Chinmaya Mission Kindergarten Balavihar

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 15, Shlokas 1, 2,3,4, and 5

Because our children are responsible for learning the first 12 shlokas, we will need to increase our learning curve a little with each class. During the fall, we only added one shloka per month. However, in order to meet our responsibilities, we will need to increase our shlokas by 2 a month. We have introduced Shloka 5 this week. Please spend a little time with your child each day practicing. Just 15 mins a day makes all the difference in the world. If you have any questions about tutoring, please feel free to talk with one of the sevikas. We are extremely lucky to have one of the Sanskrit teachers on our Kindergarten Team... and she will be very happy to answer any questions you might have.

Also, here is an audio blog that has archived all the Bhagavad Geeta chapters. It is a wonderful learning tool... and we highly recommend that you check it out. Here is the url:

Geeta Chanting

Concentration/Shell Game

Even though we've had a few weeks off... everyone jumped right into position and played our concentration game beautifully. Nearly everyone kept their eyes closed throughout this activity... exhibiting very little restlessness. This is a great indication that the children are ready to try sitting silently longer... and spend more time in focused counting. We don't usually "up" our time until early/mid Spring... so believe us when we say that these children are doing impressively well!!!

Yoga Stretches/Exercise

We really needed to warm up on this cold morning and we did by doing Sun Salutations! Kids enjoyed stretching and warming up.

Story Time
We did the classic story “The Thirsty Crow”.

Likhita Japa

At this time of the year we like to introduce the children to creative likhita japa. Up until now they have been using the tracing sheet to learn the writing strokes for Raama (in Sanskrit). However, we have been noticing that the children are feeling pretty confident with their writing, so we are now ready to express our love and gratitude for God creatively, using colors and shapes. Please note that from this point onwards, your child will most likely not be able to finish their likhita japa art during class time. Therefore, they will be bringing home their paper to work on during the week. We encourage your child to bring their finished work with them to the next class. We will be having a "show and tell" segment where the children can share their artwork... and feelings, if they want to.

January 4, 2015 Class

Next Class: January 11, 2015

10:00 a.m.

Crossroads Middle School

Class room assignments for your child:

Friday@ 7:00 p.m. — C-108

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!

Well, if you've watched the music video above, then you've probably figured out what this week's lesson was. Yep... you guessed correctly — "H is for Happiness."

Today we learned that happiness is not found in toys, favorite foods or "things." Instead, happiness is found within us. We can be happy any time... anywhere... and for any thing. We also learned that smiling and laughing uses less muscles in our body than frowning does, AND it helps us maintain good health. Oh, and we even discovered how contagious happiness and smiling is — absolutely no one can escape a good smile or a hearty laugh! We did try...

So on that happy note... we'd like to extend our warmest wishes to you and your family for a very Happy, Peaceful, and Healthy 2015! We are really looking forward to a New Year of a lot more fun learning with your children. We're only on Letter I, so we still have quite a few more alphabet letters to learn... soon... in our new ashram!!! Our moving date is rapidly approaching. :-)

Sending you all lots of Love and Peace for a wonderful week — and we'll see you next Sunday!

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Shokas

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 15, Shlokas 1, 2 ,3 and 4

Because our children are responsible for learning the first 12 shlokas, we will need to increase our learning curve a little with each class. During the fall, we only added one shloka per month. However, in order to meet our responsibilities, we will need to increase our shlokas by 2 a month. Next week we will introduce Shloka 5. Please spend a little time with your child each day practicing. Just 15 mins a day makes all the difference in the world. If you have any questions about tutoring, please feel free to talk with one of the sevikas. We are extremely lucky to have one of the Sanskrit teachers on our Kindergarten Team... and she will be very happy to answer any questions you might have.

Also, here is an audio blog that has archived all the Bhagavad Geeta chapters. It is a wonderful learning tool... and we highly recommend that you check it out. Here is the url:

Geeta Chanting

Concentration/Shell Game

Yoga Stretches/Exercise

10 mins. of jumping around, stretching... and laughing, of course.

