Helpfulness Reflection - what happened in class?

Today we had four kids attending, and we started with a prayer: 'Blessed is the Spot' with actions. It helped to focus us into a frame of mind where we could quietly listen to the story.

Story: We told the story of the Lion and the Mouse using two stuffies, and the kids were really attentive and engaged. They guessed that the virtue for the week was helpfulness. The kids then offered stories about when they had been helpful, and when others had helped them.


Music: We learned the Lion and the Mouse chant, and parents stayed to help us out. We had four different lines going at the same time, and then we transferred them to instruments. We took away the words, and taa-daa! We had an orchestra playing four parts! It was lots of fun.

Then we learned how to read music rhythms: ta (quarter note), tee-tee (eighth notes) and a quarter rest. We went through 10 flashcards with the kids each pointing and reading the rhythms. Learning to read music will be a part of every class.

Craft: We made lion and mouse masks, so that the kids could act out the story. They looked awesome!

Helpfulness - November 29th, 2009

The virtue for this week is HELPFULNESS. Here's the basic plan:

Story: The Lion and the Mouse (from Aesop's Fables)

Music: The Lion and the Mouse (Orff version) on drums, xylophone, bells & tambourine

Hea-vy li-on's paw - smash! (tee tee tee tee tah tah)
Squea-ky lit-tle mouse - squeak! (tee tee tee tee tah)
Chew chew chew chew chew - Aaah! (tee tee tee tee tah)
You helped me - now I'm free! (tah tah tah rest - tah tah tah rest)

Craft: lion and mouse masks, act out the story at home!

Welcome to Soul Friends!

Soul Friends is the name of a Baha'i Children's Class - focusing on a virtue every week - that we are starting at our house. We are Baha'is, and my son said to me just last week, "Mom, can't we have another children's class like the one we had at our old house?" (we used to live in North Van).

The old gang with a take-home craft...
Baha'i children's class at our old house

We offer children's classes because we believe children are the most precious treasure a community can possess, for in them are the promise and guarantee of the future. They bear the seeds of the character of future society which is largely shaped by what the adults constituting the community do or fail to do with respect to children. We would like this class to be a safe place where kids can come together and learn about virtues and universal spiritual values in a safe environment, through fun activities and interaction.

Singing and acting out Five Green and Speckled Frogs
(we'll be playing instruments and learning about music as well)

We will choose a virtue for the week and focus on it, drawing on sources that illustrate the virtue being focused on. For example, in a class on "truthfulness" a great story for the kids to hear and even act out in a drama of their own is "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". However, in a class on love or forgiveness it is appropriate to use a story about something that Jesus, the Buddha or 'Abdu'l-Baha did in their lives. There is no room in a Baha'i children's class for theology or dogma - virtues are universal and as children learn about them they develop their spiritual faculties and lay the foundations of a noble and upright character.

Making colored eggs in the spring

These classes don't cost anything, they are meant to build community and bonds between children and families of all backgrounds and help strengthen the roots of Faith in society. If any parent would like to help out with the classes at any time, you are most welcome. All parents are welcome to stay for the class or drop off their child. If you don't find out what you want to know from this blog, please give me a call on the good, old-fashioned phone or talk to me if you see me at the school.

Here is a video of a Baha'i prayer called "Blessed Is the Spot" that I taught the kids (along with some actions) at a Baha'i Children's Class in Surrey.

"Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island,
and the meadow where mention of God hath been made
and His praise glorified." ~ Baha'u'llah