Hindi:
- Counted backwards from 30 - 1. Everyone did a good job and got prizes. (Special mention for Khushi and Malika)
- Practiced writing all the vowels
- Discussed the difference between Lomdi (Fox) and Bhediya ( Wolf).
Spoken Hindi:
- We practiced the difference between स्त्रीलिंग (Female) and पुल्लिंग (Male) using pink and blue cue cards

Culture:
- Talked about games of India (Kabbadi, Kho-Kho, Pittho (satoliya), Hockey and other)
- Watched a couple of video samples of the game.
- We went outside and played the game of Pithoo and Kabbadi. it was fun.
H/W:
- Practice writing (5 times each) अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), ऊ (oo), ए (e) ,ऐ (aye), ऋ (Ri), ओ (O), औ (Au), अं (aN) and अ: (aH).
- Practice counting
- Going forward, H/W will be mostly preparations for annual day (Display or things to memorize/practice)
Tanya's Mom was our class volunteer today. Ritika's Mom also helped us out. Thanks for all the help. Tanya's Mom is our volunteer next weekend.

We have moved up our Annual Day celebration to 5/23 (weekend before memorial day). This will be held in respective classes and kids will demonstrate and put up booth for their parents. Please join us and your kids to end the school year on a high note. We will need extra help as we prepare for this day. To start, We will need a parent volunteer for the 4 weeks as we prepare for the event. Dhriti ji will send out details in a separate mail, so stay tuned.
Hindi:
- Played simon says game to review directions, birds and animals
- Practiced writing all the vowels discussed so far 2 times
- Last 2 vowels अं (aN) and अ: (aH)
- Counting 1 - 30
Spoken Hindi:
- We skipped spoken hindi as culture section ran over today.

Culture:
- We talked about regions of India and discussed all my 5 regions
- Put together a jigsaw puzzle of the map of India.
Jaya's Mom was our class volunteer today. Ritika's Mom also helped us out. Thanks for all the help. Tanya's Mom is our volunteer next wekend.

No classes next weekend !!
Hindi:
- We had a written quiz competition where we divided the class in 3 teams and reviewed vowels, numbers, seasons, and days of week. Every one was a winner. We reviewed writing all the vowels during this fun event.
Spoken Hindi:
- We divided the class in 3 Stations and every one talked for about 20 minutes in Hindi. Dhriti ji read a nice story to her kids while my station talked in hindi. It was amazing to see all the kids speaking in Hindi.

Culture:
- We had a cultural demo downstairs to start the class today. 'Introduction to classical music’ By Chitra Subramanian.
Sana's was our class volunteer today. Tanya's Mom also helped us out with the station. Thanks for all the help. Ishaan's Mom is our volunteer 04/11 as we are taking a break for spring on 04/04.

Next weekend is the last chance for early registration. If you haven't registered yet, please do so next week.
Hindi:
- We had a quiz competition where we divided the class in 3 teams and reviewed vowels, numbers, colors and days of week. Two teams finished on top tied with 12 points.
- Reviewed writing अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), ऊ (oo), ए (e), ऐ (aye) , ऋ (Ri) , ओ (O) and औ (Au)
- Reviewed 4 Seasons (Sardee, Basant, Garmee and Patjhar).
- Introduced taste and finished the exercise on page-26 (Khatta, Mitha, Teekha, Thanda, Garam, Namkeen, Kaadva)
Spoken Hindi:
- We divided the class in 2 Stations and every one talked for about 20 minutes in Hindi.

Culture:
- Foods of India was our theme today
- We talked about importance of food in our life and variety of foods from different part on India
- Kids shared their favorite food and we also had a show & tell where kids brought a food item from home (Indira: Khakara, Khushi: Sambhar, Malika: Nimki, and Prakriti: Mithai)
- For the activity, kids cut out a banana leaf and pasted their favorite food on the leaf.
Sahil's Dad was our class volunteer today. Jaya's Mom also helped us out with the station. Thanks for all the help. Sana's Mom is our volunteer next week and we are taking a break for spring on 04/04.

