May 1 & 8, 2020 - Grade KG (Friday)

Hari Om dear Chinmaya family members,

Hope all of you are staying well.As the state moves to reopen some businesses and the weather starts to warm up, more people will be moving around.Please continue all the healthy practices during this lock down period to stay physically, emotionally and spiritually active and positive.

On May 1, the class did Y is for Yagna. Yagna is commonly understood as a fire ritual .We looked at how life itself depends on yagna. Heat of the sun makes plants grow. The heat of the stove cooks food for us. The heat in our body helps food to digest so that we can grow. The kids watched a demo in  my kitchen of of 2 griddles on the stove with me pouring dosa batter. One dosa got cooked.One did not.I asked them why- of course an observant pair of eyes saw that one stove was on and other wasn't.The class discussion about how organs in the body work together in yagna spirit, or things in nature work in yagna spirit was further enhanced with the story of the farmer and the HUGE turnip.

On May 8, Z is for Zeal was touched upon. We have promised a fun zoom party which we shall all celebrate with zeal on the last day.

We did our lesson on P is for Prayer.It was wonderful to hear the children say things like-

I pray to say thanks to God.

One way praying is doing japa.

We listened to Gurudev's voice explaining why we pray.

Then we all watched Paduka Pooja together.

You all must have received the email about Swamis and Brahmacharins of Chinmaya Mission doing summer camp for 9 weeks from June 15 onwards on zoom.Please register and avail of this priceless opportunity.

Kindergarten Teachers

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Apr 17, 2020 - Grade KG (Friday)

Hari OM,

After a review of alphabet safari till V, we moved on to W.

W is for Work.We talked about how different professionals in our community do different types of work - police officers, trash truck drivers, teachers and how all kinds of work is important to making the world a happy place.

We discussed ways in which we, as kindergarteners, can help out at home by doing some age appropriate work. We had the kids bring laundry basket with 4/5 items of clothing and showed them how to fold a towel, a T-shirt and shorts.Hope they have been offering to help you all during this quarantine period.

We watched the classic story of the Ants and the Grasshopper stopping to ask questions-

1.Is it wrong for the grasshopper to be happily making music?

2.Why did the grasshopper come to the ants for help?

3.Would it be ok for the ants to not help the grasshopper?

Sorry for the delay in sending this out.

Hope all are staying well.

Kindergarten teachers

Apr 3, 2020 - Grade KG (Friday)

Hari Om Parents,

We went on to V is for victory.

We explored the idea is victory is achieving one's goal. Not necessarily first, not necessarily fast, but getting to the goal.

The children were introduced to India's freedom struggle and Gandhiji's role in uniting the people to persist against the British and win victory. We sang Jana Gana Mana and the children drew the flag of India to help remember that if one stays on the path, even when it is long and hard, victory is certain.

We explored another idea-what kind of goal one must have.If a fish tries to fly, a dolphin to crawl will they succeed even if they keep at it?

Thank you for your support in keeping your kindergarteners in quiet spaces to be able to focus better.

We do not have Balavihar this Friday.

See the kids next week.

Kindergarten teachers

March 20 & 27, 2020 - Grade KG (Friday)

Hari Om Parents,

Hope every one is staying safe and well during this difficult period.

Please take care of your physical and mental health and help the community at large, in safe ways, by picking up groceries for seniors, calling and texting friends and family, sewing masks and gowns for hospital staff and emergency responders, contributing financially to soup kitchens.

Let us not under estimate the power of collective prayer to help heal and center ourselves.We are blessed to have chanting every day by volunteer chanters from 6.30 to 7 pm.Please feel free to join in. What we do as parents, deeply influences the children more than what we say. Let us unite in prayer as well.

All of Swamiji's classes are also virtual now, so feel free to attend.

Zoom Balavihar is going well and we feel that the children and us are getting used to this new technology.

We did T is for Truth on March 20. The classic story of the boy who cried wolf was taken up.Of course people will not trust us if we lie, but also we dirty up our minds which makes future lying easier. We played a game-

Big and little which shows us that it takes effort to lie and being truthful is easy and light on our mind.

On March 27, we did U is for Unity.Unity is strength was seen in the story of the Lion and 4 cows. Even though the lion is so powerful, it could not hurt the cows as long they worked together. When they split up, the lion was able to hurt the cow.We also saw how the various organs of the body also work together to serve us.

