Bala Gokulam
Bala Gokulam Class Syllabus - Spring 2012 Semester
Bala Gokulam Class Listing - Spring 2012 Semester
March 18, 2012 - Week 10 Update
Alphabet Train Review Time: We started our class with our reviewing the alphabets covered so far in the Alphabet Train - A is for Aspiration, B is for Brotherhood, C is for Cleanliness and D is for Daddy.
Alphabet Train - E is for Enthusiasm: We introduced our new alphabet, E is for Enthusiasm. The kids talked about what makes them most enthusiastic - their sister winning a game, their birthday party with their favorite foods, their favorite show on TV, coming to Gurukulam on Sunday.
Story Time: We told a story about a little chipmunk named Gitu, who feels useless because he is unable to help anyone in the forest. His mother encourages him to pray and keep trying. He is able to prove himself when there is a flood in the forest and he rolls up balls of sand to help the animals build a dam.
We equated this story to that of the Squirrel's bhakti (Uduta Bhakti) and efforts in building the Rama Setu or Rama's Bridge during Ramayana.
Activity Time: The children colored a page of a beach and voted to take it home with them.
Conclusion: We ended the class with our concluding prayer - "Sahana Vavatu"
March 4, 2012 - Week 8 Update
Sloka Time: We started our class with our Assembly shlokas - the kids recited beautifully.
Alphabet Safari: We learnt our 4th alphabet this week - "D is for Daddy".
The kids came up with various words to describe their fathers. They also talked about everything they liked to do with their fathers. We told a story about how Father's Day came to be celebrated. The kids also discussed their fathers' favorite sports, foods and other activities.
The kids colored an activity page "D is for Daddy" to give their fathers.
Closing Shloka: We ended the class by reciting the closing shlokas.
February 26, 2012 - Week 7 Update
Story Time: The talked about who our favorite Gods and Goddesses were. Some chose Krishna, Hanuman and Vinayaka. A lot chose their mothers and fathers! :-)
We told 2 new stories this week based on 2 of everyone's favorite Gods:
- The story of Yashoda asking Bala Krishna to open his mouth to see if he was eating mud and seeing the Universe there
- The story of Bhima meeting his brother Hanuman in the forest
Song: We sang a song together - "Muddugare Yashoda" by Annamacharya. The kids sang the 1st charanam with us and enjoyed it.
New Shlokas: We practiced a new shloka on Shri Krishna:
Closing Prayer: We ended our class with the closing prayer "Sahana Vavatu".
February 19, 2012 - Week 6 Update
Vishnu Sahasranamam: This week, we learnt the next 2 verses of Vishnu Sahasranamam - Poorva Peethika . Please practice these at home with your children:
YUDHISHTHIRA UVACHA
Kimekam daivatam loke kim vapyekam parayanam |
Stuvantah kam ka marchantah prapnuyuh manavah-shubham ||
Ko dharmah sarva-dharmanam bhavatah paramo matah |
Kim japanmuchyate janthuh janma samsara-bandhanat ||
Activity & New Shlokas: We did some coloring activity and we practiced 2 new shlokas.
Overall, all the kids did a fantastic job of listening well and playing the activity.
Next week we will be focussing on the letter D. D for Dad.
February 12, 2012 - Week 5 Update
Vishnu Sahasranamam: Children recited Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Purva Peethika verses 1-5. Around 80% of knew this by heart and were able to recite well. They also learned the new verse (shrutva dharmaan ... ) and practiced it 10 times
- Five disciples of a sage argue among themselves who is the best. They were tested by giving a banana each and with challenge that they should eat it when none is seeing them. First four eat in funny/secret places. Fifth one does not eat and wins. Moral - Ishvara is everywhere and sees everything. Children then worked out that they have to good all the time as Ishvara is always watching them.
