October 21, 2012

Hari OM!

Beginning Prayers

• Om Saha Navavathu
• Vakratunda Mahakaya
• Saraswathi Namastubhyam
• Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu
• Ramaya Ramabhadraya slokha.
• Budhir Balam

Stotram:

• GuruStotram (My Prayers, Page 9) - We learnt sloka 5 after reviewing the first 4.

Story:

We conducted a quiz to recap the story so far.  The girls won by 2 points. 
We talked about how happy Ayodhya was with Sri Rama and Princess Sita's arrival.  Thus passed 12 years.  Soon, King Dasharatha was thinking about retiring to the forest after handing over the kingdom to Sri Rama.  As his coronation was being planned, Manthara-the hunchback maid of Keikeyi sowed the poisonous seed in Keikeyi's mind that only Bharatha should be made King.  So, Keikeyi asks Dasharatha to give her the 2 boons (promised earlier) - 1.  Bharatha should be made king. 2.  Rama should be sent to the forest for 14 years. This devastates King Dasharatha, but in order to be true to his dharma he sends for Rama and gives him the orders to go to the forest.  Rama takes these orders as calmly as he did when he was told he would be coronated.  Lakshmana and Sita convince Rama that they will accompany him in his exile to the forest.   They depart to the forest, amidst a very sad Ayodhya.

Activity:
The kids colored a picture of Rama touching the rock 'Ahalya'.  

Meditation/Japa:
The children did likhita japa today.

Games:

We played Four Corners today. the kids participated very enthusiastically.

Conclusion:
We conluded the day with 

• Om Purnamadah

Comments:

The children are very involved in the Ramayana story and pay good attention during the story time.  They also seem to like the activities they do in this class.

We encourage everyone to participate in the upcoming CORD walkathon on October 28th, 2012

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 Oct 28th, 2012 - CORD WALKATHON

October 14, 2012

Hari OM!

Beginning Prayers

• Om Saha Navavathu
• Vakratunda Mahakaya
• Saraswathi Namastubhyam
• Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu
• Ramaya Ramabhadraya slokha.
• Budhir Balam

Stotram:

• GuruStotram (My Prayers, Page 9) - We learnt sloka 4 after reviewing the first 3.

Story:
Rama was very eager to see the Rudra bow.  It was so big and so heavy that about 5000 soldiers had to pull in a 8-wheel carriage into the palace.  Rama's eyes shone when he saw the bow.  Many princes tried to lift it but alas no one could.  King Janaka was a little disappointed that there was no strong prince who could lift the bow that his daughter could.  Just then Rama came up, lifted the bow with one hand, strung it and broke the bow.  There was a divine sound and everyone in the kingdom could hear the roar of the bow.  King Janaka was very thrilled and he promised Sita in marriage to Rama.  Word was sent to King Dasharatha about the proposal and the king and his 3 queens came to Mithila for the wedding.  Rama married Sita, Lakshmana married Urmila , Bharata married Mandavi and Shatrughna married Srutikriti.  Everyone was happy, however King Janaka was sad that his beloved daughter would not live with him anymore and that she was moving away to live with her husband.

Activity:
This week, as part of the Seva Project, the kids colored 2 pictures from www.colarasmile.org .  These pictures will be sent to young kids, or the elderly who are in need of a smile.
Meditation/Japa:
The children did likhita japa today.

Games:
None.

Conclusion:
We conluded the day with 

• Om Purnamadah

Comments:
We celebrated Rama and Sita's wedding in class with some special snacks.  Thanks to all the parents who sent in treats.  The kids were dressed nicely for the wedding.  And as it is tradition to gift something at a wedding, the kids decided to color pictures (as part of our seva project) and gift it to those who are in need of a smile.
We encourage everyone to participate in the upcoming CORD walkathon on October 28th, 2012

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 Oct 21, 2012.

Sri Rama Picture Frame

Materials:

4 Mini Craft Sticks
Glitter Glue
Glue
Decorative stickers
String
A picture of Sri Rama

Instructions:
Glue the 4 craft sticks in a square.
Glue the picture of Sri Rama so it is visible through the picture frame.
Decorate the picture frame with stickers and glitter glue.
Glue the string so that the picture frame can be hung.

Below is a sample picture frame done in class

September 30, 2012

Hari OM!

Beginning Prayers

• Om Saha Navavathu
• Vakratunda Mahakaya
• Saraswathi Namastubhyam
• Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu
• Ramaya Ramabhadraya slokha.

Stotram:

• GuruStotram (My Prayers, Page 9) - We reviewed sloka 1 and learnt shloka 2.

Story:
We started the story session by conducting a quiz based on the last week's lesson.  The kids were divided into two teams - A & B.  Team A won by 1 point.  We continued the story.  On reaching the ashrama, Sage Vishwamitra started his mouna vrata for the 6 day yagna.  Rama and Lakshmana watched over the ritual and there were no problems for 5 days.  They were very alert on the 6th day when Maricha and Subahu tried to disrupt the yagna  Rama used the Manavastra which tied Maricha and threw him into the ocean thousands of yards away.  He used another arrow to kill Subahu.  Vishwamitra completed his yagna succesfully and told Rama and Lakshmana to accompany him to Mithila to see the Rudra bow.  Rama and Lakshmana were excited to have this opportunity.  On t heir way there, they come across a rundown ashrama.  On asking whose ashrama it is, Vishwamitra explains that it is Sage Gautama's ashrama and nobody lives there right now.  Once Indra came down and convinced Ahalya (Sage Gautama's wife) to misbehave.  So Sage Gautama cursed Indra and Ahalya turned into a stone.  He said that when Sri Rama touches her, she'll become her usual self again.  So, Rama goes into the ashrama and touches the stone nad turns Ahalya back into a beautiful lady.. 
Activity:
The kids colored a picture of the Rama killing Maricha and Subahu.

Meditation/Japa:
The kids wrote Rama 11 times (Likhita Japa).

Games:
We played 4 corners today, using all the names we had learnt in Ramayana.  The kids loved the game and didnt want to stop.

Conclusion:
We conluded the day with 

• Om Purnamadah

Comments:
The kids participated very enthusiastically in the quiz.  Surprisingly they remembered all the new names they learnt in the last class and every quiz question was answered by them.  They loved getting up and running around during play time.

Thank you to parents for coming to back-to-balavihar.  Please reach out to either one of us for any questions/concerns.

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 October 7th, 2012.