10/21/18
Hari Om!
We started off with the Ram likhita japa in class. The children seem to really enjoy it! Here's what we covered today:
1. Started with Om x 3, and Shanti mantra and Daily Prayers #1 and #2.
2. Letter C for Cleanliness- discussed the various reasons why we should keep our surroundings, our bodies clean and eventually got to why our mind should be clean as well. We also talked about how prayer
3. Read a story Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, which was a funny story about a dog who did not keep himself clean.
4. Learned Daily Prayer #3: Before or During Bath
Gange ca Yamuna Chaiva
Godavari Saraswati
Narmada Sindhu Kaveri
Jalesmin Sannidhim Kuru
Meaning:
In this water, I invoke the holy rivers of Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu (aka Indus River- it is Sindh in Sanskrit), and Kaveri.
5. We traced these holy rivers on the India map with crayons.
6. Learned Ganesha bhajan from page 42 of the Blue My Prayers book in an interesting way- by playing "hot potato"!
Ganesha sharanam sharanam ganesha
Vagisha sharanam sharanam vagisha
Sarisha sharanam sharanam sarisha
7. Letter D for Daddy- discussed the similar characteristics between father and God- Pitrodeva bhava.
8. Read as a story I Love My Daddy Because.. by Laurel Porter-Gaylord which is about animal babies and their fathers.
9. Closing prayer: Sarve bhavantu sukinah...
Homework:
1. Please color all the pages in the Alphabet Safari book up to and including letter D. On the back of the letter D page, if your child is able to write a few sentences about their dad- their favorite thing to eat, to do, etc. If they are just beginning readers/writers- have them practice writing the letter D or they can write down all the words they know that begin with the letter D. For those who have completed ALL their pages- there will be a sticker for them! So please try to have them work on it.
2. Practice all the Daily Prayers, mantras, bhajans that we have covered so far. Please do this DAILY as we are learning at least 1 new prayer per week- it will VERY hard for them to catch up , not to mention - a bit overwhelming as well.
3. Please do reinforce at home what is expected in class- listening and not talking in class is very important.
4. Reminder: In your child's backpack, there should be:a folder, ABC book, My Prayers book. Optional: very small box of crayons, a pencil .
Next week: bring a clean glass jar that has had the label completely scrubbed off.
With love and respect,
the Krishna BV team
10/14/18
Hari Om!
Happy Navaratri!
Here's the recap:
1. We began with the children practicing their Ram likhita japa during attendance.
2. Shanti mantra (Om Sahana vavatu) and also the first daily Prayer, upon opening eyes (Karagre vasate lakshmih)
3. We heard what Roshan did with his turn with our little Ganesha doll and now Dhaatri has a turn!
4. We learned the 2nd Daily Prayer that is chanted every morning before getting down from the bed (before stepping on the ground, or Mother Earth).
Samudre vasane devi
parvata-sthana-mandale
Vishnu patni namastubhyam
Pada sparsham kshamasva me
Meaning:
O Mother Earth with oceans for clothes and mountains and forests as the body, O wife of Lord Vishnu, I bow to Thee. Please forgive me for touching you with my feet.
5. We discussed that the secret to seeing God, is to have the right instrument to be able to see him. That special instrument is a Sweet Mind. Learning values that are taught in our Balavihar alphabet will help us gather all the necessary values that will help us have a Sweet Mind.
6. We started the letter A in our Alphabet Safari and that A is for Aspiration (the strong determination to achieve a goal). The kids all talked about what they wanted to do when they grow up and then we did the Vrksasana (tree pose) and showed that to reach any goal, there has to be practice. We also talked about letter B , B for Brotherhood (Vasudeva Kutumbakam). We heard a little story about all the crayons that fought with one another, but eventually realized that though they were each unique, in appreciating one another's individuality, we can live in a spirit of brotherhood.
7. We also talked about what is Navaratri, its meaning, the Goddesses who are worshipped -Durga mata for vanquishing our inner laziness (tamas). Then Lakhmi devi for giving us inner wealth (kindness, not money !) and then Saraswati devi for giving us the right knowledge. These 9 days are then followed by Vijaydashami , victory (of the mind) that of course comes to the sincere worshipper of all 3 aspects of Devi.
