"Thoughts are universally, not individually, rooted." -Paramhansa Yogananda Often in class, when we are "brain-storming," or "brain-gardening," as some prefer to say, we practice a fun technique I adapted from a story of the life of a well known Bengali singer/saint named, Lalon (c. 1774–1890). The story goes, as it was told to me, when … Continue reading Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
The idea of a new model for education called "How to Live Schools" was founded by Paramhansa Yogananda before he came to the west. The picture above, shows some of the students in the Ranchi School founded by Yogananda. The Ananda Living Wisdom School is the next generation of Yogananda's "How to Live" education. It … Continue reading How To Live Schools
Today in Art Class... "This painting is going to take sooooo looooong to finish!" - Student "Why?" - Teacher "Because, up there, at the top, I'm going to paint the whole universe." - Student
At the end of the day the class came in from P.E.. More than half the class was voicing their frustration about the soccer game they had just played. Someone said that the teacher was not tuning in to what was happening on the field and did not give them enough choice in PE. Everyone … Continue reading Ask For What You Want
For me, asking Divine Mother, God, or Spirit, for inspiration is a bit like calling Her up on the phone. Sometimes She answers immediately, and sometimes you get Her voice mail. This particular month, I got Her voicemail and she answered me, little by little, throughout the month in very special ways. In my 2nd, … Continue reading Adventures in Education for Life: Gratitude
Calmly Active, Actively Calm: Creating a Calm, Centered Classroom.
Guiding children to a place of calm focus, we can dive deeply with them into joyful academic learning and experiences that develop maturity, build character, and prepare them for their own set of unique challenges which they will meet in the years to come. "Spiritual education is training people for life. By teaching children kindness, … Continue reading Calmly Active, Actively Calm: Creating a Calm, Centered Classroom
I loved this post so much from one of our sister schools in Italy and identified with it completely. Enjoy!…
This year in my 2nd grade class came 3 new kids, that doubled the size of the class. Two of them came from two different international schools, one from Milan and another from Assisi. Both had many emotional troubles, partly in my opinion due to the intellectual approach they had. Feelings were ignored and out of the life of the kids. L_____ is probably dyslexic and the parents said that last year he lost completely his self-esteem and the ability to connect with his strengths. In the previous school, he spent long days doing nothing, isolated, the teachers labeled him as autistic, with no connection with friends and teachers. When our first week of school was over (5 days) I received a letter from the parents that produced in me tears of joy. They said: L_____ is completely changed, he is happy! He tells every detail of the…
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Well... not quite a first week, but a first three days. I managed to snap a couple of shots. Some of our new classes this semester are: Peace for Warriors, taught by Gopal Sims. Gopal is an Ananda Yoga teacher and the founder of the “Peace for Warriors” program. He holds a seventh degree black belt in … Continue reading 1st Glimpse
An Education for life Classroom 