Hari Om Parents,
Today was the sixteenth class of Balavihar!! Here is the summary of what we covered in the class today:
Opening Prayers: We together chanted three OMs and then chanted the Opening Prayers - Sahana Vavatu.
Opening Prayers: We together chanted three OMs and then chanted the Opening Prayers - Sahana Vavatu.
Recap: We did a recap of all of the alphabets we learnt so far in the Alphabet Safari journey. And recited the Alphabet chant until Letter N.
Introduction of the Next Letter: Introduced the next letter 'O' - is for Obedience which means dutifully doing what one is told to do without protesting. We discussed why we need to listen and obey our parents, elders and teachers and not argue, as they by their experience know what is good for us and will keep us safe and happy.
Brainstorming: We discussed what will happen if the Sun does not set in the evening? What happens if mom does not cook food every day? What happens if no one will follow the road signs? Why is there a need to do everything in order? because otherwise there will be chaos. And when everyone and everything works in orderly fashion there will be 'harmony'.
To maintain this harmony, all things and beings have to obey the rules of nature. Through different scenarios, we went over why kids need to obey and explained that sometimes even if we do not like what we hear and what we have to do, as it is in our best interest to listen and obey.
Exploration: We explained about the 3 Guru's and explained that parents are also our Guru's as they teach us the right thing to do, and we need to obey them at all times. And we all together chanted:
' GururBrahma GururVishnu GururDevo Maheshwaraha
Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha '
Activity 1: Teacher Says game : Kids follow teacher's instructions when they hear 'Teacher Says' precedes the instruction and conversely not follow the instruction when it did not precede with Teacher Says.
Activity 2: Pipeline Game from House Spirit Day : Color pipes and ball was provided by the House Co-ordinators and we played in class the Pipeline Game. Kids had fun playing the game and also followed the instructions provided.
Yoga time : While sitting down we did touch your toes, swing arms, and stretch exercises.
Exploration Two: We discussed that though the next letter of the alphabet is P, it's not so in the Vedanta alphabet. In the Vedanta alphabet, the letter "R" comes after "O." Why? Because we first need to learn all the values of the alphabet except "P" and "Q." After we learn all these values, we become fit to do prayers, and learn about the letter "P" which stands for prayer. When we offer prayers to the Lord, what is the result? The result is, we become quiet, and learn about the letter "Q."
Introduction of the Next Letter: Introduced the next letter 'R' - for Right-is that which is morally good, just, fair, or means correct action.
Brainstorming: We discussed what Doing the Right Thing means. We went over different scenarios to help kids reflect on the right thing to do in each scenario. And discussed that we need to do the right thing even if no one is watching and we ourselves know what the right thing is and that we ourselves know when we don't do the right thing.
Storytime: Through the story of 'The Rock on the Road' we learnt that we need to Do the right thing, even if nobody else is doing it. Doing the right thing always brings good rewards and happiness in the end.
Attendance: was taken by each kid saying 'Hari Om' when their name was called out.
Festival discussion: Holi - Festival of Colors: We told the story of Holi, about Holika and Prahalad and discussed that Holi is a celebration of Colors. And discussed that Krishna, Radha and Gopikas played Holi to celebrate and welcome the Spring season!
It was another very collaborative session with kids. Kids participated with enthusiasm and enjoyed Storytime and Activities thoroughly.
Have a wonderful week ahead!! Wishing you everyone Happy Holi !!
Pranams
Mahalakshmi & Chandarani.
