10/19/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

1. Introduction Shlokas
2. Om Sahana Bhavatu
3. Yoga (10 - 10:45)
4. Recap
5. Activity
1. Blinded by Money - The game involved splitting children into groups of two. One person from the group was told to put the coins on the eyes and the other person would direct to reach the dropping point
2. Objective of the game - Trust/Faith
6. What is faith?How does one trust someone?
1. Each child presented their opinion and at the end of discussion using examples like Sugar is sweet, they arrived at a conclusion, "Faith is a belief supported by knowledge and experience".
2. The above discussion led to the question as to why we are talking about Faith. How does Faith relate to God. "Give him compete authority over us". "We accept whatever He gives us, whatever He takes away, wherever He puts us, whoever he brings in our lives
3. To explain further, the children took turns to read the stories about "Gajendra the elephant" and "Prahalada".
7.  Values of the month presentation  - Decided on "Giving" in December - Sreekar will prepare the a story from mythology and the points to connect current day world.

10/12/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

1. Introduction Shlokas
2. Om Sahana Bhavatu
3. Geeta Dhyana Shlokas ( 7) - Page 54
4. Talked about upcoming items
1. Yoga next class - Bring Yoga mats
2. Bhiksha on Jan 18th
3. Values of Month presentation - need to pick a topic to present
4. Seva project will be assigned
5. Festival Project - May Gurudev Jayanti
5. Recap from last class
6. 128.1 Rama lives in the heart of one:
1. Who offers all fragrances, food, clothes and ornaments first to Lord and then we accept them as prasada from the Lord
7. The following activity and discussion was used to explain and understand it further -
1. The children were divided into 5 groups and they were given 6 Riddles to break. The objective was to guess parts of the body.
2. The objective of the activity was to discuss the importance of the sense organs which we take it for granted.
3. Conclusion - "Our Senses are gifts to us from Lord. A gift is no gift if we don't accept it".
1.  
8. 128.2 Rama lives in the heart of one -
1. Who bows down to Guru and Brahmin with respect
9.  To explain and understand, played a video by "Guruji Tejomayanandaji about Glory of Guru Mahima - snippets 6:50 - 12:18"
10. The following activity was used to explain and understand it further -
1.  Debate Topic - " Are teachers needed to help learn or can books or technology replace the teachers".
2. The children had a healthy debate and the conclusion was teachers are needed to help learn the topic effectively.
3. We further discussed not just about classroom teachers, sports coaches, music teachers e.t.c
4. We also discussed at every stage of life, we always learn something from everyone. We should always respect and appreciate people who have helped us learn.

10/05/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics

1. Introduction Shlokas
2. Om Sahana Bhavatu
3. Geeta Dhyana Shlokas ( 6)
4. Recap from last class
5. Caupai 128 - Rama lives in the heart of one who eagerly waits for Rama darshan like how a cataka bird waits for raindrops
6. Game to get the above topic clear - Recognize the pictures of 4 celebrities
1. J.K. Rowling
2. Steve Jobs
3. Milton Hershey
4. Thomas Alva Edison
5. Discussed the biographies of each of the above individuals and discussed the common thread about their lives. Each of them had conquered all the odds and did not give up to reach the goals.
6. They were also asked to unscramble the following word - RESPVEEER. The kids were able to unscramble the word to PERSEVERE
7. Discussed Edison's famous quote "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
7. Caupai 128.1 - Rama lives in the heart of one whose tongue, like Hamsa bird, picks up only Rama's virtues in Manasarovara of His Glory.
8. What is Hamsa, It has the ability of taking in only the milk from mixture of milk and water.
9. To understand virtues about others, discussed all different types of animals how unique they are. Talked about 24 perceptors from 4th grade Balavihar, how it is possible to learn good values from anyone and anything if you keep your mind open.
10. To understand the virtues they were asked to close their eyes and introspect, the children were asked to list 3 things they like about themselves and three things they would like to improve. They found this to be a difficult exercise.
11.  To understand the virtues further, they were asked to list attributes about themselves for all the letters of the alphabet. Example - A (Awesome), B (Blessed) , C(Curious) e.t.c
12. Ending Prayers
13. Moral -

• Persistence is the key.
• See good in others and also yourself

9/21/2014 - Vijayam (7th Grade) Class Update

Class Topics -

1. Introduction Shlokas

• Om Sahana Bhavatu
• Geeta Dhyana Shlokas ( 5)

1. 2 Recap from last class
2. Played the game Hangman (Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient) 
1. Omnipotent - all powerful
2. Omnipresent - everywhere
3. Omniscient  - all knowing
3. Story time - Introduce the topic for P.O. Box God
1. Ratnakara(Valmiki)
2. Tulsidasji - Author of Ramacharitamanas
4. Caupai 127.2 and 127.3
1. Rama resides in the heart of those, who never gets tired of listening to God's stories.
2. To make the above concept clear introduced the discussion about Satsang.
3. Connected to current day topics about the bad influence ISIS
4. Connected to a movie Blindside where a kid from a bad neighborhood becomes successful due right influence brought in by a couple.
5. You become what you love - A kid who wants to loves a chicken starts behaving like a chicken.
5. Ending Prayers
6.  Moral -

•  A man is known by company he keeps.

•  The people you surround yourself with influence your behavior, so choose friends with healthy habits.