Central New Jersey Balavihar Pre K Class

• Gurur Brahma
• Vakratunda Mahaakaaya
• Sarva Mangala Mangalye

Geetha Chanting: Geetha Chapter XII - First and Second Shloka

Bhajan: Gopala Nanda Lala

Quiet Game: Shell Dropping

Story: "The Generals Horse"

Craft/Activity: Mouse Sponge Art
Likitha Japa: Practice writing OM

Comments:
Today we had a meeting with parents where Ameetji discussed issues regarding the dismissal on Pravachan day. Ameetji requested that parents stay back at the auditorium after Swamiji's lecture. Two front row seats would be reserved for Pre-K and Sevikas will be bringing the kids to auditorium after the class. At the conclusion of Aarthi and Pledge, parents will be coming to the front and picking up their kids. Today we had Vidyut's parents helping us out in class and taking the kids to the assembly, their help was very much needed, a very big Thank you from us.

We started our class with beginning prayers. We reviewed all the stotras we have learnt so far and today we learnt a new shloka on Sri Lakshmi, Sarva Mangala Mangalye. Then we started Geetha chanting, absolutely delighted by their performance. Next week we will learn the fourth shloka.

This was followed by a beautiful bhajan on Sri Krishna, it really calmed all the kids. Kids were ready to count the Shells in their mind, with eyes closed and lips sealed. In the beginning it was tough for some of the kids to count in their mind, but towards the end they were able to count mentally. We will continue this game, increasing the length of quiet time.

Today's story was titled "Generals Horse", a story about how Mrs. FurryNose's family helped remove the nail from hoof of General's Horse. Her family was able to do it by cooperation between the family members. General's Horse was so happy that he shared his oats with Mrs FurryNose's family, a family of 300 members. Every member remebered their table manners, their pleases and thank yous, which was no simple task.

We learnt Sanskrit word for Mouse, "Mushakah" and learnt to draw a mouse. Kids then did Likitha Japa. They learnt how to write Ohm. We will continue doing this as a form of Prayer(japa).

After that we lined up for the auditorium, we sang "Om namah Shivay" all the way. There we enjoyed a quiz show by Fifth graders followed by aarthi. Have a great week ahead and stay warm...

NOTE TO PARENTS:
- Big Thank you to all the parents who have signed up for volunteering. We will have the volunteer sheet available in the coming classes, if you havent signed up please do so in the next class.
I have added the link for Volunteer LIST and Backup LIST for your reference.
- Please do take the kids to bathroom before they are dropped off. As you know, in this age group one raises the hand, the entire class wants to go to bathroom.

- Keep practicing Geetha Chapter XII.

Volunteer List

2012-02-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

Feb 5, 2012

2012-02-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

Opening Prayer:

Stotras:

• Budhir Balam

Geetha Chanting: Geetha Chapter XII - First Three Shloka

Story: Peace Story

Craft/Activity: Writing Om

Comments:

We started our class with beginning prayers. We learnt a new shloka on Hanuman, Budhir Balam. We talked about identifying features of our dieties. As for Geetha chanting, we learnt the third Shloka. After that kids heard a story about peace. We ended our class with aarthi. Have a great week ahead and see you all next week.

Jan 29th, 2012

2012-01-29T18:13:00.000-05:00

Opening Prayer:

• OM Sahanaa vavatu

Stotras:

• Gurur Brahma
• Budhir Balam

Geetha Chanting: Geetha Chapter XII - First and Second Shloka

Story: Mother Holdra Story

Craft/Activity: Simon Says

Comments:

We started our class with beginning prayers. We learnt a new shloka on Hanuman, Budhir Balama. We talked about identifying features of our dieties. As for Geetha chanting, we learnt the third Shloka. After that kids heard a story from Norway about Mother Holdra. Kids learnt kindness is a virtue you need to show not only to your friends and family, but also to pets, animals, Mother Earth . We ended our class with aarthi. Have a great week ahead and see you all next week.

