December 21 Class

Word of the Week: शान्ति (shaanti)
List of the "Words of the Week"

Prayers Recited:

• OM saha naavavatu ("My Prayers," pg. 6 )
• Early Morning Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 43)
• Before Studies Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 44)
• Before Evening Lights Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 45)
• Guru Brahma ("My Prayers," pg. 9 -- third shloka of Shree Gurustotram)
  

Gita Shlokas: Chapter 9, Shlokas 1 and 2. Shloka 3 starts in January.

Bhajans:

• Ganesha Sharanam ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
• Jaya Ganesha ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
  
• Subramanyam ("My Prayers," pg. 62)
• Gopaala
  

Snack: Provided by Latha Nair -- धन्यवादः!

Story: We read "The Peace Book" by Todd Parr, and discussed how such a small word has so many big meanings.

Art Project: Shaanti card to be sent to someone the child loves.

Sanskrit: Today was a day of review -- we did "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," colors, Hanumaan vadati and Counting 1-10. The children are really picking up the words so nicely -- they are actually getting ahead of the sevikas! We look forward to introducing new games, etc in January.

End of Class: Aarti

Comments: Today we had a lovely surprise -- Swami ji came to class for a visit. After a few minutes of sharing our morning activities with Swami ji, the children came up for a hug, or "high-five." This was truly an unexpected and joyful gift for us...thank you, Swami ji!

We are very happy to welcome another new friend into our classroom, Kaavya Sathish. We look forward to spending a fun year with you!

And speaking of fun year ...

The Toddler Sevikas would like to wish all the children and their families a very Happy New Year filled with "Shaanti". We feel very blessed to be spending each Sunday morning with you, and thank you for the opportunity to have fun with your children.

Kids, we're really going to miss you over break. Stay warm, eat your vegetables, and be sure to give mom and dad lots of hugs -- and, oh yes, don't forget to practice your Gita chanting. We're starting shloka 3 on January 11!

December 14 Class

Words of the Week: वानरः (vaanaraH), गदा (gadaa)
List of the "Words of the Week"

Prayers Recited:

• OM saha naavavatu ("My Prayers," pg. 6 )
• Early Morning Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 43)
• Before Studies Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 44)
• Before Evening Lights Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 45)
• Guru Brahma ("My Prayers," pg. 9 -- third shloka of Shree Gurustotram)
  

Gita Shlokas: Chapter 9, Shlokas 1 and 2. We are starting to encourage the children to chant the shlokas without any adult help.

Bhajans:

• Ganesha Sharanam ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
• Jaya Ganesha ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
  
• Subramanyam ("My Prayers," pg. 62)
• Gopaala
  

Snack: Provided by Priya -- धन्यवादः!

Story: Hanumaan thinking the sun was a mango -- and also talked about him bringing back Sanjeevini Mountain with herbal medicine for Lakshman.

Art Project: Hanumaan puppet

Sanskrit: Today we played a fun game of "शिरः, स्कन्धौ, जानू, अङ्गुली" (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.) It was loads of fun! Next week, we will learn the rest of the song. We also reviewed our verbs playing "Hanumaan vadati" and colors.

End of Class: Aarti and Pledge were done in the auditorium.

Comments: As we mentioned in the class today, Jayashree Aunty is now working with the pre-K class. We are going to miss her very much, but know that the pre-k class is going to have a blast with her there. We're now going to have some pretty tough competition in the Gita chanting. ;-) Hopefully, Jayashree Aunty will be able to visit us throughout the year. And kids, don't forget -- if you see her in the hallway, make sure you give her a very big "Hari OM" and hug.

Sorry about the confusion with the snack list. We will post first and last names by the middle of this week, so we can be sure exactly who is scheduled. The kids received an extra snack today because we weren't sure which "Priya" was signed up. And, speaking of Priya ...

A very warm welcome to our new friend, Priya, who joined us today! We are delighted to have you in class and hope that you will have lots of fun with your new friends.

Look forward to seeing everyone next week -- and keep up the good studying!

December 7 Class

Word of the Week: व्याग्र: (vyaagraH)
List of the "Words of the Week"

Prayers Recited:

• OM saha naavavatu ("My Prayers," pg. 6 )
• Early Morning Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 43)
• Before Studies Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 44)
• Before Evening Lights Prayer ("My Prayers," pg. 45)
• Guru Brahma ("My Prayers," pg. 9 -- third shloka of Shree Gurustotram)
  

Gita Shlokas: Chapter 9, Shlokas 1 and 2

Bhajans:

• Ganesha sharanam ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
• Jaya Ganesha ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
  
• Subramanyam ("My Prayers," pg. 62)
• Gopaala
  

Snack: Provided by Ayush's dad -- many thanks!

Story: Once A Mouse ...

Art Project: Tiger and Mouse Mask

Sanskrit: Everyone is doing fantastic! We learned बृहत् (brihat, big) and लघु (laghu, small) We also reviewed: colors (adding a new one -- पाटलः (paaTalaH, pink), animals, (adding a new one -- व्याग्र: (vyaagraH, tiger), KrishnaH Vadati, and a few of the clothing articles.

Keep up the great work, kids -- you're definitely on the road to becoming Sanskrit scholars!

End of Class: Aarti and Pledge.

Comments: Once again, we cannot emphasize how pleased we are with all of the work the parents are doing with their children's Gita chanting. We will stay on schedule with chanting shlokas 1 and 2 throughout the month of December, and will plan to introduce Shloka 3 in January. At the rate our little ones are going, we will have everything memorized by February or March.

Also, we want to thank Krishna's mom for sharing the lesson book they created. It was so nicely organized and contained all of our class lessons so that they can easily review at home. The animal photographs next to the Sanskrit is a brilliant idea -- and will definitely reinforce the words in a fun way during lesson time.

Parents, please continue to share your study ideas with us in class -- we love learning about all the fun and effective ways moms (and dads) work with the kids at home.

Look forward to seeing everyone next week. Stay bundled -- feels like winter has finally arrived ...