Feb 2020 - Kindergarten

Hari Om!

We continued to learn Vedantic Alphabets and Slokas. This month we learnt Alphabets - N, O, R and S and learnt new Krishna Sloka. In addition to these, we started doing simple Yoga poses / stretches in the class.

Krishna Sloka
Muukam Karoti Vaacaalam Panggum Langghayate Girim |
Yat-Krpaa Tamaham Vande Param-Aananda Maadhavam ||

N is for Nobility - Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jaya
Nobility is upholding high moral standards and having strong character. We can be noble by taking care of others and putting others first.

Tale 1: The Noble Cow ( Being truthful has its rewards). It is about a cow who encounters a Lion and promises to come back after feeding her hungry calf. Having fed her calf, cow returns to the Lion and keeps the promise. Lion, could hardly believe it and was moved with the cow's honesty and love of truth. This changed Lion's heart and let the cow go to her calf.

Tale 2: The other shoe (Mahatma Gandhi's noble act). One day Mahatma Gandhi's slipper fell off while climbing the train and train started to move. So immediately Ghandhi Ji through another slipper thinking 'the poor man who finds the shoe lying on the tracks, will now have a pair he can use'.

Tale 2: Mother Teresa - A Friend of Friendless. A child is gift of God. Every child is here to love and be loved. Let everything you do be something beautiful for God.

O is for Obedience - Guru Bhrama Guru Vishnu..
Obedience is dutifully doing what one is told to do without protesting. Obedience helps to achieve harmony and brings discipline. Parents and teachers know what is best for us,so listen to them.

Tale: The obedient child( Vikram's obedient saves him from trouble.)

Why did we skip P and Q?
According to English alphabet P comes after O. In Vedantic alphabet, R comes after O because we need to learn all the values of the alphabet except P and Q. After we learn all the values, we become fit to do prayers and learn the letter P which stands for Prayer. When we offer prayers to Lord,we become Quiet and learn the alphabet Q.

R is for Right - Do Right, dont you fuss. 
The right thing is, to do what is morally good, just and correct. If we do the right thing in life, it will bring us good rewards and happiness. Always do what is right , no matter what everyone else says or does. We asked some questions about what right things to do in school, public places.

Tale: The rock on the road - This story is about a small boy who not only helped an old man who stumbled upon a rock that was lying on the middle of the road but also made an effort to move it.. He was rewarded and also recognized by a Kind. Do the right thing, even if nobody else is doing it. Doing the right thing always brings good rewards and happiness in the end

Game: Special Touch. We ask children to sit in a circle. One child says "Rama" and touches the child next to him or her. The next child then says "Rama" and touches the child next to him or her. They keep repeating this saying "Rama, Rama, Rama..." They can go faster and faster till the link breaks.

S is for Smile - Wear a smile to be in style. 
A smile is a facial expression of joy and pleasure. We smile because it makes us feel happy, helps us make friends and makes people want to talk to us. Happy and funny things make us smile. We like our friends smiling and not crying.

Tale: The million dollar smile - The story is about a small girl who smiled at a person in the park. She was helped by the same person when her car broke. Make others happy and you will get it back in different good ways.

Game: I Love to Smile. - We asked one kid not to smile while asking others to make her smile. It was not easy to be without smiling . We all love to smile, when we smile, we feel better. We feel good when we make others smile. Every kid did their best not to smile, within few seconds their friends smile made them smile.

With Love
K Sevaks.

Jan 2020 - Kindergarten

Hari Om,

A very Happy New Year to everyone, this month we continued learning Vedantic Alphabets - K,L and M; and introduced two Sri Rama Slokas.

Sri Rama Slokas

Apadam apahartaram Dataram Sarva Sampadam|
Lokabhiramam Sriramam Bhuyo Bhuyo Namamyaham||

Ramaya Ramabhadrya, Ramachandraya Vedhase|
Raghunathaya Nathaya, Sitayah Pataye Namah||

K is for Kindness - God is Kind
Kindness is being gentle, generous and good nature. We can be kind through our actions and being ready to help at all times. When we are kind and helpful, God will take care of all our needs.

