Pujya Gurudev

Pujya Gurudev

November 23, 2014 Class

Next Class: December 7, 2014
10:00 a.m.
Crossroads Middle School


Class room assignments for your child:

Friday@ 7:00 p.m. — C-105
Saturday @ 2:00 p.m. — C-108
Sunday @ 8:45 a.m. — Room C-106
Sunday @ 12.45 p.m. — Room C-107
Sunday @3:15 p.m. — Room C-108



Hari Om!

Hope that everyone is enjoying this fabulous weather we’ve been gifted with today. Boy, what a great way to end our week of below-freezing temperatures!

Today's lesson was a really special one... and definitely a subject that each child feels deeply connected to:  “D is for Daddy.” After briefly reviewing  the first three letters we’ve already learned (A is for Aspiration, B is for Brotherhood and C is for Cleanliness) we quickly directed our focus to Daddy.

One of the first questions we had was "Why is he in our Alphabet Safari when we learned that the Alphabet Safari only represents what can be found inside of us… not things we see or use in the outside (material) world?"  Well, it didn't take long to convince the children that Dad is particularly special because he is part of our material world AND part of our inside world. To help clarify this, the aunties decided that it was time to ask the children some questions: “Does Dad protect us?” “Does Dad provide for us?” “Does Dad make us feel safe and loved?” “Does Dad want only the best for us?”

The children shouted out “Yes” to every question with absolutely no hesitation!

And then we asked them, Who else makes us feel this way? Without missing a beat,  the children shouted “Mom!!!!” — to which the aunties smiled and nodded in agreement. We even gave the kids a “two thumbs up” :-) We then asked the children again:  "Is there anyone else, who doesn’t live in your family, that makes you feel loved, safe, and protected?" After a few minutes of silence, a few children raised their hands and happily yelled “God!!!”

Well, we can’t lie… the aunties cheered the kids on at this point because they totally made our Lesson of Day's connection. “D is for Daddy” because Daddy is God. And now that we understand this, we should be very grateful to our Dads for all that they do for us. 

After everyone shared stories about the fun things they do with their dad, we decided to share the story of how Father’s Day became a National Holiday. It was all due to the efforts of one young girl, Sonora Dodd, who deeply appreciated of all the work her father had done for her and her siblings in raising their family single-handedly. Sonora felt that if there was a Mother’s Day, then there should also be a Father’s Day. So she took it upon herself to campaign and write to the President Wilson, asking for a special day every year to honor Fathers. The President, moved by her story, agreed and declared that Father’s Day should become an annual celebration. He declared it official... all because of one young girl's campaign efforts..

So, after talking more about our fathers and all that they do for us, the children and aunties agreed that the official Father’s Day is June 19… but that the real Father’s Day is everyday. Because just like we should thank God, everyday, for all that He does for us… we should also thank our Dads, too.

Three cheers for Dad!!!

(p.s. Moms: just so you know, your Special Day will come soon… it just so happens that D comes before M in the alphabet, that's all. :-) )

We hope that all the Dads appreciate the special key chain that the children made for them… each bead was strung on while they thought about how much they loved their fathers!

Please give our young friends a great big hug from the aunties! We had a really fun time with them today, as always :-) We wish you and your families a very peaceful and relaxing break — and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Hmmmmmm.... here's our question for the children to ponder over during break: "What does our letter "E" stand for?"

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Shokas


Concentration/Shell Game
Everyone is getting much better at keeping their eyes closed and remaining silent during the shell dropping segment. Way to go, kids!!!

Yoga Stretches/Exercise
Jumping around is something we definitely LOVE doing... so we make sure to spend a few minutes  burning off energy before settling into our Circle Time activities. :-)

Likhita Japa
The children practiced writing "Raama" in Sanskrit 21 times.



Craft/Activity: Keychain for Daddy