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.