Yoga (Medho Vikasam Class-4)

Our yoga session on a cool Saturday afternoon was stimulating to one and all.
Mrs.Jyoti who enjoys an association of over 20 decades with yoga led the class
with expertise. Little did the kids know what an amazing experience this was
going to be. 

 
Before the actual demonstration of exercises Mrs.Jyoti talked about the
rich and fascinating art of Yoga. Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word Yug
meaning the integration of the body, spirit and mind.

Why should yoga be preferred over other forms of exercises?
Because this is the only exercise which brings together physical and mental
disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind.

How many exercises of Yoga should one learn?
Although there are 86,000 exercises in Yoga, 20 minutes of pranayama
( breathing exercises ) and  20 minutes of physical exercises ( Asanas ) should
be about enough for a normal person.

Is it important to do both Pranayama and Asanas?
Yes, Asanas are for the physical body and Pranayama is to increase lung capacity.

Why should kids do yoga?
It helps them improve their memory, develop focus, build muscle, increase their
height, reduce stress and anger,and even act on their hormones.
Some of the poses in Yoga like lions exercise are aimed at acting
on their hormones to make them courageous.

How should Yoga be done?
Yoga should be done on an empty stomach on a mat.

This was a summary of her talk. The structure is MedhoVikasam's classes is
defined. Video demonstrations follow the lectures. Mrs.Jyoti had
chosen vinyasa yoga postures for video demonstartion.
This held the kids in awe.
 
The fun part of the program was when the kids actually got to do the exercises
themselves. Mrs.Jyoti had them do Pranayama and asansas like Pavanamuktasan,
Tadasan, Padmasan, Sravangasan,Vajrasan, Ustrasan.
Simhasana ( Lions exercise ) stole the show.
Hasyasana ( Laughing exercise ) had the kids in splits.

Wishing you all a happy new year ahead!

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Math (Medho Vikasam Class-3)

MedhoVikasam's much-awaited third session featured Mrs.Kalpana
choosing Math for the topic .

In accordance with the standard procedure followed at MedhoVikasam
Mrs.Kalpana  gave a small lecture before getting on to a practical project.
She had the kids answer some of the questions like

What is Math ?
Who uses Math?
Their professional ambitions?

Mrs.Kalpana  then asked the students to reason out how Math would apply
in the careers they wanted to choose.

Pat came the replies  

"When I become a music teacher I need to count money for annual shows"
"If  I am an art teacher I would need to count the papers"
"As a marine biologist I count organisms I see in water" 
"I would need it to measure the  medicine doses when I grow up to be a doctor"

The youngest kid goes
"I want to be a grown up and as a grown up I need to know math"
 

   
The children in the audience were aged between four and nine.
Aren't they such thoughtful replies considering their age?
MedhoVikasam  personified!
  
This exercise led them to figure out that Math is universal.
Math is present in everyday life and the logic of Math is being used without us realizing so.

Mrs.Kalpana  had finger multiplication and money worksheets for the hands on project.

Finger Multiplication was the highlight of the day.
Due to time constraints we just took the nine table for demonstration.

Raise both the hands with the palms facing you. 
Remember the position in the multiplication table you are interested in.
Start counting from the left and drop that finger down. The dropped finger is the position
of the multiplication table. For example to get to the eight position you would
drop the eight finger (  COUNT HAS TO START FROM LEFT). The number
of fingers raised on the right side of the dropped finger gives the ones digit
of the result (in this case two ) , and the number of fingers raised on the left of the dropped finger gives the tens digit of the result  ( in this case seven ).  COOL!!


Since we had participants of varied ages  Mrs.Kalpana   had independent practice on the worksheets for counting coins and bills. Parent volunteers assisted the younger children who needed help.

The session concluded with yummy treats.

Our next class on December 8 introduces Yoga.
Adults could join us too.
Hope to see you all !!

 

Time Management (Medho Viksam Class-2)

Time Management----
This was our second class at MedhoVikasam on Oct 20, 2012. Oh! What an exciting topic to choose.
Time  Management is one of the most overlooked skills while growing up.
Shri RamaKrishna Dutta led the second class at MedhoVikasam to a very interactive session.

