Prayers:
ॐ सहनाववतु - Om sahanaavavatu (My prayers, pg. 6)
Yoga segment: Stretches, Butterfly Pose, Tree Pose, Turtle Pose, Snake Pose
Shlokas:
Vakrathunda Mahakaya
वसकराग्रेते लक्ष्मीः - karaagre vasate lakshmIH (My prayers, pg. 43)
राम रामेती - SrI rAma rAma rAmeti
Aabatham abagartharam
Ramaya Rama Bhadraya
Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama
Bhajans:
Oh Great God Hanumanji, I bow to thee
खाते भि राम कहो पीते भि राम कहो – khaate bhi Ram kaho peete bhi
Aanjaneya veera hanumantha shoora
Gita chanting: Chapter 12, shloka 1, 2,3, 4, &5
Art Project: Squirrel
Sanskrit segment: Counting 1 – 10
Shloka before meal: ब्रह्मार्पणम् – BrahmArpaNam (My prayers, pg. 45)
Snack/Juice: Provided by Shahana and family: धन्यवादः (DhanyavaadaH).
Story Segment: The story of Rama and the Squirrel
End of class:
सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः sarve bhavantu sukhinaH
ॐ पूर्णमदः - Om poornamadaH
Comments: It was cold and lazy Sunday morning, but it is always lovely to see our eager and enthusiastic children and their parents. We started our class with chanting Om three times and then went on to do our yoga stretches. We really needed to warm up on this cold morning.
Once we were all warmed up it was time for Shlokas. The kids loved to help lead the Shlokas. Some of the little helpers like Vikram, Diya, Sahana, Satvik, and Krishna were able to lead the Shlokas all by themselves. Since Lord Rama’s birthday (Ramanavami) is coming soon, we learnt some new Shlokas for Lord Rama. Nithya and her mom taught us a new shloka for Lord Rama. We learnt a new chant, 'Sri Rama Jaya Rama' today. After Shlokas and Chanting, it was time for Bhajans. We loved to dance to Great God Hanumaji and we got really creative with Khate Bhi Ram Kaho. The kids had lots of fun. We then chanted the five verses of chapter 12 of the Geeta as a group. Some of the kids were able to chant the verses all by themselves.
At craft time we made Squirrels. The kids did an awesome job of coloring and gluing all the pieces together to make some cute looking Squirrels. After working hard on their craft, it was snack time. Sahana and her family brought in snack for the entire class.
After snack we counted to 10 in Sanskrit and got ready for Story time. Today we heard the story of Rama and the Squirrel. We learnt that whether you are big or small you can help in your own way. After Story time we played a quick game. The kids pretended to be the little squirrels and they walked on the bridge shaking of the sand on their backs to fill the gaps and making the bridge strong. This helped to reiterate the story to the children. It was a lot of fun.
We ended out class with the closing Shlokas.
