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)
- Lord Hanuman Shloka
Bhajans:
- Ganesha Sharanam ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
- Jaya Ganesha ("My Prayers," pg. 7)
- Gopaalaa (2nd verse)
- Om Namah Shivaya
Story: The Lion and the Mouse (Pancatantra)
Art Project: Mouse Puppet
Sanskrit: Today we read a book "Big, Little" by SAMI. We reviewed Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, KrishnaH vadati (although today we played "muuShakaH vadati" -- using our art project :-) and Counting. We also spent a few minutes tracing OM.
End of Class: Chanted Om Poornamadah. Arathi was done in the auditorium.
Comments: Even though we had a shortened class today, we certainly accomplished a lot. Our toddlers are becoming more focused -- and we couldn't be any prouder of them!
One of the new activities we introduced today was tracing OM. Every class (after we finish our prayers, bhajans and chanting), we would like to help the toddlers sit for 30 seconds (or a minute, if we're lucky), breath, say OM, and then trace the letter on the laminated cards. We realize they are still very young (and active), but we think this will help them accomplish two things: 1) for those who do not know how to write OM, they will become familiar with the writing strokes, and 2) they will begin to learn that when we say OM, we want to quieten ourselves. We plan to allow 3-5 minutes for this activity in each class. In order to reuse the lamination sheets, we must write with Washable markers only -- so, if you remember, please be sure to bring one with you to class every week.
The other development we are experiencing in class is that our budding Sanskrit scholars are now ready to explore new ways to use the words they have been learning. We are planning to take a few minutes during our language segment to read age-appropriate books in Sanskrit. Today's story ("Big Little") was a nice way to tie in number counting and body parts, as well as teach them very simple sentences. From this point onward, we will try to incorporate regular story reading (in Sanskrit) along with the games that we are playing.
We will definitely miss all of you next week. Enjoy this absolutely fabulous weather! We look forward to seeing you next class ... and please plan to schedule your afternoon on February 22 at the Ashram for Maha Shivaratri celebrations -- after Balavihar, of course.
