January 31st Class

Words of the week: मूषकः (mUShakaH - mouse); चन्द्रः (chandraH - moon)

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)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, shloka 1, 2 & 3

Bhajans:

• गणेश शरणम् - gaNesha sharaNam (My prayers, pg. 7)
• सुब्रह्मण्यम् - subrahmaNyam (My prayers, pg. 62)
• जय जय देवी - jaya jaya devI
  
• अम्बा देवी सरस्वती - ambaa devI saraswati
• गोपाला गोपाला - gopaalaa gopaalaa
• कृष्णं वन्दे नन्दकुमारम् - kRuShNaM vande nandakumaaram
• आञ्जनेयवीर हनुमन्तशूर - aa~njaneyaveera hanumantashUra

Snack/Juice: Provided by -- Aayush धन्यवादः (DhanyavaadaH).

Story: Ganesha and the moon

Art Project: Ganesha Paper Bag Puppet

Sanskrit segment: Colors; गणेशः वदति शीघ्रं... मन्दं... (gaNeshaH vadati - sheeghraM... mandaM...); Head, shoulders, knees and toes.

Yoga segment: Stretches; Surya Namaskaara.

End of class:

• ॐ जय जगदीश हरे - Om jaya jagedeesha hare (My prayers, pg. 22).

• आरति श्री चिन्मय सद्गुरु की - aarati shrI chinmaya sadguru kI
  

• ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH.

Comments: Was it cold today or was it cold today! But we had our houseful class back in the cafeteria, as usual. Kids, you are the coolest. We can't wait for the next Sunday's balavihar already! You are such a fun class and such entertainers too :). The bhajans, shlokas and the first 2 geeta shlokas are already a piece of cake. Our comfort level is pretty high on the 3rd shloka as well. Each one of you certainly deserved the 2 special stickers treat, that you got at the end of the class.

We heard the story of Lord Ganesha and how the moon laughed at him - for his big belly, broken tusk, long nose, big ears and small mouse to go on. When Ganesha cursed him that nobody will see him because of his arrogance, he understood his mistake and asked Ganesha for forgiveness. Ganesha took back his curse, but he said - people can see you on all days except 'gaNesha chaturthi'. We learnt that it is not a good idea to make fun of others or laugh at others or hurt the feelings of others. Kids, you are amazing and the best behaved! We are so sure of that. You caught the point of the story right away!

We then made our very own Ganesha puppets to take home. We must say that you guys are expert glue-rs :) Some of you didn't even need much help from your parents. Sanskrit segment, we are so impressed kids. Aunty did not help you with the names of most of the colors. You kids knew almost all the basic colors yourselves! Your responses to our 'gaNeshaH vadati...' along with 'mandam and sheeghram' (slow and fast) included, were superb! We need to practice our 'shiraH, skandau, jaanu, angulyaH...' song more. We will do it again in our next class.

In a couple of classes, kids will teach us 'suuryanamaskaara'. It is fun to see them follow instructions and repeat the steps so diligently!

See you all next week and keep practicing your shlokas, geeta, bhajans, suuryanamaskaara and of course, good behavior. You just might have a special surprise at the end of the class if you all chant loudly like today :)

Snippets: During the story of 'gaNesha and the moon', aunty said, 'moon laughed at gaNesha's big belly, long nose, small mouse, etc....'. Then she asked the class 'do you think it is a good idea to laugh like that?' All the children immediately reply 'No..!' One toddler quietly says 'but if somebody tickles you, then you can laugh!' Now, how can we help ourselves and not laugh at such a comment! Aunty had to rectify her sentence to be politically correct and say 'you can laugh at a joke or when someone tickles you. But it is not nice to laugh at someone, right'. Only then, did we get a unanimous 'ye..s'!!

January 24th Class

Words of the week: तृषितः काकः (tRuShitaH kaakaH - thirsty crow)

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)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, shloka 1, 2 & 3

Bhajans:

• गणेश शरणम् - ganesha sharanam (My prayers, pg. 7)
• सुब्रह्मण्यम् - subrahmanyam (My prayers, pg. 62)
• जय जय देवी - jaya jaya devI
  
• अम्बा देवी सरस्वती - ambaa devI saraswati
• कृष्णं वन्दे नन्दकुमारम् - kRuShNaM vande nandakumaaram
• आञ्जनेयवीर हनुमन्तशूर - aa~njaneyaveera hanumantashUra
  

Snack/Juice: Provided by -- Anushka Aravind & Pranav Joshi - धन्यवादः (DhanyavaadaH).

