Jan 28, 2024 - Kindergarten (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents, 

Today was the 13th class of Balavihar!! Here is the summary of what we covered in the class today:

Opening Prayers:  We together chanted three OMs and then chanted the Opening Prayers - Sahana Vavatu. 

Sloka time: Most kids chanted Ganesh Sloka-Ekadantam Mahakayam and chanted Krishna Sloka - Mukam Karoti Vachalam, Rama sloka  Apadamapa hataram , and Ramaya Rambhadraya.

Introduction of the Next Letter: We introduced the next letter 'J' - stands for 'Japa which means repeating God's name with devotion. This improves our concentration, helps our mind to focus better and makes it calm.

Brainstorming: We discussed: What is Japa? Japa is the repetition of the Lord's name. And explained that we can take the Lord's name while doing any activity and keep chanting. And by chanting God's name, strengthens our mind and improves our concentration.

Exploration:  We discussed - Why do we need to learn to concentrate and pay attention? By concentrating on a task and paying attention, we can succeed.  We explained that - Om represents all the words, and everything in the world. We explained how to chant 'Om' and explained that we need to chant it three times before starting any work to help us focus better.

Attendance: Attendance was taken and each kid responded by saying Hari Om.

Bhajan: We learnt the Kathe bhi Ram Kaho bhajan - by playing a video of this song sung by our Balavihar kids from youtube. Kids learnt the first verse of the song and were eager to sing the chorus Rama Rama Rama(3). 

Game: Memory Game: Kids were shown pictures of different objects for a couple of minutes and asked kids to tell from memory the different things they saw in the pictures. Kids keenly observed the objects and Kids had a fun time listing the different objects that they remembered. This was a good exercise to check their concentration skills.

Activity 1: Kids were asked to write their favorite God's name for Likitha Japa.  And Kids then wrote their favorite God's name and some drew their favorite God also.

Parent-Teacher Meet: We asked Parents to come to our class at 10:10am for providing details on the competitions, Class Play and for obtaining feedback for the classes taken so far. And while kids were writing the Likitha japa, we discussed details of the Bhajanotsav, Slokhaton competitions, and shared our plan for our ClassPlay and responded to parent's questions.

Activity 2: Kids were provided beads and color pipes to make their own Japa mala as a parent - kid activity. Kids enjoyed doing their own japa mala with their parents.

Bhajan recital: Kids then sang the first verse of Kathe Bhi Ram Kaho with actions for their parents. It was amazing that they learnt it so soon in the class and everyone sang with action(s).

Exit Ticket : We asked the kids to do Nama japa along with their family for some time and to chant God's name during the week while doing all their activities. The Kathe bhi Ram bhajan will be shared with kids to help them learn it.

It was another very interactive session with kids. Kids had fun today learning the new bhajan, doing the activity with their parent(s) and with the memory game.

We sincerely thank Parents for coming to our class and for providing positive feedback about our classes, and  for actively participating in the Parent-Kid Japa mala making Activity. Kids enjoyed parent's presence and participation.

Have a wonderful week ahead!!  

Note:  Next class is on Feb 4th 2024. 

Please register kids to the below competitions:

Shlokathon on March 9th - bit.ly/Shlokas24 (Any slokas including ones taught in class can be recited by kids)
Bhajanotsav on May 4th - bit.ly/bvbhajan24 (KG class)

Pranams

Mahalakshmi & Chandarani.