Enrollment for next year:
The registration for the 2010-2011 school year for returning students is on March 21st and March 28th. If your child plans on returning to Gurukul next year please enroll him/her online at https://www3317.ssldomain.com/enrollgurukul-wa/ . You will need to register to be able to enroll you child. Please refer to the handout sent with your child or the email regarding registration. If you have any questions about the registration process send an email to enroll@gurukul-wa.org or it_registration@gurukul-wa.org.
Instruction for registration was sent home with each kid. Returning students get the priority for the next session of Gurukul.
Hindi:
- Reviewed reading/writing अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), ऊ (oo), ए (e), ऐ (aye) and ऋ (Ri) and 1 - 30 with a fun game of Bingo
- The first 8 to get their Bingo also got a prize.
- Practiced learning the next two vowel ओ (O) and औ (Au)
- Practiced 4 Seasons (Sardee, Basant, Garmee and Patjhar).
Spoken Hindi:
- We divided the class in in 4 Stations and every one talked for about 25 minutes in Hindi.

Culture:
- Dances of India was our theme today
- We talked about classical and folk dance. And discussed classical dances from all over India
- We watched a few video of Kathak and Kathakali
- Aakshata gave us a live demo of BharatNatyam
- For the activity, kids cut out a kathakali mask and colored it. It was so much fun that no one wanted to leave the class today..
Malavika (Sana's Mom) was our class volunteer today. Jaya's Mom and Sahil's Mom also helped us out with the stations. Thanks for all the help.Sahil's Dad is our volunteer next week.

Hindi:
- Reviewed reading/writing अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), ऊ (oo), ए (e) and ऐ (aye)
- Practiced learning the next vowel ऋ (Ri)
- Reviewed 1 - 30. Counted by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- Practiced Days of Week and planet names in Hindi (http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/Shared%20Documents/DaysOfweek.pdf)
Spoken Hindi:
- We divided the class in in 4 Stations and every one talked for about 20 minutes in Hindi.
- for Advanced speaker (I was leading this station), we had a blast making up a story where every one contributed with one line in Hindi

Culture:
- Holi was the theme today
- We watched a video of the Story of Prahlad and the triumph of good over evil
- We also had a couple of videos on holi celebration in India
- We had a fun activity where kids played Holi with color pencils and crayons. See the attached picture.
Shivani (Ishaan's Mom) was our class volunteer today. Jaya's Mom and Sana's Mom also helped us out with the stations. Thanks for all the help. Malavika (Sana's Mom) is our volunteer next week.

Namaste Parents,
Happy Holi to all !!
(Also posted on http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/default.aspx)
Bharatanatyam demo downstairs
http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/Shared%20Documents/Gugukul%20Bharatnatyam%20Demo%200228.jpg
Hindi:
- Reviewed reading/writing अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), and ऊ (oo)
- Practiced learning the next two vowels ए (e) and ऐ (aye)
- Reviewed 1 - 30. Every one counted 1 - 30 and did a great job
- Started learning Days of Week and their relationship to planets.
Spoken Hindi:
- We divided the class in two section.
- For beginners, we had a fun story telling session led by Aparna
- for Advanced speaker, we reviewed Chapter 10-11 Which included a a fun poem along with learning about "में" (in).

Culture:
- We had a Bharatanatyam demo downstairs by Vidya Guhan (For more details check out their website http://fromwithinacademy.org)
Sahil's Dad was our class vounteer today. Thanks for all the help. Shivani (Ishaan's Mom) is our volunteer next week.

Kids with their animal masks.
http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/Shared%20Documents/Class%201D%20Masks.jpg
Hindi:
- Reviewed reading/writing अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), and ऊ (oo)
- Reviewed Direction North (Uttar उत्तर), South (Dakshin दक्षिण), East (Poorab पूरब ), West (Pacshim पश्चिम) and tickids practiced their street address in hindi.
- Reviewed 1 to 25
- Learned counting 26 - 30
Spoken Hindi:
- Skipped as we had a hindi teacher's meeting

Culture:
- The topic for the week was Animals of India and we discussed a number of animals and birds with the help of a ppt presentation
- For the activity, we made a nice mask (either tiger or elephant) and colored it. (See the picture above)
Chandrakiran (Sharvani's Dad) was our class vounteer today. Thanks for all the help. Sahil's Dad is our volunteer next week.

