Dear Parents,
Welcome to week 2 of Balavihar.
Shlokas:
1."Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2. "Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
Activites:
- We played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 "Om"s kids keep their eyes closed. They listen quietly and count the number of stones being dropped into a metal box, in their mind during this quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game helps with focus and improves concentration. A few of them got it right, most of them were close. They are all eager to get it right the next time!
- We did some yoga stretches
- We had an introduction to Sanskrit words & how to pronounce particular letters that we are commonly going to be coming across during Geeta chanting.
- Question of the Day: We try to give a minute during class for kids to ask questions. Today we had one child ask..."How do you know that all of this actually happened?" I answered saying that, whoever witnessed each incident, made sure that they told/taught their peers, siblings, their kids, their students, their grand kids etc. and that is how the transfer of knowledge happened and all the incidents were captured and then eventually written as books, making it available for all of us to read, understand and retell.
After a brief recap of our story last week, we jumped right in to our lesson. Our setting for this week began in Ayodhya. The story continued with the 4 babies being born, Kausalya had baby Rama, Kaikeyi had baby Bharatha and Sumithra had twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The boys started growing up and were taught Vedas, Upanishads, Archery and all that they needed to learn. Rama was identified as everyone's favorite and Rama's talents had no bounds. He seemed to excel at everything! Rama & Lakshmana became close just as Bharata & Shatrughna did with each other. King Dadharatha was overjoyed that he had 4 sons, he was extremely proud of them.
One day an announcement came in, stating that Sage Vishvamitra was on his way to Ayodhya. King Dasharatha immediately offered anything the sage desired. Being a man of his word and one that was true to Dharma, he was shocked to hear sage Vishwamitra's request. We asked the kids how their parents would feel if they were asked to leave to help fight a cause! They came up with different scenarios, leading to how King Dasaratha felt when Rama was summoned. Following Guru Vasistha's advice, the king with a heavy heart, allows Rama along with Laksmana to go with Visvamitra to protect the yajna from demons.
The trio walked on, every time they approached a dark forest, the boys excitedly asked the sage if they were there yet to begin slaying demons. Vishvamitra told them to be patient and they would know when they get there. As it got dark, they approached the beautiful Kamashrama along river Saryu. It was such a serene surrounding with lovely trees, fragrant flowers, happy animals and delight. They rested there for the night, woke up in the morning, prayed & then took a raft across the Ganges and came into the Dandaka forest. We described the nature of the scary place where Tataka resided in. The sage told the boys that they should not hesitate to fight Tataka as she is female. Rama assured him that they were there to protect good and fight evil. On hearing Rama twang his bow, Tataka started throwing boulders on the puny man. Rama was smart and decided to take out all of her limbs one by one with his bow & arrow. Finally with a thundering thud she dropped onto the ground killing her. Sage Visvamitra embraced him & the devas rejoiced.
We discussed why Tataka & Marica were cursed by sage Agastya to lead ugly lives as demons. So we talked about not doing anything bad or wrong when we are angry. The consequences can be deadly!
We will continue our story next week. Please practice the prayers that we teach the kids, at home. Please ask the kids what they learnt in class.
Required books for Grade 1
- My Prayers Book
- Bala Ramayana Coloring Book
We take pictures during class & share them with our class parents, so that you get a feel of what your little ones are up to. If anyone has an issue with that please let us know. If we are asked to share pictures publicly, we will come back to you for separate permission.
Please go to the link below to check out the pictures from this week's class
Each week's update is maintained on Google docs, if for any reason you are unable to attend class on a certain Sunday, you are requested to check for weekly updates so that your child does not miss out. Below is the link
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See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M and ends by 10:40 A.M. Kids will then assemble at the prayer hall for Arthi and pledge.This would end by 11:00AM.
We require at least 1 parent inside the ashram during the full duration of the class. You are free to choose an Adult Study Group or sign up to Volunteer or Meditate/Read in the Temple.
Regards,
Keerthi Kobla and Dipti Chauhan
