Dear Parents,
Here is the summary of our class on Friday, Sep 15, 2023
Opening prayers:
Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Vasudevasutam Devam
Quote of the Day:
Watch your thoughts, for they become words
Watch your words, for they become actions
Watch your actions, for they become habits
Watch your habits, for they become your character
Watch your character, for it becomes your DESTINY
Lesson: Story of Kali
Discussion/Game: Stop the Kali
Activity: Marble drop meditation
Chanting: Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra
Geeta Chanting: Pronunciations
Next Balavihar class: 9/22/23
Summary: We had our first full class this week and we welcomed 3 new friends to our class. We started with Opening shlokas, followed by Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra. We then had a discussion about the quote of the day. The children had interesting interpretations of the quote. We discussed that if we watch our thoughts and be sure to keep them positive, good and kind, we can make that a habit and do our part in making the world a better place. We have an ongoing 'homework' of using kind words with everyone we interact with everyday. This was reiterated in this week's lesson/story. King Parikshit This is the best way to Stop The Kali and destroy his sister Durukti (harsh/bad words). KIng Parkshit was one of the greatest kings that ruled many many centuries ago. One day, he saw a cruel looking man beating a cow, He found out that this was Kali and was about to destroy him, when Kali begged him to give him a place in the country. Kali was then permitted to be in places where people were unkind, valued material things more than people, etc. Kali brought his sister, Durkuti with him. Thus began the Kali Yuga, in which we currently live. In order to stop the Kali, we have to counter them with kind words and actions. We then played a game where the children exchanged little notes with each other. Each note had a kind/happy statement and it brought a smile on their faces when they read it. We decided to spread the words and acts of kindness to everyone we interact with. We will review in the next class and the upcoming classes to see if we are able to consistently follow this and how we feel because of this. We then did the Marble drop meditation. This is a meditation game that we will follow every week. The children had to close their eyes and concentrate on the sound of the marbles dropping in the box and keep count. At the end of the activity, we checked to see who got the right number and almost every child got it right! We are going to continue this game in class every week to improve focus and practice mindfulness. We then moved on to our discussion about the importance of our teachers, starting with our parents, teachers at school and outside that give us knowledge in the various fields and Pujya Gurudev and Pujya Swamiji for being our guide to leading a life of good values and principles. It was then time for our Geeta chanting video of the day. We practiced some Sanskrit pronunciations this week. Following that, we had a quick meeting with new parents to give them an overview of the class this year. We then went to the prayer hall for Aarati. Please have a discussion about the class with the children and encourage them to share their thoughts. We will continue to engage them in a fun and positive way every week when we meet them! We look forward to meeting them on 9/22/23.
Pranaam
Radhika and Anandhi
Grade 4 Sevikas
