We had another great day at Bal vihar Premam class today!!!!! We missed few of our friends but more importantly they missed ALOT today. We talked about a lot today and was a busy day in our class. Below is more details about our class.
Started our class with 3 Oms as always
Chanted "Saraswati Namastubyam......"
Chanted "Asato ma sadgamaya...."
Revision from our class last week:
Who is God?
Where is God?
What does God do?
How do you see God?
Some of them remembered the answers others I had to do jumping jacks with them in the class to wake them up, before we moved into new material.
A is for?
Everyone answered A for Apple, Aligator, Ape, Astronaut, ant etc. etc. We introduced another word that A stands for. That is Aspiration. What is Aspiration?? "A strong determination to achieve our goal" Gave them an example "If you want to have a playdate with your friend, you whine, cry do whatever it takes to make it happen, because you really want that" Similar way, if you set a goal in life you will achieve that with a strong will/determination.
Told them the story of Dronacharya:
Dronacharya addressed all the
students and said, “Young princes, you have learnt most of the skills
necessary for a warrior, and it is time you take a test and show me your
abilities. Right now, I want you to show me your skill in archery. There, on
that tree is a wooden bird with a painted eye. You have to aim for, and hit that
eye.”
The first one to be
called was Yudhishtra. Dronacharya asked him to aim at the bird, but
wait for him to say the word before letting the arrow loose. When Yudhishtra was
ready, Dronacharya asked, “Yudhishtra, please tell me what you can
see.”
Yudhishtra
replied, “I can see the bird, the tree, the fruits on the tree and more
birds.” Dronacharya replied, “All right. Leave your bow and arrow and go.”
Yudhishtra was surprised, but obeyed his guru and did as he was
told.
Next was the turn of
Duryodhana. Asked the same question, he replied, “Gurudev, I can see the
bird, the tree, the leaves, the fruits, another bird…” But before he could
complete, Dronacharya said, “You can go!” Duryodhana was wild, and he flung the
bow and arrow to the ground before he stood aside.
Next was the turn of
Bhima. Again, he was asked the same question by Dronacharya, and he
replied, “Gurudev, I too can see the bird, the tree, the fruits……” he too was
interrupted and made to stand aside.
Next was the turn of
the twins, one by one. When posed the same question, Nakula said, “I can
see the people, the trees and the bird” and Sahadeva said, “I can see the bird,
the fruits and the tree.” They too were turned away.
Finally, it was the
turn of Arjuna. As soon as Arjuna was ready, Dronacharya asked, “Arjuna,
what can you see?” Arjuna replied, “Gurudev, I can see only the eye of the bird,
and nothing else.” With a smile on his face, Dronacharya said, “Fire!” and
Arjuna let loose the arrow which found its mark.
With his strong determination he became is known as the best archer.
B is for?
Again got many different answers. B is for ball, bear, bee, etc. etc. Being the alphabet safari curriculum introduced B is for brotherhood. What is brotherhood? It is the sense of belonging and togetherness among members of a family, neighborhood, organization and the world.
Talked about how they belong in our Premam class, how they belong in their school, their neighborhood, soccer team, dance class, world, everywhere. Its all part of brotherhood.
The whole world is our family and our home is EARTH!!!
Told them the story of box of crayons. How they belong together but didn't get along:
"While walking in a toy store, the day before today I overheard a crayon box with many things to say !I don't like red,! said yellow. And Green said, !Nor do I. And no one here like orange, but no one knows just why.!
We are a box of crayons that doesn't get along,! said Blue to all the others, Something here is wrong.!
Well I bought that box of crayons and took it home with me. And laid out all the crayons so the crayons so the crayons could all see—
They watched me as I colored—with Red and Blue and Green And Black and White and Orange, and every color in between.
They watched as Green became the grass and Blue became the sky. The Yellow sun was shining bright—on White clouds drifting by.
Colors changing as they touched, becoming something new. They watched me as I colored, they watched 'til I was through.
And when I'd finally finished, I began to walk away. And as I did the crayon box had something more to say...
I do like Red,! said Yellow. And Green said, !So do I! And Blue, you were terrific so high up in the sky.!
We are a box of crayons, each one of us unique, but when we get together, the picture is complete.! "
We talked about Navratri - 9 nights
Talked about Dussera, some calls it Vijayadashami. Most said we don't celebrate that. I plan to talk about Ramayana story in great detail in next 2 classes leading up to Diwali.
We did Shlokas for all 3 Goddess that we worship to during Navratri:
Saraswati--She gives us knowledge."Ya devi sarvabhetusu vidya rupen sansthitha, namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah"
Durga--She gives us strength. Ya devi sarvabhetusu Shakti rupen sansthitha, namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah"
Lakshmi--She gives us coins/wealth. Ya devi sarvabhetusu Lakshmi rupen sansthitha, namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah"
We ate snacks today and had our scheduled bathroom break.
Coloring project:
To reinforce the learning, I divided the children in 2 groups. Gave them their coloring sheet/s, gave them each ONE crayon. Coloring sheet was a beach scene with clouds, sailboat, tree, water, sun, sandcastle, etc. Now they had to work in their "brotherhood" to work together. After they were done coloring with their crayon, they had to work with their "team/brotherhood" to request by using magic words to get next crayon to accomplish/color the next item. They worked very well together and understood that you can belong but just like the crayon story, you need to work together to truly belong and get along.
Talked about touching our parents feet to take their blessings every morning as part of their homework. Reinforcing this as homework for now while it becomes their routine going forward. One child was in tears that her mom doesn't let her touch her feet. Talked to her about how every place has its own culture/tradition hence her mother preferred she just bowed down with her hands folded and not in her feet. If you have any traditions or beliefs that goes against what I discuss with children, please feel free to discuss that with me. It is team work after all.
Did our closing prayer "Om purnamidah....."
Next class on November 1st!!!! See you then!!!!
Meena Arvind