Activity
The children drew a happy and sad face on two pieces of paper. When the teacher called out an activity/thing (i.e., "mango ice cream!") the children would hold up the face that best expressed how they felt about it. This allowed us to see that not everyone found enjoyment is the same things. We also explored and discussed how one scoop of ice cream might give us joy, but 20 scoops of cream would make us sick! So that's living proof that ice cream does not equal happiness. :-)

Story Time
"Yash Lost His Smile," by Nishita Chaitanya, Chinmaya Publications

Likhita Japa

A Blessed Greeting for the Holiday Season

Post by Swami Tejomayananda.

December 21, 2014 Class

Next Class: January 4, 2015

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!

Today's lesson was "G is for God." And the God that we learned about was none other than the beautiful Lord Ganesha, Himself. But what really made today's lesson so much fun was that we got to learn how to perform a puja. Aunty patiently and lovingly explained to us all the ingredients we should have when doing a puja, and exactly what their significance was. So even though we aren't allowed to light diyas or bring food items into our classrooms, we were still taken through all the steps in asking and welcoming Lord Ganesha into our homes and hearts. Honestly, we couldn't have had a more perfect lesson to end the year 2014 with...

And yes, it's hard to believe that Winter has officially arrived — today is the first day of the season. As much as most of us are not excited about snow... the aunties have to admit that we've got our fingers crossed for some white fluffy snow over break. "Why?" you ask? Well... because we agreed that this year we will build Lord Ganesha's in our front yards instead of snowmen. So if we're lucky and do get some snow... please make sure to take a photograph of your Lord Ganesha. We'd love to see Him. :-)

On that happy note...we want wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season/Break. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!!!

Oh yeah... and be sure to stay warm! Also, don't forget to drink lots of hot chocolate... especially after spending an afternoon building a Snow Lord Ganesha! xox

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Shokas

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 15, Shlokas 1, 2 ,3 and 4

Concentration/Shell Game

Today we topped all of our previous games... and we're not kidding! The children sat absolutely still and focused for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. So please make sure to give your child a big hug and "high five," because this really is tremendous progress so early in the school year.

Yoga Stretches/Exercise

As you are probably well aware by now, we never pass up the opportunity to jump around and burn off energy... so today was no different. We ran from that pesky imaginary mouse again... and then decided to bunny bounce back to our starting point so we could sit down and enjoy some quiet butterfly cocoon hibernation.

Likhita Japa

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If your child is interested in continuing their Likhita Japa over break, we are sharing the pages we use in class. Please feel free to download and print them for your personal use.

December 14, 2014 Class

Next Class: December 21, 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 everyone is outside enjoying this wonderful weather we've been blessed with! The weatherman said that we can these kind of warm days all week, so we better take advantage of them — these will probably be the last until Springtime. :-)

Today's lesson was "F is for Friendship"— something we all cherish and love, but something we often take for granted and don't really think about. During our circle time discussions, all the children were quite eager to share who their best friends were, and what they loved doing with their friends. We even talked about how animals can be dear friends, too. We then asked the children if they could draw a nice picture of their friends. And as you can imagine... everyone immediately sat down and got right to work. However, once we finished our drawing, we then asked everyone to crumple up their paper and lay it down nicely on the floor while Aunty tells us a story. At first, it felt a little weird to crumple up the drawings... especially because we love our friends. But Aunty told us that there was a very important reason for doing this, so everyone took a deep breath and went ahead and did it. Then we settled in for one of our favorite stories... "Lord Krishna and Sudaama."

After the story, we asked our young friends to open up the crumpled ball of paper and try to smooth it back into its original state... getting all the creases out. Well, that definitely was an impossible task!!! The children were quite disappointed to learn that the creases in paper don't easily come out. We then explained to them that these creases represent mean words and actions... every time we tease or make fun of our friends we put a crease in our friendship. And like we just discovered, many of those creases can't be removed. Therefore, we have to be very kind and careful with our friendships... and help them whenever we can, even if we're not asked to — just like Lord Krishna did for Sudaama.

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Shokas

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 15, Shlokas 1, 2 and 3

Concentration/Shell Game

We're definitely seeing some tremendous progress and growth in the children... 2 full minutes of absolutely quietness, excellent shell counting... all with our eyes closed and lips zipped. Four thumbs up for our young friends!!!

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. Many children are now able to write "Raama" in Sanskrit without using the tracing sheet... so we have started introducing them to writing inside Mandala drawings, using different colored pens/markers. (Creative Likhita Japa)

Craft Activity
We made a Friendship bracelet.

