Dec 7th Class

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Hari Om Families!

Class Theme: Bal Bhagwatam- 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu

Discussion: We started the class by saying Hari OM! to each other at attendance. At this time our friend Neel asked "What does Hari Om mean?" So we entered into a discussion about the word OM or AUM

The word OM is actually the sounds "AA UU MM ___ (silence)" (4 stages)

It is the sound which contains all that is there in the universe, the start, the end and all the sounds. It is a condensed form of prayer.

At this time our friend Raaghav asked, "Why do we need condensed forms of prayer?"

It was explained that in olden times, people were purer and honest and spent a lot of time in prayer and proper chanting of slokas and offering to the Gods. Now it is Kaliyuga (the age of Kali) where bad thoughts and deeds prevail. Where it is acceptable to ignore, to loot to plunder, to gamble etc. In this age people seem to have no space or time for God or prayers. Many homes have temple rooms but many have only an idol and many homes have no temple/altar in the home. Condensed forms of prayer become necessary so that those whose minds are still tied to God, may have the opportunity to worship and purify themselves.

A quiz about the story of King Parikshit, Kali and the Bull was also part of this discussion and all children answered questions correctly.

Children were taught how to chant AUM and they chanted with eyes closed 4 times

The first time some were fidgeting. The next 3 times their bodies progressively got calmer and less movement was experienced. The room also became quieter.

When eyes were opened (after rubbing palms and placing over eyes), the children compared experiences of how they felt when they chanted. They all said that they felt very relaxed and even sleepy.

HW/Test- To say AUM__ 3 times before they sleep at night in bed. To see if they have more than usual relaxed sleep.

Story & Discussion: Kali and Parikshit and Snake- Why the intention behind the action matters? It is not the action that makes it good or bad. The intention with which the action is done makes it good or bad.

Sloka: 1st Stanza of Guru Stotram: The children practiced saying these as a melodious group. Please get My Prayers book and read meaning to the children.

Play Practice: The children practiced as a team the performance for Annual Day Jan 25th 2015.

Note- One day in the holidays the children are invited to come to Manhattan for practice. There will be play rehearsal as well as song and other rehearsals. They will be given healthy vegetarian lunch and then taken for a small field trip. Permission slips are required from all parents. Proposed Drop off time 11:00 am. Proposed Pick up time 5:00pm.

Class Nov 16th, 2014

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Hari Om Families!

We welcomed a new friend Rahul into the classroom and went through an intense revision session for ourselves and to bring our new friend up to speed.

Class Theme: Bal Bhagwatam- 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu

Sloka: Om Sahanavavatu & meaning, Vakra Tunda Mahakaya... & Sarawati Namastubhyam... The children practiced saying these as a melodious group. Please get My Prayers book and read meaning to the children.

Revision: What is the story of Parikshit, Kali, the bull and the cow? Full revision for new friend. What is Prarabdha? Past actions which bring us to where we are now. We are not victims of circumstances but only enjoying the fruits of our past actions. If our past actions were good/pure, we will receive opportunities. If our past actions are not appropriate to what was required, then we do not get what we need now.

What is Puru-shartha? Self Effort. All that will happen in the future is dependent on our actions now. So we must act well.

The children also congratulated Yash for his Purushartha in maintaining physical calmness in the class.

Story: Explained story of Gautam Buddha. What are the 5 places that King Parikshit gave Kali to stay?

Discussion: Where can bad/ Kali stay? Where there is Gambling, Drinking, Greed for things (lust), Greed for Money, and Cruelty. What are the examples of places like these? Where there is no prayer that happens in the home or only wealth generation but not enough concern for the environment or good of the community/charity. Earning wealth is very good, but we should not cause others harm in the process of uplifting ourselves.

The children also put up their ideas on what they want to do for the 26th January Annual Day celebrations. The ideas were noted and we will vote on the ideas next class.

Activity: A Ball is Kali. The focus of the game was that the children had to push the ball away from their bodies with one hand so that they are not "touched" by Kali. But instead of only focussing on that, the children started to aim to "out" the other kids after they were "touched" or became "out". It was explained to them that they have then indeed been "touched by Kali" since they are focussing on harming others. The children had a lot of fun learning through this game.

Homework: 10 minutes of Minecraft, Completing research on their avatars ad bringing to class & outlining what they want to do for 26th January. 

Points to cover:

Get consensus on one play. Assign Roles.

With Prem & OM!

Nov 9th Balavihar

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Hari Om Families!

Well done to all children for bringing their own water bottles. The children were very focussed today and we accomplished a lot in a short time.

Class Theme: Bal Bhagwatam- 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu

Sloka: Om Sahanavavatu & meaning. The children practiced saying this as a melodious group

Revision: What is the story of Parikshit, Kali, the bull and the cow?