Homework:
1. Complete coloring the Navaratri page.
2. Alphabet coloring book: (a) Letter A- Draw a picture of what you want to be in the center of the page, write down what you want to be on the line below. On the back of the page, depending on what your child can do, have them practice writing lower and upper case A's. Or , if they are past that, have them write down all the words they know that begins with letter A.
(b) Letter B- Color in the picture in the center of the page and again practice writing lower and upper case B's. Or if they are able, write down all the words they know beginning with letter B.
3. Practice Daily Prayers #1 and #2.
4. Practice Om Sahana Vavatu, and also the concluding prayer for universal peace (Sarve bhavantu sukinah..)
5. On October 28th, bring in a clean glass jar with the label scrubbed off, with your name on the bottom (put it on a piece of painter's tape).
6. Please email me if your child is going to be absent.
7. Please have a folder so all loose paper items can be put into that folder. And please have your child decorate the folder with a picture of their Ishta Devata.
8. All these emails are also being put onto the Krishna class blog that is on the Hindu Samaj Mandir website. https://sites.google.com/site/mahwahbalavihar/juniors%28uptograde3%29
With love and respect,
Krishna BV team
9/23/18
Hari Om!
Here's a recap of today's class:
1. We started out with the whole class practicing their Ram likitha japa while we were taking attendance. This worked out very well and the kids did a great job with it. (If a parent could help with wiping off these cards right after, that would be great!)
2. We started with the Shanti mantra (Om Sahana vavatu) and followed it by showing each other our Ganesh bookmarks that we completed in class. Then Upasana shared what she did with our little Ganesha doll this past week with the whole class, and now Rohan has taken Him home and since our next class is not until October14th, we are sure he will have a lot of adventures with him (let me add now, that please also keep Him away from your pets too!)
3. We sang the My Great God Ganapati song again and will sing it together as a class for our next assembly class on October 14th -please be there at 9:45 AM so we can coordinate it at either the beginning or during the assembly.
4. We then heard a story about Who is God/Where is God /What does God do- which your child should retell to you or another family member for their homework!
5. We then learned the 1st of our Daily Prayers-Upon Waking Up:
Karagre vasate Lakshmih
Karamadhye Saraswati
Karamule tu Govindah
Prabhate karadarshanam
Meaning:
Goddess Lakshmi is the symbol of wealth, goddess Saraswati represents knowledge. Govinda is the power behind it all. The hand is a symbol of human effort. So, by placing the 3 divine powers on the tips , in the middle and the at the base of the hand, we empower ourselves to make the best decisions and best use of our hands in our everyday activites.
6. We did a tracing of our hands on a page with the prayer on it to remind us that we should look at our hand while chanting this prayer.
7. We took a "field trip" to the mandir and had darshan with all the gods and discussed that even though they all look different, there is only 1 God. (Unfortunately , even many Hindus do not understand that we are not a polytheistic religion but a monotheistic one-just we worship them it various forms depending our own innate tendencies.) We gave the example that even though one may be a daughter/son, the same person is also a girl/boy and that same person is also a student or a sibling, etc. We are identifying with just one aspect of our personality, but the person is unchanged and not duplicated in this process of various roles being played. We also took the blessings of the priest and all got to eat a modaka for prasad! (which was very exciting since we had just learned that it is Lord Ganesha's favorite sweet!)
Homework:
1. Practice all prayers DAILY!
2. Please make sure you have a folder for class so that if we have any handouts , it can stay neatly in your bag, and not crumpled. They can decorate their folder with a picture of their Ishta Devata (favorite god). Here is a set of coloring pages that you can print out, have your child color and paste it to the front/back of their folder.
3. Navatri will already be here by our next class! (sorry that I told you that we have class next week, but - WE DON'T HAVE CLASS UNTIL OCTOBER 14th!) I would like it for our whole class and in fact all the Balavihar students to come for Garba/Raas on one of the days of Navratri- probably the best day will be Friday or Saturday night but will send you an email when the schedule of events comes out from the temple.
4. Please start collecting a clear glass jar with a wide mouth (an old jelly or sauce jar) that has the label completely scrubbed off , for our diya project for Diwali which we will do on Oct 28th (Diwali in November 7th - we will be having our Diwali celebration for our Balavihar on November 11th. The jar will be holding a tea light, so cannot be too small and the mouth has to be wide enough, and again , make sure there are no labels left on it)
link to our Balavihar schedule and homepage on the mandir website:
https://sites.google.com/site/mahwahbalavihar/home
Reminder: please email me if your child is going to be out !