Tale: Kindness of Prince Siddhartha
Prince Siddhartha and cousin Devadatta were walking in the woods. Devadatta shot the swan with his bow and arrow. Both boys went to get the swan, since Siddhartha ran faster he got the swan fast and pulled the arrow and saved it.  Devadatta claims the bird back but Siddhartha said I saved it and it belonged to me. At last they decided to got to wise men for answer they declared"A life belongs to one who tries to save it not to the one who destroys it". The wounded swan belong to Siddhartha also called Buddha.

Activity: Kind or Unkind. Kids were given examples of life situations and were asked to show happy face when it's kind  or sad face when it is unkind . Few examples below
1. Neal is trying to keep his room clean because he wants to help his mom....Kids will show happy face if it's kind or sad face if it's unkind
2. Tanya wears eye  glasses to school  for first time and kids were laughing and teasing.
3. Tony drags and kicks his dog


L is for Love - God is Love
Love is a fondness and warm affection. We express love by behaving good to all and serving others. God loves us most.

Tale 1: Gandhi's love.   Love is powerful. Love can change even a bad person into good person. Love everyone no matter what. A thief (who was stealing food) changed to a good person when he was treated kindly by Ghandhi ji by giving food and not punishing him.
Tale 2: The Best gift(story about teacher and kids) To be a loving person,one does not have to give material gifts. One can show his or her love by doing good things and behaving well with others.

M is for Mother - Matru Devo Bhava

Mother cares, nurtures and protect us. We express love to Mother by giving her a hug, telling her we love her, helping her, respecting her and listening to her. We also worship Mother Earth, Mother India, Mother Nature and many more as mother.

Tale 1: Mommy's Love(Panda Chinku's love for  his mother) 

Tale 2: I love you ,Mom (Rudra learned a lesson that when you love,you don't demand anything in return).

Activity - Kids made a beautiful photo frame for their mothers with popsicle sticks. 

With Love,
CMRDU KG Sevaks

Dec 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om,
December was very short, we just had Gita Utsava event and one class where we covered Vedantic Alphabet J.

J for Japa - Japa is repeating god's name with devotion. Repeating god's name builds concentration. By concentrating on a task and paying attention,we can succeed.
Bhajans: we sang below bhajan with actions and kids loved it
Kathe bhi Rama kaho, Pite bhi Rama kaho, rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama
Padhate bhi Rama kaho, Likhate bhi Rama kaho, rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama
Uthake bhi Rama kaho, Baithke bhi Rama kaho, rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama
Haste bhi Rama kaho, Rote bhi Rama kaho, rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama

We tried english version too and had fun doing with kids.

Eating bhi Rama kaho, Drinking bhi Rama kaho, Rama Rama bolo Rama Rama, Rama Rama bolo Rama Rama Rama

Activity 1 - Japa Mala
We did Japa mala and asked the kids to either put it in puja room or under their pillow and try to chat their favorite God's name.

With Love, K - Sevaks

Nov 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om

We have continued studying Vedantic Alphabets and started learning new Ganesha Shloka Krishna Sloka.

Ganehsa Sloka 
Ekadantam Mahakayam, Lambodara Gajananam |
Vighna Nashakaram Devam, Herambam Pranamamyaham ||

Krishna Sloka 
Muukam Karoti Vaacaalam Panggum Langghayate Girim |
Yat-Krpaa Tamaham Vande Param-Aananda Maadhavam ||


F is  for Friendship - A friend in need is a friend indeed
Friendship is a feeling of mutual affection and respect. A true friend is one who helps without being asked. We maintain friendship by helping our friends, being nice and being happy for them.

We discussed about

• 10 ways to start a friendship - Smile at others often - Treat others nicely - Take turns in playing - Give complements frequently - Offer help in times of need - Invite others to join in your activities - spend time with family - always be forgiving - be a good listener - be happy for others 
• 10 ways how we end the friendship.  - Always expect to have your way - try to be bossy - expect to be the only friend - complain a lot - Spread gossip - force friends in doing things they don't like to do - listen to ugly things about a friend - ignore your friend on purpose - behave in a rude manner - refuse to share. 

Tale: Krishna's Best Fried - Krishna and Sudama's friendship.