No classes next weekend as Gurukul will be closed for Mid-winter break.
Hope you all enjoyed the Superbowl and had fun with friends and family. We sent out Gurukul CDs with each kid today. Please make sure you have the CD. There are number of fun songs. Please practice the first and the last song (prayer and national anthem) at home.
Hindi:
- Reviewed writing अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), and ई (ee)
- Learned उ (u) and ऊ (oo)and practiced writing it
- Discussed Direction North (Uttar उत्तर), South (Dakshin दक्षिण), East (Poorab पूरब ), West (Pacshim पश्चिम) and played a game with the directions
- Reviewed 1 to 25
Spoken Hindi:
- Noun Glass (गिलास), spoon chamach (चम्मच), plate ThaLi (थाली)
- Introduced the concept of "in" में. water in glass (ग्लास में पानी) and reinforced with multiple examples.

Culture:
- Discussed republic day and it's significance
- Saw a nice video of republic day in New Delhi (You can search it on Youtube)
- For the activity, we made the Indian tri-color and also started working on the National Symbol of India activity.
Chandrakiran (Sharvani's Dad) was our class vounteer today. Thanks for all the help. Chandrakiran is our volunteer next week.

Gurukul Survey:
We have 90 out of 240 parents that have completed the survey. We would appreciate if you could click on the below URL and complete the survey if you haven't already done so.
http://www.surveypirate.com/Survey.aspx?surveyid=9788&hash=lDMPL-7uEyOALkL7pLW2jQ%3d%3d
Hindi:
As we start learning the alphabets and start speaking a little more hindi in the class. I am going to start introducing a few words in my email. If you are having trouble reading the hindi words, you may need hindi fonts. Also, google translate (http://translate.google.com/?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&text=&file=&sl=hi&tl=en#hi|en|) is a really good website for practicing hindi writing..

- Reviewed writing "a" (अ) and "aa" (आ)
- Learned इ (i) and ई (ee) and practiced writing it
- Discussed Direction North (Uttar उत्तर), South (Dakshin दक्षिण), East (Poorab पूरब ), West (Pacshim पश्चिम)
- Reviewed 1 to 25

Spoken Hindi:
- Practiced speak the following sentences

* Mera Naam ... Hai. (मेरा नाम समीर है)
* Main ... ka/ki hoon (मैं सात साल का/की हूँ )
* Mera manpasand janwar ... hain (मेरा मनपसंद जानवर ... हैं )

- We also encouraged kids to talk an extra sentence about the animal (जानवर) to earn a bonus sticker.

Culture:
- We had a demo on Gujarat where we learned about various gujarati folk dances and dress. We also practiced the famous Garba dance and the difference between Garba and Dandiya.

H/W:
- Review 1 to 25 (Focus on 21 - 25)
- Practice writing (5 times each) अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i) and ई (ee) . practice speaking the vowels.
- Review directions

PTC:
We completed PTC today. It was a good turnout and everyone showed up on time. Thanks for all the feedback and taking the time to talk to us. We really appreciate your involvement with Gurukul. Gurukul has done well because we have a great community that is focused on bringing the best of out of our kids. I'll be sending out the soft copies of PTC to you later today.
A few things that we would like to remind all of you again
- Attendance shows your commitment. Also, show up on time.
- Immersion and repetition are key for learning a new language (10 minutes daily dedicated to hindi goes a long way)
- We try to keep homeworks to about 15-20 minutes every week. Please make sure your child is working on his/her hoemwork.
- Please provide any feedback that you may have to us or directly to Gurukul office. We are always looking for ways to improve the Gurukul experience.
Hindi/Spoken Hindi:
- Review time. We didn't cover any thing new as both teachers were busy with PTC today.
- It was an interactive review session with lots of sticker involved. It was good to see the class answering a number of questions.
Culture:
- We had a pattern making activity
H/W:
- Review 1 to 25 (Focus on 21 - 25)
- Practice "a" (अ) and "aa" (आ). practice speaking the vowels.
Special thanks to Sarita Ji (Jaya's Mom) and Aparna Ji for managing the class today. All the kids really enjoyed the class today and it was fun to watch them from the back of the classroom. We don't have a volunteer for next week. Please let us know if you would like to spend time with the kids next week.

