Monday, October 6, 2014

October 5th Class

Today's class was merged with the Pre-K class (age 4-5).

We practiced Om Sahanavavatu, the kids can practice by repeating the verse at home.
We read the book Ganesha's Mousecapade (available via Chinmaya Mission Publications online or at JCBV bookstall).
We covered the basic characteristics of Ganesh: big ears, trunk, elephant face, big belly, rides a small mouse.

Finally we learned two fun songs:

Song 1: Great God Ganapathy
Great God Ganapathy, I bow to Thee (2) [Action: Big ears]
Elephant Face One, I bow to Thee (2) [ Action: Trunk]
Delight of Lord Shiva, I take refuge in Thee (2) [ Action: Meditation]
O Big Bellied Son of Mother Paravati (2) [Action: Big Belly , beat hands on tummy]
Infinite Om, I bow to Thee (2) [Action: Arms outstretched]
You Ride on Your Mouse, in Victory (2) [Action: Riding action + ‘V’ with fingers]

Song 2: Ganesh Rides a Mouse
(in the tune of she’ll be coming around the mountain when she comes)

O, Ganesh rides a mouse and he'll come,
O, Ganesh rides a mouse and he'll come,
He will come with his charm
Save us from all harm
O, Ganesh rides a mouse and he'll come,

He will teach us to be smart and clean our hearts
He will teach us to be smart and clean our hearts
He will come with his charm
Save us from all harm
He will teach us to be smart, teach us to clean our hearts
He will teach us to be smart and clean our hearts

Saturday, September 27, 2014

September Curriculum

Hari Om!

This month we have focused on learning some of the basics and about Lord Ganesha!

We first started by learning to chant Om three times and say Om Sahanavavatu (My Prayers book page 9)

Next we learned to sing two bhajans: Ganesha Sharanam (page 43) and Ganapathi Ganapathi (page 42) with appropriate hand actions.

As the year progresses the kids will be learning a "God Characteristics" chant where they will learn a phrase and associated hand motion for a new god each month. For September, since our focus was on Ganesha, we learned that:

Ganesha has big ears (wave hands as big ears)
Ganesha has a big trunk (wave one arm as big elephant trunk)
Ganesha rides a little mouse (cup hands together and weave left and right to imitate a small mouse moving quickly)

We read the book Ganesha's Mousecapade (available from our JCBV book stall or from the Chinmaya Publications website at this link)

We learned a few yoga poses (candle, tree, soldier, windmill, snake, lion, mouse) and practiced our deep breathing exercises (breathe in - hold for two seconds - breathe out).

The girls are very excited about our activities and as move into October, we will be focusing on Lord Rama and Mother Sita as we prepare for Diwali on the 23rd!

The above bhajans and chant with hand actions are available at the link here.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Sandhya at jcbalavihar@gmail.com.