Nov 8, 2020 - Grade 1 (Sunday AM)

Week 6

Hari Om Parents, 

Welcome to week 6 of Balvihar.

Shlokas:

1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)

1. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .

2. "Gurur Brahma" (page 60-61 in My Prayers book)

3. "Karagre Vasate Laxmi" ( page 11 in My Prayers book)

4. "Samudravasane Devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)

5. Sarasvati Namastubhyam ( page 12)

6. Shubham Karoti ( page no. 12)

All kids led the prayers.

Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home.

Story: 

We begin with reviewing where we were located in our story. We reminded children that Rama had snapped the bow and now Rama and Sita were to be married. We started with a question that can someone get married without both parents present. So Janaka sent messengers to Ayodhya for King Dashratha and the queens to come as fast as they could for the marriage. King Dasartha came as fast as he could hearing this joyful news. The date of the marriage was decided and all the preparations started for the wedding. As Rama and Sita were married , the heavens showered flowers and the people smiled and had tears of joy. King Janaka's brothers daughters were married too at the same time. Urmila was married to Lakshmana , Mandavi to Bharata and Srutakirti to Satrughna. King Janaka had no sons. He was very happy and at the same time very sad that Sita will go away after the marriage and who will look after him. But he convinced himself that he will have to remain strong-hearted as she is going to her husband's house and starting a new life. Time comes in each daughter's life that she has to leave her fathers house and go to a new place. We talked about how the teachers are away from our parents who are in India. 

Sita wept and she clung to her father and wept, remembering her fathers love and generosity. She has to leave all that is familiar to her from her childhood and leave to a new place. Mithila was empty now . With all four sisters wed to the princes. It was the time for the departure. King Dasharatha proceeded to Ayodhya with everyone. Sage Vishwamitra handed over charges to King Dasharatha and blessed the brothers and their new wives and went to Himalayas to continue his penance.

Ayodhya was a very happy place. People of Ayodhya welcomed all the princes with their wives and they celebrated for many days. Sita among all became everyone's favorite. Rama and his brothers were helping their father in the matters of the State. Among all Rama always had a sense of justice and fairness and love for the people. People also loved him more and more. Bharatha was loyal and faithful. He loved Rama very much. Everyone in the kingdom was happy. Twelve such years passed. 

One day Dasharatha thought of crowning Rama to the throne. As he was getting old he thought of retiring and going to the forest, leaving the worldly things , just like his forefathers had done before. So he called in everyone in his court and announced the his thoughts to all. Everyone was very delighted to hear the news as they all loved Rama. But they were also sad as they had loved King Dasharatha as their king for so long. Sage Vashishtha told the King that the following day was an auspicious day for crowning Rama as the king. King Dasharatha was delighted to hear that and he gave permission to start the preparations for the grand ceremony. Bharatha and Satrughna were away on vacation to Kekeya , but Dasharatha didn't want to postpone this any further.

 Rama was called upon to the court. Dashartha told him that you are a good prince and you will be crowned king next morning. Rama was calm as he received the news. He accepted the decision and said I will do as you would like me to. I am duty bound and I will fulfill my duties to my best possible efforts.  Rama after taking blessings of everyone in the court went to his mother Kaushalya. She embraced him and gave him her blessings and gave special garments for the ceremony for both Rama and Sita. 

Rama and Sita went to sage Vasistha for the ceremony instructions. 

The city of Ayodhya was getting ready for a grand ceremony. People were filled joy as their beloved prince Rama was going to become their new King. There wore beautiful clothes and put sandalwood paste on their foreheads. The streets were sprinkled with water and the halls were decorated with flowers and flower garlands. All hands were working to make the next day the best. People also decorated their homes and hoisted flags from the rooftops. Special ingredients ghee, Durva grass, honey, rice and sacred water in golden pots. The people of Ayodhya were getting impatient to see their beloved Rama to be crowned King.