Activity 1 - Kids were asked to draw their best friend picture on a paper and were asked to crumpled. They were asked to slowly unfold the crumpled up paper and asked if they can make the picture neat and nice again without any crumples. Inference -- Just as wrinkles remain in the paper, an unkind word or hurtful act does permanent damage. Every time we are mean to our friends, we are putting a crease in our friendship.

Gurudev's Quote - Learn to always speak softly, words of love and affection, then friends multiply. 

Activity 2 - Kids enjoyed doing the flower project - flower with the qualities of good friend as petals along with coloring.

G is for God
God is "The Father" who loves and cares for all of us. He lives everywhere and he protects us and gives us everything we need . We should thank him by praying to him every day.

We brainstormed on Who is God", revised the story of "King and his minister - three questions" from first lesson. God is He who can do what no one else can do . He can make a brown cow eat green grass, and make her produce white milk.

We performed a Puja in the class and each child was made to come perform arathi and offer flowers to the altar.

We learnt the following Bhajan with different Gods Name by actions (Krishna - flute, Ganesha - Trunk , Shiva - Ganga flowing from head, Saraswathi devi - Book)

Krishna here, Krishna there,
Krishna Krishna everywhere.
God is one, God is one.
God is one for everyone

H is for happiness - Happiness is an attitude. 
Happiness is a state of mind. When we are content,we are happy. We can be happy by accepting things as they are and making the best of what we have.

Exploration - Happiness is a state of mind - We asked kids few questions about how they feel (happy or sad)doing certain things. We made a note of them on paper. We concluded that not same object will make all happy and even the same object will not make same person happy all the time.

Activity - Happy Train:
The objective of this activity is that kids should be happy no matter what they encounter. We said to kids we will take them to playground but instead took them to a corner in class and asked them to be silent. Kids were still happy. We inferred that Happiness is a choice and state of mind.  Happiness is an attitude.

I for Intelligence - Think Before you Talk and Think Before you Act
Intelligence is the mental ability of understanding and learning few facts. We possess a well developed mind and an intellect, while animals do not. We use our intellect wisely by making right choices. We talked to kids why we are different from animals. We also talked that we use mind to think and intellect to make right choices.

Tale: The celestial fruit.(Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, Lord Karthikeya and Sage Narada story - Be likw Lord Ganesha who used his intellect to be victorious)

Next sunday we dont have Balavihar on the eve of Thanksgiving. Lets us take this opportunity to thank along with our kids the A's (Articles) B's (Beings) and C's (Circumstances) of our life and The Creator.

With Love,
K - Sevaks

Oct 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om

We have continued studying Vedantic Alphabets and this month we covered Vedantic letters B, C, D and E.

B is for Brotherhood - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

• Brotherhood is a sense of togetherness and belonging among members of a family, neighborhood, organization and the world. 
• Brotherhood can be achieved by realizing that each one of us possess individual and unique characteristics that make the world interesting and special.
• We belong to Chinmaya Balavihar family. We should treat the entire world as one family. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Vasudhaiva means earth and Kutumbakam means a family. Meaning, the whole earth the whole world is one family.

Tale: "The complete picture - This is the story of Box of Crayons that don't get along initially and after a while they understand and appreciated the special and unique qualities of the other crayon. 

Moral: we are like the box of crayons. Each one of us is special and unique. Only by appreciating one another's individuality and living in the brotherhood spirit, we will succeed in our life.

C is for Cleanliness - Cleaniless is Godliness

• Cleanliness is being free from dirt.
• Clean mind is a mind  that is full of good thoughts. 
• We learnt about living by Ghandhi Ji's favorite monkeyies (hear no evil,see no evil,speak no evil).
• 3 Types of Cleanliness
• Cleaning the surrounding (clean your room ,house,environment)
• Cleaning the body (brushing your teeth, bathe daily)
• Cleaning the mind (Saying no bad words, being nice to others, helping and loving everyone etc)

Tale:The Royal Horse
The king's Royal horse, always took bath in particular pond. One day a dirty horse was given bath there and it made pond filthy. So the kings horse don't want to get in the pond. The soldiers tried but the horse refused. The minister sent by king to check what happen found out that horse doesn't want to get down in the dirty pond. So the horse was sent to different pond and it happily took bath.

Moral: Even the royal horse likes to bathe in only clean water. We, the royal children of lord, should always keep our surrounding, body, and the mind clean.

