May 8, 2022 - Grade 3 (Sunday PM)

Hari OM Students and Parents

Last week, happy mother's day to all the moms in the group! We had the Guru Paduka pooja followed by enjoying the Grade 3 and Grade 5 Annual Day program. We plan to show the video to the kids on May 15th and then the video will be shared for the parents to enjoy! 

High Level Agenda:

• Opening Prayer
• Guru Paduka Pooja
• Grade 3 and Grade 5 Annual Day Program
• Aarthi, Pledge and Closing prayers

 

We met May 8th at the Ashram in-person for the Guru Paduka Puja. This was followed by announcements. Then, the Grade 3 and Grade 5 Annual day program was shown for the entire Sunday PM balavihar to see.

 

Aarthi and Pledge

 

We closed out with Aarthi and Pledge. We look forward to seeing the kids in the class next sunday!

 

Request to Parents:

-        Below is the link to Dashaavatara stotram until verse on Parashurama avatar (Page 94 in MyPrayers book)  audio file – Help your child practice the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfCHENKsa66MYiKsLnMJMchFCrGWD5mu/view?usp=sharing

- Hope mothers enjoyed their Mother's day with their family

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the next class.

With sincere and warm regards,

Vasudha and Aruna

(Chinmaya Vrindavan Bala Vihar Grade 3 Teachers)

Apr 3, 2022 - Grade 3 (Sunday PM)

Hari OM Students and Parents

Good day! We focused on practicing for the Annual Day program. Below are items covered   

High Level Agenda:

·  Opening Prayer

·  Dashaavatara stotram

·  Practice for Annual Day program

·   Aarthi, Pledge and Closing prayers

 

Today's Class in detail

 

Prayers:

·            We started by chanting OM three times, and our opening prayers

·            Dashaavatara Stotram:  we refreshed on verse learnt on Parashurama avatara of Vishnu

 

Annual Day Program:

We divided into two groups and practiced for our annual day program in two breakout rooms. We brainstormed on the Imagine That our kids will be showing to the rest of the Sunday PM Bala vihar kids.

 

Aarthi and Pledge

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the class next sunday!

 

Request to Parents:

-        Below is the link to Dashaavatara stotram until verse on Parashurama avatar (Page 94 in MyPrayers book)  audio file – Help your child practice the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfCHENKsa66MYiKsLnMJMchFCrGWD5mu/view?usp=sharing

-  Request the kids to practice their script lines shared in email and through Whats App. 

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the next class.

With sincere and warm regards,

Vasudha and Aruna

(Chinmaya Vrindavan Bala Vihar Grade 3 Teachers)

Mar 27, 2022 - Grade 3 (Sunday PM)

Hari OM Students and Parents

Below are notes from our last class.  

High Level Agenda:

·  Opening Prayer

·  Dashaavatara stotram

·  Recap and quiz from last class

·  Topics for today: 

• Churning of the milky ocean (Symbolism) with lessons learnt, word wall and quiz

·  Aarthi, Pledge and Closing prayers

 

Today's Class in detail

 

Prayers:

·            We started by chanting OM three times, and our opening prayers

·            Dashaavatara Stotram:  we learnt verses on Parashurama avatara of Vishnu

 

Story Time:

Refreshed on what we learnt on Churning of Milky ocean story and continued on what this means and related to in today's life

 

Story time: - Churning of Milk Ocean (Symbolism)

 

As in the story, we have to be polite and persistent in our efforts and God will help us achieve our goals. We talked about perseverance. Although it seems hard, we all have it, just like babies learn how to walk and feed themselves properly only after many attempts. If we have a goal and are persistent in our efforts, we are sure to achieve it.  Our mind is like the milky ocean, with constantly churning thoughts. Just like devas and asuras, there are good and bad thoughts. Our intellect helps us decide what is right. We should not let fears or small rewards distract us from our main goal. We explained these concepts with a couple of short stories and appropriate examples. We compared the churning of butter milk in the pot and how this relates to what

 

Word Wall Game: We played word wall game here for the kids to remember the different characters, and the lesson learnt in churning of milk ocean story. Challenge link is here

 

Likhita Japa - Kids wrote the jap of their liking "Om Namah Shivaya" or "Shri Krishna Sharanam Mama", or "Shri Ramajayam", or "Om Shri Maatre Namah" 11 or 21 times.

 

Arthi and Pledge

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the class next sunday!

 

Request to Parents:

-        Below is the link to Dashaavatara stotram until verse on Parashurama avatar (Page 94 in MyPrayers book)  audio file – Help your child practice the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfCHENKsa66MYiKsLnMJMchFCrGWD5mu/view?usp=sharing

-        Geeta Chanting links : @Parents, please help your child practice Geeta chanting verses

 Complete playlist of Link to all the  verses is here

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the next class.