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conference schedule: (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tZ9xuoutv5JabEtt9LCLCYw&single=true&gid=0&output=html)
Thanks for coming on time for your session and providing us the feedback. We complete 6 conferences today. Rest are scheduled for next week.
we have a 2 hour long special cultural activity for the kids (Building a 3D Taj Mahal) arranged by culture team. Thus, we will have 2+ hours of PTC starting 10:30AM next week. Please arrive on time to get this completed next week. We'll send soft copy of the report to every one next week.
(http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/default.aspx)
Hindi:
- Reviewed Birds and the answer is "Northern Spotted Ullu"
- We counted all the way to 25 today. Our focus was 21 - 25.
- Started reading and writing vowels. We started with "a" (अ) and "aa" (आ). We practiced writing the two vowels along with learning to pronounce it.

Spoken Hindi:
Due to PTC, we didn't have spoken Hindi session today.
Culture:
- We watched Mogli and Jungle book movie for about 20 minutes
- For the activity, we made a Christmas collage/card.
H/W:
- Review 1 to 25 (Focus on 21 - 25)
- Practice "a" (अ) and "aa" (आ) (Write 15 times and practice speaking the vowels.

Gurukul Survey:
We appreciate your involvement with Gurukul as always. We are grateful for the response already submitted towards Gurukul Survey 2009, however we still are awaiting response from a lot more Gurukul parents.
Would appreciate if you could click on the below URL and complete the survey ASAP.
http://www.surveypirate.com/Survey.aspx?surveyid=9788&hash=lDMPL-7uEyOALkL7pLW2jQ%3d%3d
Parent Teacher Conferences:
We will spend the next 2 weeks in conferences. I've posted the online conference schedule here
(http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tZ9xuoutv5JabEtt9LCLCYw&single=true&gid=0&output=html)
Please review your scheduled time and please acknowledge that you are okay with the time. We have some flexibility (Next Sunday after 1:15PM and 01/24 10:30 - 11:00). Please try to be there on time and it would take about 10 - 15 minutes to complete each session.
Next week, we will start the conference one hour early at 10:00AM. Starting 11:00AM, we will have a 1 hour break for Hindi/Spoken Hindi class. We will have another hour of PTC starting 12:00PM. We'll have a cultural activity for the kids during this time. on 01/24, we have a 2 hour long special cultural activity for the kids (Building a 3D Taj Mahal) arranged by culture team. Thus, we will have 2+ hours of PTC starting 11:00AM on 01/24.
We didn't sign up volunteers for the next two weeks. But, we do need volunteers as we will busy with you discussing your child's progress. Please get back to us ASAP, if you are willing to stay in the class for the next two sessions.
Looking forward to meeting you all next week.
(http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/default.aspx)
Hindi:
- We started with a review of numbers and other topics covered so far.
- Conducted a brief evaluation of kids. We will share the results during our PTC next 2 weeks.
- Discussed all the birds (page 18)

Spoken Hindi:
- Started with a review of "Mera naam and aapka naam"
- We divided the class in 3 groups and spent the rest of the time in hindi conversation using toy animals, fruits and vegetables.

Culture:
- We discussed the festival of Sankranti, Lodhi, and Pongal.
- We also discussed how we have kit flying competition in India on this occasion (Please find a youtube video and show it to your child)
- For the activity, we cut out a paper kite and decorated it.
H/W:
- Learn first 4 lines of "Chun Chun" song. (http://www.gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/Shared%20Documents/17%20-%20Chun%20Chun.mp3)
- Complete the Birds exercise in workbook (pg. 19)
- Find the owl that is on the endangered list in Pacific Northwest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Spotted_Owl)
Nila's Mom was our volunteer today. Thanks for all the help. We are looking for parent volunteers for the next 2 weeks. Please send us a note if you are available.

