click here to view complete text

Ending Prayers: OM Poornamidah click here for text

Comments: First of all, we want to thank all the families for a wonderful time at Swamiji's bhiksha yesterday. It was a lot of fun — and all that food was absolutely delicious! We started out class today chanting "Parrots, Parrots, listen to me ..."

After our morning prayers and chanting, we reviewed our letters that we have studied thus far — with complete gusto, we are happy to add. Our letters today were "R is for Right" and "S is for Smile." One of our friends raised his hand and politely explained that we were missing a few letters. After O comes P and then Q. (Can't fool these 6 year olds.) Aunty explained that he was right — in the alphabet we learn at our regular school. But because "P stands for Prayer" and "Q stands for Quiet," we will not be able to fully understand these until we go through all of the other Vedantic letters first. So go figure, P comes after Z.

Today's emphasis was on "S is for Smile" — and how important it is for us to keep smiling, even when things seem hard and difficult. There is always a positive side to something and we should constantly be looking for it. To illustrate this concept, Aunty told the story of Pollyanna, a little girl who had lots of difficulties in life — but in the face of all those hardships, she always found something positive to smile about.

Parents, you will be extremely proud to know that your children have made tremendous leaps in the likhita japa segment. We were delighted to learn that nearly every child is able to write राम with confidence and accuracy on the dry erase boards. There were only two or three children who still wanted to use the tracing cards. Everyone else did independent writing — and they did great!!

We began our first day of formal rehearsal for the End of the Year Performance. Some roles were assigned and we practiced our stage entrance. As you can imagine, it was a little chaotic in the classroom when we started. Well, we take that back — it was quite chaotic ... but in a really fun way:-) Because of time constraints, we were not able to assign all of the children their roles. However, we assured them that within the next few classes everyone will know their role. And, more importantly, everyone will have a puppet and a part to play. Just so you know, parents, we plan to document all of our rehearsals so we can share them with you at the end of the year. Once every child's role has been determined, we will post all the details on the blog for you.

From this point onwards, we will be working on the play during class — after we have completed our curriculum. There may be times when we need you to be patient with us and let your child remain in class a few extra minutes after our ending time. Also, we request (actually beg) that everyone arrive on time. Because we have so much to go over in class, we really need every minute of class time.

Two thumbs up on the Geeta chanting, kids! We are now on Shloka 4. We will start Shloka 5 in March. Please continue to work with your child at home. We really recommend utilizing the Geeta blog for proper pronunciation and memorization. Each shloka is broken up into individual lines to make study more efficient. Definitely check it out if you haven't done so. Also, you can register your child on-line.

It sure was fun spending all this time with you kids this weekend. Have a super week — and we'll look forward to seeing you again on Sunday.

Sheshu, we hope you are feeling better :-)

Feb 28 Class: Section 2

2010-02-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Kalpana and Ruchi

Morning Prayers: Our weekly prayers, proceeded by saying OM 3 times.

Quiet Time: One minute of meditation. The kids were really wonderful!

Bhajans: Ganapati

Activity: Coloring page

Comments: We reviewed our alphabets that we have learned so far. Today's lesson was "O is for Obedience." The children had fun listening to the story of our own Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayandandaji.

At the end of class — we had half of our practice for the talent show, which was fun!

• Please try not to miss any of our classes for the remainder of the year.
• Please arrive to class on time.
• We will be practicing for the "End of the Year Performance" from 11:00 to 11:30 in our classroom.

Feb 21 Class: Section 1

2010-02-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Ruchi and Jacqueline

Click here for kid's Art Gallery.

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Quiet Time: 1 minute and 15 seconds of silence — with some accurate, focused counting afterwards. Because we did so well in our last class, we decided to try and "pump up" our time a little. Turns out that we were a little too restless to make the full time. Guess we had too much of a winter break. Next week we're going to build up our focus muscles a little more before we move on. Our goal is 2 minutes by the end of the year.

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, 3, and 4 click here for text and audio

Bhajans: Ganapati, Ganapati click here for text and audio

Letter of the Week: "O is for Obedience"

Storytime: March of the Penguins

Sanskrit Activity: Counting (1 to 10) and "Heads, Shoulder's Knees and Toes."

Likhita Japa: none

Sanskrit Words of the Week: वृक्षः (vRkShaH, tree), वृक्षशायिका (vRkShashaayikaa, squirrel), भल्लुकः (bhallukaH, bear), वानरः (vaanaraH, monkey) click here to view complete text

Ending Prayers: Aarti was conducted in the auditorium.