With sincere and warm regards,

Vasudha and Aruna

(Chinmaya Vrindavan Bala Vihar Grade 3 Teachers)

Mar 13, 2022 - Grade 3 (Sunday PM)

Hari OM Students and Parents

Hope you all had a good break! I know this got delayed. But below are notes from our last class. Request kids to be tuned in for a quiz today.  

High Level Agenda:

·  Opening Prayer

·  Dashavatara stotram

·  Geeta Chanting and Attendance

·  Recap and quiz from last class

·  Topics for today: 

• Churning of the milky ocean and quiz

·  Aarthi, Pledge and Closing prayers

 

Today's Class in detail

 

Prayers:

·            We started by chanting OM three times, and our opening prayers

·            Dashaavatara Stotram:  we learnt verses on Vamana avatara of Vishnu

·            Geeta Chanting:  Verses 57 & 58 from Chapter 2. This completes Grade 3 chanting portion

·            Refreshed on what we learnt on Gajendra Moksha story

 

Story time: - Churning of Milk Ocean

Sage Durvasa returning from Vaikuntha meets Indra. He gives a garland that he brought from Vaikuntha to Indra. Indra arrogantly puts it around his elephant's neck. The elephant thrashes it to the floor and tramples on it. Enraged, Sage  Durvasa cursed Indra that he and the three worlds he rules will become pale and lose all splendor and glory. Indra, Lord Brahma and other gods approach Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu advises them to make peace with the asuras and take their help to churn the milky ocean. Amrit will emerge from the churning, drinking which will make the devas immortal.

 

As per the Lord's direction, the devas take the help of the asuras. They bring Mount Mandara as the churning rod, and Vasuki, the King of serpents becomes the churning rope. Lord Vishnu assumes the form of a gigantic tortoise (Kurma avatar) and becomes the base to keep the mountain steady. The churning begins and the first thing to emerge is the deadly poison, Halahala. Lord Shiva absorbs this into his throat and. becomes Neelakantha. The churning continues and many emerge from the ocean like the Airavata, Uchaisrava, Kaustubha, Surabhi, Parijata tree and Apsaras.  Goddess Lakshmi emerges in a glorious form, and soon accepts Lord Vishnu as her husband.

 

Finally, a young man, Dhanvantari, who is a form of Lord Vishnu emerges with a jar of amrit. The asuras immediately snatch the jar and start fighting. The devas turn to Lord Vishnu for  help. The Lord then takes the form of Mohini, a beautiful maiden. She mesmerises the asuras and  makes sure the devas get all the amrit and  the asuras get none. It's very late by the time the asuras realise they were cheated. They wage a war against the devas, but are defeated. For being evil and greedy they get what they deserve.

We did a quiz on what we learnt today, and refreshed all the items that came out of the milky ocean when the churning happened. We also discussed what we learnt today. We listened to Swamiji's Geeta chanting and chanted with him. We did our aarti, pledge and closing prayers.

Request to Parents:

-        Below is the link to Dashaavatara stotram until verse on Vamana avatar (Page 94 in MyPrayers book)  audio file – Help your child practice the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfCHENKsa66MYiKsLnMJMchFCrGWD5mu/view?usp=sharing

-        Geeta Chanting links : @Parents, please help your child practice the following Geeta chanting verses and come to class next time

o   Verse 57 and 58: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLPKuERyzc&list=PLwv-WSJSokEORu2iEsVanXQhQHOoiiQIy&index=25

o   Complete playlist of Link to all the  verses is here

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the next class.

With sincere and warm regards,

Vasudha and Aruna

(Chinmaya Vrindavan Bala Vihar Grade 3 Teachers)

Mar 6, 2022 - Grade 3 (Sunday PM)

High Level Agenda:

·  Opening Prayer

·  Dashavatara Stotram

·  Geeta Chanting and Attendance

·  Recap and quiz from last class

·  Topics for today: 

• Gajendra Moksha
• Coloring activity with Gajendra Moksha

·  Aarthi, Pledge and Closing prayers

 

Today's Class in detail

 

Prayers:

·            We started by chanting OM three times, and our opening prayers

·            Dashaavatara Stotram:  we learnt verses on Narasimha avatara of Vishnu

·            Geeta Chanting:  Verses 55 & 56 from Chapter 2

·            Refreshed on what we learnt on Prahlada story and 9 modes of devotion

 

Story time: - 

Gajendra Moksha - Gajendra is a King of elephants, living in a beautiful forest on Mount Trikuta. One hot day, Gajendra and his family enter a lake to quench their thirst. Suddenly a powerful crocodile catches hold of Gajendra's foot. Despite trying very hard, Gajendra is unable to free himself from the crocodile nor is anyone able to help him. He struggles very hard for a long time and is exhausted and thinks he will die soon. That's when he turns his attention to the Lord Vishnu and prays earnestly. The Lord immediately mounts his Garuda and comes to the rescue of Gajendra. With his discus, he kills the crocodile and frees Gajendra from all his suffering. Gajendra offers the Lord a lotus and bows down to him with devotion.