Geeta Chanting:

We did chanting as a part of Geeta Chanting. We play a Geeta Chanting video that kids listen to and follow along.  Chapter 2: Verses 5-6 is the instruction video for this week's Balavihar. These 2 verses are set in triShTup meter. Very melodious to chant, however challenging to teach as they are longer. 

https://youtu.be/JhFJXjzJcMg 

Activities: 

1. We did marble mediation. We closed our eyes , then chanted Om three times and kids counted the marbles as I dropped it in a container. Total of 17 marbles were dropped. Then kids opened their eyes and we guessed the number of marbles. This time all kids said 17. Then we counted the marbles together. We recognized our excellent efforts on getting it all correct. 

2. We all became trees one more time and swayed in the wind. We also tried balancing on one leg as a tree. Some kids wanted to be butterflies and they showed us that.

3. We continued with the next line of Bhajan - Khate bhi Ram kaho(My Prayers Book ,Page:144-145 ).

4. We colored in our coloring books. We page number 9 and 10. If kids have not colored any pages , pls finish coloring till page 10. DO NOT color beyond page 10.

5. We did likhita japa. Kids wrote Rama in English. We showed them in Hindi too. Also we showed them that they can write likhita japa in any art form. They can draw a flower or a butterfly or a tree , and write the lord's name in that art.

6. We sang the Janmadeen song for Chirag as it was his birthday.

We ended with Aarti and Pledge. We played the recording to Aarti and we all sang with it. Chirag led the pledge for us. If kids can, we will be led by different kids for our Pledge every week. 

Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8 

Google Doc: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lT4OXknGTju1O96sPd-HxSU6jRgrqaxQmqjgg__YPP8/edit?usp=sharing

Zoom Link: 

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09 

Books we will use: 

My Prayers Book

Bala Ramayana Coloring book 

Handbook

See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.

Regards,

Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar

Nov 1, 2020 - Grade 1 (Sunday AM)

Week 5

Hari Om Parents, 

Welcome to week 5 of Balvihar.

Shlokas:

1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)

2. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .

3. "Gurur Brahma" (page 60-61 in My Prayers book)

4. "Karagre Vasate Laxmi" ( page 11 in My Prayers book)

5. "Samudravasane Devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)

6. Saraswati Namastubhyam ( page 12 in My Prayers book)

All kids lead prayers. We decided for next week which kid will lead which shloka.

Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home.

Story:

We started with reviewing what we did so far. We asked kids about all the prince's names. We asked kids our story location , Guru's name, and where were Rama and Laxmana going? They learnt that the princes were headed to the kingdom of Mithila and that king Janaka was the king of Mithila. They also learnt that king Janaka had a daughter named Sita who was to marry the person who could lift and string the special arrow that her father had. Princes from many kingdoms came in hope to marry Sita ; but even the strongest of them could not even move the arrow. Then with the blessings of sage Vishwamitra, Rama lifted the bow, strung it and broke it in half. King Janaka then declared that prince Rama would marry princess Sita 

Activities:  

1. House Inaugural activities : We had fun house inaugural activities. 

1. Making a flag 

2. Crossword puzzle 

We joined the assembly zoom meeting after the activities. 

Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8 

Zoom Link: 

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09 

Books we will use: 

My Prayers Book

Bala Ramayana Coloring book 

Handbook

See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.

Regards,

Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar

Oct 11, 2020 - Grade 1 (Sunday AM)

Week 4

Hari Om Parents, 

Welcome to week 4 of Balvihar.

Shlokas:

1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)

2. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .

3. "Gurur Brahma" (page 60-61 in My Prayers book)

4. "Karagre Vasate Laxmi" ( page 11 in My Prayers book)

5. "Samudravasane Devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)

Eshwar led us with Om Saha navavtu and Gurur Brahma , Krish led us with Vakratunda mahakaya.

Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home.

