Hari Om Parents and Swamiji,
It was good to see the children after our break last week. They seemed excited to be in class, and we are always very glad to see their enthusiastic, cheerful faces.
We started class with Om chanting and opening prayers, and quickly jumped into a recap of the last class and continued with the alphabets and completed I, J and K this week. We first sang the alpahabet song upto the letter H.
We explained I is for Intelligence, and we brainstormed with the children the meaning of the word. The children were able to come up with some excellent points, such as kindness, being smart, and using of the brain. We worked on these ideas and further explained the concept of the intellect and how the intellect helps us in making correct decisions and choices in Life. We divided the children to 2 groups and provided them with the Ganesha Puzzle, which they 2 groups completed with some minimal assistance from the teachers. The children were stimulated from the exercise and were able to appreciate the fact that the brain is required to solve a puzzle and similarly we can solve our day to day problems. We also read a story from the Jataka Tales, called the Intelligent Bird, which tells the story of a monkey, an elephant and a bird, who lived in a banyan tree, and as they would quarrel often they decided to appoint a leader based on the seniority of the animal. It was finally determined that the bird was the oldest as she was the one who brought the seed of the banyan tree and sowed it there. The bird was sensible and said she would be a fair kind leader, and the three animals lived peacefully thereafter.
We continued onto to J for Japa-where the children understood that the Japa means the constant repetition of God's name and it is a means to seek peace and calm the mind. To further understand the concept we learnt a new Bhajan, Sharade Sharade Hamsavahini sharade, and also completed a 5 minute Meditation session. The bhajan had been introduced to us by Swaami Prakashananda at Chinmaya Vrindaaavan which I had recorded and played in class to help the children learn the bhajan. I am including the lyrics below, please have the children practise.
Sharade Sharade Hamsavahini Shararade 2 times
Sharade Sharade Vagvilasini Sharade 2 times
Sharade Sharade Vidya Dayini Sharade 2 times We explained the meaning to them, that Sharade refers to Goddess Saraswathi who is the Goddess of knowledge and whose vehicle is the Swan.
Sharade Sharade Vidya Dayini Sharade 2 times We explained the meaning to them, that Sharade refers to Goddess Saraswathi who is the Goddess of knowledge and whose vehicle is the Swan.
The next letter we learnt was K for Kindness. The children were quick to provide correct answers about the meaning of kindness and provided some excellent examples of kindness.
We also, to further understand the concept, played the game of the Kind face and the unkind face. Two faces were provided one a happy face and another a sad face. We then provided the children with different situations which they had to decide was a happy face situation or a sad face situation. For example , Rishi cleaned his room so that he could be helpful to his mother-this the children were able to say was a happy (kind ) face. However another example where a boy was mean to his dog and kicked the dog was an unkind or sad face.
We also told the story of Siddhartha who was kind and his cousin Devadutta who was mean, and another story about the Greek Antrocles who saved a lion. The children also colored the K for Kindness coloring page from the Text book.
After that we had Geeta chanting and we went early for the 1 st grade monthly program to the main hall to be followed by arti and pledge.
Thank you again for sharing your sweet children with us,
We are very grateful and look forward to seeing them every week.
Hari Om,
Sevikas KG
Bhargavi, Ulka and Priya
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