Janaki Kolady & Mallika Warrier
After a hiatus of 4 years I resumed teaching at bala vihar last year. As
the year passed by I realized how much I had missed teaching. Kinder
garten has always been my favourite age group to teach due to many
reasons. The unconditional love and affection that the kids shower on me
is my biggest motivation. Also, I’ve discovered that children are extremely receptive and curious at this age. I started teaching thinking that I was going to impart so much knowledge to my students but at the end of the year I was truly humbled that my KG class had taught me so much more, whether it be to honestly question concepts, or to come up with a brilliant alternative or to just show pure love and kindness. I’m truly grateful to poojya Gurudev and Chinmaya mission portland for giving me the opportunity to serve and God willing will continue to do so.
Our syllabus in KG is the Vedantic Alphabet and the Chinmaya Mission pledge.In the Vedantic Alphabet each alphabet stands for a value.For example instead of “A is for apple and B is for Ball” we teach that “A is for Aspiration,B is for Brotherhood, C is for Cleanliness and so on”.
By imbibing and living by these values we get a sweet mind with which we can see God.The concepts in the pledge are also explained with stories and fun activities.The hope is that our students will get a strong foundation upon which they continue to build during their sojourn in Bala Vihar.