With love and respect,
the Krishna BV team
9/16/18
Hari Om!
Welcome to our first full class today in Krishna class at Mahwah Balavihar! Shashikala Auntie and Laxmi Auntie (she could not make it today) and I are very excited to start this new year and with our Guru's blessings, I am sure it will be a success.
Here is a recap of today's events:
1. We learned the Shanti Mantra:(in the big My Prayers book page 9)
Om saha naavatu,
saha nau bhunaktu
saha viryam karavavahai
tejas vinavadhitamastu, ma vidvisavahai
Om shanti shanti shantih
Meaning:
May He protect us both (the student and the teacher)
May He bless us both with knowledge and nourish us
May we acquire the capacity (to study and understand the scriptures)
May our knowledge become brilliant
May we not fight with each other
Peace, Peace, Peace
2. We then heard the story of how Lord Ganesha got his elephant head.
3. We then spoke about some of the characteristics of Lord Ganesha.
4. Afterwards, we learned and sang a fun English song about Lord Ganesha ( in the big My Prayers book page 50)
5. Each week a student will be taking home a small Ganesha doll/finger puppet for them to play with and show him their homes, their lives, they will pray with Him and do all activities with this doll! (like a visiting friend!) This is just a fun activity for the kids to do and I told them in class that Ganesha listens very well with his large ears so you could tell Him all your stories, wishes, dreams, and prayers too! Only 2 rules are that he should be kept CLEAN (1. do not bring to the table to eat with you 2. do not take Him to the bathroom with you as it is not respectful). He MUST be returned the following week so that the next child will get the same experience. We would LOVE to hear about what special activity you took baby Ganesha during your special week with Him at the next class.
Upasana has the privilege of being the very first child to take baby Ganesha home! We look forward to some special story that she may want to share with us about Him and something they did together or as part of a family event or religious event, next week in class!
6. Likhita japa - we will be starting to trace "Ram" in Sanskrit on to our laminated pages. Each child will pick up the page as soon as they enter the classroom and begin tracing with the provided markers and afterwards they will use the rag to wipe off their work so it is ready for use the next time! I realize that many of the kids are not writing yet , but it is just practice . I would appreciate it if any parent to help the child hold the marker etc and help them with wiping the board afterwards.
7. We concluded with a universal prayer asking God for world peace:
Sarve bhavantu sukinah
sarve bhadrani pashyantu
Ma kascid duhka bhag bhavet
Meaning:
May all be happy
May all be healthy
May all have riches
May none have sorrow
Class goals for this year:
1. ABC Safari book
2. Dashavatar
3. Daily Prayers
4. Chanting chapter 18 of Gita (hopefully!)
5.Have fun while doing all of the above!
Homework:
1. Practice the above prayers and songs with your child. Practice them every day so they are comfortable with it. We will be learning roughly a new prayer every week so they will need to practice to stay with the rest of the class. That means, YOU will have to practice with them EVERY DAY , so you too are comfortable with it!
2. Bring a folder to put loose papers,projects. Put your child's name on the folder
3. Bring a bookbag- put your child's name on it
4. Bring in your My Prayer's Book, Alphabet Safari book and Incarnations of Lord Vishnu books to all classes. (apologies to some of you who did not get all 3 books today- we will be selling them during or after class next week). Put your child's name on every book.
Prices: My Prayer's Book small- $5
My Prayer's Book large-$15
Alphabet Safari- $6
Incarnations of Lord Vishnu- $6
5. Reminder: have them sleep early the night before, get a good breakfast and bathroom and water breaks should be taken care of prior to assembly. Please arrive and be seated by 9:45 AM(9:30 AM if participating in Swaranjali). Do not leave your child at class and then leave the temple premises- you may be here for your kids, but take advantage of this wonderful opportunity for satsang and learning about our own sacred Gita. You are their first and most important teacher- just as a child can always be taught to learn a language from a language teacher, if the parent also the language teacher, how much greater will be the student? Yes, you may be able to learn most things from a book, or nowadays, Google (!) but during satsang with a qualified teacher, you will find that your doubts will be addressed better.
6. If your child is unable to attend class, please email me: eyehkl@yahoo.com. As we will be soon entering the fall and winter months, please consider keeping them home if they have a cold or cough, so they do not get everyone else sick.
With love and respect,
the Krishna BV team