D is for Daddy -  Pitrdevo Bhava

• Daddy is the head of the family. Daddy is the protector of the family just as God is the protector of the world. "Pitrdevo Bhava"

Tale: Father's Day
Once there was a girl name Sonara Dodd who lived in Washington. Sonara's mother had died while giving birth to her sixth child, Sonara. Her dad Civil war veteran, had to  raise by himself all six children, including the newborn. After Sonara grew up, she realised it took hard work and sacrifice of her father. In Sonara's eyes, her father was courageous, selfless and loving man. On Mother's day when she was listening to the celebrations and speeches, she thought,wouldn't be nice to honor her dad. So she wanted all the dads of America to be honored,so Sonara chose June 19th her father's birthday as the day to pay tribute. Almost sixty years later, President Lyndon Johnson, Sunday of June as Father's Day in America.

Activity Interview with Dad - Kids had great time with their Dad's by getting know their Dad's Favorite food, activity, sports, aspiration. Thank You!!!!

E is for Enthusiasm 

• Enthusiasm is to experience joy and excitement while striving for a goal. We cultivate enthusiasm by loving everything we do.

Activity - We learnt following song with actions. Kids loved it, you may ask the kids to show...

Go,go, go, and fly
Soar,soar in the sky
Work,work hard and try
You'll make it,just don't cry

Tale 1: Gitu's Place
How a small chipmunk by name Gitu, helped in getting the sand, by rolling down the hill, to construct the dam to prevent the forest being flooded. Later chipmunk was appreciated by the LORD himself.

Moral - "When we do things with enthusiasm, we can accomplish anything no matter what physical impediments we may have.

Tale 2: Make a Difference
A little boy walking on the beach and saw number of fish stranded on the beach. To save the fishes lives the boy determinedly picked them one at a time and throwed in the water. A man seeing the boy's enthusiasm to save the fish came and asked why are you wasting your time? There are so many fishes and there is no way you can save them all. what difference you can make?
The boy picked up one fish in his hand anfd threw it in the water and said I know for sure I made difference in the life of this fish. He continued his work.

Moral: Enthusiasm is the key to any action. Without it we may give up too soon.

Sep 2019 - Kindergarten

Dear Parents,

Thank you for each and everyone for sharing your precious kids with us. We are blessed to have them with us as they spread joy and teach us .

Also Happy to see you all in meet and greet, and to know your inputs / thoughts.

As mentioned earlier, our Kindergarten class studies Vedantic Alphabets and following is the typical flow of the class:

• Recite the opening prayer - Om Saha Navavatu followed by Ganesha, Saraswathi and Guru slokas.
• Recite curriculum specific prayers. 
• Revise the previous class lessons. 
• Introduce new Vedantic Alphabet and we convey the message through story, games, art project and/or coloring) 
• Closing Prayers (Om Sahana Vavatu and Om Purnamadah Purnamidam)*

Slokas 
Opening Prayers 
Om Saha Navavatu, Saha Nau Bhunaktu,
Saha Viryam Karavavahai, Tejasvinavadhitam-astu Ma Vidvishavahai,
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

Ganesh Sloka1
Vakratunda Mahakaya, Surya Koti Sama Prabha
Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva, Sarva Karyesu Sarvada.

Saraswati Sloka
Saraswati Namastubhyam, Varade Kaama-Roopini
Vidyaarambham Karishyaami, Siddhir-Bhavatu Me Sadaa

Guru Sloka
Guru Brahma GururVishnu, GururDevo Maheshwaraha
Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma, Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha

Closing Prayers
Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niramayah,
Sarve Bhadhrani Pashyantu, Ma Kashchid Duhkha Bhagbhavet.
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam, Purnat Purnamudachyate
Purnasya Purnamadaya, Purnamevavashisyate
Om, shanthi, shanthi, shanthi.

This month we talked about GOD, Alphabet A and learnt the meaning of opening prayer.

Introduction

1. Who is God? - God is one who can do what no one else can.
2. Where is God? - God is everywhere.
3. What does God do? - God makes impossible things possible.
4. How to see God? - We see God through a special instrument - Sweet mind

Tale: Three questions

God is He,who can make brown cow eat green grass and make her produce white milk. As we light the candle,the light spreads everywhere. So God is everywhere.

