December 13 th class,

Hari Om Parents !!!

We had only 4 kids in the class this week.,so our friends were little shy to open up in the beginning.
But at the end , they were very good.
As always we started our class with 3 om's and beginning  prayer " Om Sahana vavatu ",
"Vakra tunda Mahakaya " and "Saraswati Namastubyam ".
We continued the Ramayana story , did little recap from beginning for the kids who missed last class.
We talked about our super hero Hanuman and his devotion towards Rama.
They also colored "Hanuman".
We chanted "Shiva karam" shloka , please teach that shloka.
We had a quick bathroom break and had snack.
We concluded our class with "purna adham ".

Next class is on December 20 th.. See you all then !!

With Prem and Om,
Shubha and Dharani

Hari om Parents,

As always we started our class with three om's and chanted "Om Sahana Vavatu" .


We also did "Vakra Tunda Mahakaya " and most of the kids by now are able to recite it properly.Most of the kids  did a good job by leading the class by reciting Vakra Tunda Shloka " along with the teachers.
We chanted "Saraswati Namastubyam" .

We introduced new Shloka  "Siva  Sivakaram " which is their in the assembly handbook pg 9.

We told the story of Ramayana and they were very excited about leariing how Rama is a good son, good brother, good king and good husband.


After that they colored Ram Parivar page and had a  quick snack  break.

We ended our class with the concluding prayer " Om Puranam adam".

Amrutham Class

Shubha and Dharani

Nov 22nd Balvihar class

Nov 22nd Class

Hari Om

We did our prayers "Om Sahanavavatu"  , "Vakra tunda maha kaya" and "Saraswathi Nama stubhyam"

We told the kids about "Hindu Trinity of Gods" - Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva

We discussed about Thanks giving - Showing gratitude - why we should say Thank you to God , why attitude of gratitude is important e.t.c
Kids participated in the discussion very well and were eager to share stories of how and when they used the magic words - Thank you , Please and Sorry.

Thank you for a successful Thanksgiving / Diwali Lunch.

Hari Om
Dharani and Shuba

Hari om Parents,

As always we started our class with three om's and chanted "Om Sahana Vavatu" .


We also did "Vakra Tunda Mahakaya " and most of the kids by now are able to recite it properly.Most of the kids  did a good job by leading the class by reciting Vakra Tunda Shloka " along with the teachers.We would like more kids to join in Shloka recital with us. 

We had a quiz today about different names  of Ganesha, his family , his vehicle, his sweet etc  to keep them involved . All did a good job and i promised to get stickers and candies for them in the next class.

We  discussed with the kids about how they celebrated Diwali and the importance of Goddess Lakshmi. We  told a small story of Goddess Lakshmi

After that they colored goddess Lakshmi and had a  quick snack  break.
We repeated "Saraswathi Namasthubyam shloka " .Parents please work with your children.

Also gave them home work as  to know the meaning of their names by next class.
We ended our class with the concluding prayer " Om Puranam adam".

Amrutham Class

Shubha and Dharani

Class 6 - Nov 1st 2015

Hari Om

We did our Prayers "Om Sahana vavatu" and "Vakra Tunda Maha Kaya".

I taught kids "Sarasawati Namastubhyam" prayer today

Saraswati Namastubhyam
Varade Kaama Roopini

Vidyaa Rambham Karishyaami

siddhir Bhavatu Me Sadaa

Meaning

O Mother Saraswati, we salute you. You are the giver of many blessings.

Please help us in our efforts to gain knowledge and other noble goals. We depend on you.


Spoke about Diwali and They coloured "Diyas Colouring sheet"


We spoke about Ganesha's Abhaya Hasta and Modaka Hasta and about Single tusk.


Happy Diwali to Balvihar Family

- Dharani

Oct 25 ,2015   

Hari om Parents,

As always we started our class with three om's and chanted "Om Sahana Vavatu" .
We had a good participation with 12 kids compared to last class. Hope to see more in the future.

We also did "Vakra Tunda Mahakaya " and most of the kids by now are able to recite it properly. Ishanth did a good job by leading the class by reciting Vakra Tunda Shloka " along with the teachers.We would like more kids to join in Shloka recital with us. Parents please work with your children.

We spoke to kids about different names  of Ganesha and also their meanings , as many kids were not there in last class and marked those names in their books. Please revise with them so they know why Ganesha is called by those names.

We also discussed with the kids about how they celebrated Navaratri. 

After that they colored goddess Lakshmi and had a  quick snack and bathroom break.
We also told a short story to kids about having trust in what they do.

We ended our class with the concluding prayer " Om Puranam adam".

