November 13, 2016

We had another wonderful session last class. We talked about languages, and learnt all the languages we or our parents speak, and which parts of India we/our parents are from. The major focus of the class was on literature - great works that India produced, starting from Vedas to Kambaramayanam. Next week we are going to discuss, 

• Religion
• Schools of Philosophy
• Sat Darshan

Children have chosen to learn atleast 5 things about their topic (such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Advaita Philosophy, Buddhism, etc.,) and present in the class. Going forward, we will be focusing on FIVE - Five sentences about a chosen topic, Five Takeaways from the day's class. Since there is a lot of facts in this year's curriculum, this practice, will hopefully, ensure learning and retention.

Reminders:

As announced in the past assemblies, we have the annual Vrindavan Fundraiser Dinner 'Surabhi' on Saturday Dec 3, 2016. There are only a few tickets left. If not done already, please come out and show your support, and have fun doing so. Based on past attendees'  feedback, this event seems to be so much fun!! 

November 6, 2016

We had a fun filled class with almost full strength, as we not just learnt 'about dance', but also 'learnt to dance' ! We learnt the history of dance, various Indian dance forms, famous dancers, and learn to recognize and to dance a few Indian dance forms. Ask the kids about the fifth Veda, classical dances vs  folk dances, dance exclusively by men, dance where the dancers also say dialogues, dance forms with themes on Radha and Krishna, dance on a brass plate and a pot balancing on head, harvest dance. Also ask them about how dance is used to communicate, and what 'Navarasas' are. In fact ask them to emote the navarasas. We played a game with one person emoting, and others guessing, and you can imagine the laughter in the class. Got to say, the kids love a 'Scramble' puzzle, and are really good at it ! Hearing that we are going to learn about/to dance today, we had visitors from 7th grade, who wanted to catch up on some fun missed earlier! Our 6th graders were good sports to share their class with the 7th graders, for the last few minutes of the class.

We had some sweets in the name of Diwali. 

For next week, parents, please ask the children to read up on 'Literature' and 'Poets' (page # 204-223, 326-334).

Please note, we have Thanksgiving Luncheon this Sunday Nov 20th. Hope to see you all there. Here is the link for potluck:

http://www.luckypotluck.com/potluck/ThanksgivingLuncheon2016

This will be held in the cafetaria.

As you know, this year theme is all about India. This is a great opportunity to share your childhood memories in terms of arts & crafts, famous personalities, languages, games, dance & music, etc., with your kids. As you know, we played traditional Indian games such as Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Nondi etc., and learnt to recognize classical/folk dance forms. We will continue on these lines, and highly encourage you to engage in similar activities at home too.