Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sept 22, 2013 Jersey City Balavihar Class Journal




Next Class: Oct 6th, 2013

K Blog:
Sevika : Harshala Sarwadnya

Shanti Paath : Sahanavavatu (pg 9 My prayers book)
Bhagvan Ganeshji’s Prayer: Vakratunda (pg 37 my prayers book)
Bhagavati Saraswati’s prayer: Saraswati Namstubhyam (pg   15 my prayers book)
Yoga poses: tree, lion, mouse, candle, butterfly, mouse, and windmill
Sanskrit color words: (White- shwetah, black - Shamala Green – Haritah Red – Raktah yellow peetah). Students named colors of their shirt; body parts eg white Shweath- teeth
Story:  Best Archer: Guru Dronacharya testing students on Archery. Single pointed attention is needed for attaining aspiration.
Discussion:  Why sweet mind is important? What does word Aspiration means? What are the two important things needed to attain aspiration?
Activity: Coloring A for Aspiration page, identifying a hidden lady bug with a magnifier.

=====================================================

1st Grade Class Blog
Sevika: Priya 

Our class began with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance. We had a new student in class today and when I asked the other kids to tell her about our attendance routine, we had some light moments when the a couple of kids ended up saying “Present/here” instead of “Hari Om” as we usually do J . Next we had a quick revision of the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We learnt an interesting thing from two of the students – Shreya and Vedant, who taught us the significance of joining the hands in a “Namaste” pose for prayers. We join our hands and our thumb fingers point to our chest; this represents our praying for those who are dearest to us – our friends and family. The upright index fingers represent us praying for our teachers, the middle fingers, being the tallest, represent us praying for our leaders, the ring finger being the weakest, represents us praying for all those who are sick, poor and needy. Finally comes the tiny pinky finger, which represents us praying for ourselvesJ.

We practiced the bhajan Rama Naama Thaarakam (pg 211) and revised the first 3 verses of the bhajan - Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).We also learnt verse 7 from the Gruru Sthothram (pg 85-86).

From the Bala Ramayana we covered the yagna performed by King Dasharatha resulting in the birth of the 4 princes – Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The children learnt about sharing as the queens Kaushalya and Kaikeyi shared their kheer with Sumitra. The kids were very amused and excited by the knowledge that Lakshmana and Shatrughna were twins born to Sumitra as a result of her eating two portions of the kheer!

We practised writing "Ram" in Sanskrit. We also practiced our vowels in Sanskrit. The kids got to color a couple of pages from the Ramayana story. We practiced the colors in Sanskrit by locating them on the rug. Finally, we concluded the class with meditation followed by the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19).

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels and the Gurusthothram upto verse 7. Color the Ramayana sheet sent home, write your name and grade and insert the sheet into the folder.

See you at the next class. Please remember to bring you folders.

Have a good week! See you on at the next class.



Friday, September 20, 2013

Sept 15, 2013 Jersey City Balavihar Class Journal



K class ( Teacher - Harshala Sarwadnya)

Shanti Paath(Om Sahanavavatu)
Bhagavan Ganesha's prayer
Guru's prayer
Bhagavati Saraswati's prayer
Story of 3 questions
Sanskrit colors red ( Raktah) Green( Haritah)
Yoga poses ( tree , windmill, candle, butterfly, lion,mouse)
Activity: Find a lady bug

===============================================================

1st Grade (Teacher - Priya Sahasranaman)


Our class started with the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9). This was followed by an attendance/introduction session. It was wonderful to see that the kids remembered their daily prayers (Om Sahana Vavatu, Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We sang  the first 3 verses of a new Bhajan - Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).We also learnt verse 6 from the Gruru Sthothram (pg 85-86); the first 5 verses were covered last year.

We had a "fun" first class. Amidst getting serious with the regular shlokas, bhajans and activities, the kids shared a few tidbits about their plans for the day and their thoughts on "Ramayana". We will be covering "Bala Ramayana" with the first graders this year - each one had their own input to give as they are all familiar with the story in general. We discussed the first chapter from the book which was an introduction to Ayodhya and King Dasharatha. The children then proceeded to make their name tag with "Ram" written on it and decorated it with the image of a bow and arrow. They also drew and colored a picture of what they thought Ayodhya looked like at the time of King Dasharatha.

We practised writing "Ram" in Sanskrit. Finally,we concluded the class with meditation followed by the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19).

As a part of their homework I would like the kids to revise their vowels in Sanskrit which they have already covered last year. We will be going over that in the next class before moving on to other things. Also, practice till verse 6 from the Guru Sthothram.

See you at the next class. Please remember to bring you folders.

Change in Location for Jersey City Balavihar classes




JCBV is now at
PS 16 Cornelia F Bradford Elementary School

96 Sussex Street, Jersey City 07302
Washington and Grand Street intersection.
Very close to EXCHANGE PLACE PATH station.

Please plan to arrive 30 minutes early to look for parking as we do not have a parking lot. Or feel free to take the PATH or LIGHT RAIL
10:00 AM -12:00 noon.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Bala Vihar Resumes - September 15th, 2013

 

Bala Vihar Resumes September 15th, 2013

Hope you all had a great summer! We are happy to welcome you to another year of Chinmaya Jersey City Balavihar in September. We have a fun year planned with lots of exciting activities, hindi language classes, talk on parenting, ashram visit and lots of festival fun and parties!

START DATE: September 15th, 2013
10:00 AM -12:00 noon.
Please be on time.



 Essential Details

Address:
The Frank R. Conwell Elementary School
111 Bright St
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Parking:
School parking lot near Jersey Avenue & Bright Street OR Street parking
Public Transport:
Jersey Avenue HBLR Station (5 min)
Grove Street PATH train (15 min)
NJ transit to Hoboken & PATH to Grove Street

Monday, September 2, 2013

JC Balavihar Calendar 2013-2014


Here is the Balavihar calendar for this school year 2013-2014. If there are any changes to this, you will be notified via email.

9/15/2013 - First Day of Balavihar
9/22/2013
10/6/2013 - Navaratri Festival
10/20/2013
10/27/2013 - Indian Fancy Dress
11/3/2013  - Deepaavali
11/17/2013
11/24/2013 - Thanksgiving
12/8/2013
12/15/2013
1/5/2014
1/12/2014 - Sankranti
1/26/2014 - Republic Day
2/2/2014
2/9/2014
2/23/2014 - Maha Shivaratri
3/2/2014
3/9/2014
3/16/2014
4/6/2014 - Hanuman Jayanti Srirama Navami
4/27/2014
5/4/2014
5/11/2014 - Sri Gurudev Jayanti
5/18/2014
6/1/2014
6/8/2014 - Balavihar Annual Day