Hari Om Parents,
Below is a recap of what we did during Sunday's class.
We began another delightful Sunday morning of Shishu Vihar, with our cute kids' faces popping up on our screens. Once we had most of our friends join our session, we began our class with 3 OMs.
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)
4. "Karagre Vasate" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
5. "Samudhra Vasane" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
6. "Shubam Karoti" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
7. "Krishnayan Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
8. "Karacharana Krtam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
9. "Sri Rama Rama Ramethi" (page 129 in My Prayers book)
10. "Budhir Bala" (page 159 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 rolled right in to 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 asked the kids where we were all flying to, some said Florida (that's great as we have 3 friends in our class from Florida), then some said New York (we have one friend in NY), then some said India! Then we flew back to our homes and we then went into the Flower Pose. We have added the snake pose by popular demand! The kids are becoming experts!
Bhajan time
We introduced a new Hanuman ji Bhajan
4. 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 had everyone on mute so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. A few of our students got the count correct! Most of them were really close. Impressive how most of the kids are able to keep their eyes closed and concentrate. 5. After some meditation and calming down, we repeated numbers 1-10 in Sanskrit. We had the kids put up their fingers as we counted together. 6.Geetha Chanting, we practiced shlokas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 from chapter 2 of the Geetha. We chanted them together. We introduced the 6th shloka. It was such a wonderful feeling to see and hear several kids chanting shlokas 1, 2, 3 and 4:)yay!! 7. Story Time. 8. Craft Time, the list of items required for our craft projects are sent prior to class. After the story, the kids are usually asked if they can guess what we are going to make. It is quite impressive when they figure it out! The story ended with Rama returning to Ayodhya. With some extra clues, the kids figured out that we were gonna make a diya. We also made victory flags to welcome Rama back home. Thank you again to the adults for your enthusiastic participation. Below are a few of our class kids with their diyas and victory flags.Anjaneya Veera Hanumantha Shoora
Anjaneya Veera Hanumantha Shoora
Vaayu Kumara Vanara Veera
Vaayu Kumara Vanara Veera
Anjaneya Veera Hanumantha Shoora
Anjaneya Veera Hanumantha Shoora
Vaayu Kumara Vanara Veera
Vaayu Kumara Vanara Veera
Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jai Jai Ram
Seeta Ram Jai Hanuman (4X)
Anjaneya Veera Hanumantha Shoora(softly and slowly)
Story of Sedhubandan to Ayodhya in 30 minutes:)
We began our story with a brief quiz like recap of our story from the past few classes. The kids did a great job answering questions. Some kids missed our last class and the recap helped to make sure that we were all on the same page before we began the story.
A puppet was shown on the screen and the kids were asked to identify who the characters are. They did a great job saying Hanuman, Rama and Lakshmana. Then they were asked who the rest of the characters are, they said monkeys, then they were asked and prompted to see if they remembered the word that started with the letter "V". Then "Va...", they then said, "vananras"! Then a close up of Hanuman writing on a boulder was shown, the kids were asked what He was writing, they all said, "RAMA". Then they were asked what happened when anything with Rama's name was tossed into the ocean, they said, "it floats" :)
We then went into a bit of a flash back, the kids were asked if they remember when Rama and Lakshmana met Hanuman for the first time. A few said that they did. Then they were asked if they remembered how Rama and Lakshmana were taken up the Rishimuka mountain. Rishab said, "on Hanuman's shoulders"! Then a puppet of Rama and Lakshmana on Hanuman's shoulders followed by the vanara army crossing the bridge to Lanka was shown on the screen. Similar to the way Hanuman admired Lanka, Rama too was impressed by what was before Him. He was a bit sad to see all the beauty and splendor as He knew that it would all be destroyed. They tried one last time to convince Ravana, but that effort was in vain.
The war commenced. Both sides were set for battle. The rakshasas had all their weapons. The kids were asked what the vanaras had. Some said, 'gadhas", yes...but, the initial puppet of the vanara army crossing the bridge was shown on the screen again and we looked at a close up of the vanaras. Some did have gadhas, but most of them were empty handed! So again, the kids were asked what they thought the vanaras fought with. Then we all pretended to lift boulders with our strong muscles. Then we all pretended to uproot and lift and toss large trees at the rakshasas. A puppet of the battle was shown on the screen. Slowly but steadily, the rakshasa army was depleting.