Here is the link if you want to play Ganesha Bhajan to your children:

http://www.chinmayakids.org/hellogod/ganesh/ganesha_bhajans.asp

Anu shree has signed up for the snack for next class on Nov 1 st 2015.

Amrutham Class

Shubha and Dharani

Amrutham Class----May 3rd!!!! Please Read....lots of IMPORTANT details

Hari Om parents!!!

If you have missed any BLOGs in the past, thats OK but donot miss this one. This pertains ALOT of information about upcoming class and our performance. Let me start off with the progression of the class and towards the end is the information on the next class on May 17th at Vrindavan Ashram (details below).

 

We started our class as usual with:

3 Oms

Ganesha Shloka (Vakratunda mahakay...)

Saraswati Shloka (Saraswati namastubhyam.....)

We practiced some shloka that they will be reciting in the assembly.Here are the list of Shloka so you can help them practice at home, in the car for few minutes, etc:

• Ya devi sarva bhuteshu, martru rupen sansthita, namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah.
• Twameva Mata, Chapita Twameva.
  Twameva Bandhu, Cha Sakha Twameva.
  Twameva Vidya, Dravinum Twameva.
  Twameva Sarvam Mama Deva Deva.
• Sarva Mangal Mangalye, Shive Sarwarth Sadhake
  Sharanye Tryambake Gauri, Narayani Namostute 

 

We continued (our 3rd week) talking about our superhero, Krishna. Kids were a bit disappointed that I didnt bring my laptop, projector etc to show them videos but we really wanted to take the time to focus on the performance shlokas so they are better prepared for it.

 

I discussed the story of Krishna and his friend Sudama :

Sudama was Krishna's friend and devotee. He belonged to a poor Brahmin family. Years passed and Krishna became king of Dwarka but Sudama remained a poor man. Sudama and his wife and children starved without food.Tired of their pitiable state, one day his wife advised him go seek hisfriend Krishna's help. Sudama who was an extremely honest man felt ashamed to ask for help. When his wife insisted, Sudama agreed to go, but realised that going empty-handed to meet a friend after so long would look odd. So he carried with him a handful of puffed rice as a gift. Krishna greeted Sudama warmly when he arrived at the palace. Seeing the splendour of Dwarka, Sudama felt awed. Krishna's hospitality humbled him, and was now feeling embarrassed to take out his simple gift. Seeing a small bag in Sudama's hand, Krishna promptly asked him whether his gift was inside the bag. Sudama unwillingly took it out and said he could not gift a handful of puffed rice to a king. Krishna immediately understood Sudama's problem. He happily accepted the gift as if it was the most precious thing.
When Sudama reached home the next day, he saw a huge mansion instead of his hut and his family wearing new clothes. He went inside and found lots of food. At once he knew that god had showered his blessings on him.

I was prepared  to tell them another story but we didnt have time since we started off the class with information with parents, we lost a bit of time there.

We took bathroom break, snack, coloring of a picture of grown up Krishna. Also revised his characteristics, peacock feather on his head, avatar of Vishnu, etc etc

Important Details:

• Our next class is on May 17th but NOT at the BRHS (Bridgewater high school) instead it will be OUR field trip to the Vrindavan Ashram at 95 Cranbury Neck Rd., Cranbury, NJ.  
• All parents are requested to be there no later than 10 AM.
• ALL Vrindavan and BBNJ families will attend the Arathi from 10:15-10:30am
• 10:30 am Amrutham (our class) will perform just as we were scheduled to perform in the assembly.
• 10:30-12pm Classes will be held in assigned classrooms while parents will be doing some seva activities.
• 12-12:45 ALL BBNJ families will have lunch in the Ashram basement.

 

See you all on the May 17th...Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

Meena Arvind

Amrutham Class----April 26th!!!!!

Hari Om parents!!!

We continued practicing for our performance in the assembly coming up in few weeks.

We did:

3 Oms

Opening prayer (Sahana vavatu...)

Ganesha Shloka (Vakratunda mahakay...)

Saraswati Shloka (Saraswati namastubhyam.....)

We practiced some shloka that they will be reciting in the assembly.Here are the list of Shloka so you can help them practice at home, in the car for few minutes a day:

• Ya devi sarva bhuteshu, martru rupen sansthita, namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah.
• Twameva Mata, Chapita Twameva.
  Twameva Bandhu, Cha Sakha Twameva.
  Twameva Vidya, Dravinum Twameva.
  Twameva Sarvam Mama Deva Deva.
• Sarva Mangal Mangalye, Shive Sarwarth Sadhake
  Sharanye Tryambake Gauri, Narayani Namostute

We continued talking about Krishna and his childhood stories. Kids are LOVING to hear about new super hero we are learning about. Talked about Krishna's love for butter. Here are the important details discussed about Krishna:

• He loves butter and goes to any extent to eat/get that.
• He loves playing his flute and cows gazing love sound of his flute.
• He holds a sudarshan chakra (easy clue to help them understand Krishna is an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
• His best friend is Sudama

I told them the story of how he loves the butter and at what lengths he goes to get butter. How Yashoda ma hangs the butter at height so noone could eat it but Krishna still manages to get to butter.

