Hari Om Parents,
The following is what we did during today's finale class.
Shlokas:
To change things up for our last class, we had the kids lead the shlokas that they had picked to record. Wow were they excited for that!
1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book) - Shriya
2. "Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) - Kartik
3. "Karegre vasate" (page 11 in My prayers book) - Aanvi R., Anvi & Rewa
4. "Akanda-mandalakaram" (page 61 in My Prayers book) - Sidd
5. "Ajnana-timirandhasya" (page 61 in My Prayers book) - Pranav
6. "Gururbrahma" (page 61 in My Prayers book) - Arpita & Shreyan
7. "Thvameva Maathacha" (page 62 in My Prayers book) - Aashni & Pranav
8. "Samudra vasane devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book) - Kaushik
9. "Saraswathi namasthubyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book) - Anuj, Snithik, Smitha & Kavya
10. "Subham karothi kalyanam" (page 12 in My Prayers book) - Vedya
11. "Karacharana krithamva" (page 12 in My Prayers book) - Vedika
12. "Bhramaarpanam bhrama havih" (page12 in My Prayers book) - Pranav
13. "Srirama Rama Ramethi" (page 129 in My Prayers book) - All together
14. "Manojavam Maaruta" (page 152 in My Prayers book) - Chinmaiyi
Activities:
Please have the kids make it a habit to chant the above shlokas every morning, (lighting the lamps / evening) after their bath/shower. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer and daily prayer.
We sang our Rama bhajan "Jaya Jaya Tulasi" (page 141 in My Prayers book) together today. The bhajan sounded great.
Thank you all again for sending in your child's or your children's recordings and photos!
We played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 "Om's kids keep their eyes closed. They count the number of stones being dropped into a box during the quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game quiets the mind and improves concentration. I muted everyone so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. Several students got the count correct! The rest of them were very close. They all were visibly thrilled!
Please have the kids continue writing their Likitha Japa. Maybe have a notebook or a stack of papers in your pooja room, so the kids can write after their morning/evening prayers.
We all had a conversation about the Slideshow & Movie that they received. They were all happy to see their progress and to see them together chanting shlokas and singing the bhajan.
If you have not done so already, please take approximately 16 minutes to spend with your child to watch what we put together as a 1st grade remembrance video. It comprises of 4 segments
A photo slideshow that culminates in our dress up, altar set up and prasad pictures which is approximately 9min 23sec
Our 3 part recordings of My Prayers, Tulsi bhajan and Sri Rama Rama Ramethi is about 7min 10sec
Here is the Google Drive Link of our 1st grade Sunday A.M. remembrance video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cNzwqHvwKzfQ7GQ5BEDr0_eipx1MYZLb/view?ts=5edbcd07
Please do share the above link with family and friends. We know that the kids were really excited about getting on stage, unfortunately that wasn't possible so we made you this modified year end celebration.
As our class continued today, we had each child share their favorite part of the BalaRamayana. It was so fun and exciting how the kids were able to choose different incidents and explain that part of the story. We were really happy that kids remembered those parts!
Today, instead of writing Likita Japa on paper, we all shared the whiteboard and worte Rama, Jai Sri Ram, Sri Rama Jeyam...in our preferred color or style so it felt like we were together!
Towards the end of class, we had the kids share their drawings/artwork/creative crafts or anything they wanted to share with the class. The kids were excited to do so. We are so proud to have had such a talented group of kids in our class this year.
It was a bittersweet moment when the kids started to say that they would miss us. But the fact of the matter is that they have successfully completed 1st Grade Bala Ramayana and have graduated today. Congratulations to the Class of 2020. We wish the kids the very best as they move on to Superman Hanuman in September. We hope that we will be bumping into all of you when things settle down and we are back at our Vrindavan ashram for Balavihar. Thank you for sharing your kids with us on Sundays. Have a wonderful Summer!
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
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zeus7FhUTvnCfUB7BxhnTYFr4lHq5R7mMh5HVwL_8_Q/edit?usp=sharing
Regards,
Keerthi Kobla and Dipti Chauhan