Shri Ramakrishna started the session by explaining the term "Time Management".
He defined it is as the process of allocating specific time for specific activities.
The kids then had an informal chat with Shri Ramakrishna about the times they were "tardy" to school,  the mornings they spent wailing because they couldn't find their favorite dress, the days they struggled to wake up in the morning.

This was followed by a presentation on the importance of time management and some tips to incorporate it.

Shri Ramakrishna had the kids fill in a questionnaire. This helped the participants find out the blind spots. Shri Ramakrishna then helped the students create a personalised routine chart which had 
a separate routine charted from wake up time to bed time for every single kid in the audience. He assured the kids that time management is a skill that can be mastered with practice. The parents  hoped that after this class they would have fewer grumpy mornings.

The session concluded with snacks and tea. The participants had questions even at this point of time. Shri. Ramakrishna was patient and enthusiastic in answering every child. Unfortunately, the session had to come to an end at 4.00 p.m, despite a volley of questions still coming from the audience (After all , this was a session on Time management ).

Here is a summary of some of his tips

1)  Have the kids wake up early.
2)  Let them set their own alarm.
3)  Have a routine chart set up in their rooms which has both morning and evening routine.
4)  Have them select their clothes and pack their bag the night before.
5)  Parents set an example at home. 


This class was a super hit with kids and adults too. We envisage seeing a session 2 on Time Management in the near future.

Our third class in on math skills. We would be talking on fostering a life long love for the subject.  Mark your calenders for the 17 th of  November. You don't want to regret missing this class.

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Medho Vikasam Inauguration & Class-1 (Photography)

MedhoVikasam classes kicked off with a wonderful start on the 15th of September 2012 at 2.30 pm.
The inaugural function commenced with the traditional lighting of lamp before Godess Saraswathi.

Goddess Saraswathi

Dr Geeta Madhavi Kala artistic director Telugu Vikasam,  led the students through some mellifluous songs invoking the blessings of the Lord. It was indeed a  joy to see the connection and association of Indian traditions in a foreign land.

Children Prayer

Shri   Rama Krishna Dutta    spoke about the purpose behind starting MedhoVikasam and  his interest to see the volunteer group  expand.  It was followed by the first Medho Vikasam class, Photography  by eminent photographer and blogger Sri C.B.Rao.

Photography Lecture by Sri C.B.Rao

It was amazing to see the energy and enthusiasm of kids through the whole program. 
As the function concluded with snacks enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

First Medho Vikasam Class

Parent Volunteer teachers  who would be handling  lessons in the following months respectively took feedback from every one on what they expected out of the next classes. Parent Volunteers Smt Padmini Dittakavi and  Smt Jyothi Suri intiated great help for the day. The session was ended with the felicitation of Smt& Sri C.B Rao garu by Dr Geeta.

 
Na chor haryam, Na cha raj haryam
Na bhratu bhajyam Na cha bharkari
Vyaye krute vardhart ev nityaam
Vidya dhanam sarva dhane pradhanam

No one can steal it, not authority can snatch,
Not divided in brothers, not heavy to carry,
As you consume or spend, it increases; as you share,
it expands,
Education (Vidhya) is the best wealth among all the wealth anyone can have.

We at MedhoVikasam would love to bring our talent pool and
share our knowledge with our progeny.
....................

Medho Vikasam

Medho Vikasam literally translates itself into enhancement of the brain. Run entirely by a group of parent volunteers and it aims at exposing children to various activities like art, music, computers, languages, creative writing, chess etc which are outside their school syllabus.

The whole idea is to share the skills that we parents have with all our children and to do this free of cost.

Classes are run from September through May on the third Saturday of every month, with
special camps in summer.

All our classes follow a set pattern. A small lecture with a video demonstration, followed by a hands on project. We also conclude our sessions with a small snack so that kids get some time
to interact and socialise.

We are looking to expand our group so that our children develop multiple interests  from our  talented  group and everyone gets a benefit free of cost.

Please join us on facebook.  http://www.facebook.com/groups/443089769035215

            
 This is called as Sahayam group and we hope to see you on our next session with your
 child . Please do consider sharing any special skill you have from cooking and knitting  to
 computers and robotics. 


Location: 897, Kifer Rd, Sunnyvale
Timings: Third Saturday of every month : 2.30 p.m. - 4.00 p.m

 p.s. : Join in Sahayam  group before attending the first class.