Thanks,

Kindergarten teachers

Dec 6 and 13, 2019 - KG (Friday)

Hari Om Parents,

> Sorry for the delay in sending the summary.
> On Dec 6, we explored the letter G in Alphabet Safari. G is for God. The class looked at what is God, what does He do and where is God.
> Some children felt that they don't know who He is, some felt that they have seen Him. We tried to direct our attention to that knowing part in us which tells us right from wrong, one that helps us connect to nature and people, one that saints, those with clean, sweet minds have talked about.
> We did a small Pooja in the room. The children offered Krishna and Ganesha, water, milk, flowers and for naivedya, we offered raisins which we then took as Prasad.
>
> On Dec 13, we explored H is for happiness.
> We took a look when we are happy, what makes us happy. We had some amazing insights- live your life the way it is, accept things the way they are, make the best of what you have, don't be greedy for more.
> The song attached here, was at the end of some discussion.
>
> Some general guidelines-
> Please make sure your child has paper, pencils, color pencils in the bag. Some children have been coming with empty bags.
>
> Please refrain from leaving after class before arati. We understand if it is on occasion, but arati is an integral part of balavihar learning and by skipping it every week, the children miss out.
> Thanks
>

Nov 22, 2019 - KG (Friday)

Hari OM,

Our letter for today was F.

F is for Friendship. First all of the children drew a picture of a dear friend and then to everyone's surprise, we asked them to crumple the paper and put away.We then discussed ways to be a good friend-from smiling, to helping, asking someone to join in our play, being nice.Then we talked about ways not to be a friend- like being rude, walking away on purpose, being bossy, always wanting one's way.

And then we linked it back to story of Krishna and Sudama that we had heard some classes back-And then came a delicate part of class that we always have a friend in God- many students said when they feel  lonely they look for their family, but the idea that God is everywhere and always available is something we will keep visiting frequently.This is a great conversation topic for families, especially over the holidays.

We then came back to the crumpled picture of the friend they drew and asked them to smoothen the paper as if it were new. We all discovered that it is hard to make it like new. In the same way, in a friendship, harsh words and acts, mar it in a way, that anything we do later on to make it better never quite restores it. So, best is to not crumple in the first place!

Our grade is chanting verses 1-6 of Chapter 1 of Bhagavad Geeta. We worked rigorously on verse 1 and sang Ganesha Sharanam. Please attend the Geeta chanting coaching if you and your child needs extra help.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions, through email, Whatsapp or phone.

Uma Shankar 609 7213054

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Nov 1, 2019 - KG (Friday)

Hari OM,

Sorry for the delay parents.

Today,Nov 8 and next Friday Nov 15-there is no Balavihar.

On Nov 1 we moved ahead to E is for Enthusiasm.

Since it was a new word for most of them, we talked  about what it means.What are we enthusiastic about- playing with our friends, coming to balavihar, cleaning up our room?

It became clear that when we think something  is fun we are enthusiastic. We tried to explore if the reverse is true -if we are enthusiastic, does something we do become fun? Try it at home as a family activity.

We listened to the story of Geetu, a little chipmunk who was very enthusiastic and wanted to help the bigger animals in the forest but was often turned down with- you are too little to help,  you are in our way,.Ask the kids what they remember of the story- the moral, of course, is that ,no matter how small one is, one can be of help and make a difference.

We had a small activity separating beans, raisins and fruit snacks. Even though the beans got stuck and separating them was tricky, it was fun due to enthusiasm. Remember to balance enthusiasm with brotherhood- one still must remember to be kind and give everyone else a fair chance.

As Thanksgiving approaches, talk to the children about gratitude and doing one's part I helping our less fortunate members of society.Schools will also be talking about this. Consider donations to local soup kitchens. Consider supporting Chinmaya Mission by attending the fundraiser.

Thanks

Uma and  Pranjali

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Oct 11 & 18, 2019 - KG (Friday)

Hari Om all,

Sorry for the delay in sending out the class summary.

Oct 11-

We reviewed A is for Aspiration and started with B is for Brotherhood.

This is very relatable to children as all of them know and respond to love.We talked about what it means to be brotherly- create community by being kind, speaking kind words, waiting for our turn to speak in class, not pushing in the playground.

We listened to the story of Krishna and Sudama- the story of such love that Sudama did not even ask for the wealth that he really needed and Krishna blessing Sudama with all that He himself enjoyed in Dwarka!