We cannot see God through our naked eyes,we see God through special instrument,it is sweet mind.  Special person who helps others is a sweet person, he has sweet mind. We will become sweet person by learning vedantic alphabets and follow them.

A is for Aspiration.

• What is Aspiration? - Aspiration is the sting determination to achieve our goal.
• How can we fulfill our aspiration? - It is done by hard work.

Tale: The Best Archer

When Dronacarya gave test to Pandavas and Kauravas, everyone failed except Arjuna. A single pointed attention is needed to attain your aspiration. Arjuna always wanted to be a great archer and with his hard work and determination,he became one.

Opening Prayer and it meaning 
We also learnt the sloka Sahana Vavathu and its meaning.

Om Saha Navavatu, Saha Nau Bhunaktu,
Saha Viryam Karavavahai, Tejasvinavadhitam-astu Ma Vidvishavahai,
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

May he protect us both(children and teacher)
May he nourish us both
May we work together with energy and viguor(deep concentration)
May our study be enlightened and not give rise to hostility (misunderstanding).



With Love,
CMRDU Sevaks,
Suganya, Praveena and Shruthi.

April 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om Parents, 

Since April is a short week with Spring break and Parents day preparation. We covered 2 Vedantic alphabets W ,X and Y

W is for work.

Work is effort directed to produce or accomplish something. If we want something,we must work to get it. Dreaming about something will not get us what we want. We have to work hard to be rewarded.

Tale: The Ant and the Grasshopper (Moral: we must work hard in order to play and enjoy.)

Tale: The Villager dream (Moral: Instead of working to achieve things we wanted.Don't day dream  about it.)

X is for EXcellence

Excellence is doing something outstandingly well. To achieve excellence we need plenty of practice, dedication,and perseverance.

Tale: Perseverance Succeeds(Thomas Edison  invention about light bulb)

Tale: The big frog and the little frog (Moral: we should always keep trying and never give up.)

Y is for Yajna

Yagna is a for ritual performed to please God. Yagna Spirit is working together for a common cause with dedication, sacrifice,and service.

We don't need to do fire ritual for yagna spirit,do some common goal together is spirit of yagna.

Tale: The Enormous Turnip (Moral: We must all worktogether,even the smallest and the weakest can help to achieve our goals.)

How can I serve?

1. I can smile

2. I can make friends with new child in my class or playground.

3. I can share my pencils,toys,etc with friends

With Love,
CMRDU Sevaks,
Suganya, Praveena and Shruthi.

Mar 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om,

We have continued studying Vedantic Alphabets and this month we covered vedantic letters T, U and V and revised the slokas from earlier class.

T is for TRUTH
Truth is integrity and sincerity in words and actions. We can always be truthful by not being scared of the consequences and understanding that it is always better to tell the truth than lies. The benefit of speaking truth is that ultimately truth alone wins.

We narrated few Scenarios:
1. Your mom asks if you brushed your teeth. You did not,but you still say,Yes
2. You dad asks you, Did you eat your lunch? You did not,instead you dumped in the trash,but you still say ,Yes.
3. Your teacher asks if you read the book. You did not,but you still say,Yes.

What we learn from the above:
We lie when we feel that truth will get us into trouble but a lie will save us. We lie because we forget that truth always wins.

Tale: The boy who cried wolf. A boy who repeatedly lied about seeing a wolf and cried for help. Later no one came to help when he really saw the wolf and cried for help. Moral - By lying, we can hurt ourself and other arount.

Game :It is hard to Lie. Children should show gestures opposite to what teacher says. Ex. Teacher says "Big Fish" Kid should quickly make a gesture opposite of what teacher said, here it is small. Children who show wrong gesture are out of the game.  Inference - Dealing with truth is lot simpler as compared to dealing with lies.


U is for UNITY
Unity is join hands and work together to help each other. Unity is strength. When we are united,we have far better chance of  succeeding  in life and protecting ourselves.

Unity is our body:
Hands pick food from the plate;teeth chews;stomach digests and assimilate it. Nourishment goes to the whole body. Eyes see car coming,They do not on to the information. Quickly they inform the brain. The brain tells the legs to run. All body parts are different. They look different and function different. Still they all work together. This is called UNITY IN DIVERSITY.