Discussion: Why did the bull not blame Kali when Parikshit asked him who the cause for his suffering was?

The bull did not blame Kali because he was a wise Bull (Dharma) and thus knew that the cause of his suffering was his own past actions.

New Topic: What is Prarabdha? Past actions which bring us to where we are now. We are not victims of circumstances but only enjoying the fruits of our past actions. If our past actions were good/pure, we will receive opportunities. If our past actions are not appropriate to what was required, then we do not get what we need now.

What is Puru-shartha? Self Effort. All that will happen in the future is dependent on our actions now. So we must act well.

The children also discussed what they want to do for the 26th January Annual Day celebrations.

Activity: Vaishnavi coordinated the avatars to travel the world. The avatars got extra points if they were able to tell the correct meaning of Purushartha.

Homework: 10 minutes of Minecraft & outlining what they want to do for 26th January. Points to cover"

1- TOPIC/Theme

2- STORY- what do they want to act out

3- ROLES- They have to assign appropriate roles in their story to their BV classmates

With Prem & OM!

Oct 26th Balavihar

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Hari OM Families!

Thank you to Yash for providing lovely apples for all his friends in class. Well done to Vaishnavi for bringing such a great paper on her avatara- Lord Rama!

Class Theme: Bal Bhagwatam- 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu

Sloka: Om Sahanavavatu & meaning.

Revision: What was the story of Narada?

New Topic: How can we invite the Lord to our life? How can we get the Lord to help us in our studies?

1- Clean Desk- No clutter in our place of work. No unnecessary things on the desk.

2- Only keep 1 subject at one time on the desk- put the rest to the side and focus on what you are doing.

3- Wipe Down Desk- Clean desk with a wet wipe, sharpen pencils and keep eraser properly. Keep your "tool" neat

4- Have a snack before studying and have a glass of water ready while working

5- Invoke/Invite Ganesha for auspicious start to homework by saying "Vakra Tunda..."

6- Invoke Saraswati, the goddess of learning to come and help with homework by saying " Saraswati Namastubhyam..."

Story: What was the story of Parikshit, Kali, the bull and the cow? The Bull with 3 of its legs cut off represents Dharma. The 3 lost legs represent austerity, purity & kindness. When those are lost then it is Kaliyuga and the earth (the cow) is in trouble. The Bull (Dharma) is only alive and standing on the last leg which is Truthfulness. 

Activity: The avatars travelled the world and landed on where they wanted to go. The kids like this physical activity a lot and really look forward to it!

Homework: 10 minutes of Minecraft & researching their own avatara

With Prem & OM!

Oct 19th Balavihar

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Hari OM Families!

As a practice I will be sending you email updates on what we did in class and how the kids are working together to learn. If you want to know about individual performance, please feel to reach out to me and I will respond confidentially. PLEASE SEND YOUR CHILD WITH WATER & A SNACK TO CLASS. They are still children, get thirsty and hungry and don't really want to leave during our discussions. Please register and get your free BV bag which they can use to carry water and snack.

Subbu- Please could you add Vaishnavi & Poornima's parents on this email list?

Class Theme: Bal Bhagwatam- 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu

Sloka: Om Sahanavavatu & meaning.

Revision: What is the Holy Trinity (Creater/Preserver/Destroyer)? What is an Avatara? How Minecraft and our avatars in Minecraft are similar to the real world?

Discussion: (since we had new students and some kids brought up this question)

What is BV? What do we come to BV? What do we like about BV? What do we not like about BV? All kids agreed that they like what they learn and they like the friends they meet and to learn in large groups! What they did not like it is that it is 2 hours and that they want to play. So we talked that actually the class is only 1hr15mins and that we must prioritize if we want to learn something. I also promised them 15 minutes of playtime in the classroom. They really liked that. Some children are very enthusiastic about the mid-year show in January and want to get started with rehearsals for their performance! If parents bring their kids regularly then we can do 10 minutes of rehearsal and get a head start on the show so please let me know if you all would be on board with that.

New Topic: What are the 10 avatars? The kids have been picking their favorite Vishnu Avatara each and they will be known by that name in the class. Previously they have made parachutes with their own avatars representing the Avatara "coming down" on the earth.

Poornima- Matsya

Raaghav- Narasimha

Neel- Parasurama

Vaishnavi- Rama

Yash- Krishna

Varun-Kalki

Story: How the Bhagwatam was written, how it was passed on from word of mouth and the Story of Naradmuni.

Activity: The avatars travelled the world and landed on where they wanted to go. The kids like this physical activity a lot and really look forward to it!

Homework: 10 minutes of Minecraft & research on their own avatara.

With Prem & OM!