Hari Om! Parents,
We are glad that some of you could join us for a few minutes today in class. It gave us an opportunity to talk to you about the curriculum and also give you the list of recommended books.
Reminder: Please join the Parents WhatsApp Group for Bala Vihar updates and announcements.
Week 1 Class
Children did this Likhita Japa at the start of class - " Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama ''
Shlokas
We started with Om chanting and then chanted Sahana vavatu, Vakratunda mahakaya, Saraswati namastubhyam, Guru Brahma, Sarva Mangala mangalye (ref. My Prayers book pg 39)
Please encourage your child to practice chanting these shlokas regularly.
Activity: Children introduced themselves and shared what they did in the summer. We played a boys vs. girls quiz about the Mahabharata story, and it ended with a tie
Mahabharata*
We will recap the first part of the Mahabharata story with the children over the next few weeks. Today we started a recap of the Adi Parva and reviewed these main prasangas - King Shantanu and Ganga's story, the story of Devavrath (Bhishma) and Satyavati, the story of the birth of Dhritarashtra/ Pandu/ Vidura, Kunti's boon from sage Durvasa and the birth of Karna. We drew the Kuru dynasty family tree and brushed up on all the important names. We plan to finish the entire Mahabharata story by the end of this year. Your child can also go through the short Mahabharata recap videos, posted in the Resources in your BestClass account if you missed class. We will be doing activities from the Mahabharata Junior Workbook by Chinmaya Publications throughout the year. Please send this book with your child to class.
India, the Sacred Land
This is the second topic that we will be discussing this year. We have planned several interactive activities and hope to instill a sense of 'Indian pride' in the children!
Geeta Chanting
We are going to learn Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita from our Swamiji this year. Grade 6 is group Partha, and is assigned verses 1-28 to memorise. Your child can chant for the Geeta Chanting Yagna in April.
Our Bala Vihar House for this year is "Durga's Daredevils", and our House color is red. All the BV Houses events will be updated on the Parents WA group and on the Ashram website.
We concluded the session with Aarti and Pledge recitation in the Prayer Hall.
- Rashmi Kuroodi and Sangeetha Srikanth
Supplies needed for every class:- Bala Vihar Handbook, My Prayers book, the Junior Workbooks, a notebook and pencils for likhita japa; everything in their Bala Vihar bag
*Reference books - Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari / Mahabharata by Kamala Subramaniam