Jan 22, 2012

2012-01-24T08:50:00.000-05:00

Opening Prayer:

• OM Sahanaa vavatu

Bhajan for Quiet time: Sharade Sharade

Stotras:

• Gurur Brahma
• Shuklam Baradaram

Geetha Chanting: Geetha Chapter XII - First and Second Shloka

Story: Penguine Story

Craft/Activity: Tracing Om

Comments:

We started our class with beginning prayers followed by bhajan. We learnt a new shloka on Vishnu, Shuklam baradaram. We talked about identifying features of our dieties. As for Geetha chanting, it was the competition between kids and Aunties who could recite it better and kids came through. After that kids watched a movie 'March of the Penguins'. Kids learnt about how daddy takes care of the egg for the entire winter. Kids learnt about sacrifice, kindness and sharing. We ended our class with aarthi. Have a great week ahead and see you all next week. Don't forget to bring in the Om sheet.

2011-12-25T09:59:00.001-05:00

Hope you are all enjoying the winter break! Did Santa come to your house? This Auntie has been entertaining herself by reading old blog entries.

Here is a funny riddle I found on the KG Blog:

                                 Why is 5 afraid of 6?
                                             -----Because 7 8 9

We had sent out an email asking for which activity you all like the best and the winners are...'Bhajans' and 'Geeta Chanting'! Send us an email if there is a specific Bhajan you like. We will certainly continue with Geeta Chanting in class. You can also attend the Geeta Chanting classes at the Vrindavan Ashram on Fridays 7-8PM.

One of the Aunties made some beautiful Sanskrit learning Flash Cards to download to your IPhone or IPad.  Click here for instructions to access.

Hope you have completed the Connect the Dots exercises from last week. Dont forget to bring you work to the next class so that we can post on the Blog.

Dec 18, 2011

2011-12-20T00:03:00.000-05:00

Opening Prayer:

• OM Sahanaa vavatu

Bhajan for Quiet time: Man ek baar Hari Bol

Stotras:

• Vakrathunda Mahakaya

Geetha Chanting: Geetha Chapter XII - First Shloka

Bhajan: Ganapathi Bhajan

Story: Masterman

Craft/Activity: Connect the dot

Comments:

After our initial prayers, we had a lovely bhajan for our quiet time. We reviewed our begining prayers and learnt our first shloka of Geetha Chapter XII. Today the kids heard a story from Nigeria called Masterman. Jackie Aunty reviewed the Sanskrit numbers with the kids and later they did connect the dots.
To make sure that the children retain the information taught so far, please work with them at home on above mentioned Connect Numbers activities. Please work with the children and make sure they notice the shape of the Sanskrit numbers and say the number out loud while drawing each connecting line. Ask them to color and decorate the pictures to illustrate the 'Masterman' story they heard in class. We will post pictures of the children's handiwork when we return after winterbreak.

Please check back at this website each Sunday to find additional home work exercises. Our next class is on Jan 8th, 2012. Have a wonderful holiday!!!

Geetha Chapter XII (Sanskrit)

2011-12-19T23:37:00.000-05:00

Dec 11, 2011

2011-12-11T19:05:00.005-05:00

Opening Prayer:

• OM Sahanaa vavatu

Bhajan for Quiet time: Dathatreya Bhajan

Stotras:

Geetha Chanting: Geetha Chapter XII - First Shloka

Bhajan: Ganapathi Bhajan

Story: Grandma's Blackie

Craft/Activity: Dhenu - Connect the dot

Comments:

Yesterday was Dattatreya Jayanthi, so today kids learnt about Dattatreya and Meera Aunty sang a beautiful Marathi bhajan on Dattatreya. Later we chanted our beginning prayers. We learnt first shloka of Geetha Chapter XII . We heard the story of Granny's Blackie. In this season of giving kids learnt that when a gift is given more than the gift it is the thought and the love which matters . Then the activity for today was Connect the Dots. The twist was that the numbers were in sanskrit. So we reviewed our sanskrit numbers and kids started connecting them. Homework for the kids is to connect the dots from 11 to 20. Then we headed towards auditorium for aarthi and pledge. Hope to see everyone next week. Have a safe and fun week!