Tale: The four cows. (Lion couldnt attack the cows when they were together and was ready to attack when they were divided). We have a far better chance of protecting ourselves from an enemy if we stand together.

V is for VICTORY
Victory is when you attain your goal. To be victorious,work hard and always speak truth.

Game: what is victory?. We divided kids into groups and made each group do the same activity but with different challenges. After playing them , we made them realize that every one who completed the activity is a winner and not how fast one completes it.
 Anyone who reaches the set goal is a winner. Some difficulty will come,but keep moving with focused mind. Ultimately we will reach the goal.

Tale: The Marathon Race (This story is about how a boy trips and falls down during the run. A;; the fellow runners come to help the boy and they together complete the race. )

Tale: King Hariscandra

Emblem of India: we talked about The Emblem of India and what is written in it.  The inscription in our emblem states: Satyameva Jayate( Truth only wins).

National Anthem Of India - We taught them how to stand when they here the National Anthem and practiced the same.

With Love,
CMRDU Sevaks,
Suganya, Praveena and Shruthi.

Feb 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om, 

We have continued studying Vedantic Alphabets and this month we covered vedantic letters M,N,O,R and S. We did skip P and Q. Also, learnt new Sri Rama Slokam as follows .

Sri Rama Slokam

Apadam apahartaram Dataram Sarva Sampadam|

Lokabhiramam Sriramam Bhuyo Bhuyo Namamyaham||

M is for Mother

Mother cares,nurtures and protect us. We express love to Mother by giving her a hug, telling her we love her, helping her, respecting her and listening to her. We also worship Mother Earth, Mother India, Mother Nature and many more as mother.

Tale: Mommy's Love(Panda Chinku's love for  his mother) 

I love you ,Mom (Rudra learned a lesson that when you love,you don't demand anything in return)

N is for Nobility

Nobility is upholding high moral standards and having strong character. We can be noble by taking care of others and putting others first.

Tale: The Noble Cow( Being truthful has its rewards) and The other shoe (Mahatma Gandhi's noble act)

O is for Obedience

Obedience is dutifully doing what one is told to do without protesting. Obedience helps to achieve harmony and brings discipline. Parents and teachers know what is best for us,so listen to them. 

Tale: The obedient child( Vikram's obedient saves him from trouble.)

Game:  We played a game "Teacher says" just like Simon says...and they had lot of fun.

Why did we skip P and Q?

According to English alphabet P comes after O. In Vedantic alphabet,R comes after O because we need to learn all the values of the alphabet except P and Q. After we learn all the values,we become fit to do prayers and learn the letter P which stands for Prayer. When we offer prayers to Lord,we become Quiet  and learn the alphabet Q. 

R is for Right

The right thing is, to do what is morally good, just and correct. If we do the right thing in life,it will bring us good rewards and happiness. Always do what is right ,no matter what everyone else says or does. We asked some questions about what right things to do in school,public places.

Tale: The rock on the road(Do the right thing,even if nobody else is doing it. Doing the right thing always brings good rewards and happiness in the end)

S is for Smile

A smile is a facial expression of joy and pleasure. We smile because it makes us feel happy, helps us make friends and makes people want to talk to us. Happy and funny things make us smile. We like our friends smiling and not crying.

Tale: The million dollar smile(Make other happy and you will get it back in different good ways)

Game: I Love to Smile. - We asked one kid not to smile while asking others to make her smile. It was not easy to be without smiling . We all love to smile, when we smile, we feel better. We feel good when we make others smile. Every kid did their best not to smile, within few seconds their friends smile made them smile.

Annual Day

Kids are excited and are really working hard to give their best for the annual day. For the annual day the costume will be simple white t-shirt and black leggings or pants with Red dupatta that would be tied around their waist.  We are collecting the dupattas ahead of time, so it would be great if you can label them and send them with your kid. 

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. 

With love, 

CMRDU Sevaks 

Suganya, Praveena and Shruthii

Jan 2019 - Kindergarten

Hari Om,

We continued studying and learning Vedantic Alphabets and learnt new Krishna Slokam as follows .

