Hari Om Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Recap:
Week 1 : 7th Sept 2025
Shlokas - We all chanted 'OM' 3 times followed by Shlokas 'Om Saha Navavatu' (pg 8 in My prayer book), 'Vakratunda Mahakaya' (pg 27), 'Saraswati Namastubhyam' (pg 12), 'Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu'.
We introduced ourselves as 'Hari Om, My name is ......'
We started our Bala Ramayana topic based on questions like
What do we know about Ramayana?
Do we know any names from the Ramayana?
Week 2 : Sep 14th , 2025 / 9:15am
Shlokas- We all chanted 'OM' 3 times followed by Shlokas 'Om Saha Navavatu' (pg 8 in My prayer book), 'Vakratunda Mahakaya' (pg 27), 'Saraswati Namastubhyam' (pg 12), 'Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu'.
Handbooks 2025-26 were distributed to the children.
We started the session with Yoga time - arm, wrist and neck rotations, tree pose, Virabhadrasana, lion pose and jumping jacks.
Then, we had a small session of meditation with counting beads in which with closed eyes, children focus on the sound of the beads dropped into a box and at the end of the session they tell us how many beads were dropped into the box. This can help with trying to get some calmness, attention and focus with the children.
Then, we had a recap of the previous session about introduction to Ramayana and started the topic of Bala Ramayana - Chapters 1 and 2. We discussed about the city of Ayodhya, King Dasharatha, his three wives.
The children learned about the qualities of a good Leader like King Dasharatha of kindness, being fair (impartial), caring for the people of his kingdom.
Since he desired children of his own, he performed the 'Putrakameshi Yagna " with the help of Sage Rishyasringa to beget children.
The AgniPurursha (FireGod) who emerged from the Yagna, offered a divine porridge which was divided between the wives as Prasadam.
After this, 4 princes are born - Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
Quiz time - We had a small quiz session of what was discussed about the Ramayana to know how much the children had grasped.
Coloring and Likhita japa - Children did some coloring time in their Ramayan Coloring books and Likhita japa where they wrote 'Ram' and chanted it as they wrote.
Gita chanting - We all chanted the first verse of Chapter 15 of the Bhagwat Gita along with the video.
We all then attended the Arati and pledge.
Next Balavihar class Sunday 9/21
1. House Inaugural activities - please drop the kids in class by 9:15
2. Please have the children wear shades or red since we are Durga's Daredevils and our house color is Red. (Cheer - Durga Mata ki Jai and Bhajan - Amba Parameshwari)
3. Please have the children carry their handbooks, likhita japa notebook, Ramayana coloring book and crayons or color pencils to every class.
4. Please send spill proof water bottles with the children.
Please note - no food items or beverages are allowed in class.
Links and Reminders:
Please join the class Whatsapp group if you have not already
Please refer to the Balavihar handbook for various House contests and Geeta Chanting Yagna information.
Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns you may have.
Hari Om
Rameshwari Kale and Neha Wagh
Chinmaya Vrindavan
