Shlokas:
1. "Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2. "Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
3. "Saraswathi Namasthubhyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book) - New
Activities:
Please have the kids make it a habit to chant the above shlokas every morning, after their bath/shower. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer and daily prayer.
We introduced the class to a new shloka today. We showed the kids an image of Saraswathi Devi, then discussed what she was wearing, what she was holding in her hands and what she gives us when we chant the shloka.
Bhajan time - We introduced the class to a new bhajan today & sang it twice: Gauri Ganesh, Uma Ganesh Parvathi Nandhana Sri Ganesh Sharanam Ganesh Sharanam Ganesh Shiva Nandhana Ganapathi Ganesh
We then we went right into, "Great God Ganapathy" (page 36 in My Prayers Book). As we were sitting in one place for a while, this action bhajan got the kids moving a bit. We sang this bhajan twice.
As we were already standing up for "Great God Ganapathy", we decided to do some Yoga stretches. We began with the Tree pose with some swaying, then went into a Tiger pose and had everyone roar like a Tiger or a Lion (we had to prompt them to be louder!). Then we sat on the floor and turned into little butterflies, fluttering in the breeze.
We played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 Om's kids tried to keep their eyes closed. They counted the number of stones being dropped into a box during the quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game quiets the mind and improves concentration. We muted everyone so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. Several students got the count correct! The rest of them were very close.
Story time.
Geeta Chanting, we repeated the 1st shloka in Chapter 2 twice.
Craft time! We all made a bi-fold photo frame with Lord Shiva's family picture on one side and our own family picture on the other. On the outside of the frame, we drew/colored/decorated an OM. A few of our friends decided to make it into a card to send their family for Diwali! The kids enthusiastically participated in the craft project and were thrilled to show us their completed work.
We took attendance towards the end of class and the kids responded by saying, "Hari Om".
Story Time:
Ganesha and Muruga Race to the Finish-line
The kids were excited as soon as they heard the words "Story Time"! This week we had special surprise visitors to our story! I made some puppets of our main characters. The kids were happy to see them arrive on their screens.
Character intros:
Lord Ganesha and his Mouse - Most of the kids knew who he was as soon as he was held up. They were happy to see Him and His mouse return to story time this week:). The class was asked who Ganesha's parents are. The kids were able to respond by saying Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. Then Lord Shiva's family picture was shown to the class...
Lord Muruga and his Peacock - We discussed siblings. A few of the kids raised their hands when asked if they have a brother. A few kids knew the name of Ganesha's brother. We heard a few say, Karthikeya, Muruga, Subramaniya, Vadivela, Skandha...The puppet of Muruga showed up on the screen. Then we discussed that He was a warrior by nature and has a Veil in his hand. His "pet' vehicle is a peacock that joined Muruga on the screen as well.
Naradha Muni - A puppet of a sort of modern version of Naradha Muni was showed on the screen. A brief into of him was given to the kids. We discussed that he sort of like the world's first journalist and knew everything about everything everywhere around the universe! He usually carried a Mahati/Thambura as he constantly sang hymns. He also had kartals (kara-hand, tala-clapping) in his hands and he usually announced his arrival, chanting "Narayana Narayana". His nature was to pit someone against another but with no malicious intent!
After character intros, we jumped into the story. The kids were asked if they get along with their siblings.
Several said they do (Surprising)! Then we discussed "brotherly love",and even when siblings fight/argue/disagree/compete with each other, they don't necessarily mean harm. Ganesha and Muruga were playing with each other one day. We showed Naradha Muni on the screen he arrived chanting "Narayana Narayana". Then a mango was shown to the kids, it was sort of reddish in color and the kids said it was an apple...ooops!! Then had to pull the fruit back a bit and showed the full shape of the fruit. Then the kids said MANGO! (unfortunately mangoes aren't in season and the Brazillian one that was available didn't do justice to our Indian ones). We discussed mangoes for a while.
Naradha Muni showed the brothers the super tempting mango that he had in his hand. Immediately, both boys wanted it. Puppets were used to animate the scene. Their Mom, Goddess Parvathi said they can share. Naradha then said that this was a special mango that CANNOT be shared. Just as both the little boys were arguing about who gets the special fruit, their Dad, Lord Shiva arrived. He saw what was going on and said, if only one boy gets the fruit, then there should be a competition. Whoever completes the challenge first, will win the Special Mango.
Lord Shiva said, "Whoever goes around the world 3 times returns home the fastest will win the prize". Lord Muruga immediately mounted his speedy peacock and was confident that he would beat his brother to the finish-line. He left in a jiffy. Lord Ganesha on the other hand knew that he had no chance to beat his brother riding on his mouse. He stood there thinking. Then Ganesha folded his hands and went around his parents 3 times and said that he deserves the mango. Lord Shiva repeated the challenge to Ganesha. Ganesha then said that his Parents are the world to Him and he fell at their feet for their blessings. I told the kids to go around their parents clockwise 3 times. They did what Ganesha smartly did and won the mango. Our parents are the world to us and Ganesha's parents are the Mother and Father of the World.
In the meantime, Lord Muruga swiftly completed his third round and came home expecting to win the prize. To his dismay, he saw his brother already enjoying the mango and his mouse licking up the dripping juice! Lord Muruga was heard how he got outsmarted by his brother. He accepted defeat and congratulated his brother.
Every time we eat a mango, we will recall how smart Ganesha was and we will try to be smart like him and will also try to be a nice sibling like Muruga was, when he accepted defeat and congratulated his brother.
We concluded class with Om Purnamadha (page 15 in My Prayers book)
Pranaam,
Keerthi and Pramila