Comments: After our long, unexpected winter break, we all got back into the Balavihar groove pretty effortlessly this morning. At 10:00, the children quickly laid out our floor quilts, moved the tables out of the way, took off their shoes and sat in a circle to begin our morning prayers!

After our prayers and morning disciplines, Aunty brought out a globe and the much loved book, "March of the Penguins" to begin our lesson for the week – "O is for Obedience." This story was a wonderful example of how rules must be followed, for the good of the individual and for the community. Honestly, at the end of the story, we felt as though the penguin story contained all the values we are learning!

We want to thank all of you for having your children complete their drawings.We have a huge pile to go through — and look forward to posting them in our art gallery. Definitely check back in a few days to see all the children's interpretations of the animals — you will be in for a visual treat. We are really getting excited about seeing these drawings materialize into puppets for our annual performance!

Parents: please don't forget that we are having our bhiksha with Swamiji on Saturday, February 27. Nanda or Indira will be sending a confirmation email to everyone within a few days. So please check your inbox and make sure you receive one. This is such a great opportunity to meet with Swamiji — and we are grateful that this time slot is available for us. So, in addition to your appetite, please make sure you bring your questions!!

Well, looks like we are going to be seeing a lot of each other this weekend – Saturday at the ashram, and then back again for our weekly party with God on Sunday. Until then, enjoy the sunny weather. And kids, we promise to keep our fingers crossed for another snow day tomorrow.

Don't forget to keep practicing the Geeta ...
Stay warm!

p.s. Anoushka, we were really happy to see you today!

Feb 7 Class: Sec 1 & 2

2010-02-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

Balavihar was cancelled because of winter storm conditions.

Jan 31 Class: Section 1

2010-01-31T09:41:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Nanda and Jacqueline

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu click here for text
• Vakratunda Mahakaya click here for text
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam click here for text
• Shree KrishnaH click here for text

Quiet Time: 1 minute of complete silence and stillness. Everyone got an accurate shell count! We are definitely increasing our time to one minute 15 seconds next class.

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2 and 3 click here for audio and text

Bhajan: Ganapati, Ganapati. click here for audio and text

Letters of the Week: "M is for Mother" and "N is for Noble"

Story time: PunyakoTi — an all time favorite tale of a cow and her calf.

Activity: KrishnaH vadati. click here for complete text

• verbs: उपविशतु (upavishatu, sit down), उत्तिष्ठतु (uttiShThatu, stand up), उत्पततु (utpatatu, jump), भ्रमतु (bhramatu, spin), हसतु (hasatu, laugh), रोदितु (roditu, cry)
• adverbs: शीघ्रम् (shiighram, fast), मन्दम (mandam, slow)

Likhita Japa:
• wrote राम 21 times
• wrote ऊँ 21 times

Sanskrit Words of the Week: भल्लुकः (bhallukaH, bear), पाञ्चालिका (paaJcaalikaa, puppet), पिङ्गलः (piGgalaH, brown), चित्रलेखन (citralekhana, drawing) click here to view word list

End of Class Prayer: OM Poornamadah click here for text

Comments: After reviewing the Vedantic alphabet we have studied thus far, we jumped into "M is for Mother" and "N is for Noble." Our story today, PunyakoTi, best exemplifies these two ideas – what a wonderfully rich tale! This aunty could listen to it over ... and over ... and over again.

These kindergartners are quickly becoming 1st graders. They are doing very nicely with our morning prayers, and are able to tell us what each prayer means. We are still only on shloka 3 with our Geeta chanting. However, in our next class (February 7) we will begin shloka 4. Please use the Geeta Chanting Blog for practicing pronunciation and memorization with your child. (click here to view) Because of the amount of material we need to cover in each class, we cannot spend all the time we wish we could on pronunciation. This blog is a fabulous tool for learning ... and you can work with your child line by line.

As you probably know by now, we are getting ready for our annual end of the year program. As of this posting, we will be having pre-production workshops in the ashram — every Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. For the next few months we will focus on creating the props and set design for our young friends' performance. We welcome help from any and everyone who wants to lend a hand in the puppet making. So please mark your calendars and come join us in the fun every Saturday.

Regarding the puppet and set designs: we have posted an announcement asking for your child to copy some animal drawings. (click here to read) Please try and have these drawings done by February 7 – and be sure to have your child bring them to class. We will be using their drawings to create life-size puppets for them to perform with. In order to be ready for Spring rehearsals, we need to start making the props now.