Ending Prayer
Om Poornamidah

Video: Flight of the Hummingbird

This is a beautiful short animation that illustrates the concept of "enthusiasm" and "never giving up." We hope that you and our young friends enjoy this as much as we do.

December 7, 2014 Class

Next Class: December 14, 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!

Today's lesson was one that always brings us much joy — "E is for Enthusiasm." As you can imagine, "Enthusiasm" is not a word that's easy to describe and explain. So after our morning disciplines and exercises, we all agreed that it would be best to jump right in and hear the story of "How the Chipmunk Got His Stripes." This beautiful story is about a little chipmunk who always wants to help, but feels like s/he is constantly being overlooked and ignored. This was definitely a concept that we could all identify with. However, as the story progressed and we learned that even the littlest creature can do noble things in this world... especially when working enthusiastically... well, let's just say that our faces lit up. Little creatures ARE as important as all the others! And little creatures can definitely do great things!!!

To help us understand the concept of just how we can apply Enthusiasm... and how beautiful it can be... we handed out origami spinning tops to each child and showed them what it looks like when we try to spin it half heartedly. It never fails... the spinning top quickly dies down and it certainly doesn't give us much joy. However, if we sit properly, take a deep breath, and give it a nice solid twirl, then the top will spin gracefully for a much longer time. And the best part is, we will see lots of beautiful colors emerge from our efforts. :-)

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Shokas

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 15, Shlokas 1, 2 and 3

Concentration/Shell Game

Our young friends are doing great!!! We've conquered the difficult task of keeping our eyes closed... so now our focus will be on not whispering the numbers as we count them in our mind. :-)

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

Here is a wonderful YouTube video on how to make Origami Spinning Tops. All you need are 3 square sheets of paper and a lot of enthusiasm!

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

Geeta Chanting: Chapter 15, Shlokas 1 and 2

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

One Dozen Monkeys (by They Might Be Giants)

November 16, 2014 Class

Next Class: November 23, 2014

10:00 a.m.

Crossroads Middle School

Please note that Friday's class has a new room assignment.

Friday @ 7:00 p.m. — Room C-105

Saturday @ 2:00 p.m. — Room 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!

Even though we just returned from a mini break today, we certainly didn't miss a beat with our morning disciplines and activities. Everyone immediately settled in for our shlokas and Geeta Chanting.

Parents: By the end of this month the children will have succeeded in learning Shlokas 1 and 2 from the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15. Our plan is to start Shloka 3 during the first class in December. It's apparent that many of the children are regularly practicing at home... and we couldn't thank you enough for including this activity in your child's daily homework agenda! Please continue supporting your child in this learning... each day will help her/him successfully reach our grade's goal by the end of the school year. Just so you know, your child will be responsible for 12 shlokas this year.

Our Alphabet Safari's letter of the day was "C is for Cleanliness." Of course everyone understood the necessity for keeping our bodies and environment clean... but when we asked how to clean our mind and heart, we all had to stop and think for a little bit. The children totally agreed that it was impossible for us to take our hearts out and wash them with soap and water. So how on earth are supposed to clean them?!!!

To help us grapple with this question, Aunty shared the story about how a Guru had many disciples who got along with each other. Except there was one who everyone didn't like. The Guru was very fond of this student, and He felt sad about how this student was treated. He then decided that he was going to give all the students the task of cleaning the ashram's dirty copper pots. Of course everyone worked very hard and scrubbed every single pot in the building... they wanted nothing more than to please their Teacher! However, when the Teacher came around to inspect all the pots, there was only one he approved of. And that was the pot from the student nobody liked. Why did he approve of this pot? Because this student was the only one who focused his energy on cleaning both the inside and the outside of the pot. Everyone else only focused on cleaning and shining the pot's exterior... because that's the part that would be seen with their eyes.

At this point, the aunties realized that we needed a visual aid to help illustrate this complicated concept... so we decided it was time for the children to perform a "hand's on" task. They were given a laminated card that was covered with "dirt" and a paper towel. We then discussed the following while pointing to the dirty card: "When we don't share our toys.... listen to and obey our parents... or make fun of someone," this is what the dirt on our heart and mind looks like. BUT if we clean our mind and heart with prayer, likhita japa, and good thoughts and actions, then we will find the true treasure within. And the only way we can find that treasure is if we get to work and start cleaning up all that dirt!

