September 25, 2011

Hari OM!

Beginning Prayers

• Om Saha Navavathu
• Vakratunda Mahakaya
• Saraswathi Namastubhyam

Bhajans:

• Rama Lakshmana Jaanaki Jai Bolo Hanuman ki
• Om Shiva Om Shiva Paraatpara Shiva

Stotram:

• GuruStotram (My Prayers, Page 9) - We did sloka 1, 2 and 3

Story:

We recapped the story from last 2 classes.  We continued the story of how Rama and Lakshmana went with Vishwamitra to help him fight the demons.  We talked about how Rama and Lakshmana were very excited about this adventure and how they enjoyed Mother Nature when they walked through the forests.  We discussed the arrival of the princes at the Dandaka forest where they heard the story of Tataka.  Rama challenges Tataka to a fight and kills her.  Vishwamitra praises Rama and teaches him the use of divine weapons.

Rama and Lakshmana along with Vishwamitra crossed the River Ganges on a raft and finally reached Vishwamitra's ashram 'Siddhasrama'. The next day Vishwamitra started his Yajna and for 5 days and nights everything went smoothly.  On the 6th day Marica and Subahu appear in the sky ready to disrupt the Yajna: Rama uses the 'Manavastra' to tie Marica in a bundle and hurl him near the sea; he then uses the 'Agneyastra' to kill Subahu. Vishwamitra complete his yajna without any problems.  

We concluded this week's lesson by talking about how Vishwamitra decides to take Rama and Lakshmana  to Mithila to attend a yajna conducted by King Janaka.

The teachers talked about CORD and the CORD walkathon and about Navrathri celebrations. 

Activity:

The kids put Sri Rama's feet on the River Ganges. (Part of the Sri Rama Trail)

Radha aunty taught the kids how to do a Toran in class today.  The kids enjoyed putting the various pieces onto a string and Radha aunty took some pictures of the finished craft. 

Meditation/Japa:
We had a minute of quite time doing Rama Japa.

Games:

Quiz - we had a quiz about last 2 weeks story. The boys and girls participated very enthusiastically and we were happy to note that they have been paying attention to the Ramayana story.

Conclusion:

We attended the Assembly today. 

Comments:

We had about 75% attendance today. We would like to see all the kids attend regularly.  The kids were quite enthusiastic and attentive.  We learned the bhajans by dividing the students into two groups and each group sang a verse and alternated them and finally learned the 'Om Shiva' bhajan.  We also had a quiz about the Ramayana story from the last 2 classes and we had to split the class into 2 teams.  The girls won the quiz by 2 points.

We learnt a lot of new names today and it would help if the kids reviewed the Tataka and the Marica/subahu stories in the Bala Ramayana book.  We attended the monthly assembly today and all the 1st graders who were present behaved very well and fully participated in all the slokas and bhajans. 

We did not have enough glue/scissors in class for the kids.  They had to share it with their friends.  Please make sure the kids bring in their own scissors, glue, crayons etc so they are not waiting for their turn with these items.

Each student received the assembly handbook and they should bring it to the class every week.  We have copies for the students who missed the class today and will hand it over to them next week.

Reminders:

Please try to send the following items in your childs bag:

1. Crayons
2. Pencil
3. Notebook
4. Glue
5. Snack/Drink
6. A folder to keep their pictures/artwork.
7. Scissors
8. 1st grade Balavihar books - Bala Ramayan, Ramayana characters and a copy of 'My Prayers'; assembly handbook.

Next class is on October 2nd 2011.   It is also back to balavihar day.

Navratri Toran

Materials

Green construction paper

Foam flower stickers
Yarn
Glitter glue
Pictures of Lakshmi/Saraswathi (optional)
Glue
Scissors

Directions

• Cut out leaves from the green construction paper
• Glue the leaves by folding one end on to the yarn.  Leave some space between the leaves
• Stick the foam flowers in between the leaves
• Stick pictures of Lakshmi on the leaves
• Decorate the leaves with glitter glue (gold or other colors)

The toran is ready to be hung on the doorway in your houses.  Usually toran is done with fresh flowers and leaves.

September 18, 2011

Hari OM!

Beginning Prayers

• Om Saha Navavathu
• Vakratunda Mahakaya
• Saraswathi Namastubhyam

Bhajans:

• Rama Lakshmana Jaanaki Jai Bolo Hanuman ki
• Om Shiva Om Shiva Paraatpara Shiva

Stotram:

• GuruStotram (My Prayers, Page 9) - We did sloka 1

Story:

We recapped the story from last class.  Then we talked about how King Dasharatha did his yaaga, and got the payasam that he gave to Queen Kausalya and Kaikeyi.  Both the queens shared it with Queen Sumitra and that's why Sumitra had 2 sons.  King Dasharatha had 4 sons - Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrugna.  We also talked about how they were learning the art of archery (there were no guns at that time) and how good they were at that art.  All the kids want to be like Rama, who listens to his parents and is very obedient and dutiful. 