- King and the monkey story. With the moral that one should be careful in choosing one's friends. And especially close friends
- Crow and Snake story from Panchatantra
February 5, 2012 - Week 4 Update
Vishnu Sahasranamam: We revised all the three verses of Vishnu Sahasranamam PoorvaPeethika learnt till now.
Alphabet Safari: In the alphabet safari, we discussed about the letter B for Brotherhood. Brotherhood is a sense of togetherness and belonging among members of a family, neighborhood, organization and the world.
Story Time: We enjoyed reading a story about a box of crayons - how they were fighting initially, later on how they realized that all of them need to work together to complete a picture and how they liked each other towards the end.
Activity: Kids colored a drawing depicting Brotherhood.
January 29, 2012 - Week 3 Update
Vishnu Sahasranamam: We taught the 3rd verse of Vishnu Sahasranamam PoorvaPeethika:
Vyasaaya VishnuRoopaya Vyasarupaya Vishnave|
Namovai Brahmanidaye Vaashistaaya Namo Namaha||
We started of our Alphabet Safari with the letter A. A is for Aspiration. Aspiration is a strong desire to achieve our goals. We achieve our goals through HARD WORK. It is OK if we don't succeed the first time. Trying harder can help us achieve our goals. We went around the class to find out what the kids aspire to become when they grow up. There are a lot of budding doctors, artists, firemen and mommies:-). The kids have promised that with a lot of hard work, they will work towards their goals.
We played a small game to prove that with hard work we can make impossible tasks happen. We used a balloon for this activity. We held the balloon in 3 levels. Level one - where the kids can easily touch the balloon. Level two - where the kids had to be on tippy toes or a slight jump to touch the balloon. Level three - where the balloon was a little bit more higher and the kids had to jump really higher to touch the balloon. The last level took 3 tries for each kid. While each kid was trying to touch the balloon, there was a lot of encouragement from their friends to help them. Therefore we learnt that with hard work and lot of encouragement from family and friends, we can reach any goal we have set for ourselves.
Overall, all the kids did a fantastic job of listening well and playing the activity. We also took a few minutes to learn our teachers names and most importantly our friends names. A big thanks to all the parents for letting us be a part of your child's learning.
Next week we will be focusing on the letter B. B for Brotherhood.
January 22, 2012 - Week 2 Update
Vishnu Sahasranamam: We started the class with the first 2 verses of Vishnu Sahasranamam - Poorva Peethika. All our young kids were very enthusiastic and enjoyed reciting these verses. Parents, please help your kids practice these lines at home.
Om Shuklam-baradharam Vishnum shashivarnam chaturbhujam | Prasanna vadanam dhyayet sarva vighnopa-shantaye ||
Vyasam vasistha-naptaram shakteh poutrama-kalmasham |Parasha-raatmajam vande shukatatam taponidhim ||
Topic of the Day: Our Topic for the class was GOD.
We learnt the answers to the following 3 questions : Who is god? - We talked about all the different gods we know. God is one who can do what no one can do. Where is god? - God is everywhere. What does god do? - God makes impossible things possible.
We also learnt about 2 very important gods we see in our daily lives - Mom and Dad. We tied that to mAtru devo bhava and pitru devo bhava that the kids learnt in their last class
Next class: we will be learning A for Aspiration. Kids were asked to talk to parents to get an idea about what Aspiration means.
January 15, 2012 - Week 1 Update
1. We went over the verse "vakra tuNDa ..." and repeated few times
2. We discussed some terms in the verse such as mAhA kAya, vakra tuNDa, etc. and discussed about Ganesha -- that he has big body, curved trunk etc.
3. We discussed the story where Ganesha and Subrahmanya compete for the mango fruit (of wisdom) and importance of mother and father. We tied that to mAtru devo bhava and pitru devo bhava. How kids to listen to them and respect them.
4. We also discussed what we should think before going to bed the shloka "rama skAndam ..." so that we do not get bad dreams. In the end we tied that "jai kapeesha" and the kids concluded that they will think of Hanuman.