May 31 & June 7, 2020 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM )

Hari om everyone,

In the last two classes, we started our class as usual with Om chanting and Sahana vavatu. Next kids led the daily prayers:

Karagre vasate lakshmi - page 11 in My Prayers book

Samudra vasane devi - page 11 in My Prayers book

Gange cha Yamune chaiva - page 11 in My Prayers book

Saraswathi namastubhyam - page 12 in My Prayers book

Brahmarpanam brahma havih - page 12 in My Prayers book

Subham karothi kalyanam - page 12 in My Prayers book

Srirama rama ramethi - page 129 in My Prayers book

Akhanda mandala karam - page 61 in My Prayers book

Ajnana timirandhasya - page 61 in My Prayers book

Gurur Brahma gurur vishnuh - page 61 in My Prayers book

Tvameva maathacha - page 62 in My Prayers book

Please encourage the kids to practice all the slokas as daily routine. All the kids are very familiar with the slokas by now. 

Since we successfully completed the Balaramayan story, we showed the movie 'Ramayan' as a review and we played a quizlet. We are very impressed that kids answered the questions with ease. Kids were very curious to listen to the story throughout the year. Since they will learn about 'Hanuman' next year, we watched a part of the movie 'Hanuman'.

Activities:

Balaramayan coloring book - Please encourage the kids to color at home if anyone not yet finished.Please ask the story while they were coloring because each page is exactly related to what they learned in the class.

Likhita Japa - Please help the kids to write 'Sri Rama' likhita japa whenever they are free. It definitely improves the concentration of their little brains.

Bhajans - They learned 'Athma rama anandaramana' - (page 141 in My prayers book), 'Khate bhi rama kaho' - (page 145 in My Prayers book) and, ' Atma nivasi rama' (page 149 in My Prayers book). In last class, we were surprised that a child asked to lead the bhajan herself. We were very happy to see the enthusiasm in the kids.

This year was very challenging and we thank you for your support. We had a wonderful time teaching the kids. They were a group of enthusiastic and curious learners. We hope kids continue to embody Sri rama and remember his characteristics.

Have a safe summer, stay healthy and have fun !

             

Thanks,

Sailatha & Sita

Sept 15, 2019 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM )

Hari Om Parents,

Welcome to Chinmaya Vrindavan Balavihar 2019-20, SUN 12:45 1st grade class. We are Sailatha & Sita, your child's Balavihar teachers for this year. We are so excited to have your children we look forward to working with and helping them grow.

 We will be learning Balaramayana this year we will narrate the story of Lord Sri Rama & the values that Sri Rama lived by. Children will learn Daily prayers, Geetha chanting, Gurusthotram, and bhajans. We will be also doing lots of fun activities like coloring, games, and quizzes.

Children will be learning -

• Daily prayers (pg.11 to 13),
• Guru Stotram (pg. 61 shlokas 1 to 3 and Tvameva Mata...),
• Nilambuja Shyamala (pg. 129)
• Bhajans:- Atma Rama (pg.143), Manasa Bhajare (pg. 73), Shiva Parmeshwaraya (pg.83)
• Geetha chanting - Chapter 1 (1-16 verses)

Some important Rules -

• Our class starts at 12.45 pm. Please make sure to bring your child to class on time.
• There is no food and drink allowed in the classroom. So do not send these. You can send bottled water.
• Please make sure that the kids use the bathroom before coming to the class.
• We encourage all parents & students to stay for Aarthi/ Pledge at the temple as class ends only after the Aarthi and Pledge.

Books & Supplies needed for this year -

• My Prayer Book ( Available @ Chinmaya book store.)
• Bala Ramayana Coloring Book ( Available @ Chinmaya book store.)
• Balavihar Handbook (For Geetha chanting ). we already gave in the first class. 
• Color pencils & Crayons

Important dates to remember -

• Annadanam:  For 1st Grade Saturday, November 16th,2019
• Gita Chanting:  March 28th, 2020 Gita chanting Yajna CNJ Regionals
• Monthly Program:  Our Grade 1 kids are scheduled to perform on the Mela day i.e June 13th,2020

We started our class by chanting 3 times OM  and Sahanavathu. After the introduction, we chanted Daily prayers Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi & Samudra Vasanedevi. We explained the meaning of slokas 

& when we chant these slokas during the day. We encourage kids to chant these slokas as a daily routine. We started our story Bala Ramayana with a brief description of the beautiful city Ayodhya which is located on the banks of River Sarayu. King Dasaratha ruled the kingdom. Everyone was very happy. No one was fighting with anyone in the city. Therefore the city was named as Ayodhya. They learned that Ayodhya means a place where there is no fighting. King Dasaratha had three wives but he was sad because he had no children. He wanted to take care of his kingdom. He approached his Guru Vasistha to explain his problem. Guru Vasista adviced him to do Putrakamesti Yaga. Here kids learned that when we have a problem, we go to someone who can solve the problem or to whom we trust. We then asked some questions about the story. Kids enthusiastically answered all the questions. Kids also played Four corners game so that they remember the main characters of the story. The class was then dismissed for Aathi and Pledge 

At any point, if you have any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to reach us.