We watched this video to help them visualize the story and understand:

Continued exploring Krishna and his childhood stories talking about Govardhan mountain. People of Vrindavan worshipped to Lord Indra---God of rain to bless them. Krishna suggested that they need to worship to Govardhan mountain as it protects the city from all problems from occuring. So the people of Vrindavan started worshipping Govardhan mountain and Indra couldnt take the insult. Out of rage, he pours down rain and thunder upon the city of Vrindavan. Everyone became skeptical and worried. Krishna then picked up the Govardhan mountain on his pinky finger to protect the city and its people from the rain and thunder. Indra realized his mistake and apologized to the Lord--baby Krishna.

Here is the video to enhance their learning in a visual manner.

We colored picture of baby Krishna eating butter so help them learn the stories even better. We had packaged cookies for snacks and had our bathroom break/s before coloring as well.

We did closing prayers (Om purna midah.....) before we dispersed them to their respective parents.

Reminders:

• Please continue to send a leak proof water bottle with your child.
• Please leave a box of crayons in their Bal vihar bag.
• Please continue to practice shloka/s with your children at home, on your way home from bal vihar etc.
• Some changes happening for the May 17th class, I am still trying to find out more details to update you accordingly. I delayed the BLOG to be able to add that information on here, but I will email you all.

Next class is on May 3rd!!!! There will be NO class the Sunday after for Mothers day!!!!!

See you then!!!!!!

Meena Arvind

Amrutham Class---April 12th!!!!

Hari Om parents!!!

We had a good comeback class this past Sunday after the spring break...!!! I could tell that the kids were excited to be back. We even had a new friend join us this week and hoping that she continues to over the next few weeks before summer. We continued practicing for our performance in the assembly coming up in few weeks....Will share info on that soon!!!!

We stuck to our routine that has worked great with the little ones to start the class with the below: 

We did:

3 Oms

Opening prayer (Sahana vavatu...)

Ganesha Shloka (Vakratunda mahakay...)

Saraswati Shloka (Saraswati namastubhyam.....)

We practiced some shloka that they will be reciting in the assembly. Revised some of the shlokas we already learned to keep their interest and enthusiasm. 

We went through the story detailing the birth of lord Krishna and even watched a short video (kid appropriate).

• Talked about the bad king Kansa (Kamsa as some call him) and his cousin Devaki. 
• Aakashvani about the 8^th son being the lord himself.
•    Kansa imprisoning Devaki and Vasudeva to take away the babies.
•  Vasudeva escaping the prison right after the birth of lord Krishna to take him to the safety of Yashodha and Nanda in Gokul.

My printer has been giving me issues so I couldn’t print Krishna pictures for their coloring, but we colored a picture from the yellow book. We had snacks and our bathroom break/s before coloring as well.

We did closing prayers before we dispersed them to their respective parents.

Reminders:

• Please continue to send a leak proof water bottle with your child.
• Please leave a box of crayons in their Bal vihar bag.
• Please continue to practice shloka/s with your children at home, on your way home from bal vihar etc.

No CLASS on April 19^th, but do attend the much anticipated satsang session and lecture/talk by Swamini Vimalananda ji. Bhiksa will be followed after the satsang, please RSVP to sign up for food accordingly.

See you then!!!!!!

Meena Arvind

Amrutham Class---March 22nd!!!!!!

Hari Om parents!!!

We had a rather relaxed class this past Sunday...!!! We didn't want to introduce new topic this week cause the next two weeks will flush it all out being out for Spring break. So we continued practicing for our performance in the assembly coming up in few weeks....Will share info on that soon!!!!

So there is nothing much to add to the BLOG this week apart from our daily routine, which has probably started to sound like a broken record to most of you...:-) But a routine works better with little ones in certain area especially to start the class. 

We did:
3 Oms
Opening prayer (Sahana vavatu...)
Ganesha Shloka (Vakratunda mahakay...)
Saraswati Shloka (Saraswati namastubhyam.....)

