Class Review- 4 Grade Section B - 01/18/2013 - Class Room # A108

Hari Om Readers!

Hope you all had a very  Happy Sankranthi/ Lohri/Pongal. We started our session with  breathing exercise ,chanting Om 3 times and morning prayer. We went over the significance of Sankranthi/Lohri/Pongal.  We recited Sree Ganapathi Stotram and  Sree Govinda Damodara Storam . You can listen to the recorded version sung by our class at this link Damodara Stotram. We also learnt the meaning of first 4 verses of Damodara Stotram. We went over the binders of each and every kid. Lot of kids have filed their slokas and other material that we gave in class. But there were some kids who lost their material and were not organised. It really helps if you can remind kids to keep their Balvihar supplies filed. If any sloka handout is missing, please take print out from the links provided in the blog.


In the Krishna Lila time, we listened to the tale of Krishna and Balarama's jouney to Mathura with Akrura. Krishna's miracles in Mathura -- how he turned Trivakra- the hunchback into a beautiful woman, how he blessed sudhama - the weaver, how he punished the wicked followers of Kamsa, how he and Balarama broke the bow and terrorized Kamsa. Next day Both the brothers go to Kings court and kill the mighty elephant who was sent to stomp them. They kill the world renowned wrestlers in Kamsa's court and finally with one blow Krishna kills Kamsa. Krishna , Balarama part with Nand baba and their friends of Vrindavan .They release Ugrasena, Devaki and King Vasudeva from prison. Devaki and Vasudeva were finally reunited with their beloved sons.

We practiced Geeta chanting 12 verses. We have seen amazing progress in the way kids were reciting Geeta. Please keep reminding them to practice. As Krishna lila stories are coming to end, we are planning to have a quiz/jeopardy in our next session. We asked kids to go through the Balabhagavatam when they have free time over these two weeks..

We ended our session with Arti and pledge.
See you all in our next Balavihar session on Jan 27th 2013 .
-Grade 4B teachers

Class Review (Section 1) 1/13/13

Hari Om,
     Happy Shankranthi to all. Our class this Sunday started with Likitha japa. We then said our morning prayers and learnt the verse 3 and 4 of the Shiva Shadakshara Stotram.

We then learnt verse 15 of Gita Chapter 13. Please help the children learn and practice these using the online tools or the classes at the ashram.

We then continued with the second book in our syllabus. My 24 Preceptors.
Dattatreya gives a list of twenty-four Gurus, regarding himself as a humble student of the whole of creation. He also teaches us the lesson that the higher is one's knowledge, the humbler is that person.

1. Earth: All creatures, in accordance with their previous store of karma (action) assume different physical forms and live on earth. People plough, dig and tread the earth. They light fires on it. Still, the earth does not swerve from its course even by a hair’s breadth. On the other hand, it feeds and houses all creatures. Seeing this, I learned that the wise one should never swerve from his vow of patience, love and righteousness under any circumstances and one should dedicate his life for the welfare of living beings. The earth along with its mountains and rivers is my first guru.

2. Air: I observed that air is pure and odorless in itself. And it blows on both sweet and foul-smelling things without any discrimination or preference. Though it momentarily seems to take on the smell of its surroundings, in a short while, it reveals its pristine quality. From this I learned that a spiritual aspirant should live in the world, unaffected by the dualities of life like joy and sorrow and by the objects of the senses. He should keep his heart’s feeling and his speech unpolluted by vain objects. As I have learned all this by observing it, air is my second guru.

Following the story time we had a short quiz on the Krishna Krishna stories. The class was divided into 2 teams with both team doing equally well.

Just a reminder we don't have class next week. 

Pranam

Class Review (section 1) 1/6/13

Hari Om,

Welcome back. Quite enthusiatic class after the winter break. Started out with likitha japa and then aunty taught us the Shiva Shadakshara Stotram. The children have the printed copies in their folders and we went over the first two verses in class. Our goal is to memorise this stotram in couple of months in time for siva rathri.

We then practiced verse 13 of the Gita chapter 13. The children are getting quite good with the first ten verses. Please remember to practice alongwith the cd or the online tool.

Next we reviewed the Krishna stories and introduced the Bhagavatham chapter 11. The children had learnt stories and concepts from Bhagavatham chapter 1-9. In the beginning of grade 4 we had covered bhagavatham chapter 10 or the Krishna Lila's.

Today We talked about how Krishna warned Uddhava not to be attached to material things or pleasures in life. Udhhava questions the Lord on how to live life. Krishna then retells the story of King Yadu and Sage Dattareya. Once King Yadu met a mystic naked sage full of peace and joy. Not involved in ritualistic or traditional activities. But overflowing with wisdom and peace. Wandering about like a child. Amazed at the mystic the king questions him and is rewarded with the sage's insights. Dattatreya says he learnt the art of living from his 24 teachers. In the coming weeks we will learn about Sage Dattatreya's techers in more detail. Please buy the My 24 preceptors childrens booklet from the bookstore and do stop by if you have any questions or concerns

thanks

Class Review- 4 Grade Section B - 01/06/2013 - Class Room # A108

Hari Om Readers!

Happy New year to all of you and hope you had good time during winter break. We started our session with  breathing exercise and chanting Om 3 times. We recited Sree Ganapathi Stotram and  Sree Govinda Damodara Storam . You can listen to the recorded version sung by our class at this link Damodara Stotram. We also learnt the meaning of first two verses of Damodara stotram.
 We learnt the importance of slokas and revised 4 sloka's that we should recite every day - (Karagre vasathe - wakeup prayer, samudravasane --prayer to recite after getting up from bed,  Brahmarpanam- prayer to recite before we eat any meal, Sarasvathi Namasthubyam -- Prayer before we start our studies ) . All the kids were provided with hard copies of these slokas. We revised the birth of Krishna and Krishna Lila's that we learnt this year so far and continued with the new stories in Krishna Lila story time. We heard the story of salvation of Sudarshana - The python who caught Nand baba's foot in the temple. We learnt why it is important to control the senses. The reason why Sudharshana was cursed by rishi to become Python.. This week's home work is to keep a note of what senses you controlled and how you controlled. A one or 2 liners are good. We like to go over these in the next class.
After we brainstormed on the topic of controlling of senses we continued with story time and heard the story of Samkachuda-- an attendant of Kubera who abducted Gopis and was killed by Krishna. Then came the story of how Narada told Kamsa the secret of Krishna and Bala Rama 's abode- "Vrindavan"..Kamsa's wicked plan to invite the two boys for yagna and to kill them by stomping with elephant and inviting for wrestling match with top wrestlers in Kamsa's court..Kamsa asks Akrura to visit Vrindavan and bring the two brothers to Mathura.. Akrura's visit to Vrindavan and preparations of Yadava's travel to Mathura.
We ended our session with Arti and pledge.
See you all in our next Balavihar session on Jan 13th  2013 .
-Grade 4B teachers