Story:

We started with locating where we are on the map of India. We reviewed the name of our princes and the sage. After defeating the demons and help successfully complete the yagya , Rama and Laxamna went to Sage Vishvamitra and asked what was the next thing they were going to do. We talked about how we ask for instructions of our teachers and elders when we don't know what we have to do next. Sage Vishvmitra told Rama and Laxmana that they were going to Mithila to see Rudras bow. Both princes were very curious to see the bow and they started their journey. 

Before reaching the city of Mithila, they came across a deserted ashrama , it was covered with creepers and it was taken over by the forest. No flowers or birds were around there. This was home to rishi Gautama and his beautiful wife Ahalya. They lived here peacefully and happy among the birds and animals of the forest. Ahalya grew beautiful flowers and did all the work needed to be done. Every evening sage Gautama would go to the river for his bath and prayers. Lord Indra , we asked kids if they knew Lord Indra and they said the lord that flies on the white elephant. He had power to change himself into any form. So he went to Ahalya disguised as Gautama risi . Ahalya was a little shocked to see risi come back so early. But they had their dinner and went to sleep. When the real Gautama risi came back, he was very angry to see Ahalya with someone else. Ahalya was very shocked to see two Gautama risis. She begged for forgiveness as she was tricked and it was not her fault. But Gautama risi cursed them both. He made Ahalya into a rock. He realized later that it was not Ahalya's fault , so he told her that Lord Rama will come and when he touches you with his feet then the curse will be broken. And Gautama risi went to the Himalayas.

Here was Lord Rama at this Ashrama and while looking around with Sage Vishvmitra , he touched the rock that was Ahalya and she rose as a great tapasvini . She thanked Lord Rama. Lord Rama bowed down to her too. She welcomed them to her ashram and gave them food and water. Then they continued their journey to Mithila.

Mithila was a beautiful place ruled by king Janaka. He was a very learned king. He studied scripture and had knowledge of self. Once as a part of the yagya , he ploughed the land with his hands. When he was ploughing he found a baby girl on the land. She was very little and very beautiful. King Janaka took her and thanked Bhumidevi (Goddess Earth).King Janaka named her Sita. We talked about what ways does earth help us. Kids answered that earth gives us water, trees ,oxygen , rocks , food. We all thanked mother earth for all that she gives us. We also said the prayer "Samudravasne devi" is us saying thank you to mother earth and saying sorry that we put our feet on it when we wake up. We don't touch our feet onto anything during the day. But because we cannot fly we have to put our feet on mother earth.

Sita was a very beautiful and brave princess. She was learning all arts and crafts and warfare as a princess. Kids asked if a girl was allowed to do that to learn how to fight. YES a human being should learn all he/she wants. If you live like a boy or a girl , you only live half the life. There are only certain things that one gender can do. So yes Sita also learned all that she would like to learn. She was also learning the scriptures and getting knowledge of self from her father. She used to play with the Rudras bow, which was a family heirloom. It was given to King Janaka by his forefathers. 

Now that she is getting the age when she is ready for marriage. Her father wanted to find the right groom for her. So he decided to call princes and gave them a challenge. For such a joyous occasion the whole of Mithila was decorated.The challenge was to lift the bow and tie the string on it.He thought if any person can do that he would definitely have good qualities, which would make him a good partner for Sita. Many princes had come but so far no one had even moved the bow an inch. 

King Janaka was very honoured and delighted by the news of Sage Vishvamitra visiting him. He went ahead to welcome the sage. King Janaka took blessings from the sage. Sage Vishvamitra introduced Rama and Laxmana to King Janaka , who were his friend Dasharatha's sons. King Janaka was very charmed by the aura of Rama. Aura is a distinctive quality generated by the person. He welcomed all three of them to Mithila to be the part of ongoing celebrations.

