Next Class: Oct 28st, 2012
We had the Balavihar classes at the new school this week. School is P.S. #3 (Frank R. Conwell school). The address for the school is 111 Bright St, Jersey City, NJ.
The classes were split based on the kids school grades. We have started of with 3 classes... PreK, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd combined.
First we gathered in the school cafeteria for starting prayers. The kids are then escorted to their individual classes by their teachers.
We had the Balavihar classes at the new school this week. School is P.S. #3 (Frank R. Conwell school). The address for the school is 111 Bright St, Jersey City, NJ.
The classes were split based on the kids school grades. We have started of with 3 classes... PreK, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd combined.
First we gathered in the school cafeteria for starting prayers. The kids are then escorted to their individual classes by their teachers.
PreK Class Journal - Teachers: Ramya and Anisha
The class started with the prayers and shlokas.
Prayers/Shlokas
- OM (3 times)
- Om Sahanavavathu - Learned the meaning of this prayer.
- Karaagre Vasate Lakhsmi (Early morning prayer to say each morning after waking up)
- Saraswati Namastubhyam (Prayer for Goddess Sarawathi)
Bhajans
- Ganesha Sharanam (first god to pray)
- Ganapathi bappa mouriya
Yoga
The kids had a great time doing yoga.
- Tree pose
- windmill
- quiet mouse
- lion pose, butterfly, bird, candle,
Story
Ganesh mousecapade
Meditation
- We clicked a picture of Ganesha and meditated on him
Talk about
the beauty of the world god created. Enjoy and appreciate fall colors.
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Kindergarten Class Journal - Teachers: Harshala aunty and Meenakshi
The class started with the prayers and shlokas.
Prayers/Shlokas
- OM (3 times)
- Om Sahanavavathu - Learned the meaning of this prayer.
- Karaagre Vasate Lakhsmi (Early morning prayer to say each morning after waking up)
- Vakratunda Mahakaya (Prayer for Lord Ganesha)
- Akhandalamandala karam (New Prayer Pg 85, Guru Stotram Memorized 1st line)
Bhajans
- Shri Ganaraya jai ganaraya MORAYA MORAYA (NEW BHAJAN, page 48 in new prayer book).
Daily prayer : For new students, we
practiced Karagre vasate(morning prayer, pg 14 new My Prayer book)
Learned meaning of first two lines
of the Shantipath Sahanavavtu... May God protect us both. May He nourish us.
Bhagavat Geeta Chanting: First 2 verses of chapter 13th
Yoga
The kids had a great time doing yoga.
- Tree pose
- windmill
- quiet mouse
- candle pose
- lion pose
- butterfly pose
Meditation
Our kids meditated on Lord Ganesha's picture for 2 minutes.
Story:
Meenakshi aunty told the Story of ugly duckling.
Moral : We all are beautiful just
like Nitoo ,when we realized God created each of us as unique and beautiful.
Activity
Students enjoyed Sanskrit alphabet bingo. Also writing Sanskrit first 4 alphabet vowel letters.
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1st and 2nd Grade Class Journal - Teachers: Deepa
Kids - Jeet, Veer, Varun, Amirtha, Ayush
Instead of having attendance, we taught the kids how to say their names when they enter class. Everyone said "Hari Om, I am XXX". Because we are learning Bala Ramayana, we are learning new words like "Putra". So they practised saying "I am X and Y's Putra/Putri".
The kids then started off saying the daily prayers.
Daily Prayers/Shlokas
- OM (3 times)
- Om Sahanavavathu - Learned the meaning of this prayer.
- Karaagre Vasate Lakhsmi (Early morning prayer to say each morning after waking up)
- Vakratunda Mahakaya (Prayer for Lord Ganesha)
- Saraswati Namastubhyam (Prayer for Goddess Sarawathi)
- Gurur Brahma (Prayer for Guru)
- Brahmaarpanam (Prayer before eating meals)
- Subhamkaroti Kalyanam (Evening prayer before lighting lamp)
- Karacharana Kritam (before sleeping)
- Akhandalamandala karam (New Prayer Pg 85, Guru Stotram 1st and 2nd verse)
Akhanda Mandala Kaaram
Vyaptam Yena Charaa Charam
Tat Padam Darshitam Yena
Tasmai Shri Gurave Namah.
Bhajans
- Ganesha Sharanam
- Ambam Bhajami
- Gauri Nandana
- Rama Nama Tarakam
- Hey Shivashakar
- Shri Ganaraya jai ganaraya MORAYA MORAYA (NEW BHAJAN, page 48 in new prayer book).
The kids learned the 2nd verse of GuruStotram and completed the first verse of Geeta (Chapter 13). Please make your kids practice this at home. The prayers and Geeta are in the book.
Yoga
The kids had a great time doing yoga.
- Tree pose
- windmill
- quiet mouse
- candle pose
- lion pose
- butterfly pose
Story
The kids read the 2nd chapter where King Dasharata conducts Yaga. The kids learned the meaning of Yaga, why it was conducted and shared their own experiences of aving sat through a Yaga near a Homa Kunta. It was fun to hear their experiences.
Activity
To reinforce all the different names from the Ramayana
story, we played a 4 corners game where each corner was a character name. The
moment the teacher said the name, they had to run to the corresponding corner
within 10 seconds. If they didn't reach, they were out. They were tired after
running around and really did welcome the meditation part that followed. With
each class, we are increasing the meditation by a few more seconds and the kids
are able to sit without getting distracted.
Meditation
Our kids meditated on Lord Ganesha's picture for 2 minutes. They were able to sit for long during meditation without being distracted.
We will continue learning Guru Stotram and Gita (Chapter 13) in the upcoming classes.
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Arti - Om Jai Jagadish Hare
Ending Prayer
Om Poornamadah Poornamidam
Comments
The kids gather in the cafeteria for the starting prayers at 10am. The teachers then escort the kids to their individual classes at 10:15am. The classes run until 11:30am. The classes come back to the cafeteria for arti and ending prayers until noon.