The crocodile was actually a Gandharva in his previous life. He had tried to play tricks on Rishi Devala and hence was cursed to be born as a crocodile. Gajendra was King Indradyumna in his previous life and was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Due to a curse given by Sage Agastya, he was born as Gajendra. 

We discussed how wrong actions bring bad results and right actions give good results, "As we sow, so shall we reap". We concluded the chapter by talking about the significance of Lotus.  It is a perfect symbol of perfection and purity, just like our mind and heart should be. It is also the National flower of India. 

 

We did a quiz on what we learnt today, and did a coloring activity on Gajendra Moksha! We listened to Swamiji's Geeta chanting and chanted with him. We did our aarti, pledge and closing prayers.

Request to Parents:

-        Below is the link to Dashaavatara stotram until verse on Narasimha avatar (Page 94 in MyPrayers book)  audio file – Help your child practice the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfCHENKsa66MYiKsLnMJMchFCrGWD5mu/view?usp=sharing

-        Help your child complete the Gajendra moksha coloring activity

-        Geeta Chanting links : @Parents, please help your child practice the following Geeta chanting verses and come to class next time

o   Verse 55: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLPKuERyzc&list=PLwv-WSJSokEORu2iEsVanXQhQHOoiiQIy&index=25

o   Verse 56: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H35oxHSyZ3c&list=PLwv-WSJSokEORu2iEsVanXQhQHOoiiQIy&index=26

o   Complete playlist of Link to all the  verses is here

 

We look forward to seeing the kids in the next class.

With sincere and warm regards,

Vasudha and Aruna(Chinmaya Vrindavan Bala Vihar Grade 3 Teachers)

Feb 27, 2022 - Grade 3 (Sunday PM)

Hari OM! Parents and Students!

Below are details on the class today. 

High Level Agenda:

·  Opening Prayer

·  Dashavatara Stotram

·  Geeta Chanting and Attendance

·   Recap and quiz from last class

·  Topics for today: 

• Prahlada's core character traits and what we can learn from him (and)
• Nine modes of devotion

·  Closing prayers and joined to listen Annual day presentation by Grade 7

 

Today's Class in detail

 

Prayers:

·        We started by chanting OM three times, and our opening prayers

·        Dashaavatara Stotram:  we learnt verses on varaha avatara of Vishnu

·        Geeta Chanting:  Verses 53 & 54 from Chapter 2

 

Story time: - 

Today, we refreshed on Prahlada's story and his core personality traits, and what we can learn from him. We also discussed the nine modes of devotion depicted by Prahlada that we should also follow. We briefly explained the nine modes with relevant examples and pictures. 

·        Listening to the stories about the Lord – Sravanam

·        Singing the glories of the Lord – Kirtanam  

o   The children learnt a Krishna Bhajan to sing the glories of the Lord – Link is here

·        Remembering the Lord always – Smaranam

·        Serving the Lord – Padasevanam

·        Worshipping the Lord – Archanam

·        Bowing down to the Lord – Vandanam

·        Being a servant of the Lord – Dasyam

·        Loving the Lord as a friend - Sakhyam

·        Surrendering yourself unto the Lord - Atmanivedanam

 

We did situation based activities and asked kids what Prahalada would do if he was faced with this challenge, and what they should do. The kids gave very insightful answers and it was awesome to see how they were applying what they learnt for day to day challenges that they face!

We wrapped up class, as we got ready to join our main group to see the Grade 7 Annual Day presentation. We then did our pledge and closing prayers as a group.

Request to Parents:

-        As you know Maha Shivarathri is coming up on March 1^st  - Please read the story and do the pooja and activities link tomorrow:

o   Lord Shiva and the hunter…story reading activity for Sravanam http://www.chinmayakids.org/wp-content/themes/twentyfifteen/books/stories/shiva/legendofahunter/legendofahunter.html

o   Shiva Puja---Archanam - http://www.chinmayakids.org/wp-content/themes/twentyfifteen/pujas/shivaPuja/ 

o   Shiva match game - http://www.chinmayakids.org/wp-content/themes/twentyfifteen/games/matchpairs/shivamatchpairs/ 

-        Geeta Chanting links : @Parents, please help your child practice the following Geeta chanting verses and come to class next time

o   Verse 53: Link here

o   Verse 54: Link here

o   Complete playlist of Link to all the  verses is here

-        Practice the Krishna Bhajan they learn today – Link to Bhajan is here

-        Shlokathon will be held virtually this year from 1-4pm on March 12th. Registration will close next Friday! Please register your parents at http://bit.ly/Shlokathon22 Last date for Registration is next Friday, March 4^th  

We look forward to seeing the kids in the next class.

With sincere and warm regards,

Vasudha and Aruna

(Chinmaya Vrindavan Bala Vihar Grade 3 Teachers)