Geeta Chanting:

We did chanting as a part of Geeta Chanting. We play a Geeta Chanting video that kids listen to and follow along.  

https://youtu.be/vpxXftSrWRM 

Activities: 

1. We did marble mediation. We closed our eyes , then chanted Om three times and kids counted the marbles as I dropped it in a container. Total of 17 marbles were dropped. Then kids opened their eyes and we guessed the number of marbles. This time all kids said 17. Then we counted the marbles together. We recognized our excellent efforts on getting it all correct. 

2. We all became an elephant, a stick and wiggly worms as part of our movement snack. We all made elephant trunks with our hands and we moved it up and down.We pretended to drink water with our trunk from the river(floor). Then we became a stick ,straight and steady, not moving at all for a min. Not even talking or smiling. Then we became wiggly worms and moved all parts of our hands and legs and heads.

3. We continued with the next line of Bhajan - Khate bhi Ram kaho(My Prayers Book ,Page:144-145 ).

4. We colored in our coloring books. We page number 8 and 9. And we colored the padukas at Mithila. If kids have not colored

We ended with Aarti and Pledge. We played the recording to Aarti and we all sang with it. Chirag led the pledge for us. If kids can, we will be led by different kids for our Pledge every week. 

Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8 

Zoom Link: 

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09 

Books we will use: 

My Prayers Book

Bala Ramayana Coloring book 

Handbook

See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.

Regards,

Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar

Oct 4 , 2020 - Grade 1 (Sunday AM)

Week 3

Hari Om Parents, 

Welcome to week 3 of Balvihar.

Today was a very special day as 3 kids led us with the prayers. Each kid led us with the one Shloka each.

Shlokas:

1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)

2. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .

3. "Gurur Bhramma" (page 60-61 in My Prayers book)

4. "Karagre Vasate Laxmi" ( page 11 in My Prayers book)

Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home.

Story:

We asked kids our story, location , king's name , Guru's name, four princes and their mothers names and the visiting sage's name. Kids knew Ayodhya and that it is located North in India. We reviewed that the Sage Vishvamitra wanted Rama to help him fight the demons, who were s

Geeta Chanting:

We did chanting as a part of Geeta Chanting. We play a Geeta Chanting video that kids listen to and follow along.  

https://youtu.be/-d4EIe2V-Vc 

Activities: 

1. We did marble mediation. We closed our eyes , then chanted Om three times and kids counted the marbles as I dropped it in a container. Total of 16 marbles were dropped. Then kids opened their eyes and we guessed the number of marbles. This time mostly all kids said 16. Then we counted the marbles together. We cheered as we all got it correct.

2. We all became birds  as part of our movement snack. We all made wings with our hands and flapped up and down. Fast and slow, big flaps and small flaps. 

3. We continued with the fifth line of Bhajan - Khate bhi Ram kaho(My Prayers Book ,Page:144-145 ).

4. We colored in our coloring books. We did page number 6 and 7.

We ended with Aarti and Pledge. We played the recording to Aarti and we all sang with it. Anahita led the pledge for us. If kids can, we will be led by different kids for our Pledge every week. 

Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8 

Zoom Link: 

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09 

Books we will use: 

My Prayers Book

Bala Ramayana Coloring book 

Handbook

See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.

Regards,

Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar

Sept 27, 2020 - Grade 1( Sunday AM)

Week 2

Hari Om Parents, 

Welcome to week 2 of Balvihar.

Once all the kids were in, we started with prayers.

Shlokas:

1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)

2. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .

3. "Gurur Bhrahma" (page 60-61 in My Prayers book)

Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home. We told kids just like Pledge , they can lead in the Prayers.

Story:

We asked kids what place we were at when we last stopped our story. Kids knew Ayodhya and that it is located North in India. We reviewed the name of our king and his guru. And why was he sad? 

We continued the story. King Dasaratha had three queens. Queen Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. 