Bhagavad Geeta telecast of Swamiji's chanting Chapter 1 started. Please make use of Geeta coaching classes, an hour before regular Balavihar, if you can.

Oct 18-

We learned the meaning of Om Sahanavavatu- connecting it back to B is for brotherhood and community.

The teacher and students chant before class so that the magic of learning can happen.

We did C is for Cleanliness. Being clean by body is easy to understand.But being clean in mind? That took some pointing and guiding before the class came to the understanding that having unkind or negative thoughts is what dirties the mind, and a dirty mind cannot give us joy, fun or smartness.

We did a small experiment with 3 glasses of water-One with dirt outside(like having dirty body)

One with dirt inside( like having a dirty mind)

And one with water sweetened with sugar.

Which cup would you like to drink from?

Class did some discussing with this.

Please talk to the kids about how thoughts like anger, pride ,envy dirt the mind and how can we clean up the mind.

We had the houses inaugural and it was an energetic event!

Thanks to the parents who contributed to our grade annadaanam.

Happy Deepawali to all in advance.

Hope to see you all at the fundraiser-Vrindavan Surabhi.

Kindergarten teachers

Pranjali and Uma

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Sep 27, 2019 - KG (Friday)

Hari Om,

We had a short class today as all balavihar students assembled in the prayer hall to do Saraswathi pooja.

A few housekeeping reminders-

1. As the class sits on the floor, make sure your children are dressed comfortably to sit cross legged.

2.Please make sure that the child uses the bathroom before stepping into class minimizing interruptions during class.

3.Some children are still anxious about leaving their parents- a quick hug, smile,kiss with the word that you will pick them up at the end of class is usually enough.

As we were going to do pooja together, class began with a discussion of what is a pooja, have the kids seen one, done one?We had interesting inputs like- it is a time to pray, it is time to do aarti,it is time to offer food.So, whatever poojas the kids have been in, they have been keenly observing!We then talked a little about what to expect during the pooja in the hall-including waiting to eat the raisins only after they have been offered to God.

We, then turned to Alphabet Safari- our kindergarten curriculum. As there were many new students, we went over A is for Aspiration.. We had to use it in a sentence for them to understand its meaning. We asked what each of their personal aspirations were- some said artist, teacher, doctor, engineer, police officer, firefighter. Some had multiple aspirations. We discussed if that is ok.

Then came the subtler step- is it enough to aspire- what is needed as follow up?

Finally we ended with reminding the students to tell the parents about what happened in class  and also ask family about their aspiration.

Parents- please ask your kids what is needed as follow up to aspiration.

Happy Navrathri.

See you all on Oct 11.

Pranjali and Uma

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Download and Enjoy Chinmaya Bhajans from Google Play , Amazon Music or Itunes Store phones. 

Sep 27, 2019 - KG (Friday)

Hari Om,

We had a short class today as all balavihar students assembled in the prayer hall to do Saraswathi pooja.

A few housekeeping reminders-

1. As the class sits on the floor, make sure your children are dressed comfortably to sit cross legged.

2.Please make sure that the child uses the bathroom before stepping into class minimizing interruptions during class.

3.Some children are still anxious about leaving their parents- a quick hug, smile,kiss with the word that you will pick them up at the end of class is usually enough.

As we were going to do pooja together, class began with a discussion of what is a pooja, have the kids seen one, done one?We had interesting inputs like- it is a time to pray, it is time to do aarti,it is time to offer food.So, whatever poojas the kids have been in, they have been keenly observing!We then talked a little about what to expect during the pooja in the hall-including waiting to eat the raisins only after they have been offered to God.

We, then turned to Alphabet Safari- our kindergarten curriculum. As there were many new students, we went over A is for Aspiration.. We had to use it in a sentence for them to understand its meaning. We asked what each of their personal aspirations were- some said artist, teacher, doctor, engineer, police officer, firefighter. Some had multiple aspirations. We discussed if that is ok.

Then came the subtler step- is it enough to aspire- what is needed as follow up?

Finally we ended with reminding the students to tell the parents about what happened in class  and also ask family about their aspiration.

Parents- please ask your kids what is needed as follow up to aspiration.

Happy Navrathri.

See you all on Oct 11.

Pranjali and Uma

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Download and Enjoy Chinmaya Bhajans from Google Play , Amazon Music or Itunes Store phones. 

Welcome to Kindergarten - Friday Session

Please look out for regular updates from the teachers soon after the session starts on Sept 13th