we welcome you

 Hari Om!                                                                                                         September 21, 2013

Welcome to a new year at Chinmaya Mission Balavihar.  It is a pleasure to have your children in our class.  Hope you had an enjoyable summer and are ready for your kids to jump into another fun filled year of Bhagavatam stories, bhajans, and shlokas.    

Supplies needed for Balavihar class

1.       My Prayers book

2.       Balavihar binder with few lined sheets and a few plain sheets
3.       Pencil
4.       Bāla Bhāgavatam Textbook (same as last year)
5.       A small notebook for Likhita Japa (preferably one that can fit in the binder)

Shlokas and Bhajans

This year, the class will be learning new shlokas including, Pranamya Shirasa Devam, Namaste Sharanye, Omkara Bindu Samyuktam, Maha Mrtyunjaya Mantra, Sri Govinda Damodara Stotram and Achutam Keshavam.  Copies will be provided for bhajans not printed in My Prayers.

Starting around mid-October, we will begin teaching verses from Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita.  Chinmaya Mission Tri-state area’s annual Bhagavad Gita competition will be held in April/May 2014.  All are encouraged to participate.  More detailed announcements will be made later in the year.

Curriculum

The goal of the curriculum this year is to inspire children to be virtuous and happy though interactive stories from the life of Lord Krishna in the 10^th canto of Bhagavatam.  The prescribed Bāla Bhāgavatam textbook has all the stories that will be discussed.  The focus of the classes will be on subtly highlighting the morals and values from these stories in a way that fourth graders can relate to easily.  They will be encouraged to reflect upon their weekly actions, and assess if they are living by the values that bring them closer to Krishna.  

In the second half of the year, we will delve into the 11^th canto of Bhagavatam – also known as Avadhuta Gita.  We will introduce and discuss the 24 teachers from this text.  The goal here is for children to learn about the importance of teachers, and the proper attitude for learning.  We will focus on Nature as one of our greatest teachers.  During these classes, children will make a booklet to record their learning. 

Annual Day

At the end of the year, our class will be participating in the Annual Day Program on June 10.  Tentative plan is for the children to sing a bhajan or a song.  Once finalized, we will be practicing in class.  More details will be announced in April. 

Class Schedule

The typical class schedule will be as follows:

10:00 – 10:05      - Likhita Japa – Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama

10:05 – 10:10      - Chant Om 3 times, followed by Sahanavavatu… (page 6) and opening chants
10:10 – 10:40      - Bhajans and Shlokas including Gita Chapter 14 Verses
10:40 – 10:50      - Recap of previous week’s lesson
10:50 – 11:30      - Stories from Bhāgavatam
11:30 – 11:40      - Aarti (page 22) & Pledge (page 136)

We plan to handout/email class summary at regular intervals.  The children can use this as a guide to review material covered.  Our contact information is given at the top of the letter.  At any point if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Look forward to an enjoyable and productive year of spiritual learning.