Indrajit, Ravana's son, was up for battle next, he used his special weapon called Shakthi and was able to injure Lakshmana who almost instantly fell unconscious. Rama and the vanara army were silent. Then Jambavan summoned Sushena the physician. The kids were asked if they knew who a physician was...they did not, they were told that it was just a fancy name for a doctor. They were advised that four herbs from the Sanjeevani mountain would be able to revive him. We briefly discussed that back then, there were no pills or pharmacies to go to, to pick up meds. They had to use various combination on herbs to make meds.
Jambavan then tasked Hanuman to immediately go to the Himalayas and fetch the healing herbs. We all pretended to leap up and fly to the Himalayas like Superman!! The kids were asked which direction we needed to fly in from Lanka. The kids pointed upwards and a few said North. Once Hanuman reached there, He was unable to distinguish between the herbs and also felt that there were several injured so instead of wasting precious time trying to figure it out, the smart and strong Hanuman lifted the whole mountain and flew back to Lanka. We all pretended to lift the mountain and fly South. A puppet of this scene was shown on the screen.
A puppet of Hanuman approaching the battlefield with the Sanjeevani mountain was shown on the screen. Lakshmana was unconscious and propped up on Rama's chest, Sushena immediately plucked the four herbs and crushed them in between his palms. We all pretended to crush the herbs. Once administered, Lakshmana was conscious and glowing with life and energy! We briefly discussed Kumbakarna, Ravana's brother and how he slept for six months and was awake and eating for six months. He too was taken down. Ravana began to feel that defeat was already his, but as the king, he had to battle on.
With the raskshasa army rapidly depleting, it was finally time for Rama to face Ravana. The kids were asked how many heads Ravana had, they all said ten. Both Rama and Ravana were equally matched! Every time Rama took down one of Ravana's heads, another grew back in it's place. A puppet of this scene was shown on the screen. All the Gods were witnessing this feud. They figured that Rama could use some assistance. So Lord Indra, decided to send down his celestial chariot along with Matali the charioteer. He prompted Rama to use the devine Brahmastra to take down Ravana. Rama succeeded to do so. A puppet of this scene was shown on the screen. The vanara army celebrated. We call behaved like the vanaras and jumped around saying Jai Sri Ram, victory to Rama! Sita was reunited with Rama and Vibhishana, the good brother of Ravana was coronated king of Lanka.
The kids were asked if they remembered what vehicle Ravana used to get away after kidnapping Sita. A few kids said a flying car. Then Rohinin said, 'Pushpakavimanam". Sugriva and his vanara army headed back to Kishkindha. A puppet of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman and a few others boarded onto the Pushpakavimanam was shown on the screen. The kids were asked how many years the trio had to spend in the forest, Rishab immedately responded fourteen! The kids were then asked where they thought the crew was headed. A few kids immedetely responded, "Ayodhya"! The flying chariot zoomed Northwards to Ayodhya.
All of Ayodhya was eagerly awaiting the trio's return. The streets were lined with diyas. Immediately, Rohini said that it's Diwali!! And yes, this is one of the reasons behind why we celebrate Deepavali, the victory of good over evil! The people were beyond ecstatic. The kids were asked who all were waiting the trio's arrival...they took turns naming all the members of the royal family! Pretty impressive, they went on to name Bharatha, Shatrughna, Kaushalya, Sumithra and Kaikeyi. A puppet of Rama and Sita being blessed by Kaushalya, Lakshmana being blessed by Sumithra, surrounded by Hanuman and the rest of the kingdom witnessing the emotional reunion was shown on the screen. Everyone prepared for the coronation ceremony. Rama and Sita were dressed up and prepared. Rama's Patabhishekam was successfully performed and all was well in Ayodhya! A puppet of Ram Pattabhishekam was shown on the screen as we all chanted Sri Rama Rama Ramethi, three times.
We successfully concluded our condensed version of the Ramayana! Jai Sri Ram!! The kids were glued to the screen the entire time!!!
We concluded class with Om Purnamadham.
Pranaam,
Keerthi and Pramila