Then we also discussed how Sage Vishwamitra came to Ayodhya to ask for Rama's help in fighting the rakshasas Subahu and Maricha.  King Dasharatha did not want to send his son there, but Sage Vasistha convinced the King that there must be a reason why Sage Vishwamitra was asking for Rama's help.  King Dasharatha then agreed to send Rama and Lakshmana with Vishwamitra.

Activity:

Radha aunty gave all the kids a map of India.   The kids are going to file it in their folders and bring it to every class.  Today, we put Sri Rama's feet at Ayodhya since thats where he is.  We will be tracking Sri Rama's trail through India as we learn the story of Ramayana.

We also did a paper bag puppet of Sri Rama in class today.  The kids enjoyed coloring/decorating Sri Rama as they imagined him.

Meditation/Japa:

Games:

Fill in the blanks - Kalpana aunty wrote the Saraswathi Namastubhyam shloka on the board and took out a
few words.  The kids had to say the missing word.

Quiz - we had a quiz about last weeks's story.

Conclusion:

We conluded the day with

• Om Jaya Jagadeesha Hare
• Pledge
• Om Purnamadah

Comments:

We had one new friend today, and a full attendance.  The kids were quite enthusiastic and attentive today.  We played a 'fill in the blanks' game with a couple of our shlokas today in class.  The kids were very good at the game.  We also had a quiz from last week's lesson and we had to split the class into 2 teams.  Both teams did very well in answering the quiz.  It was a tie!

Then we talked about Sri Rama's birth, the names of his brothers.  We also learnt of Sage Vishwamitra's request for Rama to accompany him to the forest to help fight the rakshasas.

Then we did our Sri Rama puppets.  And finished up with our concluding prayers.

We did not have enough glue/scissors in class for the kids.  They had to share it with their friends.  Please make sure the kids bring in their own scissors, glue, crayons etc so they are not waiting for their turn with these items.

Reminders:

Please try to send the following items in your childs bag:

1. Crayons
2. Pencil
3. Notebook
4. Glue
5. Snack/Drink
6. A folder to keep their pictures/artwork.
7. Scissors
8. 1st grade Balavihar books - Bala Ramayan, Ramayana characters and a copy of 'My Prayers'

Next class is on September 25th, 2011. Next week Swamiji will be visiting our Balavihar and we will have assembly from 11.45 am to 12.30 pm. All the kids will be attending the assembly.

Sri Rama Paper Bag Puppet

Materials

Blue lunch bag

Black construction paper (for hair)
Yellow construction paper (for crown)
Scraps of decorative paper (in different colors)
Sequins, lace, etc.
2 Googly eyes
Glue stick
Crayons/Markers
Scissors

Directions

Each child gets a blue paper bag -- and the rest is left up to them. Put different materials on the table and let them choose how they want to create their own Lord Rama

September 11, 2011

Hari OM!

Beginning Prayers

• Om Saha Navavathu
• Vakratunda Mahakaya
• Saraswathi Namastubhyam

Bhajans:

• Rama Lakshmana Jaanaki Jai Bolo Hanuman ki

Stotram:

• GuruStotram (My Prayers, Page 9) - We did sloka 1

In the next class we will explain the meaning of the above slokas  and will help the kids get familiar with the meanings and pronunciation.


Story:
We described Ayodhya and how beautiful a city it is.  It is where King Dasharatha was ruling, and there was no fight/war in the city - hence the name.

Activity:
Each of the kids drew the city of Ayodhya as they imagined it - by the river Sarayu, a palace, a bright sun, happy men, women and kids, gardens, birds, chariots etc

Meditation/Japa:
We did 'Likhita Japa' today. We wrote the name of Lord Rama, in absolute silence, 11 times.

Games:
We played Hangman with the kids, reiterating some of the new names/places they learnt today

Conclusion:
We conluded the day with

• Om Jaya Jagadeesha Hare
• Pledge
• Om Purnamadah

Comments:
We had a wonderful start to our Balavihar year.  We had about 11 friends, and we will learn the names of all our friends soon.  We have a very enthusiastic bunch of kids, who were willing to participate in all the activities and class discussions.  We talked about how everyone spent their summer and how excited they are to be back in Balavihar.

We also talked about trying to win the best attendance awards and to collect as many gold coins as we can for our team 'Saraswathi'. 

Reminders:
Please try to send the following items in your childs bag:

1. Crayons
2. Pencil
3. Notebook
4. Glue
5. Snack/Drink
6. A folder to keep their pictures/artwork.
7. 1st grade Balavihar books - Bala Ramayan, coloring book and a copy of 'My Prayers'

Next class is on September 18th, 2011