We practiced some shloka that they will be reciting in the assembly. Revised some of the already learned shloka to keep their interest and enthusiasm. We didnt plan to do coloring but they all insisted to do coloring so we decided that last minute task. We had snacks and our bathroom break/s before coloring as well.

We did closing prayers before we dispersed them to their respective parents.


Reminders:

• Please continue to send a leak proof water bottle with your child.
• Please leave a box of crayons in their Bal vihar bag.
• Please continue to practice shloka/s with your children at home, on your way home from bal vihar etc.

NO CLASS till April 12th..!!!! Enjoy the Spring Break!!!!!

See you then!!!!!!
Meena Arvind
 

Amrutham Class...March 15th 2015

Hello Parents,

Hari Om!!!! Firstly let me apologize for not posting last week's BLOG. Sorry if you visited the site and were disappointed. My allergies were at its best last week so I was on medication and drowsy 90% of the time. Thank you for your love and thoughts and am running on full tank again..!!!!!

We had another GREAT week!!!!! Our friends that were missing for few weeks showed up and had a great time at Bal Vihar!

As always we started the class with 3 OMs followed by Ganesha shloka (Vakratunda mahakay....), Saraswati shloka (Saraswati namastubhyam...)

We discussed and revised our learning from last week. Last week we learned about our super hero Hanumaan. He's a monkey, carries a gada. His dad's name is Kesari and mother Anjana. He is a devotee (referred as friend to children) of Lord Rama. Told them several stories about Hanumaan. 

1. How he thought the sun was the fruit mango and he flew out to the sun in the desire to eat it. 
2. He was being the naughty monkey bothering the rishi who was meditating (praying) and the rishi cursed Hanumaan that you wont remember any of your powers unless someone reminds you of it.
3. Hanumaan's love and dedication towards Lord Rama and his first meeting with him. 

We also learned the Hanumaan shloka:
"Mano-Javam Maaruta-Tulya-Vegam
Jite[a-I]ndriyam Buddhi-Mataam Varissttha |
Vaata-Atmajam Vaanara-Yuutha-Mukhyam
Shriiraama-Duutam Sharannam Prapadye |"

We made a small gada out of foil, you can use the empty toilet paper roll or paper towel roll to make a big gada at home as well. Last week we colored Hanuman's picture, if they dont finish the coloring in class, please encourage them to finish at home. Also check its filed nicely and their crayons arent falling out the box etc.

Please continue to send the crayons and spill proof water bottle with them. So they are not thirsty especially after snack. Please continue to recite the shlokas with your children and be a part of their learning routine.

Next class is on March 22nd!!!!!  

See you all then....Have a great rest of the week!!!!!!

Meena Arvind 

Amrutham Class---February 8th!!!!!

Hari Om Parents!!!!!

We had a very busy morning today! Most of the kids were tired, distracted, hungry etc etc etc. Next few classes we plan to side track the learning to bring back the excitement and the freshness to Bal vihar Amrutham class. 

Sorry for the repetition (for parents) but it somehow works wonders with little children and builds their confidence in the process. 
This always breaks the ice and open the class with most participation and excitement.

We chanted 3 Oms. Did you ask your children the new meaning of Om? If you haven't already, you have two weeks to do so before you return to Bal Vihar on February 22nd. :-)

We asked Ganesha to bless us and take our obstacles away before we begin our learning for the day at Bal Vihar by reciting "Vakratunda Mahakay......"

As soon as Ganesha blessed us and opened the door of learning for us, we called Goddess Saraswati to give us knowledge and retain our learning by reciting "Saraswati namastumbhyam......"

We had a full class today out of which alot of children missed last class so we revised last weeks' learning extensively.

We revised:
Shiva

• His two sons: Ganesha and Kartikeya
• His third eye (didnt talk much details to avoid confusion for their age)
• His wife--Parvati
• His vehicle---Nandi the bell (bull---male cow)
• His 3 names:
• Kailashnath
• Bholenath
• Natarajan
• He performs the dance called "Taandav" when hes angry
• He has snakes around his neck
• He has ganga flowing from his head and a crescent moon
• He sits on leopard skin cloth/seat
• He carries "Damru" "Kamandal" "trishul"
• He wears a 'mala' made of Rudraksh
• We worship Shiva in a very special way by doing special pooja to the "Shiv-ling" (Please ask your children---how? Hint---Ask them something about taking a shower and the process

We also revised the 2 shloka:
"Om namah Shivay"

"Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat"

(Please keep reciting ALL shlokas learned. They shouldnt forget the old ones while learning the new shloka)

Today we learned about 2 special days/festivals that happened in the month of January:

• Republic Day---Jan 26th 
• Makar sakaranti---Jan 14th

India celebrated its 66th Republic day on January 26th and invited Barack Obama---president of United States of America along with his wife Michelle Obama to be the chief guest at the parade and celebrations in Delhi, India. Kept it very simple for kids understanding yet expanded on their knowlege. Little knowledge is better than NO knowledge. What does it mean to become republic? Every household, school, city, country has their rules. Republic day is the day when the Constitutions of India came into place replacing the Government of India Act. 

