March 17th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 28 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• Why hanumaan is large hearted
• Does God always give us what we want
• When does hanumaan’s glory radiate (all 4 yugas)
• How did hanumaan use his might

Story time:

• You get what you want
• Man, the glory of creation
• Nature of saints

Activity:

• How many apples in a seed?
• God’s gift or my gift
• How does one become famous

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Our chanting sessions are coming along very well.  On the other hand, the discussions in class are getting very intense!!  We are talking about concepts like birth, re-birth, mokSha, karma...  Are we sure we have a bunch of 2nd graders at hand :).  They just wanted to continue the discussions on and on...  We had to put a hold on it due to lack of time...  The contemplation and churning of these ideas are happening rapidly in their little minds and they sure are THINKING!!  We spoke about how our actions affect us before they affect those around us!  We discussed about the need to do rightful actions whether we are being watched or not.  We spoke about how we cannot take a notebook with bullet points written down, into our next birth and it is only our good/bad actions that get carried over along with us!  

Even before we realized, it was dismissal time.  We finished the class with the ending prayers and pledge.  We will see you all in two weeks.  Until then, have a fun filled spring break and keep thinking :).
________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

March 10th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 26 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is the true pooja for the Lord
• Where does God reside 
• When does hanumaan help us in overcoming difficulties
• Who is a tapasvI; what is the benefit of being a tapasvI
• What is the meaning of our guru, tapovan mahaaraj’s name

Story time:

• God dwells in all beings
• God is everywhere
• It is the Lord’s wish
• Take vows for greater gains

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge - in the auditorium

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

In today's class, we had wonderful discussions about God, God's presence, God's part in our lives, our awareness of His presence!  Gosh, are we striding BIG steps or what!!  We heard interesting stories regarding this topic.  We then wanted to relate to some other story we'd heard a while ago.  Instead of hearing from Aunty, the children themselves finished the story, one sentence at a time!!  We are so impressed at the attentive group of children we have in class!  The chanting is coming along beautifully as well.  Parents, if you have not already done so, please register you children for the competition.  They are all very enthusiastic about it.  We then went to the auditorium to watch a play, followed by  aarti and pledge. 

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

March 3rd Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 27 chaupas
• khaate bhI raam kaho...

Brain Storming:

• Why seek refuge in hanumaan
• Why shouldn't we complain about things going wrong
• Why the 3 worlds tremble when hanumaan roars
• What is the advantage of chanting raama's name

Story time:

• Saint malidaasa
• Grandma and the cake
• Have faith and heal yourself

Activity:

• None

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

We are just grooving and grooving!  The discussions and participation in class by all the children is on a tremendous up turn!  We are having one blast learning the chanting of gItaa, hanumaan chaalIsa, shlokas and bhajans.

Today's stories were interesting and we had avenues to discuss many values that make our lives better and make us better people in turn.  We spoke about how faith is an essential ingredient to achieve anything in life.  We know that we trust our parents.  Similarly, if we learn to trust in God, after doing the needful duty, we have nothing to fear!

Please talk to your children what they enjoy most in class.  Also, encourage them to do their gItaa chanting practice.  They are doing awesome so far!  We are doing very well till verse 12.  We've finished learning till 15th verse today.  We shall continue our practice and by the time of the competition, each of them will be so comfortable chanting it with ease!

We finished off with our finishing prayers and pledge.  See you all next week.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om