Prayers:
• ॐ सहनाववतु - Om sahanaavavatu (My prayers, pg. 6)
Yoga segment: Butterfly Pose, Tree Pose, Vajraasan, Tortoise Pose, king dancer pose, downward dog pose.
Shlokas:
वक्रतुण्ड महाकाया - vakratuNDa mahaakaayaa
बुद्दिर्बलं - buddirbalaM (Lord HanumAn shloka)
श्रि राम राम रामेति, रमे, रामे, मनोरमे, सहस्र नामःततुल्यं राम नाम वरानने
Sri rAma rAma rAmeti, rame, rAme, manorame, sahasranAma tatulyam
मनोजवम् मारुत्तुल्य वेगं जितेन्द्रियं बुद्धिमताम् वरुष्ठं
वातात्मजम् वानरयूदमुख्यं श्रि रामदूतं शिरसानमामी
Manojavam mArutatulya vegam jitendriyam buddhimatAm varushtam
vAtAtmajam vAnara yUdamukhyam Sri rAmadUtam shirasAnamAmI
Bhajans:
खाते भि राम कहो पीते भि राम कहो – khaate bhi Ram kaho peete bhi Ram kaho
Oh Great God Hanumanji
गायत्रि मन्त्रं - ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः – Gayatri mantram – Om bhUrbhuvaH svaH
Geeta Chanting: Chapter 11, shloka 1 – 5
Art Project: Monkey puzzle
Shloka before meal: ब्रह्मार्पणम् – BrahmArpaNam (My prayers, pg. 45)
Snack/Juice: provided by Toddler Team.
Story Segment: Bheema and Hanuman
Sanskrit lesson of the week: रक्तः raktaH- Red; पीतः peetaH- Yellow; हरितः haritaH- Green; नीलः neelaH- Blue; श्वेतः shwetaH- White; क्रिष्नः krishnaH- Black; पाटलः pAtalaH- Pink; धूमलः dhUmalaH- Purple;
Parts of the body: शिरः shiraH - head; स्कन्दौ – skandau – shoulders; जानु jAnu – knees; अन्गुलि anguli – toes; नेत्रम् nEtram – eye; कर्णम् karNam – ear; नासिका nAsikA – nose; मुखम् mukham – mouth;
Counting 1 – 10
Game Segment: head shoulders knees and toes; Hanuman vadati
End of class:
सर्वे भवतु सुखिनः – sarve bhavantu sukhinaH
ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH
Comments: We had a slow start today but picked up later on. We also had a few visitors in our class. As usual we began by chanting the 3 Oms. Then it was time for Yoga. Rupa Aunty had some fun Yoga poses for the children to do. After Yoga, we had many helpers come forward and do the shlokas with Anandhi Aunty. We are so proud of our little friends who come forward so willingly to lead the shlokas! Today, we learnt a new shloka and Bhajan related to Lord Hanuman since it was his birthday yesterday. Since the Gita competition is almost here, we spent some time today trying to do mock chanting sessions. We chanted as a group and then some kids came forward to chant without adult help. April 19th is the last day to register online for the competition. We encourage parents to do so. Even if the children are not able to chant all the 5 verses allotted to them, they could still come forward and chant as much as they know. As you might already know, it will be a group chanting with an opportunity for children who wish to chant individually after the group chanting, time permitting. It will typically be during the first time slots on Saturday, April 23rd. Look out for our e-mail/blog update regarding exact time later during the week. After Gita chanting, we reviewed our colors with Rupa Aunty. Then we chanted ब्रह्मार्पणम् – BrahmArpaNam and had our snack. After snack, we did our monkey puzzle and got ready for story time with Anitha Aunty. Today, Anitha Aunty told us a story about how Hanumanji taught the proud Bheema a lesson. Bheema was too proud of his strength. One day when he was walking in the he saw an old and weak monkey lying down on the ground and his tail was in Bheema’s way. It was actually Hanumanji who disguised himself as the old monkey. Bheema thought he could move the monkey’s tail with his little finger but he couldn’t. Then he tried with his whole hand, both hands and finally went on all fours to try moving the tail but in vain. Finally, he understood that it was no ordinary monkey! He bowed before the monkey and asked him who he really was. Hanumanji then revealed his true self and blessed Bheema. From that Bheema was never too proud of his strength! We then had a little bit of time to play a game of hanumAn vadati after a long time! We also squeezed in a quick head-shoulder song before we ended with the finishing prayers. It was a yet another fun class today! We hope to see many of you at the Ashram on Saturday at the Gita competition. Enjoy the spring break!
