Prayers:
* ॐ सहनाववतु - Om sahanaavavatu (My prayers, pg. 6)
* कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः - karaagre vasate lakshmIh (My prayers, pg. 43)
* वक्रतुण्ड महाकाया - vakratunda mahaakaayaa
* सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhayam (My prayers, pg. 44)
* गुरुर्ब्रह्मा - gururbrahmaa (My prayers, pg. 9, 3rd shloka of 'gurustotram')
* बुद्दिर्बलं - buddirbalam (Lord Hanumaan shloka)
* वसुदेवसुतं देवं - vasudevasutaM devaM (My prayers, pg. 15)
* सर्वोपनिषदो गावो - sarvopaniShado gaavo (My prayers, pg. 15)
Bhajans:
- गणेश शरणम् - gaNesha sharaNam (My prayers, pg. 7)
- जय जय देवी - jaya jaya devI
- अम्बा देवी सरस्वती - ambaa devI saraswati
- कृष्णं वन्दे नन्दकुमारम् - kRuShNaM vande nandakumaaram
- आञ्जनेयवीर हनुमन्तशूर - aa~njaneyaveera hanumantashUra
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, shloka 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
Story:
Snack/Juice: Provided by -- Pratik and Sanjay Koushik -- धन्यवादः (DhanyavaadaH).
Art Project: Woodcutter's Axe
Sanskrit segment: Alphabet; Numbers; Animals
Yoga segment: Stretching; vajraasana; simhaasana; uShTraasana
End of class:
- ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH.
- aarati and pledge in the auditorium
Comments: We had to shift our classroom from the cafeteria to another room today. Thanks parents, to all of you who helped us move the chairs and tables, before and after the class too. It was good to see all of you after the spring break. We missed Hema aunty today as she was not feeling very well. Get well soon aunty! Geeta chanting is coming along great. We need a little more work on the 5th one. Parents please try to make them practice it. Those who have not registered, please be reminded to register. It could be done very quickly online. The link is provided above in the 'Announcements' section. When we were practicing the 5th shloka, one of our toddlers said, 'after 5, I will learn shloka 6 and 7 also!' Wow! She took the words right out of my mouth. That was the whole idea, we are going to continue learning more verses after the presentation too. Because, we are not learning Geeta for the sake of the presentation alone, but for the love of learning and understanding them sometime later in life! She was way ahead and let the cat out of our bag :-).
Today, we heard the story of the 'Woodcutter and his axe'. We learnt about the importance of honesty. We saw how the fairy presented the woodcutter, two more axes for being honest. On the contrary, his greedy friend lost his own axe as he lied and said that the golden axe was his. When aunty said that the first woodcutter did not tell lies, one of our toddlers said 'No, he told the truth!' Wow kids! those are big words and concepts. Very impressed that you know and understand them!! Keep it up! That is the whole point of telling stories. Such morals and values are what stay with us for a long time to come.
We made our own axes with paper plates, paint stirrers and aluminum foil. In the sanskrit segment, we reviewed animals in sanskrit, numbers and alphabet. Yoga was fun, with all the stretching and aasanaas. Like always, kids had a blast doing the 'simhaasana' with uncle. Great way to expend their energy in a constructive way :-).
Enjoy the beautiful day outside. See you all in a week. Till then, keep practicing and stay healthy.
Snippets: In the story, aunty said, 'the wood cutter's axe fell into the water... He sat on the bank of the river with a sad face because he lost his axe...'. Our toddler says, 'I go to swimming classes...!' Dah! why didn't the wood cutter think of that. If he took swim lessons, he could have procured his axe himself :-).
