Sep. 21st Bala Vihar Update

1. Discussion points today:

Old Business:

We reviewed the research topics from assigned on September 14th:

A. What are the 17 major languages in India?

Varun, Rohan, Smruthi and others aided in this research... 

B. Who made the Indian Flag and when?

Aneesh had this assignment but was not able to join the class today because he was not feeling well. He did email us his findings:

"Last week, I undertook the task of finding out who designed the Indian Flag. Here is my
research.

•  Pingali Venkayya designed the flag in 1916.
• Venkayya was from Machilipatnam
• The flag was adopted by Congress in 1931
• It was made the national flag with a few changes in 1947."

             

New Business:

We covered the following new topics from the book Awakening Indians to India.

Ancient Indian Civilizations

Temples

Independence Day

Republic Day

Government Facts

Civil and Military Honors

2. To prepare for next class on Oct. 5th

Read ahead and discuss at home with your parents.  Awakening Indians to India is the main text we use for reference and discussion.  If you spend 10-15 minutes every other day, reading ahead and discussing with your parents and family members, you will be amazed how much you can participate and contribute to in class discussions.  Parents, if you have anecdotal stories related to topic that we will be covering in class, please share that with your 6th grader so they can share it with the rest of us the class.  How would you, as a parent know, what topics are coming up next?  Ask your 6th grader what they just read in the book!  :-)

3.  Swami Chinmayananda Centenary Year Celebration

Looking ahead to Summer 2015, please make plans to join us for the next Chinmayay Mahasamdhi Camp.  This will take place in Somerset, NJ during the last week of July into the first week of August.  More details to follow.

3. Important dates to remember:

January 25th 2015, there will be a presentation by the Dharmam Class during the Balavihar assembly.  Please plan on arriving a little earlier than usual to get ready for our presentation.  During the next few classes, we will discuss the content of our presentation, which can involve singing (e.g. Jana Gana Mana) and/or a skit.  Bring your ideas and share them with your class.

Welcome to 2014-2015 BBNJ Balavihar Dharmam Class!

Sunday, September 14th was our first class for this academic year.  We all got to know each other through a short introduction of ourselves including where in India our family came from, what language is spoken by the parents etc.  Most of the students in class were born in the US however, most of them appear to have at least visited India in recent years.  They all appear to be eager to learn more about India, which is a lot of what we will be doing this year.  With over 5000 years of dynamic history, we have lots to look forward to.

As of this Sunday, we have 14 students in this class.  This number may still go up as new students enroll in upcoming Balavihar sessions.  Currently, here is who we have by their first name:

Akshay
Aneesh
Arjun
Bharya
Ishan
Kareena
Megana
Neev
Rohan
Smruthi
Soumya
Swetha
Varun
Veena

If we misspelled a name, please let us know.  We will get to know each other more, as the year proceeds.

Here is an important date to remember: Sunday, January 25th 2015, there will be a presentation by the Dharmam Class during the Balavihar assembly.  Please plan on arriving a little earlier than usual to get ready for our presentation.  During the next few classes, we will discussthe content of our presentation, which can involve singing (e.g. Jana Gana Mana) and/or a skit.  Bring your ideas and share them with your class.  .

If you don't already have the book, Awakening Indians to India, please purchase it from the book store during next Balavihar.  You will also need the Slokathon book.

If you're interested in where your class name (Dharmam) came from, here is a short book by Swami Chinmayananda that will help.  It's also available at the book store or you can borrow it from a friend in the 8th grade. (This is not a requirement for your class)