Hindi:
- Spent all our time reviewing previously covered topics as we only had 7 kids in the class today
- Learned a new poem on tamatar (Tomato).
(Lal lal tamatar, Jaise mere Gaal. Tum bhi khao, main bhi khau, Dono ho jain lal.)


Spoken Hindi:
- Reveiwed Time of the day using a clock (review of number)
- Reviewed Subhah, Dophar, Sham, and Raat (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night)
- Reviewed verbs by playing dumb charade

Culture:
- We discussed the significance of King Cobra in Indian mythology.
- We had a wild animal activity where we made a paper king cobra


No H/W this week only HomeFUN to start the new year:
- OPTIONAL: Go watch the movie "3 idiots" with your family/friends
- Figure out the reason for "Summer in Australia" in January.
- Practice "Lal Tamatar" poem and ask your parents to explain the meaning.
-

Sana's Dad was our volunteer today as Ritika was absent today. Thanks for all the help. Nila's mom is our volunteer next week.

Hindi:
- Reviewed Paltu Janawar (Domestic animals). Kids sang the Machli and Billi Boli song)
- Discussed all the Wild Animals (Junglee Janawar on page 16/17).
- Practiced the Machli poem and also sang a few lines of Ladki ki kathi song.

Spoken Hindi:
- Time of the day using a clock (review of number)
- Discussed Subhah, Dophar, Sham, and Raat (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night)

Culture:
- Christmas was our topic of discussion.
- We talked about how everyone celebrates Christmas
- Sang a few Christmas carols. (Jingle bells, Feliz Navidad)
- For the activity, we made a nice Christmas card.
Sarita Ji (Jaya's Mom) was our volunteer today. Thanks for all the help. Ritika's mom is our first volunteer in 2010.

Hindi:
- Reviewed all the topics as we played the game of Bingo using the content covered so far. It was fun.
- Discussed all the Domestic Animals (Paltu Janawar on page 14).
- Practiced the Machli poem and also sang a few lines of Ladki ki kathi song.

Spoken Hindi:
- Review of all the topics we have covered so far.
- Spoken test for two student. Result of the test was sent home with every kid.

Culture:
- We discussed the dresses of India using powerpoint presentation
- We also dressed up some puppets with nice indian dresses (Sari, Kurta, Lengha/Choli, Dhoti, Pajama)
- Finally, we colored pictures of nice Indian dresses

Hindi/Spoken Hindi:
No hindi class today as we spent the first hour with spoken hindi test. We will have makeup test for kids that were not able to attend the class today.

Culture:
We went downstairs for a visual arts demo of some really cool paintings by Indu Krishnamurthy. Her daughter-in-law explained the different types of painntungs like tanjore, karnatik, kalamkari, and madhubani paintings. It was the first time we had a visual arts cultural demo at Gurukul and it was liked by all present.
H/W:
- No H/W.
Jaya's Mom was our volunteer today and Tanya's mom also helped out. It was a big help as we were busy with testing the kids today.

Hindi:
- We reviewed two poems  (Billi Boli and Aalo Bola)
- Reviewed counting 1 - 15
- Practiced counting 16 - 20
- Discussed Phal (fruits). everyone came up to the whiteboard and drew their favorite fruit.

 

Spoken Hindi:
- We reviewed things covered so far. Preparing for next weekend's spoken hindi test
- We read a story of Kachua (turtle) and Khargosh (Rabbit) in hindi. A few words we covered today were Aaram (rest), Pehla (first), Jaldi (fast).

 

Culture:
- Celebrated Guru Nanak Jayanti (http://gurukul-wa.org/2009/classes/1D/Shared%20Documents/Guru_Nanak_Jayanti_ppt.ppt)
- Talked about Guru nanak and his preachings (Work hard, be honest, be kind to people, animals and birds)
- We made a cool Bhangra puppet for the cultural activity.

Akshata's Dad was our parent volunteer today. Jaya's Mom is our volunteer next week.