King Dasharatha was getting ready for the Putrakamesti Yagya, that his guru, Sage Vashistha suggested for him. (It was Eshwars birthday , so kids related the preparation of a birthday celebration to yagya celebration ) The king started the preparations for the Yagya. Everyone in Ayodhya was helping to get ready for doing the yagya. Some were helping cleaning up, some were helping decorating with rangolis and flower garlands and paints. Some were helping with cooking delicious sweets for offering to gods and for the guests invited by King Dasharatha. (Kids shared their favourite indian sweets.) Guru Vashishth was preparing for the fire kunda , putting the herbs and wood in it , for creating the fire.

As Guru Vashitha started the yagya , with chanting and invoking goodness , with his words and his energies. There appeared a yagya purusa out of the fire with a bowl of payasam. He said to the king , give it to your queens and they shall have kids. Kaushalya dn Kaikeyi were present there so the king gave them their share. When Sumitra returned , both Kaushalya and Kaikeyi shared their share with her. 

In course of time all the three queens had sons. Kaushalya had Rama , Kaikeyi had Bharatha and Sumitra had Laxmana and Shatrughna. Now the king was very happy. The queens were very thankful for such a miracle.

We continued the story on the happiness and joy that had spread around Ayodhya for having the princes. The king's joy was boundless. He gifted horses and cattles to the poor and needy. (We asked the kids what's a cattle ? Why were horses given as gifts ? ) All of Ayodhya was celebrating.The celebration lasted for days.  

Now the princes were growing up. They were taught all the arts for becoming a better warrior as they grew up. They were taught the art of archery and warfare. Also they were taught the scriptures Vedas and Upnishads. All the princes excelled in all princely qualities. But Rama out shone his brothers in all fields. He was very swift at archery. He was very kind and calm all the time. He soon became the favorite of all. The king was very proud of all his sons. ( We said as your parents are always proud of you all. ) The queens adored them. 

While Dasharatha was enjoying his sons and his kingdom , he got a message that Sage Vishvamitra was coming to meet him. Sage Vishvamitra was the most powerful rsi. (We talked about what a rsi is. The one who is very powerful by gathering knowledge and tapas. We told kids that one can become powerful with knowledge, not only by having physical strength. Kids were curious to know why they can't have both knowledge and physical power to become powerful. We all had a view that yes you can have both.)  He felt very honored that such a powerful sage was visiting his kingdom. 

He welcomed the king with honor and pride. He said that "I am very fortunate that you have come to my court. Everything I have is yours , please let me know if there is anything I can do for you." Sage Vishvamitra was very happy to hear it from the king. He said , "you have said yes to anything I ask for before I have asked". He continued the reason for his visit. I was performing a sacrifice , but we are troubled by raksasas. ( We told the kids what were rakshasas (demons). The kids were very curious on how they looked. And we all tried to imagine the demons , bad and ugly and huge creatures. They asked if we can show them the pictures of demons) 

These raksasas were throwing flesh and blood in the sacrifice. The sages would curse them but that would be a waste of their tapas. ( We talked about  tapas. That it is meditation practice. When the sages have hours and hours of meditation practice they become very powerful) For that reason he would like to take Rama with him to fight the demons. Hearing this, King Dasaratha was shocked. He said but Rama is not even 16 years old. How can he fight such mighty demons ? Instead the king himself will join the sage with his strong army to fight. The king couldn't think to send Rama in such a fight. 

Sage Vishvamitra was fierce in hearing a 'no' for an answer. He said the king had offered him help before even asking and now he is not keeping his word. Guru Vashishtha stepped in after listening to this conversation. He told the king that it would be good for Rama's fame to join Sage Vishvamitra on this mission. Laxmana can accompany Rama for this and help. 

With a heavy heart , King Dasharatha said yes to Sage Vishvamitra , that Rama and Laxmana will go with him. 

Geeta Chanting:

We did chanting primer 2 as a part of Geeta Chanting. We play a Geeta Chanting video that kids listen to and follow along.  