Krishna Sloka 

Muukam Karoti Vaacaalam Panggum Langghayate Girim |
Yat-Krpaa Tamaham Vande Param-Aananda Maadhavam ||

H is for happiness 
Happiness is an attitude. Happiness is a state of mind. When we are content,we are happy. We can be happy by accepting things as they are.
We made two columns on the chalkboard and Label happy face and sad face. Further, asked the kids what makes them happy and what makes them sad. In addition to this activity, we asked few questions and kids showed whether it makes them happy or sad.

I for Intelligence.
Intelligence is the mental ability of understanding. We possess a well developed mind and an intellect,while animals do not. We use our intellect wisely by making right choices. We talked to kids why we are different from animals. We also talked that we use mind to think and intellect to make right choices.

Tale: The celestial fruit.(Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, Lord Karthikeya and Sage Narada story)

J for Japa
Japa is repeating god's name with devotion. Repeating god's name builds concentration. By concentrating on a task and paying attention,we can succeed.

Bhajans: we sang below bhajan with actions and kids loved it

Kathe bhi Rama kaho, Pite bhi Rama kaho,
rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama

Padhate bhi Rama kaho, Likhate bhi Rama kaho,
rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama

Uthake bhi Rama kaho, Baithke bhi Rama kaho,
rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama

Haste bhi Rama kaho, Rote bhi Rama kaho,
rama rama bolo rama rama, rama rama bolo rama rama 

We tried english version to and had fun doing with kids..

Eating bhi Rama kaho, Drinking bhi Rama kaho,
Rama Rama bolo Rama Rama, Rama Rama bolo Rama Rama Rama

Activity 1 - The sound of OM.
We chanted OM. Om is by Aaa and Mmm, they should open the mouth for Aaa and close it with Mmm. Any word we speak,we say it by the opening and closing of our mouth. Therefore om represents all the words.that is Everything in the world.

Activity 2 - Japa Mala
We did Japa mala and asked the kids to either put it in puja room or under their pillow and try to chat their favorite God's name

K is for Kindness.
Kindness is being gentle, generous and good nature. We can be kind through our actions and being ready to help at all times.when we do our best,god is there to take care of all our needs.

Tale: Kindness of Prince Siddhartha and Kindness Works!! (Androcles and Lion)

We also gave kids example of life situation and each one said whether it is kind or not kind.

L is for Love 
Love is a fondness and warm affection.we express love by behaving good to all and serving others. God loves us most.

Tale - 1: Gandhi's love.   Love is powerful. Love can change even a bad person into good person. Love everyone no matter what
Tale - 2: The Best gift(story about teacher and kids) To be a loving person,one does not have to give material gifts. One can show his or her love by doing good things and behaving well with others.

Regards,
Suganya, Praveena and Shruthi

Nov, 2018 - Kindergarten

Amritam

Our Kindergarten class studies Vedantic Alphabets and following is the typical flow of the class:

• Recite the opening prayer - Om Saha Navavatu followed by Ganesha, Saraswathi and Guru slokas.
• Recite curriculum specific prayers. We have introduced Ganesh sloka* till date.
• Revise the previous class lessons. 
• Introduce new Vedantic Alphabet and we convey the message through story, games, art project and/or coloring) 
• Closing Prayers (Om Sahana Vavatu and Om Purnamadah Purnamidam)*

Slokas 

Opening Prayers 

Om Saha Navavatu, Saha Nau Bhunaktu,

Saha Viryam Karavavahai, Tejasvinavadhitam-astu Ma Vidvishavahai,

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

Ganesh Sloka1

Vakratunda Mahakaya, Surya Koti Sama Prabha

Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva, Sarva Karyesu Sarvada.

Saraswati Sloka

Saraswati Namastubhyam, Varade Kaama-Roopini

Vidyaarambham Karishyaami, Siddhir-Bhavatu Me Sadaa

Guru Sloka

GururBrahma GururVishnu, GururDevo Maheshwaraha

Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma, Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha

Ganesh Sloka 2 

Ekadantam Mahakayam, Lambodara Gajananam,

Vighna Nashakaram Devam, Herambam Pranamamyaham

Closing Prayers

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niramayah,

Sarve Bhadhrani Pashyantu, Ma Kashchid Duhkha Bhagbhavet.