Culture:
We went downstairs to practice Dandia as we get ready for Gurukul diwali celebration next week. Thanks to Gurukul youth forum for organizing this activity.
Hindi:
- We recited to two poems that we learned last week (Chote Chote and Billi Boli)
- We had a quiz competition reviewing everything we have covered so far. It ended up in a tie.
- Practiced vegetables and fruits
- Practiced "Aaloo Bola" poem (Page 57)
Spoken Hindi:
- It was wake up time in the morning during spoken hour.
- We practiced brushing our teeth, taking shower, changing our clothes and going to school.
- We also came back from school either in the afternoon (Dofhar), Evening (Shaam) or Night (Raat)
Nila's Mom was our parent volunteer today and Khushi's mom also helped in the class. Akshata's Dad is our volunteer next week.

Culture:
We went downstairs to practice Dandia as we get ready for Gurukul diwali celebration two weeks from now. We practiced one move today and will continue practicing next weekend. Gurukul youth forum is organizing this activity.
Hindi:
- Reviewed counting 1 to 15
- Practiced two poems (Chote , Chote and Billi boli)
- Started learning vegetables (Saabjiyan)
Spoken Hindi:
- It was dinner time during spoken hour.
- We practiced speaking Khana, Pakana, Pina and all the vegetables names with the kids
Jaya's Mom and Ava's dad were our parent volunteers. Thanks for helping us.

Attendance was low today and only 7 kids showed up for the class. We decided to focus on review and discussed very few new things.
Hindi:
- Reviewed colors (rang) talked about "Rang"oli
- Reviewed number 1 to 10
- Reviewed the IndraDhanush poem
- Introduced 11 to 15 to the class
- Read the "Smart Crow" story in hindi to the class.
Spoken Hindi:
- Review of nouns and verbs
- Played Simon says in Hindi
- Played the "20 questions" game where we tried to guess the item with "Hahn and Nahin" answer.
Culture:
- We moved to class 1B for a presentation on Diwali
- We saw lots of cool visuals on Diwali including couple of youtube video (Now we all know a lot more about Diya and Rangoli)
- We came back to glass and decorated a glass candle holder with pretty sticky ornaments in various colors and shapes.
Prakash Ji (Aava's Dad) was our volunteer today. Thanks for helping out. He is our volunteer next week as well.

Culture:
After prayers, we went downstairs for a sitar demo by Pandit. Debi Prasad Chatterjee (http://www.debiprasadchatterjee.com). It was an entertaining hours and kids asked some good questions after the performance.
Hindi:
Due to long demo, we had a short hindi portion
- Reviewed colors and discussed new colors (black, white, brown)
- Reviewed number 1 - 7 and learned 8 - 10.
Spoken hindi:
- We started with the review of "Mera naam .. hain", Yeh/Woh, Mera/Meri
- Read a funny story about kites
- Started discussing verbs with the focus on "KA and KI".
We ended the class with the national anthem.
Prakash ji (Ava's dad) was our volunteer today. Veena ji (Vishnu's Mom) is our parent volunteer next week.

Hindi:
- Reviewed body parts
- Practiced Saar-kandhe poem
- Started learning numbers (practiced 1 - 7)
- Learned Indradhanush poem (Page 51, ek, do teen , char)
Spoken hindi:
- Reviewed nouns and Mera naam ... hain, Hahn, Nahin, MerA, MerI
- Introduced inkA/inKI and unkA/unkI. Discussed Paarivar
Culture:
- Slideshow on Gandhi ji and Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October)
- kids made a fridge magnet of Gandhiji

Hindi:
- Reviewed family (Please practice at home)
- Learned the "saar kandhe guthne paaw" poem (Practice at home and we will do a demo with kids next week)
- Discussed the body parts
- Talked about Nehru ji and how much he loved kids
Spoken hindi:
- We are still working on lesson 2 starting with "mera naam .. hain, Aapka naam kya hain?" chain.
- Reviewed "Yeh/Veh" (this/ that)
- Discussed a few objects/nouns (KhilonA, GaadI, Phul, Per, Gilas, chaabI and ThalA)
- Discussed Mera/Meri (MerA khilonA, MerI GaadI, MerA ThalA, MerI chaabI)
- Reviewed Aapka and Hahn/Nahin (yes/no)
Culture:
- Talked about the festival of Dushera and we were impressed to see how much kids knew about Rama/Ravana.
- Made a hand puppet of Ravana using brown paper bag.
Thanks to Sarita ji (Jaya's Mom), Ishaan's Mom and Tanya's Mom for volunteering today. We really appreciate your help especially since Dhriti ji was absent today.