Thank You,

Sailatha & Sita

Nov 3, 2019 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM)

Hari Om Parents! In the last 3 classes after chanting 3 OM's and Sahanavavathu, we chant these Daily Prayers. This time, we are happy to see that every class kids are enthusiastically leading the class with the following prayers. Having the kids chant and the class repeat after them is a great way for them to get familiarized with theses slokas. Almost a majority of the kids are familiar with the first 4 slokas, and a few children can even chant without looking! Please encourage the kids to learn these slokas as part of their daily routine.  1. Karagre vasathe Lakshmi - Before you wake up   2. Samudra vasane devi - Before you step off from a bed and your feet touch the ground 3. Gange ca yamune caiva - Before/During bath 4. Sarasvati namastubhyam - Before studies 5. Brahmarpanam brahma havih - Before Meals 6. Subham karoti Kalyanam - Before evening light   We have also chanting these new slokas: Srirama rama ramethi rame rame manorame - Pg.129 in My Prayers Book Verse 1 of Guru Stotram - Akhanda mandalakaram - Pg.61 in My Prayers Book Story: As usual we played the "Concentration game" before narrating the story. After a brief review, we continued with the story of Ramayana. After Rama killed Thataka they all reach Sage Viswamitra's asramam. We described the greatness of the asramam where Narayana performed great tapas and he was born as Vamana. We described Mahabali and how he never refused the request of anyone for anything. Once Vamana approached Mahabali, he asked for three paces of land as paced by his foot. Mahabali looked at Vamana's short stature with small feet and laughed. Mahabali agreed with pride. Vamana was none other than Lord Vishnu, so he grew to the size of Trivikrama. With one pace he covered the entire earth, with the second, the heavens and due to the lack of space, Mahabali offered his own head for the third pace. By this story, kids learned Vamana came in order to humble Mahabali.  Next, the sages started the yagna. Yagna continues for 5 days and 5 nights. On the 6th day, the demons Mareecha & Subahu are getting ready to shower unclean flesh & blood. We explained how Mareecha was thrown into an ocean far far away. Mareecha was not killed and he had an important role to play in the life of Rama. Subahu was killed by Rama's Agneyastra. Visvamitra completed his yagna. Then Viswamitra told them about the great bow of Lord Shiva that is in Mithila kingdom with Janaka. Rama & Lakshmana get excited to go and see the bow. On their way to the Mithila kingdom, they stopped at the deserted asramam of Gautama rishi. We explained why sage Gauthama cursed Ahalya to turn into a stone. After Ahalya apologizes, sage Gauthama grants her the boon that she will turn into a woman as soon as Lord Rama's feet step on the stone. As soon as Rama's feet touched the stone, Ahalya emerges and she was released from the curse. After that, they proceeded their journey towards Mithila kingdom. King Janaka was the ruler of Mithila kingdom. When he was plowing his own land, he found a beautiful baby among the bushes. He accepted it as a gift from mother Earth and took her home. We explained the meaning of the shloka "Samudra vasane devi". From this, they learned why we pray to Mother Earth (Bhudevi). He named her Sita. Sita grew up to be a beautiful girl with great qualities. Once when Sita was a child, she loved to play with the Rudras's bow and she almost lifted the bow. King Janaka knew she was a special girl and decided that the prince who married her must be very strong and he must be capable of lifting the bow. Rama, Lakshmana, and sage Viswamitra arrived at Mithila and enjoyed the beauty of the city. They entered into a huge hall. King Janaka ordered the bow to be brought into the court. 5000 warriors brought the bow into the court on an eight-wheeled chariot. Many princes came, but no one could lift the bow. Rama took the permission from Viswamitra, and he easily lifted the bow and pulled the string. The bow snapped into two. Everyone was surprised, and king Janaka was happy to announce that Sita will wed Rama. Rama & Sita exchanged garlands. King Janaka sent messengers to Ayodhya to convey the message and invite Rama's family for the wedding. The wedding of Rama& Sita took place after the arrival of Rama's family. At the same time, Lakshmana was married to Urmila who is also another daughter of Janaka. Bharata & Satrugna were married to Mandavi and Shrutakirti. These were the cousins of Sita. Dasaratha was overjoyed. King Janaka felt sad at the time of departure because he is going to miss Sita & her love and affection. Dasaratha and his family left Mithila and started their journey towards Ayodhya.  Activity: On all good occasions we give gifts to people. So all the kids prepared a gift to offer Rama. What can we give to the Lord who has everything? We must give him that which he does not have. Lord Rama does not have bad qualities. So we decided we will offer him our bad qualities and so he can destroy them. Kids wrote their bad qualities ( ex. cheating, telling lie, homework not done on time, not following directions ) on post-its and put them in a box in front of Lord Rama. We celebrated Rama & Sita wedding by distributing goodies to children. Coloring: Please make sure that the kids bring coloring books. Every class, after the story is done, they color the lessons that they listen on that day. So that they can get a clear picture in their minds. Please have the kids color till Rama & Sita's wedding if they haven't done so already. Geetha Chanting:  Kids watched Swamiji's Gita Chanting video on youtube. This year kids will learn chapter 18, verses 41 to 56. Kids watched the video and chanted slokas. Please find the link to the Gita chanting below: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVaQ1AsTFVEI9cHOqjnFcAsR9gi42Yu-6  . These slokas are in our handbook from page 21 to 22. Please make sure they practice at home. They will have a Gita Yagna competition on March 30, 2019   Annadanam: Our balavihar/ashram has been doing annadaanam (food donation) from different grades each month. Grade 1 is scheduled for this month.  It is on November 17th, 2018 Please see the link below for the items that can be donated, etc.  Scroll down the sign-up genius list, and sign up for the items you would like to contribute.  Please drop off the items well within the mentioned time. Kindly check the time and place to drop off the items in the sign-up sheet.  Parents and kids who are interested can go to the soup kitchen directly and serve as well, address is posted in the sign up sheet as well! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044fa4a72aa1fa7-balavihar1   It is always appreciated and valued - upholding what our pledge says 'giving more than what we take...'!  Thanks in advance for your generous donations! Best Regards, Sailatha & Pranjali