Story: Thirsty Crow

Art Project: Crow puppet

Sanskrit segment: Colors; Numbers

Yoga segment: None

End of class:

• ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH.
• Aarti and pledge in the auditorium.
  

Comments: We did a lot of hands on learning in the class today! After our regular shlokas, bhajans and Geeta chanting, we learnt a new bhajan for our favorite, Hanuman! Then, we heard the story of clever crow who was very thirsty. The children helped the crow by dropping marble stones in a cup of water, so the water rises up. They saw how the smart crow, with his timely thinking, quenched his thirst. We also made sure to tell the kids - not to try drinking like that themselves - putting marbles or stones in their own water :)

In our art segment, we made a crow puppet, to fly home with :) We reinforced our learning of colors from last week and we counted them too. Since it was a short class, we didn't have enough time to do our yoga segment.

We got to tell how impressed we are with the kids. All of them are participating so well and interacting very nicely during the class. They are all comfortable chanting the shlokas, bhajans and Geeta. It is a delight to see them grooving along a bhajan or taking initiative to lead along in a shloka. It is a treat to see their faces light up, when they know an answer to something! Keep up the spirits kids :)

Guess what kids, we said we had something special after class, for chanting Geeta so well. Apparently, we forgot about it by the end of the class :( Wondering what it was... We will bring it back in the next class, that's a promise! Till then..., keep guessing! And stay warm!!

Snippets: On one of the shlokas, when the volume was going down a little bit, aunty asked 'What happened...? No gas?' Everyone laughed. But that's not the real snippet of the week. During story time, aunty said the crow had been flying for a looong time. Then aunty said, 'do you know what happened?' and our toddler goes, 'No gas...' instantaneously!! That caused a bigger uproar :) Isn't it amazing when toddlers pick up lines and apply it in their tone.

January 10th Class

Words of the week: तिलः (tilaH - sesame seeds); गुडः (guDaH - jaggery)

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)

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 10, shloka 1, 2 & 3

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
  

Snack/Juice: Provided by -- Ishaan and Paavani Reddy - धन्यवादः (DhanyavaadaH).

Story: All about Sankranti (Pongal) festival

Art Project: Sankranti pot or lamp

Sanskrit segment: Colors.

Yoga segment: Stretches; ekapaadaasana; simhaasana; vajraasana.

End of class:

• ॐ जय जगदीश हरे - Om jaya jagedeesha hare (My prayers, pg. 22).

• आरति श्री चिन्मय सद्गुरु की - aarati shrI chinmaya sadguru kI
  

• ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH.

Comments: Happy New Year everyone! It was a full class despite the cold weather today. We have a group of very dedicated parents to thank for that! Kids, it felt like you all grew a lot, because we saw you last year :) It sure felt like a long break, being back after 4 weeks. We missed seeing you on Sunday mornings.

We have to tell you that we were quite impressed to see that all of you have been practicing your shlokas, bhajans and Geeta chanting thro' the break. All the children jumped right in to the class curriculum and did wonderfully! Children even came up and sat with aunty for the Geeta chanting today and did the first 3 shlokas. The first 2 came beautifully. That was good work guys. We are working on perfecting the 3rd one now.

Today's story time was a little different. Instead of a story, we got to learn about the upcoming festival 'Sankranti (Pongal)'. We learnt that it is a 'festival of harvest' and is celebrated to thank God for the food we are blessed with. We learnt that we worship Sun God, cattle and crops during this festival. Some of us also share 'til-gud' (a mixture of sesame seeds, jaggery, peanuts, sugar candy, etc.), sugar blocks, sugar cane, bananas, etc., with our family and friends. About the rangoli in front of the house, mango leaf torans, kite flying and much more... Good listening children.

The artists in the children, as well as parents, were brought out during the art segment when we made the lamps to light and pots to give 'til-gud' for the festival. We got to see wonderful and creative works of their art. Guess the pictures don't do enough justice for the creations...

Learnt more new sanskrit colors along with the basic ones we already knew. In the yoga segment learnt 'ekapaadaasana', 'simhaasana' and 'vajraasana'. We also learnt what those words meant since we have learnt some numbers, animals and shapes already!

Snippets: We were learning colors with flash cards and more new colors were being introduced. Aunty was holding the cards and the children were trying to name the color. Aunty, in an attempt at tricking the kids, held up a plain card thinking that they would say 'it is empty'. But, our toddlers almost always come up with very spontaneous and hilarious, at the same time, very cute answers. One toddler instantaneously goes 'white-aH'! He sure observed that a lot of words in Sanskrit end with an '-aH' sound! Very impressive...