Dear Parents,
Hari Om! Pranams! We are the teachers for the Grades 10-12 Friday Bala Vihar class. Some of the children are continuing in our class for their Junior and Senior years, we are very happy to see them all back! A warm welcome to our Sophomores! We are excited to get them initiated into the Bhagavad Gita discussions this year.
In our first class on September 17th, we played an icebreaker to get to know each other. Two Truths and a Lie. The class would try to spot each student's lie. It was really amusing and fun. For many children, it was so hard to come up with a lie about themselves, and that, we strongly feel, is a very good thing! :)
We discussed the format of our class and emphasized that we are looking to create a safe space to freely share our thoughts and opinions on the topics presented. This essentially being a philosophy class, the children who participate will get the most out of it. There will be no judgement, every opinion will be considered and talked about. However, the children are asked to keep an open mind to receive answers and contemplate on them before they finalize their opinions. This is critical for growth in any field, and especially important for spiritual growth.
What do we mean by class participation?
1. Coming to class regularly and on time - @ 7:00 pm
2. Connecting to the zoom meeting on a limited distraction device (laptop or chromebook is better than a phone)
3. Listening attentively without distractions (texting, playing a game, or watching something else in another window during class is not a good idea)
4. Keeping the video on to help teachers see them and their body language so we are not teaching to a blank screen
5. Speaking up freely, and especially when questions/opinions are asked
6. Connecting topics discussed with their personal experiences and sharing what they feel comfortable. They will find many heads nodding, having had similar experiences. This is very liberating for them.
Why should children attend?
As parents are very aware, this is a critical age for our children. They are facing unprecedented pressures that cannot compare with our own childhoods. This is the age to build a strong foundation of timeless values and disciplines that will ensure their success and mental peace, as they navigate high school and beyond. So we want to structure this class to help them cope constructively and grow wisely. With the wealth of practical techniques that Lord Krishna offers, there is no greater tool than the Gita for this. Our request to parents to help us with our sankalpa, is to discuss with your children and reinforce the class participation points listed above.
Curriculum:
The main topics this year will be from the Bhagavad Gita Chapters 1-6. We will be covering Karma Yoga in detail along with meditation. Swamiji has asked us to include topics from Gurudev's book Self Unfoldment to reinforce the Gita Concepts. This is a wonderful book that parents can also read and discuss with children at their level, in the context of your child's goals and challenges.
Focus for this year: Meditation
This year we would like to focus on building a meditation and mindfulness practice. We recommend all children use an app to help with this. There are many out there which require a subscription. If children aren't already using one, we have found a free app - Smiling Mind that is very good for beginners. We have asked the children to download it with your permission, answer a few questions to customize it to their needs and get started with daily practice. We have suggested a buddy program to keep themselves accountable to each other.
Here is the presentation we shared with the class last week. We would appreciate it if parents can respond to this email with a single word - "Received" so we know it is reaching your Inbox (and you have read until here!) Please feel free to email us if you have any questions or concerns. If you haven't already, please join the class WhatsApp group here. We will be posting important information there as needed.
We are looking forward to a fabulous year of learning with the children!
Sincerely,
Aruna and Sirisha