Dharma 3 - Practical Hindu Wisdom for Kids

Class Information -

This class covers: Instructive narratives from Panchatantra, the Puranas, Hitopadesha, Jain scriptures etc. to teach them some practical wisdom and Hindu etiquette. Use the game ‘Snakes and Ladders’. Learn the general Shlokas used in the Temple Liturgy.

Ages: 6-7 / Grade: 1-2

Download PDF copy of book: CLICK HERE

Classroom: Large Store Big Room

Teachers -

Teachers:

• Mrudula Dhake

• Archana Alegaonkar

• Anitha Deepak

EMAIL teachers: Click HERE

Teenage Volunteers:

• Abhiraj Singh (teen)

• Shreya Kakkad (teen)

Class & Homework-

April 29th

Material Covered in Class:

• Today in Dharma 3 we said our opening prayers, then practiced our presentation with a TV station.

• We took the whole class time to practice since our presentation is next Sunday.

• With the little time that was left, we played a game at the end of class, said closing prayers and finished class.

April 22nd-

Material Covered in Class:

• We had a very productive time in class today. All those who were present in class were divided into three groups. Each group will be explaining the meaning of one prayer

• We practiced what we will present on stage on May 6th. The class was broken up into groups, and they each practiced saying a prayer and its meaning, while pretending that we were on stage and in front of an audience. The class went through Vakratunda, Guru Stotram, and Asato Ma.

• Some kids are given individual lines ..those who volunteered..we did not want to force this on any one

• We finished class with closing prayers.

Homework:

• Please talk to kids remind them what group there are in and have them practice the meaning of the payer they are assigned

• Group 1. Vakrathunda

  • Aaryan, Aditya, Nysha, Sonam, Anish, Meera.

  • All of them say the prayer and meaning .

• Group 2. Guru Brahma

  • Shivam, Meehera, Sumhita, Pushpa, Arushi, Hridin.

  • All of them say the prayer and meaning.

• Group 3. Asatoma

  • Nidhi, Arjun, Rohan, Raunik, Shaurya, Avi, Daivik, Vibhu.

  • All of them say the prayer .

  • Nidhi - meaning 1st line

  • Rohan-meaning 2nd line

  • Vibhanshu-meaning 3rd line

• All kids did a great job learning and memorizing the meanings of the prayers.

• Please keep helping kids to continue working on their lines.

April 1st-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today we had a really fun class

• The kids were divided into 2groups and each one of them enacted a story

Homework:

• Being an impromptu thing with only few minutes to pick the story, characters and dialogues all kids and the teen volunteers did an amazing job

• Parents please mark your calendar for Level 3 presentation on May 6 in the assembly

• We will be reciting our opening and closing prayers with the meaning of three prayers that we learnt in class...the prayers being

  • Vakratunda—available in an earlier class update

  • Gurura Brahma —meaning in the book

  • Asatoma—meaning in the book

• Please have the kids practice the prayers and the meaning and also to introduce themselves stating their name and how old they are.

• April 22 and 29 Dharma class starts at 10am

• Please have the kids come to class on time as these are the only weekends before our class presentation on May 6.

• Have a great spring break 😊.

March 18th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today in Dharma 3 we did opening prayers, read 2 stories, went upstairs in the Mandir, then said closing prayers.

• The stories we read were teaching to not have a quick temper, to think before you act, and to think before you speak.

• When we went upstairs we did pranam for each Bhagavan and walked around each Murti.

• Then we came back to our classroom and said our closing prayers.

March 6th-

Material Covered in Class:

• This week we went through stories 31-33. In all of the stories, we discussed how we should be grateful for what we have, and try and help others.

• Story 31 was about King Shveta who did a lot of charity, but would never share his food. Bhagwan punished the King by making him eat garbage whenever he was hungry. After telling his story to Rishi Agastya and asking him to pass on the message of sharing, the King was freed of his curse. This teaches us to share with others.

• Story 32 taught us that we should never hurt anyone because Bhagwan is in every creature. Hurting anyone or anything also hurts Bhagwan. When we are kind to others, that makes Bhagwan happy too.

• In Story 33 we talked about how everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, equality is giving everyone the same things to work with, while some may achieve the goal and some won’t. Justice is giving everyone unique things so that they all achieve the same goal.

Homework:

• Talk to your child about how they have helped their friends and family this week. Remind them to try and help somebody each day!

January 28th-

Material Covered in Class:

• We started out by saying our opening prayers.

• Then, we read a story about Chhatrapati Shivaji and how he used his smarts by concealing weapons in his pocket to kill Afzal Khan, before Afzal Khan could kill him.

• We also read a story about how a group of rabbits lived at a lake, but would get crushed when elephants came to drink water. So, one rabbit went and told the elephant leader that the Moon God was mad at them for crushing the rabbits, he brought the elephant leader to the lake at night, and when the elephant saw the moon's reflection rippling in the lake, he thought the moon was shaking in anger. The elephants then stopped bothering the rabbits, so the rabbits had used their smarts to save themselves against a stronger enemy.

• Read stories from Panchatantra

• All stories have similar morale - discussed in the class

• Kids came up with great sharing

• Learning - work harder but smarter too

• We redid the Ganesh shloka and it's meaning

• We then finished class by playing some hangman and then saying our closing prayers.

Homework:

• We finalized our starting and closing prayers

• Kids going to name all starting/closing prayers next sunday

• Kids going to share the meaning of Ganesh shloka - "vakratunda Mahakai"

January 21st-

Material Covered in Class:

• We did shlokas and worked on understanding its meanings

• Talked about Mahi Ganesh Celebration

• A story about Shivaji Maharaj

January 7th-

Material Covered in Class:

• We discussed the meaning of the Ganesh mantra—vakratunda mahakaya with the kids. I explained the meaning of each word as follows

  • VAkratunda – signifies the curved trunk of Lord Ganapati.