We further discussed India:

• Indian Flag--Also called (Tiranga)
• Gets the name from the 3 colors---Orange (saffron), White, Green with the Ashok chakra in the center
• India's National animal--Tiger
• India's National Bird---Peacock (It dances when it rains out of happiness)
• India's National flower--Lotus
• India's National fruit--Mango
• India's National language---Hindi

We celebrated Makar Sakaranti on January 14th. The name defers depending on what part of India you are from. If you are from Gujarat you would call "Utarayan", if you are from Punjab you would refer it as "Lohri", most of the southern India states refer as "Pongal". Makar Sakaranti is a harvest festival just like Thanksgiving. In celebrations we fly kites, eat "shakarpongal", eat "chikki" made out of sesame, peanuts, mixed nuts, puffed rice etc etc.

We listened to the song "Kai-po che" from "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam"

We ate snack (wheat thins) and also took bathroom break. 

Closed our class with closing prayers "Om purnamidah....."

Few Reminders:

• Please continue to recite shlokas with your children. When we introduce a new shloka to the class we recite each shlokas for 5 times.
• Continue to ask your children about their class lessons on your way home to emphasize the learning process.
• If you didnt sign up for snack rotation, please see me before or after class to do so. 
• Some of the children in our class are GREAT at reciting shloka/s and we would highly recommend to sign them up for Shlokathon. Please ask Dhruti or me for more information on it and we will guide you in the right direction.

NO Class next week, Next class is on February 22nd.....See you then!!!! 

Meena Arvind

Amrutham Class----February 1st!!!

Hari Om parents

Thank you for your commitment to Bal Vihar for bringing your children on regular basis. Children that attend regularly and participates tends to learn efficiently and effortless-y.

We had slightly distracted class either due to the breaks in between due to the snow or the children missing the class. We still managed to cover our learning plan for the day. Threw in some jumping jacks and deep breathing yoga to wake them up a bit.

As always we started our class with 3 Om's. (We also learned how to write Om and the meaning of saying Om--Oh Lord, morning day and night, I love YOU) We often tell our children, our parents through out the day how much we love them, but tend to forget to show the love and gratitude to God.

We did opening shloka..."Sahana vavatu....."

We called upon Ganesha to help remove any obstacles from our learning for the day. We recited the shloka "Vakratunda mahakay......."

Once we were focused and ready to learn we called upon Saraswati maa to gives us knowledge and help us learn. We recited the shloka "Saraswati namastubhyam....."

Today we revised and talked more on Ganesha's daddy---Lord Shiva!!!!

He lives on a Kailash mountain and sits on leopard skin "seat". He has 4 hands and carries Kamandal, Trishul, Damru and lotus. He wears a "mala" made of Rudraksh. River ganga flows from his head and there is crescent moon on his head. He has snake/s around his neck and his neck is blue in color. His vehicle is Nandi the bell (bull)

He is also referred as Natrajan. When he gets angry he does a special form of dance--"Tandav" (Anushri also commented that when he gets angry, he also opens his third eye-----Awesome work, Anushri)

There is a special way to bathe our gods. I explained in a way they can comprehend. We get in the shower, get wet, put soap and then rinse the soap off before we put our clothes, lotion etc on. Similarly, we wash the Shiv-ling with water first, put panchamrat (Sugar, milk, yogurt, honey, and ghee), rinse with water and then put bili-patra, flowers to worship Lord Shiva. We also learned two shlokas to call and ask for his blessings:

"Om namah shivay"

"Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat"

Discussed 3 names of Lord Shiva:
Kailashnath
Bholenath
Natarajan

We ate our snack (gold fish and water) and did bathroom rounds. 

We ended our class with closing prayers "Om purna midah....."

Few reminders:

•  Please continue to recite shlokas with your children. When we introduce a new shloka to the class we recite each shlokas for 5 times.
• Continue to ask your children about their class lessons on your way home to emphasize the learning process.
• If you didnt sign up for snack rotation, please see me before or after class to do so. 
• Some of the children in our class are GREAT at reciting shloka/s and we would highly recommend to sign them up for Shlokathon. Please ask Dhruti or me for more information on it and we will guide you in the right direction.

Next class is on February 8th.....See you then!!!! 

Meena Arvind