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam, Purnat Purnamudachyate

Purnasya Purnamadaya, Purnamevavashisyate

Om, shanthi, shanthi, shanthi.

Main Lessons / Alphabets that we have covered so far

Three Lessons

A Story was told to convey following message

1. Who is God? - God is one who can do what no one else can.
2. Where is God? - God is everywhere
3. What does God do? - God makes impossible things possible.

Alphabet Safari

• How to see God? - We see God through a special instrument "sweet mind"

If we learn Vedantic Alphabet and follow that, we can become sweet person, and sweet person is one who have sweet mind.

A is  for Aspiration

Aspiration is the strong determination to achieve our goal. It can be fulfilled through hard work. We learnt about Best Archer Arjuna,who worked very hard and practiced regularly.

B is for Brotherhood

Brotherhood is a sense of togetherness and belonging among members of a family, neighborhood, organization and the world. 

We belong to Chinmaya Balavihar family. We should treat the entire world as one family. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Vasudhaiva means earth and Kutumbakam means a family. Meaning, the whole earth the whole world is one family.

Tale "The complete picture" about the "Box of Crayons" was told to make them understand that Brotherhood can be achieved by realizing that each of us posses individual and unique characteristics that make the world interesting and special . 

C is for Cleanliness

• What is cleanliness ? - Cleanliness is being free from dirt.
• What is Cleanliness of the mind? - A clean mind is a mind that is full of good thoughts. We learnt of three monkeys (hear no evil,see no evil,speak no evil). 

Tale: The royal horse - We learnt from the  royal horse  tale that royal horse like to bathe in only clean water. We the royal children of the lord should always keep our surroundings, body and mind clean.

D is for Daddy

Daddy is the head of family. Daddy is the protector of the family just as god is the protector of the world. "Pitrdevo Bhava"

Tale: Father's Day - How the fathers day started in America

Craft / Activities - "I love you "card, Questionnaire about Interview with Dad

E is for Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is to experience joy and excitement while striving for a goal. We cultivate enthusiasm by loving everything we do.

We learnt following song

Go,go,go and fly

Soar,soar in the sky,

Work,work hard and try,

You'll make it,just don't cry.

Tale: Gitu's  place and  Make a Difference - How a small chipmunk by name Gitu, helped in getting the sand, by rolling down the hill, to construct the dam to prevent the forest being flooded. Later chipmunk was appreciated by the LORD himself. 

The moral conveyed was "When we do things with enthusiasm, we can accomplish anything no matter what physical impediments we may have.  

F is  for Friendship

Friendship is a feeling of mutual affection and respect. A true friend is one who helps without being asked we maintain friendship by helping our friends,being nice and being happy for them.

10 ways how to start the friendship 

Smile at others often - Treat others nicely - Take turns in playing - Give complements frequently - Offer to help in times of need - Invite others to join in your activities - spend time with family - always be forgiving - be a good listener - be happy for others 

10 ways how we end the friendship. 

Always expect to have your way - try to be bossy - expect to be the only friend - complain a lot - Spread gossip - force friends in doing things they don't like to do - listen to ugly things about a friend - ignore your friend on purpose - behave in a rude manner - refuse to share. 

Tale: Krishna and Sudama friendship - A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Craft - We did flower project with the qualities of good friend.

G is for God

God is "The Father" who loves and cares for all of us. He lives everywhere and he protects us and gives us everything we need . We should thank him by praying to him every day.

We brainstormed on Who is God", revised the story of "King and his minister - three questions" from first lesson. God is He who can do what no one else can do . He can make a brown cow eat green grass, and make her produce white milk. 

We performed a Puja in the class and each child was made to come perform arathi and offer flowers to the altar. 

We learnt the song "Thank you to God" and Bhajan 

Thank you god for world so sweet 

Thank you god for food we eat

Thank you god for world so sweet

Thank you god for everything.

Krishna here, Krishna there,

Krishna Krishna everywhere.

God is one, God is one.

God is one for everyone

If kids can learn the opening and closing prayers at home that would be great for them to be confident and comfortable. May be asking our bright kids to tell the story we talked about in class.

With Warm Wishes,

Suganya, Praveena and Shruthi