O comes after N ... so let's brainstorm what that could be. It's not "octopus," "oven" or "orange" What do you think it could be? Here's a hint, kids: Mom and Dad are very happy when we practice it ...

Don't forget our Ganapati bhajan. We're going to do it even faster next time we get together. Don't know about you kids, but this aunty is ready for a nap ...

Jan 24 Class: Section 1

2010-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Nanda and Jacqueline

Morning Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet time: 1 minute of silence — with excellent accuracy in the focus game. We had about 6 children who did not budge at all ... complete stillness. Whoaa —way to go, kids!!!

Geeta Chanting: Shlokas 1, 2, and 3 (click here for audio and text)

Bhajan: None

Letter of the Week: "K is for Kindness" and "L is for Love"

Story time: Androcles and the Lion (click here to see a short animation)

Activity: Heart Pop-Up Card (click here to view)

Likhita Japa: none

Sanskrit Words of the Week: हृदय (hRdaya, heart) (click here to view word list)

End of Class Prayers: Aarti and prayers were performed in the auditorium.

Comments: We were able to jump right back into the groove after our mini-break. The aunties are very pleased with our young friends' ability to say the morning prayers ... as well as tell us what each prayer means. We will continue with the prayers listed above for the remainder of this month. However, we are probably ready to move on and learn some new ones starting February :-) The children also led us through our Vedantic Alphabet. They didn't miss a beat ... and eagerly shouted out what each word meant, to boot!

After our story, we spent some circle time discussing ways we can show kindness and love towards others. The children shared different examples where an act of kindness can make all the difference in the world for someone else. One example that everyone related to was "being a new kid in school and not knowing anyone." We all agreed that an act of kindness in saying "hello" to a newcomer can make that person feel welcomed and less afraid.

It's clear that many of the children are practicing their Geeta chanting at home — which is great ... we definitely want them to keep it up! Because we've had a sporadic schedule this month, we will plan to work on Shlokas 1, 2 and 3 again next week. However, starting in February, we will begin learning Shloka 4. Registration for the Geeta Chanting Competition is now available on-line. Click here to register your child. The aunties are looking forward to seeing all the kindergartners at the ashram on the big day!! We know they are going to chant beautifully!

We were reminded today that the annual end of the year program is rapidly approaching. Four months may sound like a long way off, but June will be here before we know it. Our two sections will be presenting a combined program at the annual event, so you should expect some emails from the sevikas coming your way soon. We believe this year's performance is going to be lots of fun for everyone — the kids, sevikas, and audience! Once we have the details worked out, we will be sure to let all of you know about rehearsal schedules, etc. So be sure to check your in-boxes over the next few weeks. Starting February, we will be combining the latter part of our classes so that we can begin rehearsals. We are hoping to get the core rehearsals done during balavihar. Once practice begins, we will be keeping an ongoing status report posted on the blog, so you will be able to keep track of our progress, etc.

Well kids, we learned that "K is for Kindness" and "L is for Love." Next week we're going to discuss "M is for _________." Bet you won't have to think hard to figure this one out. Here's a hint: M is a partner to D :-)

Have a great week everyone — and we look forward to seeing you all next Sunday!

Jan 10 Class: Sections 1 & 2

2010-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Usha Didi, Indira and Jacqueline

Prayers:
• OM Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: One solid minute of silence (with very little movement) and pretty accurate shell counting. Great job, kids!

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, Shlokas 1, 2 and 3 (click here for audio and text)

Bhajan: Ganapati, Ganapati (click here for audio and text)

Letter of the Week: "J is for Japa"

Activities: Memory Game with objects in a tray.

Likhita Japa:
• राम (21 times)
• ऊँ (21 times)

Sanskrit Words of the Week: लिखतु (likhatu, write), जप (japa, repetition of the Lord's name), माला (maalaa, garland) (click here to view class word list)

Sanskrit Learning:
• KrishnaH vadati (click here to view text)
• Counting numbers 1-10 (click here to view text)

End of Class Prayers:
• OM PoornamadaH (click here to view text)

Comments: Today sure was a fun-filled class! After nearly a month of break, we got right back into the groove. And the best part was that we combined both classes today. So it was a great opportunity to meet our kindergarten neighbors and enjoy the morning together.

Nanda Aunty is back from India — and it sure was nice seeing her again. She brought a very sweet surprise to class with her ... Usha Didi, her daughter. Usha Didi had been in India working with CORD for the past four months. And, while she was there she learned some really great bhajans from a few of the Balavihar students in Mumbai. She taught us a bhajan today ... and this is definitely going to be incorporated into our curriculum. We could not get this bhajan out of our head throughout the entire class :-) Many thanks, Usha Didi! We will be getting the lyrics via email soon ... and once received we will post them on the blog so we can all learn it.