We started the day with the prayer. It was nice to see kids singing the first two lines. I've posted the mp3 on the class website. Please practice the first 4 lines of the prayer with your child.
Hindi:
We discussed Paarivar today and learned about the difference between Dada ji and Nana ji. We also talked about Indira Gandhi and her accomplishments. It was good to see everyone doing their homework. Our discussion led to the homework for this week. Learn about Indira Gandhi's Dad.
Spoken Hindi:
We divided the class into 3 groups and discussed a number of new words in each group. Based on our assessments of the kids today, we are going to divide the class into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced group next week.
Words:
Yeh, Weh, Haan, Nahin, Ladka, Ladki, Kya
Sentences"
- Mera Naam ... hain. Aapka Naam Kya hain?
- Yeh ... Hain. Yeh Kya hain?
- Weh ... hain. Weh kya hain?
- Yeh Ladka Hain? Kya yeh ladka hain? Haan, yeh ladka hain. Nahin, yeh ladka nahin hain. Yeh ladki hain.
Culture:
We discussed the festival or Rakhi and Eid today. Kids explained how they celebrate the festival of Rakhi. There was slide show on Ramadan and Eid where we talked about the 30 days of fasting from Dawn to Dusk. We made a cute lantern used during Ramadan and Eid and colored it.
Ended the day with the singing on national anthem.
Sarita ji (Jaya's Mom) was our volunteer for the day and we also got help from other parents (Especially Richa's Mom as she helped us with cutting the material for the lantern). Thanks for all the help in the class. Though we have only one official volunteer, we are more than happy to have more. It really helps. Sarita ji is our volunteer next week as well.

Review:

Orientation:
- Covered Syllabus/Lesson Plan (vowels, count 1 - 30, basic conversations, prayer, national anthem verbs). Gurukul has a workbook for level-1 and we sent one home with every kid. Please make sure the workbook and the gurukul bag has your child's name on it.
- We are really excited about the spoken hindi section. It's the first time we are trying it @ Gurukul.
- Culture Hour
- Homework will be sent every week. Shouldn't take more than 10 - 15 minnutes
- Gurukul starts on time. Be there by 10:50AM . We do have trady policy and 3 tardy will result in verbal warning
- Please pickup your child at 1:10PM. We also have kids at Gurukul and any delay quickly cascades down.
- We need a parent volunteer for every class. (Bathroom breaks, checking homework, helping with spoken hindi session and culture hour).
- Sign up for at least 2 classes as volunteer. (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aj3ihYrD8y1vdDVmN0ZWRk1GbWNlNGdfWm5jTDJnZEE&hl=en)
- Open volunteer slots (1/3/2010, 3/14/2010, 5/2, 5/9, 5/16, 5/23)
- Send workbook, color pencils, scissors, glue stick and a snack with you child (No nuts please)

Hindi/Spoken:
We started the class with circle time and played a memory game where we all tried to remember each other's name. Every one introduced themselves with "Namaste Mera naam .... hain" and asked the next person "Aapka Naam Kya hain". Next, we moved on family members and discussed Pita Ji (Dad) and Mata Ji (Mom). We also practiced the first two lines of our prayer "Tumhi ho mata.."

Culture:
In the culture section, we talked about Lord Ganesha. We were amazed to find that a number of kids already knew a whole lot about Lord Ganesha. Next, we colored a picture of Ganesha. Finally, we celebrated Ganesha's birthday and immersed a idol of Ganesha.


We ended the class with national anthem (Jan gana man).

H/W:
- Find out about "Indira Gandhi" (Parents please help)
- Practice the first two lines of the prayer
- Practice Mera Naam and Aapka Naam Kya Hain?
- On the map of world, color India and your favorite place. Mark where you live in US and where you (grand) parents are in India.