  • Mahakaya – signifies the huge form of Lord Ganapati.

  • Surya – signifies the Sun.

  • Koti – translates as billion.

  • Sama – translates as equal.

  • Prabha – translates as splendor.

  • Nirvighnam – signifies no obstacles.

  • Kurume – translates as give me.

  • Deva – signifies God.

  • Sarva – translates as all.

  • Kaaryeshu – signifies endeavours.

  • Sarvada – translates as always.

Homework:

• Practice the Ganesh mantra along with the meaning.

• Find out how many arms Lord Ganesha has, and what he holds in each hand and what they represent

• Next class I will have kids memorize the meaning of the mantra in English which will be part of our year end presentation.

December 10th-

Material Covered in Class:

• In Dharma 3 we recited our opening prayers, then we read two stories.

• Our first story was about a monkey who was friends with an alligator, and the monkey would throw the alligator berries to feed him. Later the alligator told his wife, and his wife told her husband to bring her the monkey's heart (she thought it would be sweet because the monkey ate so many berries). The alligator asked the monkey to hop on his back, so they could eat at the alligator's home this time. Once they got halfway there, the alligator told the monkey what his wife wanted. The monkey then said that he had left his heart back in his tree. They went back to get it, but the monkey climbed up and refused to come down.

  • The moral of the story is to be careful who you pick as your friends.

• Our second story was about a crow and a quail who saw a man carrying a pot of yogurt. The crow told the quail that he knew how to steal the yogurt without being caught, so he would fly over the man and take some yogurt from time to time. Once the man noticed, he turned around and saw the crow land next to the quail. The man threw a rock at the crow, but it flew away, the quail was hit by the rock and was killed.

  • The moral of the story is to not listen to people who teach bad things, and to not associate with them in the first place. Once we discussed these stories, we said our closing prayers and class was over.

December 3rd-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today we read a story about how Krishna's childhood friend, Sudama, traveled to meet him to ask for some food or money since he was poor. He brought some poha since he know Krishna liked it, but felt too ashamed to ask for help. Then Krishna had a mansion built for him with money and food for his family before Sudama got home.

• We then played a game of hangman with different Bhagavan's names as the words.

November 19th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Covered story #17, 18, 19, and 20

• Today half of the kids who took the quiz last week got their papers back. The rest of the kids who took the quiz will gets their papers after the long weekend break. All the kids also got a sweet treat to start of their long weekend on a sweet note😊.

Homework:

• Have fun and enjoy the long weekend!

November 12th-

Material Covered in Class:

• This week we had the quiz for stories 1-16, the stories we have read so far.

• Overall quiz results have been very high, and the kids will get their test results back next Sunday.

• After the quiz, we played hang-man with Bhagwans and things related to stories we read.

• It was very fun for everyone.

• Next week we will continue with the stories, starting at number 17.

Homework:

• There is no homework this week, so enjoy the warmish weather while it lasts!

November 5th-

Material Covered in Class:

• We read story 16, and learned about loving and respecting your brothers and sisters.

• The story covered was part of the Ramayan, talking about how Rama was sent to the forest for 14 years by his step-mother.

• Bharat, Rama’s step-brother, was made king in his own absence. When Bharat learned that he was crowed king, he was very unhappy, for he wanted Rama to be the king of Ayodhya.

• Bharat went to visit Rama, Lakshmana and Sita in the forest, but Rama would not come back. So Bharat took Rama’s sandals and put them on the throne. Bharat then ruled as Rama’s regent until Rama came back from the forest.

• This story teaches us that we must share the good and bad things within our family. We must also love and respect our siblings.

Homework:

• Next Sunday, the 12th, we will have a quiz for the students about stories 1-16.

• It is encouraged that you read the stories to them, or have your child read the story to you.

• The quiz will focus on the morals of the stories.

October 29th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Story # 13 & 15 from the textbook:

• First we read a story about why our parents were the most important people in our lives, and we discussed it.

• Second, we also read a story about how we shouldn't wait for things to happen to us, we shouldn't just pray to God and expect that he help us, we should pray and also work hard to help ourselves.

• We also discussed about how fortunate we all are in so many ways and each kid got a chance to express why he/she feels fortunate and what they are thankful for

Homework:

• Practice the prayers:

  • Vakratunda mahakaya

  • Gayatri Mantra

  • Om Sahana Vavatu

  • Asatoma Sad Gamaya

  • Om Poornamadah

October 22nd-

Material Covered in Class:

• First 30 mins - Yoga class

• Regular starting and ending prayers

• We talked about Diwali - How/Why we celebrate

• Bhaidooj - Sibling celebration - Kids were very involved in this

  • Discussion and planned to be supportive with their siblings at home

• Learned a story about Bhagvan can be of any form - very interesting discussion with kids (idea shared was - all kind hearten people have

• Bhagvan within them)

October 15th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Stories # 8 and 9

• We start our class with the following prayers

  • Gayatri mantra

  • Om sahana vavatu

  • Vakratunda mahakaya

• We end the class with the following prayers—

  • Om asato ma

  • Purna madah purna midam

Homework:

• Brush up on the stories taught in class so far

• Practice the prayers listed above

September 24th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Story covering devotion and how you pray to god with your heart, irrespective of being rich or poor

• We had chair-yoga session in class

Homework:

• Ask the kids to try if they can close their eyes and pray to God based on our story covered in the class

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