Click the Play Button to hear "Ganapati, Ganapati."

Our letter of the week today was "J is for Japa." Even though our class was doubled in size, we managed to carry on a healthy discussion about the meaning of "japa" and why it is important. And that japa gives us tremendous mental strength, or concentration. While on the topic of "concentration," we then played a concentration game involving 20-30 objects in a tray. Each of the children were asked to focus on all the contents for about 30 seconds and then we covered the tray again. Once everyone had a chance to study the tray, we then asked the children if they could remember everything they saw. As you can imagine, we got a variety of answers ...

We ended the class with our likhita japa and some fun games of Shree KrishnaH vadati (aka Simon Says). It was nice to burn off energy after all that hard focusing ...

Please continue to practice the Geeta Chanting with your children at home. We are delighted to hear how well many of the kids are doing. Just a few minutes a day of practicing makes all the difference in the world.

Everyone stay warm today and enjoy some steaming hot chocolate. We will definitely miss you next weekend, but look forward to another fun class on the 24th!

Ganapati, Ganapati, Ganapati .... just can't get that bhajan out of my head. Absolutely invigorating!

Dec 13 Class: Section 1

2009-12-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Ruchi and Jacqueline

Prayers:
• Om Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute of silence, with some pretty accurate shell counting during our focus game. Great job, kids!!

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, Shlokas 1, 2 and 3 (click here for audio and text)

Story: Lord Ganesha Circles His Parents

Homework: Lord Ganesha Stand Up Card (click here to view)

Likhita Japa:
• Children wrote राम 21 times (click here to view tracing card).
• Children wrote ऊँ 36 times

Sanskrit Words of the Week: मूषकः (muuShakaH, mouse), मयूरः (mayuuraH, peacock), and बुद्धि (buddhi, intellect) (click here to view list)

Sanskrit Learning:
• KrishnaH vadati (click here to view text)
• Counting, 1 – 5 (click here to view numbers)

End of Class Prayers: Aarti and prayers were conducted in the auditorium.

Comments: We sure had a lot of energy and enthusiasm in our class today — in spite of the heavy rain outside :-)

After we reviewed our alphabet learning thus far, we dove into our new letter of the week — "I is for Intelligence." Our group discussion was quite lively during circle time. The children were very interactive as we explored "What is intelligence," "What is the difference between us and animals," and "How can we use our intellect wisely?" Once we exhausted all of the physical differences between us and animals, we touched on the key difference ... that people have a well developed mind and intellect which allows us to make right and wrong choices. Animals do not. The children all agreed that this did not mean we were better than animals, just that this is the main difference :-)

This lively discussion led us into our story time, which was about how Lord Ganesha and Subrahmanya were given the challenge of circling the world for the celestial fruit. Subrahmanya immediately jumped onto his peacock and began his journey, while Lord Ganesha pondered over this task and realized that if he circled his parents, that was equivalent to circling the world. Lord Ganesha used his intellect, instead of immediately acting! No matter how many times we hear this story, it is an all-time favorite ...

We introduced a new tracing card today for the likhita japa segment. We learned last week that many of the children were not very confident with writing ऊँ, so we decided to add this to our curriculum along with writing राम. If you are interested in having your child continue this writing at home, please feel free to download the tracing sheets from the blog. We couldn't be more proud of how well these kids are doing during this segment. Once we return from winter break, we will probably be able to use real paper journals for them to do their likhita japa in. Most of the kids are remembering how to properly write the strokes!

Make sure you check your child's backpack. We sent home a fun art project for him/her to assemble. All you need to provide is a glue stick. The children are to arrange the pre-cut pieces of paper to resemble Lord Ganesha. Click here to see the finished sample and instructions.

The aunties had a really great time today — hope you kids did, too! Keep practicing your Geeta Chanting — we're going to continue with Shlokas 1, 2 and 3 next week. But come January, we're planning to move up to Shloka 4.

Hope everyone stays warm and dry. Today is a good day for some nice hot chocolate ... (with marshmallows, of course.)

Next week's lesson: "J is for ________" And here's a hint: It's not "jack-o-lantern" or "jelly bean."

p.s. For our helper mom who was interested in the music we played today: The album is "Divine Chants of Ganesha" by Uma Mohan.

