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.