Sep 29, 2019 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM)

Hari Om Parents,

We started our class with chanting Om 3 times and Om Saha navavathu. Next, we chanted our daily prayers 'Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi', 'Samudra vasane devi '. We introduced the new slokas 'Gangecha yamune chaiva' and 'Saraswathi Namasthubhyam' this week. We explained the meaning of slokas and they also learned when we chant these slokas during the day. Please encourage the kids to learn these slokas as part of their daily routine.

Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi - As soon as you wake up, look at your palms and chant (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)

Samudra vasane devi - Before you step off from a bed and your feet touch the ground (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)  

Gangecha yamune chaiva - Before / during bath

Saraswathi namasthubhyam - Before studies

Story: Kids together recap the story & we continued our journey as Rama and Lakshmana followed Viswamitra and reached the banks of Sarayu river. The next morning,  they proceeded on their journey and reached Kamashrama. They rested there for the night and the next morning after offering their prayers, Rama and Lakshmana along with Viswamitra crossed the Ganges river and came into the Dandaka forest. We described the Dandaka forest as dark, deep, ugly, and full of wild animals, where Tataka resided in. First Rama hesitated to kill Tataka because she was a woman. Then Viswamitra told Rama that it is the dharma of a Kshatriya to protect good or destroy evil. Rama twanged his bow. She advanced upon Rama with huge boulders to shower upon him. Then Rama shot arrows and cut off all her limbs. Rama with a well-aimed arrow pierced her chest. She was killed. Sage Viswamitra embraced him and the devas rejoiced from heaven. We discussed why Tataka & Maricha were cursed by sage Agastya to lead ugly demons. Kids learned to not do wrong actions even when angry. We had a short class this week. All the kids assembled in the prayer hall for Saraswathi pooja.

Activity: They sang 'Atma Rama Ananda Ramana' bhajan (pg.143 in My Prayers Book) at the end of class.

Best Regards,

Sailatha & Sita

Sep 29, 2019 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM )

Hari Om Parents,

We started our class with chanting Om 3 times and Om Saha navavathu. Next, we chanted our daily prayers 'Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi', 'Samudra vasane devi '. We introduced the new slokas 'Gangecha yamune chaiva' and 'Saraswathi Namasthubhyam' this week. We explained the meaning of slokas and they also learned when we chant these slokas during the day. Please encourage the kids to learn these slokas as part of their daily routine.

Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi - As soon as you wake up, look at your palms and chant (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)

Samudra vasane devi - Before you step off from a bed and your feet touch the ground (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)  

Gangecha yamune chaiva - Before / during bath

Saraswathi namasthubhyam - Before studies

Story: Kids together recap the story & we continued our journey as Rama and Lakshmana followed Viswamitra and reached the banks of Sarayu river. The next morning,  they proceeded on their journey and reached Kamashrama. They rested there for the night and the next morning after offering their prayers, Rama and Lakshmana along with Viswamitra crossed the Ganges river and came into the Dandaka forest. We described the Dandaka forest as dark, deep, ugly, and full of wild animals, where Tataka resided in. First Rama hesitated to kill Tataka because she was a woman. Then Viswamitra told Rama that it is the dharma of a Kshatriya to protect good or destroy evil. Rama twanged his bow. She advanced upon Rama with huge boulders to shower upon him. Then Rama shot arrows and cut off all her limbs. Rama with a well-aimed arrow pierced her chest. She was killed. Sage Viswamitra embraced him and the devas rejoiced from heaven. We discussed why Tataka & Maricha were cursed by sage Agastya to lead ugly demons. Kids learned to not do wrong actions even when angry. We had a short class this week. All the kids assembled in the prayer hall for Saraswathi pooja.

Activity: They sang 'Atma Rama Ananda Ramana' bhajan (pg.143 in My Prayers Book) at the end of class.

Best Regards,

Sailatha & Sita

Sep 22, 2019 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM)

Hari Om Parents,

We started our class with chanting Om 3 times and  Om Saha navavathu. We chanted our daily prayers 'Karagre vasathe lakshmi' & 'Samudra vasane devi'. We explained the meaning of slokas and they also learned when we chant these slokas during the day. Please encourage the kids to learn these slokas as part of their daily routine.

Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi - As soon as you wake up, look at your palms and chant (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)

Samudra vasane devi - Before you step off from a bed and your feet touch the ground (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)

Story: After a brief recap of our story, we continued our Bala Ramayan story with the Yaga preparation. Kids learned that Yaga is a big fire ritual and how it is performed. We discussed how a yajna Purusha emerged with a bowl of payasam. King Dasaratha gave the payasam to Kausalya & Kaikeyi. Kausalya got one son, Rama. Kaikeyi got one son, Bharatha and Sumitra got a pair of twins Lakshamana & Sathrugna since Kausalya & Kaikeyi shared their portions of payasam. 

    The story continued with the four babies born & growing up. All four brothers were trained in the arts of warfare & archery and taught Vedas & Upanishads. Rama soon became the favorite of everyone. Then we discussed about Viswamitra's arrival and he asked to send Rama to the forest with him to protect their yajna from Subahu & Maricha rakshasas. King Dasaratha stunned into silence, but following Guru Vasista's advice, the king allows Rama along with Lakshmana to go with Viswamitra to protect them from demons. From these stories, kids learned ' To be a winner, do as the teacher says". 

Activity: Kids played the 'four corners game' using names that we learned in class. ( Dasaratha, Kausalya, Sumitra & Kaikeyi). Next in another round with the names Rama, Bharatha Lakshmana & Sathrugna.

Best Regards,

Sailatha & Sita.

Sep 22, 2019 - Grade 1 (Sunday PM )

Hari Om Parents,

We started our class with chanting Om 3 times and  Om Saha navavathu. We chanted our daily prayers 'Karagre vasathe lakshmi' & 'Samudra vasane devi'. We explained the meaning of slokas and they also learned when we chant these slokas during the day. Please encourage the kids to learn these slokas as part of their daily routine.

Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi - As soon as you wake up, look at your palms and chant (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)

Samudra vasane devi - Before you step off from a bed and your feet touch the ground (pg.11 in My Prayers Book)

Story: After a brief recap of our story, we continued our Bala Ramayan story with the Yaga preparation. Kids learned that Yaga is a big fire ritual and how it is performed. We discussed how a yajna Purusha emerged with a bowl of payasam. King Dasaratha gave the payasam to Kausalya & Kaikeyi. Kausalya got one son, Rama. Kaikeyi got one son, Bharatha and Sumitra got a pair of twins Lakshamana & Sathrugna since Kausalya & Kaikeyi shared their portions of payasam. 

    The story continued with the four babies born & growing up. All four brothers were trained in the arts of warfare & archery and taught Vedas & Upanishads. Rama soon became the favorite of everyone. Then we discussed about Viswamitra's arrival and he asked to send Rama to the forest with him to protect their yajna from Subahu & Maricha rakshasas. King Dasaratha stunned into silence, but following Guru Vasista's advice, the king allows Rama along with Lakshmana to go with Viswamitra to protect them from demons. From these stories, kids learned ' To be a winner, do as the teacher says". 

Activity: Kids played the 'four corners game' using names that we learned in class. ( Dasaratha, Kausalya, Sumitra & Kaikeyi). Next in another round with the names Rama, Bharatha Lakshmana & Sathrugna.

Best Regards,

Sailatha & Sita

Welcome to Gr 1 - Sunday PM Session

Please look out for regular updates from the teachers soon after the session starts on Sept 15th