After a few minutes of the children applying some "elbow grease," they found the most beautiful picture of Radha/Krishna. At that point, we all shrieked with joy... because everyone agreed that Lord Krishna is nothing but Pure Clean Love!!

So, on that happy note... please give your child a BIG warm hug from all of us! We really do think your children are Awesome Sauce!

Look forward to seeing everyone again next week.

p.s. Please note that Friday's 7:00 p.m. class will be held in Room C-105. Thank you.

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Shlokas

• Saha Naavaavatu

• Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu

Gita Chanting: Chapter 15, Shloka 1 and 2

Concentration/Shell Game

The kids are getting so much better at sitting with their eyes closed while counting the shells. We were able to sit for two full minutes... one minute of silence and one minute of complete concentration. Way to go, everyone... the aunties think you rock!!!

Yoga Stretches/Exercise

We spent a few minutes stretching our bodies and burning off some energy before settling into our Circle Time activities.

StoryTime: "The Guru Asks His Students to Clean the Pots"

Likhita Japa

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

Craft/Activity: What we "see" when we clean our minds and hearts.

If you want to make one of the laminated cards used in this project you will need the following:

Materials:

• image of God/Goddess (we used some old outdated postcards that were being discarded)

• Self-adhesive lamination sheets

• Dry Erase Crayon/Marker

Directions

Cut the image down to size and then place in the lamination sheet. Trim away all the excess lamination until you have a nice border around your card. It's important to leave at least 1/4" lamination border around the image so that the edges don't separate. Take a black Dry Erase Crayon/Marker and coat the entire card. Everything should come off easily with a paper towel. And if you want it sparkling clean, then the child can finish the job with a hand wipe.

November 2, 2014 Class

Next Class: November 16, 2014

10:00 a.m.

Crossroads Middle School

Room Assignments for the class your child is registered in:

Friday @ 7:00 p.m. — Room C-108

Saturday @ 2:00 p.m. — Room 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!

It was so nice to be back in Balavihar, seeing all of our young friends — especially after our "wacky topsy turvy" class a few weeks back. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Diwali... and Halloween!

And that nobody had to see the dentist for a toothache. :-)

Because we had a full class of activities today we decided to start right on time, even tho some of us were a little disoriented from the time change. After our morning disciplines we quickly moved onto a discussion about our Alphabet Safari, and how our Alphabet words will be reflecting something inside of us. The aunties were delighted and thrilled to see that everyone remembered what our letter A stands for: "Aspiration" — and that Aspiration can only be found inside of us. But what's more impressive is that these brilliant young kids instantly shouted out the definition word when asked if they knew what it meant!

We then moved on to the Letter B, asking the kids for their thoughts on what the word of the day should be. We got some pretty amazing answers... here are a few samples to give you an idea of how smart our friends are: Brave, Brain, Blood and Balavihar. Ok, the aunties can't lie. We actually thought that this letter was going to be a bit tricky for the kids. But NOPE — we were proven wrong.

Our word for the day, however, was "Brotherhood." Here are some of the highlights from our discussion:

• What is a family?
• Who are the people in our family?
• How should we treat people in our family? (Are we nice to them? Do we share with them?)
• Does "Brotherhood" only mean the people in your family?
• Could our neighbors be considered part of our family?
• Could people in other countries be considered part of our family?
• "What does Vasudhaiva Kutumbukam" mean? (Vasudhaiva means Earth, and Kutumbukam means Family.)

To help illustrate the concept of showing kindness towards others, the aunties brought in a little treat for each child. After we formed a perfect circle on our floor mats, we then handed each child an envelope and asked everyone to wait and open them at the same time. Well, it turned out that the aunties made a mistake!!! Not everyone had something in their envelope. In fact, some children had 2 dinosaur stickers while other children had zero dinosaur stickers. We felt so awful, because we really wanted each child to have one dinosaur sticker. What should we do?!!!!

We are proud to say that the children solved our dilemma. Those with 2 stickers volunteered to share with those who had none. And believe us, we know that this was not easy for them to do... but these kids opened their hearts and shared their stickers so no one was left out.

The aunties give four thumbs up to our young friends... they are truly the best!!!

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Shlokas

• Saha Naavaavatu