Dec 06 Class: Section 1

2009-12-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Ruchi and Jacqueline

Prayers:
• Om Saha Naavavatu (click here for text)
• Vakratunda Mahakaya (click here for text)
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam (click here for text)
• Shree KrishnaH (click here for text)

Quiet Time: 1 minute 30 seconds of silence. Great job kids!!!

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, Shlokas 1,2 and 3 (click here for audio and text)

Story: None

Activity/Games: Drew pictures of God's Gifts to us. (click here to view art gallery.)

Likhita Japa: Wrote राम 21 times (click here to view tracing sheet)

Sanskrit Learning: Played "KrishnaH vadati" (click here to view text)

Sanskrit Words of the Week: भगवन् (bhagavan, God), देव (deva, God), and शान्ति (shaanti, peace) (click here to view list)

End of Class Prayers: Om PoornamadaH (click here for text)

Homework: None

Comments: We reviewed our alphabet thus far, "A is for Aspiration," "B is for Brotherhood," "C is for Cleanliness," "D is for Dad," "E is for Enthusiasm," and "F is for Friendship." Today's lesson was "G is for God." After our morning prayers, Geeta chanting and quiet time, we spent some circle time sharing our thoughts about God. Lots of questions were asked: "Who is God?" "Can we see Him?" "Where does He live?" "How do we thank God for all the gifts He has given us?" And as you can imagine, we got oodles of answers! Afterwards, the children settled down to draw a picture of what they were thankful for. (click here for art gallery.)

We also spent a few minutes talking about the ways we can thank God for all His wonderful gifts to us. Every child eagerly agreed that we should respect God and do pujas. But when asked about other ways we can show gratitude, there were a few seconds of silence and some serious thinking going on :-) We then explored the meaning of prayer. Prayer is a way for us to talk directly to God and we should always offer Him our gratitude with prayer. And, that when we learn to quiet our mind and sit silently (which is what meditation is), then we will be able to hear God talk to us.

The children are doing great with their likhita japa — we couldn't be more proud of them!! They are able to sit still, quietly chanting राम, while they write. We have discovered that a few of them are now able to write without any visual guidance, and are using the dry erase boards. We will continue to learn how to write राम throughout the month of December. We will also introduce ऊँ next week for those children who are not completely familiar with the strokes.

At the end of our class we played a round of "KrishnaH vadati." We had a lot of fun! Towards the end of the segment, some of the children were feeling pretty confident and offered to be the instruction caller. It was very satisfying to see them so engaged, especially with this being our first attempt at playing the game. We learned 6 verbs in the imperative: उपविशतु (upavishatu, sit), उत्तिष्ठतु (uttishThatu, stand up), उत्पततु (utpatatu, jump), भ्रमतु (bhramatu, spin), नृत्यतु (nrtyatu, dance), and तरतु (taratu, swim). So, whenever time permits, we will continue our Sanskrit Learning segment with games and play.

Parents: please be sure and sign in your child when you bring them to class. We are trying to streamline our attendance taking, so that we will have more time for fun — and less time for administrative work :-)

Nanda aunty, if you are reading this blog while in India, please know that we are sending lots of warm wishes your way. We hope you are having a great time — and look forward to seeing you in January. And guess what? We finally got our first snow!!

Stay warm everyone — see you next week ...

Dec 06 Class: Section 2

2009-12-06T01:00:00.000-08:00

Sevikas: Kalpana and Indira

Prayers: Om Sahana Bhavatu (click here for text)

Quiet Time: ऊँ three times, followed by 1 minute of meditation. Kids are doing an excellent job!

Bhajans:
• Ganesha Sharanam (click here for text)
• Gopala Gopala Radhey Nandalala
• Krishna Here, Krishna There

Geeta Chanting: Practiced Chapter 10, Shlokas 1, 2. Learnt verse 3. (click here for text and audio)

Story: Story about FRIENDSHIP – Lord Krishna and Sudama's Friendship.

Activity/Games: Made a puppet of Lord Hanumaan (click here to view)

Likhita Japa: none

End of Class Prayers: OM Poornamadah (click here to view text)

Comments: We reviewed Alphabets A through E. We learnt alphabet F is for Friend, discussed what qualities makes someone a special friend. Kids came up with various qualities, like "I like my friend because he plays with me." Another one was "because he builds LEGOS with me."

We talked about the Friendship story — Lord Krishna & Sudamaa.

We learnt verse 3, Chp 10th Geetha Chanting. Kids are doing a wonderful job reciting. Please practice at home. Please practice the new Bhajan and you can try it with different names like Ganesha, Raama, Durga, Lakshmi, etc.