Hari Om Parents,
Welcome to 2020-2021 Balavihar !
We started our first class with opening prayers. We then had our introductions. The kid who spoke first picked the next kid for introduction and the chain continued. The idea was to familiarize the kids with the names of everyone in the class.
We spoke about our Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda. We told the kids that we are all together in Balvihar and learning all the good things due to one special person, and we asked the kids who he was. A few of them guessed his name. We then showed Gurudev's picture and briefly narrated the story of his life. As part of the narration, we told the kids that Gurudev was very curious even as a child and asked many "Why?" questions, and that eventually took him on a quest for knowledge. We asked the kids what are the "Why" questions they ask their parents. The kids gave some nice and cute answers.
Next, we introduced them to the curriculum for this year, Bala Bhagavatam. We talked about what "Avataras" are, why God takes avataras and what are the ten avataras of Lord Vishnu. The pictures of the 10 avataras of Lord Vishnu were shown. The kids were able to recognize some of them. We asked them to note down the names of all of them.
We then asked the kids to do Likhita Japa. They picked one of the four - Om Namah Shivaya, Shri Krishna Sharanam Mama, Sri Ramajayam or Shri Maatre namaha, and wrote the nama 11 times in their notebooks.
We then showed the kids the Bhagavad Gita chanting video, in which the pronunciation of letters and some basic words and names was taught.
After the gita chanting video, we ended our zoom session, and the kids were asked to join their parents in the main zoom session for Arthi and pledge.
Overall, it was an interactive session, where the kids enthusiastically participated and answered questions.
We look forward to seeing the kids next week.
Pranaam,
Vasudha Manikandan
Neelima Turaga