In the coming weeks we will have stories from around the world.

Quiz: Can you guess where the story for the next class comes from?
It is from a Continent which begins with the first letter of the Alphabet.
The second letter of the Continent is the sixth letter of the Alphabet.

Colors

2011-11-20T20:56:00.001-05:00

Blue --> नीलः
Red --> रक्तवर्णः
Green --> हरितः
White --> श्वेतः
Yellow --> पीतः
Orange --> नारङगवर्णः
Black --> कृष्णा

Stone Soup Story

2011-11-20T20:31:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time there was a village.

It had a lot of green fields

and many many children in a pretty school house

The rains came each year, pouring water down from the beautiful blue-grey clouds, between the silver strands of lightening.

From the water grew the green plants and flowers and fruit and the honey bees buzzed happily in the warm air. Every Saturday the village had a market where the potato farmer sold potatoes

And the green bean farmer sold fresh green beans

And the onion farmer sold round red onions

And the black eye pea farmer sold delicious dried peas

And the children ran around all day

Looking at beautiful flowers and smelling the fresh bread, listening to the moms and dads talking and tea cups clinking.

One year, the moms and dads watched the blue sky – but the rain never came. ‘Perhaps it is a little late’ said Dad. But the rain never came. A small white cloud passed by one day. But the rain never came.

‘Oh my’ said the potato farmer ‘How can I feed my daughter all year’. So he did not take his vegetables to the market.

The bean farmer said ‘I don’t have enough beans to sell’. So he did not take the beans to the market.

The peanut farmer said ‘I need all the peanuts just for my family’. So he did not take the peanuts to the market.

The market was all empty. And the children were sad.

Why are you sad Mom?’ said the little boy. Mom said ‘We will be all right son. The rain will come next year and the fields will be green again’. But Mom and Dad were sad.

The storyteller came walking into the village as he did each year.

But nobody came to welcome him

Mom and Dad pulled the children in into the house and closed the door because they did not want to share their food with him .

‘Why Mommy’ said the girl. ‘Hush Child, said Mom, ‘We don’t have enough to share’. But Mom was sad.

The girl went skipping to the well with Mom. She was happy because her water pot was shiny and bright.

‘Can you give me some water, little girl?’ said the story teller. ‘Yes’ she said. ‘See I am so strong, I can draw the water all by myself’ She poured the water into the Story tellers big black pot.

The boy heard the story tellers flute and peeped out of his door. It was dark and cold outside. The bon fire was blazing bright and the story tellers hat was tall and pointed.

The wood smoke smelt nice and the flute had a happy tune.

The boy and his sister crept out. ‘What are you doing’ they said. I am making soup said he. Hmnn, the water is boiling, all it needs is my magic stone’. ‘Splash’ said the stone and went into the soup pot.

The children sat down to listen to the flute.

The man dipped a big ladle into the pot and tasted the soup. ‘Mnnnn’…Slurp Slurp……Delicious!’ he said. Just needs a few beans to thicken it. It is so good!

‘Can we have some soup?’ said the girl. ‘Why, ofcourse! Said the man. ‘As soon as it is done’. ‘Maybe my Dad will give us some beans said the boy and ran home to ask.

‘OK’ said Dad. ‘Just this once’. I cannot give you more’. And the beans went ‘plunk’ into the water.

The big ladle again went into the water. ‘Mnnnn’…Slurp Slurp……Delicious!’ he said. ‘But I wish I had some salt to make it taste good for you’.

‘Can your Dad give some salt’ asked the boy to his friend. ‘And some carrots as well’ said the stranger. ‘I will ask’ said the friend and ran away.

‘You be careful now’ said Dad ‘We will not have food this winter if you give away what we have’. ‘Swish’ went the salt into the soup. And the carrots followed the salt.

‘What are you all doing here’ said Grandpa. Waiting to eat the soup’ said the children.’It smells soooo good’.

‘Ah! But it will smell even better with some onions and pepper’ said Grandpa. ‘Son, run and get some from Grandma’.

‘But…… Dad!’ said the man, but he went to get some anyway.

So the onions and the pepper, the beans and squash, and the pumpkin and the radish, all went into the soup pot. The sky was dark. The bonfire spluttered bright, the flute had a happy tune

‘Aha’ said the stranger, finally.. Do you all have your soup bowls ready? Call your neighbors. We have plenty for all to share.

‘The magic stone makes a lot of good soup’ said the girl.

Yes- and it makes a lot of friends’ said the man.

And they all had soup. Mnnnn…..

‘But there no magic stones. Stones cant make anything’ said the boy.

‘Hmnnnn’ said the storyteller. ‘Perhaps you are right. But friends who share can make everything.

And ‘Ah..’ “Said the girl ‘’There is nothing as good as a bowl of hot soup’.

The end

Nov 20th, 2011

2011-11-20T18:39:00.001-05:00

Morning Prayers:

• Brahmaarpanam

Bhajan: Man Ek Baar Hari Bole
Ganpathi Bhajan

Story: Stone Soup Story

Craft/Activity: Making a Stone Soup
Colors in Sanskrit
Numbers in Sanskrit

Comments:

Once everyone was settled, Meera Aunty sang a beautiful bhajan "Man ek baar hari bole". Later we chanted our beginning prayers. Today we started learning a new Shloka - "Brahmaarpanam". Then we heard a story about Stone Soup. Everyone of us acted as a villager with a stash of crop and we learnt that unless we share we will be hungry and unhappy. We started learning a new bhajan on Ganapthi and ending aarthi song. We reviewed our numbers and colors in Sanskrit. We ended our class with Aarathi. We dont have a class next Sunday, our next class is on Dec 4th. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Nov 6th, 2011

2011-11-20T18:38:00.001-05:00

Morning Prayers:

Bhajan: Vishva vilasini vishalakshi matha

Story: Mahabali Story

Craft/Activity: Diwali Lanterns

Comments:

Once everyone was settled, Meera Aunty sang a beautiful bhajan "Vishva vilasini vishalakshi matha". Later we chanted our beginning prayers. We heard the story of Mahabali from Nanda Aunty. Then we made the lanterns. Ended our class with aarthi. Hope to see everyone next week. Have a safe week!

Oct 16, 2011

2011-10-16T17:14:00.001-04:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Mamatha, Meera and Shaina

Morning Prayers:

Bhajan: Jaya Guru Omkara

Story: King Banyan Tree from Jataka tales

Craft/Activity: Jungle Coloring Page

Comments:

Today our class was held in D109. Once everyone was settled, Meera Aunty sang a beautiful bhajan "Jaya Guru Omkara". Later we chanted our beginning prayers. Today we learnt new Shloka for Guru - "Gurur Brahma". Nanda Aunty told a story of compassion from Jataka Tales. It is the story of two groups of deer living in the King's forest. The king of the deer offers his life in sacrifice for the sake of his subject and so the (human) King realises his fault and stops eating deer meat and becomes a vegetarian. Mamatha aunty quizzed the kids on story and what compassion was. Later the kids colored a picture of Jungle where we had all sorts of animals living happily. We ended our class with Aarathi. Next weeks class we are meeting at Mercer County Park for CORD Walkathon. Hope to see everyone there. Have a safe week!

King Banyan Deer from Jataka tales

2011-10-16T16:57:00.000-04:00

THERE was once a Deer the color of gold. His eyes were like round jewels, his horns were white as silver, his mouth was red like a flower, his hoofs were bright and hard. He had a large body and a fine tail.

He lived in a forest and was king of a herd of five hundred Banyan Deer. Near by lived another herd of Deer, called the Monkey Deer. They, too, had a king.

The king of that country was fond of hunting the Deer and eating deer meat. He did not like to go alone so he called the people of his town to go with him, day after day.

The townspeople did not like this for while they were gone no one did their work. So they decided to make a park and drive the Deer into it. Then the king could go into the park and hunt and they could go on with their daily work.

They made a park, planted grass in it and provided water for the Deer, built a fence all around it and drove the Deer into it.

Then they shut the gate and went to the king to tell him that in the park near by he could find all the Deer he wanted.

The king went at once to look at the Deer. First he saw there the two Deer kings, and granted them their lives. Then he looked at their great herds.

Some days the king would go to hunt the Deer, sometimes his cook would go. As soon as any of the Deer saw them they would shake with fear and run. But when they had been hit once or twice they would drop down dead.

The King of the Banyan Deer sent for the King of the Monkey Deer and said, "Friend, many of the Deer are being killed. Many are wounded besides those who are killed. After this suppose one from my herd goes up to be killed one day, and the next day let one from your herd go up. Fewer Deer will be lost this way."

The Monkey Deer agreed. Each day the Deer whose turn it was would go and lie down, placing its head on the block. The cook would come and carry off the one he found lying there.

One day the lot fell to a mother Deer who had a young baby. She went to her king and said, "O King of the Monkey Deer, let the turn pass me by until my baby is old enough to get along without me. Then I will go and put my head on the block."

But the king did not help her. He told her that if the lot had fallen to her she must die.

Then she went to the King of the Banyan Deer and asked him to save her.
"Go back to your herd. I will go in your place," said he.

The next day the cook found the King of the Banyan Deer lying with his head on the block. The cook went to the king, who came himself to find out about this.
"King of the Banyan Deer! did I not grant you your life? Why are you lying here?"
"O great King!" said the King of the Banyan Deer, "a mother came with her young baby and told me that the lot had fallen to her. I could not ask any one else to take her place, so I came myself."

"King of the Banyan Deer! I never saw such kindness and mercy. Rise up. I grant your life and hers. Nor will I hunt any more the Deer in either park or forest."

Oct 9th, 2011

2011-10-09T17:19:00.000-04:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Mamatha, Meera and Shaina

Morning Prayers:

Bhajan: Saraswathi

Story: God is everywhere

Craft/Activity: Saraswathi Coloring

Comments:

We went over the meaning of Karagre and how Saraswathi is always in our hands and our hearts. The most interesting discussion I encountered was one boy saying 'No ---Saraswathi is not there' when I asked whether Saraswathi was in the poster on the wall. I told him, yes, Saraswathi is not visible to the eyes on the face but you can feel it in our hearts because there is knowledge in the poster. The boy smiled very big and nodded. In Balvihar, we dont learn about the 'outside' which we can see with the eyes on the face. We talk about our 'insides' which are about feelings and thoughts.

We listened to the story of the Teacher who asked the students to eat a mango in a place where nobody was with them. Everybody found some place, however one boy did not eat the mango saying that God was always with him. So he was the winner.

(Home work - eat a mango and tell your parents the story)

We did a Saraswathi picture coloring. Everybody did a great job of coloring the Veena and book. We learnt about how if a book or paper accidentally falls on the ground or very accidentally touches your feet we must touch it and touch our eyes to apoligise to Saraswathi. (Homework: Tell your parents that books must be treated with love and devotion and must never touch the book or paper with our feet because it stands for Saraswathi)

We did 1-10 in Sanskrit. We did red, yellow, green, blue, black, white in sanskrit. Also pink. But the teacher unfortunately did not know brown. So Homework: Help the teacher find the word for brown in Sanskrit by searching Google with Mom or Dad.

We also started Krishnah vadathi. We will be doing it next week again with more verbs. We stopped a little early by 11.15 to join the big kids in the Auditorium for a presentation about CORD. Have a safe and fun week ahead.

Just a reminder next class is on Oct 16th.

Sep 25th, 2011

2011-09-25T20:37:00.001-04:00

Sevikas: Nanda, Mamatha, Meera and Shaina

Morning Prayers: