2/22/15 - NO Balavihar

Hari OM,

Balavihar is canceled today (Feb 22) due to icy road conditions. Next Balavihar class is on Mar 01, 2015.

Stay safe and warm.

Vidhya A

2/8/15

We started our class this morning with OM chanting 3 times.

We then chanted Gajananam slokam with so much of enthusiasm. The kids all lined up near the podium and chanted so beautifully! We saw happy parents capturing little videos and made this moment memorable. Kudos kids! you all deserve a big Hug and a pat on your shoulder.

We then chanted the Saraswathy slokam- Saraswathy maata holding a veenai, a mala and book in other hands and sitting on a lotus flower with her vaahana- her ride (easy understanding term used by them) the swan. Again, kids came up front and had a beautiful chant! adorable sight was that.

We discussed about their vaahana (the rides) Mooshika for Ganesa, Swan for Saraswathy maata. We subsequently discussed Ganesa's brothers- Karthikeya with Peacock, His vaahana and Aiyappa with the tiger, His Vaahana.

The Siva parivaar has 2 kids Ganesa and Karthikeya along with Siva and Parvathy. Aiyappa is also Siva's son- born to Siva and Mohini (women form of Vishnu) So Siva has 3 boys.

We then chanted Guru slokam- Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu...

We know that Lord Brahma is the creator, Lord Vishnu is the Protector and Lord Siva is the destructor of all the evil forces in the world.

We practiced the Sivam Sivakaram slokam, the latest one we learn.. (page 8 in our assembly handout, 1st slokam)

As discussing the Siva parivaar, we learned a new story- the story of Mango where Lord Ganesa stresses our parents are our world. The divine fruit mango when given by Sage Narada, it can't be shared or cut but consumed wholesome. So the parents and Narada come up with the idea of "who ever goes around the world and comes back first, will be given this fruit as a prize" So Karthikeya sets off on His Peacock and flew away. But Lord Ganesa, thought for a minute and knew He can't fly with his Mooshika (mouse) but then declared His Parents are the world for Him and goes around Them and wins the Prize.

This story was our coloring activity for today (page 25 in Glory of Ganesa book)

A walk stretch at the Hallway for the potty break before munching yummy snacks.

We then concluded with our closing verses.

Reminders- a Box of crayons, water bottle and a hand sanitizer. 

Our next class is on 2/22. Stay warm, Take care.

Hari OM

Rajesh and Vidhya

Madhuram

2/1/15

We had a fairly long assembly today, when information about the Mahasamadhi Camp coming up in summer was given with a great presentation. Details to follow.. please stay tuned :)

We as usual started our class with OM chanting and followed by Gajanannam slokam. We are very happy that all kids today sounded loud and clear and chanted the slokam very, very well! Kudos to all of them and to parents who is giving practice at home :) Thank you.

The kids also said many names of Lord Ganesa.

We then chanted the Saraswathy slokam. Kids amazed with this too :) We discussed Goddess Saraswathy with 4 hands, Holding a Veenai, a mala and a book, with the Swan her vehilcle.

We then repeated the Guru slokam, first in a slow pace (word by word) and then a little faster with two words at a time.

We all know our Guru Ji is Swami Chinmaya JI and the kids were happy to recognize Guru JI Veda Vyasa who made Ganesa to write a long story- Mahabharatha. We are all happy that the term "guru" was easily understood by the children.

Our coloring activity for today was Guru Veda Vyasa pic along with Lord Ganesa from our Glory of Ganesa book (Page 24/25) and a Saraswathy maata pic. (some did Ganesa-Vyasa and some Saraswathy's)

After Yummy snacks, we learned and revisited from the previous class's Hindu Trinity Gods, Brahma- the creator, Vishnu - the protector and Siva- The destroyer of bad forces. We will learn about these Gods in the classes to follow.

We started to learn a new Siva sloka "Sivam sivakaram..." (Page 8 from our Assembly Handout book)

We concluded with the closing verses.

The next class on 2/8/15. 

Reminders- a water bottle, box of crayons and a hand sanitizer.

Ours is a NUT FREE snack zone.

Thank you. Hari OM

Rajesh and Vidhya

Madhuram.