Pujya Swami Shantananda ji

Pujya Swami Shantananda ji

Pujya Swami Shantananda ji
Showing posts with label Samudra Manthan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samudra Manthan. Show all posts

Sunday, March 21, 2010

March 21

Next class : Apr 11, 2010;

Aarthi in Auditorium.

Announcements:

A big thank you to all the parents who visited our class today. Hope you enjoyed your visit. We would appreciate it if you can take some time to provide your feedback at http://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balaviharfeedback/. The form is available only for a limited time so please do it at the earliest.

March 21, 2010:

Beginning Prayers:

Story:


  • Samudra Manthan.

Craft:

  • Coloring page - Sree Rama
Games:

  • Bingo

Ending Prayers:
  • Asatho maa sath gamaya

  • Om Poornamadah Poornamidam

Bhajans:


Bhagavad Geeta:

Comments:
  • We did the beginning prayers together. Today we tried a new strategy - we got those who still haven't memorized it to come up to the front of the class for each Shloka and repeat it after us.
  • They did the first 3 Bhajans on their own.
  • We then discussed the meaning of the new Bhajan Khate Bhi Ram Kaho and we practiced the first stanza. We then introduced the new Stanza which they seemed to enjoy very much. After that during coloring, many people came up with their own lines - sword fighting bhi Ram Kaho, Swimming Bhi Ram Kaho etc :-)
  • We again colored a beautiful picture of Sree Rama. Rama Navami is this Wednesday, 24th March. On 27th March, Hanuman Jayanthi celebrations will take place in the Vrindavan Ashram.
  • We decided on the roles for acting out the Samudra Manthan story.. we are going to have a tough time deciding the actual roles for our end of the year performance :-) There is a lot of competition!!
  • Parents came in to the class for a visit. The children were all very excited but did their best to continue what they were doing. We finished acting it out. Once we decide the roles based on the children's availability over the next few weeks, we will start practicing in earnest. Maybe we will even assign a few simple lines for each child to say.
  • We then played a game of Bingo - we use this game to reinforce identification of the Gods and Goddesses. It turned out to be a bit chaotic today though:-)
  • We then practiced our Geeta chanting. After they did the first 3 Shlokas on their own, we practiced the last 2.
  • We then did the ending prayers and lined up to get stickers for our charts and our snacks.
  • We know a lot of parents are anxious to know if their children participate in class - we try to do our best to make the class as interactive as possible. And honestly, we don't think there is even one kid who has not spoken up or come to the front of the class at some time or the other to recite! They are a very talkative bunch . Of course that means our class does gets a bit chaotic at times :-)
Reminders:
  • Please keep up your practice during the two week break even as you enjoy the good weather outside and remember to bring in your charts for more stickers next time.
  • Please register your child for the Geeta Chanting competition on May 2nd. Please click here to register your child.
  • Please print the chart if you did not receive one in class. You can find the link on the left.

Posted by at
Labels: ,

Sunday, March 7, 2010

March 7

Next class : Mar 14, 2010;

Aarthi in the auditorium.

Announcements:

There will be an open house on March 21st for parents to observe what is going on in their child's balavihar class. Pre K parents are invited to come to the classroom on March 21st at 10.55am. One of the Sevaks will receive you and brief you and bring you inside the class for the last 30 minutes.


March 7, 2010:

Beginning Prayers:

Story:

  • Samudra Manthan.

Craft:

  • None
Games:

  • None

Ending Prayers:

  • Asatho maa sath gamaya

  • Om Poornamadah Poornamidam

Bhajans:





Bhagavad Geeta:

Comments:
  • The children did the beginning prayers on their own for the most part. But for the benefit of some new kids and some who are back in class after a long break we learnt it again. We discussed why we should make sure we say all the words right and heard the story of Kumbhakarna who because of mispronouncing a word, got the wrong boon!
  • We learnt a new prayer for Lord Hanuman (Hanumat Jayanthi is being celebrated in the Vrindavan Ashram on March 27th with chanting the Hanuman Chaalisa 100 times).
  • They sang the first 2 Bhajans as usual with a lot of enthusiasm.
  • We started a new Bhajan today for Sri Ram. We learnt to do the first stanza with actions.
  • We then practised the Geeta Chanting. We got new volunteers to come up today which is very good..guess many of them are practising at home! If they can bring in their charts, we can start handing out the stickers. We had one kid take home 7 stickers today!
  • We reviewed the story of the Samudra Manthan - we will use the story to put up a skit for the end of the year show. We retold the story with the help of the kids - they remembered most of it. They formed two teams for Asuras and Devas and pretended to churn the ocean with a dupatta but it turned out to be more of a tug of war. We will continue with the fun next week.
  • We had a lot of enthusiastic volunteers for the various roles. We will decide in the next few weeks after we confirm the child's availability for the program.
  • They started singing the Bhajan Ekadantaya Vakratundaya on their own (we had decided to do it at the end)! And are they doing a good job of it! It was really very sweet to hear.
  • We are planning to do a simple dance to go with the song..so we practiced for a while. We will get to learn more steps next week. They all seemed to like it.
  • We did the ending prayers and then lined up to receive our stickers.
Reminders:
  • Please remember to take the kids to the bathroom before class.
  • Please register your child for the Geeta Chanting competition on May 2nd. Please click here to register your child.
  • Please print the chart if you did not receive one in class. You can find the link on the left.

Posted by at
Labels: ,

Monday, February 22, 2010

Feb 21, 2010

Next class : Feb 28, 2010;

Aarthi in the classroom. We would like to invite all the parents to come inside the class at 11.30am for a quick 5 minute meeting.

Announcements:

Swami Shantanandaji's Geeta Gnana Yagna on Bhagavat Geeta Chapter 13 starts on Monday Feb 22 and ends on Feb 27 at the Vrindavan Ashram in Cranbury. Weekdays it is from 7.30-9pm and on Saturday 4.30-6pm. Free babysitting service available.

Feb 21, 2010:

Beginning Prayers:

Story:

  • The story of Samudra Manthan - how Shiva's neck turned blue.

Craft:

  • Shiva coloring page
Games:

  • None

Ending Prayers:

  • Asatho maa sath gamaya

  • Om Poornamadah Poornamidam

Bhajans:





Bhagavad Geeta:



Comments:

  • Meeting as we did, after a long break, the children pleasantly surprised us by remembering and doing almost all the beginning prayers on their own. Many of them have been practising at home we can see. Way to go!
  • They did both the old bhajans on their own and also sang very well the new one. Since the speaker was not working, we just sang on our own and some of the girls danced :-)
  • We then heard the story of the Devas and Asuras churning the ocean, and how the poison came up first and Shiva drank the poison and to keep him awake the whole night, the devas and asuras sang and danced - Shiva's neck turned blue because of the poison and hence His name Neelakanta. We also sang a Bhajan - Bholo natha Umapathe.
  • We learned a few more names of Shiva too. But the children were not content with ending the story there and so we heard more about what happened later, and how the Amrith that came up was distributed by Mohini. Please ask them about the story.
  • Mamata Aunty then quizzed them about it and their homework for this week is to find out the name of the mountain that was used to churn the ocean.
  • We then had a small discussion about their ideas of good and bad - what good people did and did not do and what bad people did. It was very revealing :-)
  • It is really amazing how some of our little friends have memorized until Shloka 5 of the Geeta!! Wow! Many of them have memorized until Shloka 3. We practised until 3 again and started the 4th Shloka. We only have 3 more to go. It will be very good if we can get the entire class to register for the Geeta competition.
  • To encourage the children to practise all the Shlokas and Bhajans at home and memorize, we are planning to come up with an individual chart for each child listing all the shlokas, and as and when they can recite it on their own, they could come up and put a sticker against it. And it will be handed out along with a Certificate at the end of the year. With enthusiastic support and encouragement from the parents, we are sure all the children will be able to do it.
  • They colored a picture of Shiva remembering to color the neck blue :-)
  • They all received a prize today for saying the Shlokas on their own! More new prizes are waiting to be given out!!
Reminders:

  • Please remember to take the kids to the bathroom before class.
Posted by at
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)