Activities: 

1. We did marble mediation. We closed our eyes , then chanted Om three times and kids counted the marbles as I dropped it in a container. Total of 12 marbles were dropped. Then kids opened their eyes and we guessed the number of marbles. This time all kids said 12. Then we counted the marbles together. We cheered as we all got it correct.

2. We all became tigers (one of the kids' suggestions) as part of our movement snack. We all made ourselves into a tiger and roared and used our hands as claws . Kids got really excited and also showed four legged tiger walks.

3. We continued with the fourth line of Bhajan - Khate bhi Ram kaho(My Prayers Book ,Page:144-145 ).

4. We colored in our coloring books. We colored the padukas at Ayodhya and colored Chapter 2 , Yagya.

We sang Janmadeen Geet (My Prayers book ,page 23 ) for Eshwar. We all wished him Happy Birthday. 

We ended with Aarti and Pledge. We played the recording to Aarti and we all sang with it. Eshwar led the pledge for us. If kids can, we will be led by different kids for our Pledge every week. 

Weekly updates:

Grade 1 Bala Ramayana 2020-21

Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8 

Zoom Link: 

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09 

Books we will use: 

My Prayers Book

Bala Ramayana Coloring book 

Handbook

See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.

Regards,

Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar

Sept 20, 2020 - Grade 1 (Sunday AM)

Dear Parents, 

Welcome to week 1 of Balvihar. It was very nice to see all the kids, they were all happy to be with us and excited about learning.

We started with interacting with kids about their summer. 

Then talked to parents about how the class is structured.

Once all the kids were in, we started with prayers.

Shlokas:

1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)

2. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .

Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home.

Story:

This year we will be teaching kids Bala Ramayana and learn to imbibe qualities like Rama.

We started our story at Ayodhya. We opened the map of India and located Ayodhya. We learnt about the four directions on the map. We described the city of Ayodhya located on the banks of river Sarayu. As we said city , the kids thought of New York City. And we had a small discussion about how things were different in Ayodhya. There were no cars or tall buildings, and black tar roads. No bright lights. Instead Ayodhya had mud roads , lots of trees and flowers. The city was very clean. People light lamps at night. 

Their king was king Dashartha. He was a virtuous and truthful king. He was a wise ruler and knew how to rule the land. Ayodhya means "No Fight". It was truly the city with no one fighting. Everyone lived in peace and harmony.  

But the king was sad.That was a problem. We said he was sad because he had no kids. He would like to have kids, so they can help him rule the land. 

We asked a question , what do we do when we have a problem, and kids replied that we go to a person who can solve the problem. That was the answer we were looking for,and that's what king Dasharatha did.

He went to the sage and his guru, Sage Vasishtha. Sage Vasistha said that they will do a Yagya and it will help the king. We discussed with kids what is a Yagya and what is a sage. 

We finished chapter 1 and will continue the story next week on chapter 2 and 3.

Geeta Chanting:

We did chanting primer as a part of Geeta Chanting. We play a Geeta Chanting video that kids listen to and follow along.  

Activities: 

1. We did marble mediation. We closed our eyes , then chanted Om three times and kids counted the marbles as I dropped it in a container. Total of 10 marbles were dropped. Then kids opened their eyes and we guessed the number of marbles. Few said 8 few said 9 and few said 10. Then we counted the marbles together. 

2. We did tree pose as part of our movement snack. We made ourselves into a tree and swayed with the wind. Kids were very excited to show me how they can even balance on one leg.

3. We started to learn our Bhajan - Khate bhi Ram kaho(My Prayers Book ,Page:144-145 ). We did the first three lines of it. 

We ended with Aarti and Pledge. We played the recording to Aarti and we all sang with it. Annahita led the pledge for us. If kids can, we will be led by different kids for our Pledge every week. 

Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8 

Weekly updates:

Grade 1 Bala Ramayana 2020-21

Zoom Link: 

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09 

See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.

Regards,

Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar