Class IV

Words and Statements highlighted in color are by the author of the Blog:

Words in GREEN= Grammar, syntax or spelling error

Words, phrases and sentences in PURPLE= Questionable and/or inaccurate statement (theology, philosophy, ethics, morality, scientific)

Statements in BLUE= Statements that SRCM (Chennai) does not seem to practice




Chapter I - God And Guru 89
God Is Everywhere 89

Chapter II - Healthy Living 91
Don’t Be A Litterbug! 91

Chapter III - Greetings 94
Greetings From Heart To Heart! 94

Chapter IV - Love 96
Love Is Caring And Sharing 96

Chapter V - Happiness 100
Happiness Is A State Of Mind 100

Chapter VI - Nature 102
Stop This Pollution 102

Chapter VII - Discipline 105
Self Discipline Is The Best Discipline 105

Chapter VIII - Work And Perseverance 108
When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going 108

Chapter IX - Time Management 111
Patience Pays 111

Chapter X - Courage 113
Be Courageous. Be A Leader 113
CHAPTER I - GOD AND GURU

GOD IS EVERYWHERE

Objectives
 Think of God being everywhere and in everything.
 To feel God’s presence in our hearts, we must keep our mind and heart pure.
 The guru is like our guardian. He helps us to grow into good human beings.

Introduction
The hand of the divine is seen in everything around us and He resides in everything that He has created. He takes residence in our hearts and this is where we have to seek him. This is possible when we remove negative thoughts from our minds and keep it pure. Only then can we feel His presence in our hearts. God has gifted us with this most precious gift of Human life and the best way to thank Him is to develop into good human beings.
The guru helps us by helping us to grow in the right way. A teacher is often a role model to emulate. Children especially, not only listen to their teachers but also imitate them in many ways. It becomes very important for the teacher to act as a good role model.

A way to begin
 Tell them the well-known story of Prahalad, the son of the Asura king Hiranyakashyap, who believed that God was everywhere and defied his father who wanted him to believe only in him. Hiranyakashyap tried in every way to make Prahalad give up his faith but instead it only increased it. In the end, Hiranyakashyap pointed at a pillar and asked his young son, "If he thought God was everywhere, would He be in that pillar too?" Yes, said the faithful Prahalad. At this, the angry father hit the pillar with all his might and to His amazement, God emerged from it in the form of a man with a lion’s head and to save His devotee, put an end to the arrogant Hiranyakashyap. (Hiranyakashyap was given a boon that a man or a beast would not kill him. Hence God had to assume the form of a man beast (Narasimha).
 Give them an example of a child who is gentle and loving and helps everyone. Compare this with another who is harsh and doesn’t miss a chance to scold or hurt others. Which of them must be feeling happy and good? Which of them must be feeling guilty and restless? Why?
 Have your friends hurt you? Have they apologized? How did it feel? Have you said sorry to others? Is it easy to admit your mistake and say sorry? How did you feel afterwards? Did you make up your mind not to repeat that mistake again?
 Through examples, tell them how feelings of love, kindness, purity and such allied feelings are an expression of the divine. They help us to feel closer to Him because we are doing what He wants us to do, to evolve into better human beings.
Story Time
Story 1 - A guru had a few disciples studying with him. The guru was very fond of one disciple and the others grew jealous of him. The guru decided to show them why he liked this particular disciple more. One day he called all of them and gave them a banana each and told them to eat it in such a place where God would not see them. The disciples looked around, found some hiding place and ate their bananas. The only one who did not eat the banana was the disciple whom the guru liked. When asked, he replied that he was unable to eat his fruit because he could find no place where God was not there!

Story 2 - Once a man called his sons and asked them whether they had done some good deed for God. The first one had given food to a poor family and the second one had helped a blind man. The third one said that he helped a man who was sleeping by the edge of a rock. He noticed that the man would have fallen into a deep gorge even if he had moved a little bit in his sleep. He ran to him, woke him up and saved his life. In fact this was the man who had robbed him of all his wealth. The father happily said that was the best thing anybody could have done. In helping his enemy, he had removed the hatred and now could feel God’s presence in his heart.

Story 3 - Lord Rama had many noble qualities, one of them being respect and love for his Guru or teacher. One-day sage Vishwamitra asked King Dasaratha to send Rama with him to kill the asuras who were disturbing his yagna. The king was aghast! But the king’s guru, Sage Vasishta advised him that when one listened to a guru of calibre, no harm would come. Rama and Lakshmana went with guru Vishwamitra to the forest where they helped him complete his yagna. They listened to the guru and learnt many things from him. Later they were taken to Mithila where a swayamvar was being held for King Janaka’s daughter, Sita. Whoever lifted a heavy bow could marry her. Many kings tried but failed. Vishwamitra told Rama to try. Everyone thought how could Rama, a slender boy, do what even mighty kings had not been able to achieve? But Rama did not hesitate or question his teacher. He bowed before him, took his blessings and with faith in his heart, went near the bow. To everyone’s amazement, he stringed the bow and married Sita. The guru had helped Rama to grow from a boy into a strong man and this was made possible because Rama had immense faith in his guru.

Points to Discuss
 Discuss the moral of the following short story—once all the sense organs of the body had a discussion among themselves as to which one of them was the most important. The ears, the eyes, the tongue, the nose and the skin stalked their claims. The breath, which is the life or the prana, was listening to all this quietly. Now it got up and said maybe it was time for it to leave the body. When the organs heard this, they suddenly realized who was the most important. Without the breath of life, they would cease to exist. God has gifted this Prana, which is the most important aspect of our life, to us.
 What is the best way to repay Him for this gift?
 There is a saying "As you sow, so you reap”. Discuss this. What will happen if instead of hurting others, you love others?
 Think about the relationship that Rama had with his guru. How did it help him?
 Do you want to be a teacher when you grow up? What qualities should you have?
 Can computers completely replace teachers? Discuss.

Activities
 Do you know why we celebrate 5th Sept. as Teachers’ day? How about giving a small gift to your teacher on this day? Do something with your hand. You can draw a picture or write a letter or you can make some small gift for your teacher. But remember this, it is not the gift itself that is important, it is the thought behind it! What is the best gift you can give to your teachers?
 Write the dialogues and act out one of the given stories in the class.



CHAPTER II - HEALTHY LIVING

DON’T BE A LITTERBUG!

Objectives
 Keep your immediate environment clean.
 Do not let garbage accumulate.
 Diseases spread due to unhygienic conditions.So keep clean and remain healthy.

Introduction
We, as citizens, lack civic awareness and cleanliness. This should not be the case with the next generation. In the classrooms, the first lessons in civic awareness can be given. If we do not keep our immediate environment clean, it snowballs into collection of garbage everywhere. We should enlist the help of students in keeping the classrooms and the school premises clean and then hopefully, this training will become a habit.

A way to begin
 For a dramatic effect, you could try this. Take a small object and gift-wrap it many times with plenty of paper. Take this packet to the class and unwrap it. Let the children comment on the excessive wastage of paper. Let them understand that if less paper was used there would be less garbage to dispose off.
 Talk to them about how all of us have to strive to keep our environment clean. If they ask what they, as small children, can do which the elders have not done, tell them to remember that every action of theirs, however small, has a positive effect and can make a big difference. Here is a list of things they can do—
 Let them keep their immediate environment clean and tidy by not littering things.
 Make sure, the garbage gets thrown only in the bin and not around it.
 Reduce the litter caused by plastic bags by carrying their own bags made of cloth.
 Find ways and means to use less paper. This will help to save trees.
 Not throw any waste on the road but carry it with them till they find a bin.
Tell them how keeping their own environment has a snowballing effect. It ultimately leads to the whole country getting a facelift and making them proud to be its citizens.

Story Time
Story 1 - The new ruler of the city thought too much money was being spent on the people who removed garbage and so he terminated their services. The garbage started piling up. The waste bins became full and started overflowing. Soon the pavements were full of garbage and there was no space for the pedestrians to walk and they began to use the roads. The vehicles on the roads had to slow down. Soon no vehicle could move on the roads. Very soon even walking became impossible and the people became prisoners in their own houses! The stink everywhere was overpowering. Rats that had a field day overran the city. People fell sick but they could not access medical help. Soon the city became a ghost city with no people! Does it sound like a story from Science Fiction? Actually it is quite a possibility. If it were not for the people who do the dirty job of removing garbage, this could happen anywhere. So, next time you see a worker who is doing the dirty job, don’t look down upon him, but feel grateful to him.

Story 2 - This is a real life story. About a hundred years ago hospitals were very dirty. The doctors touched wounds that were bleeding but did not bother to clean themselves. Most of the patients died but no one knew why. But one doctor, named Dr. Semmelweis wondered. He heard that some scientists had discovered that germs caused diseases. These germs travel from one person to another. The doctor saw how the patients were treated. Maybe the doctors transferred the germs! He decided to make them wash their hands with a germ killing soap before they touched another patient. Remember that at this time people thought that they became sick because God punished them. Not everybody was aware of the role of germs. The doctors and nurses did not want to wash their hands with a soap that made their hands rough and dry. The doctor did not give up though people called him names and even labeled him as a mad man. But there was a miracle! Suddenly the death rate came down drastically in this mad doctor’s ward. This was the beginning of a new set of rules for good health. Now you know that dirt can cause diseases. That is why you are told to keep your whole body, specially the nails, clean.

Story 3 (True fact) - A long time ago, thousands of people in London died due to Bubonic Plague, a disease spread by rats. The country was so horrified that it decided to eradicate this disease completely by enforcing stringent laws of cleanliness. In our own country, a few years back, hundreds died in Surat due to plague. Insanitary conditions helped rats to multiply in large numbers and the disease spread everywhere. Some remedial steps were taken but it is not enough. Still we have not woken up to the fact that health and hygiene go hand in hand.

Points to Discuss
 Do you know that all garbage is not the same? The things that had originally come from nature can go back to it as the earth absorbs them. The earth assimilates paper, things made of clay, cotton material and all the vegetable peel. But plastic remains the same and it does not disintegrate. Things made of plastic ultimately spoil the earth and choke it. Unless you remove them and recycle them, you cannot help in the proper disposal of garbage. Sort it into things that will not disintegrate (things made of plastic), things that can be recycled (paper and plastic) and things that are biodegradable (vegetable peels etc). Vegetable matter can be used to make very good manure.
 Give reasons why
 We should not litter things around.
 We should carry our own bags to the shop.
 We should not use too many plastic bags.
 We should not cut too many trees.
 If you are a resident of Chennai, you would have come across the name ‘EXNORA’ on the name boards at some street corners. Exnora is a voluntary organization that helps the residents of a particular street get rid of their garbage by employing their own workers. This helps them to keep their street clean at all times. Now Exnora also organizes programmes in schools where children participate in environmental awareness activities. Find out more about this organization. Are there such voluntary organizations in other cities as well?

Activities
 Learn a new word - Litterbug. It means a person who litters or strews around waste paper etc. Do not be a litterbug, keep your place clean and tidy. LITTERBUG is a big word. How many smaller words can you make using the letters in that word?


 Learn this popular rhyme
Bits of paper, bits of paper
Lying on the ground, lying on the ground
Make the room untidy
Pick them up, pick them up
 It was the day after Girija’s birthday party. Look at this collection of things that Girija’s mother was going to throw in the garbage can. Help Girija sort them out into biodegradable and non biodegradable before it gets thrown into the can.
Paper plates, plastic cups, leftover food, plastic spoons, wrapping papers, cardboard cartons, plastic bags, fruit peel, coconut shell, tin juice can, cardboard milk cartons.
 The slogan coined by environmentalists is- REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.
What does this mean to you?



CHAPTER III - GREETINGS

GREETINGS FROM HEART TO HEART!

Objectives
 Our hearts make the first contact with each other through greetings. Greetings help to make friends even among strangers.
 Greetings should be heartfelt and must come from the heart.
 We bow to the God who resides in other hearts when we bow and greet them.

Introduction
We communicate our feelings through greetings. It is not necessary to greet only with cards though they do come in handy. We can greet and show our respect, affection, concern and happiness in many other ways. When greetings come from the heart, they find an immediate response. Our aim is to link the hearts through greetings and bow to the divinity that resides in every heart.

A way to begin
 Greet the children in the Indian way and ask what is the reason behind the similarity between the Indian way of greeting and the way we join our palms together when we pray? Tell them that when we greet the Indian way, we are bowing to the divinity inside us. Now we may not be able to feel the divinity in the person before us (Just as we know that air is inside a balloon, though it is not visible.) but we can feel his goodness and love. When the heart of a person is filled with these divine qualities, we feel as if we are in the presence of God. So instead of just saying Namaste or Vanakkam, try to bow to the Godly feelings in the other person.
 Discuss why we greet others. One reason is we want to share our joy and happiness with others. We greet to congratulate others, to wish them luck, to wish them speedy recovery etc. Discuss greetings for special occasions like festivals, and anniversaries. Emphasise the need to greet in a heartfelt way since our hearts make the contact when we greet others. Remember that sincere greetings can turn strangers into friends.

Story Time
Story 1 - It was a bad day for Nitya at school. When the teacher asked a simple question, she gave such a silly answer that the whole class had burst out laughing and Nitya felt humiliated. She could not even eat and felt tired and hungry. It was her teacher who discovered that Nitya had fever. She was soon at home and in bed. When she woke up she felt better but when she remembered how she had made a fool of herself. She didn’t even feel like seeing her friends again. The next day Nitya couldn’t go to school. In the evening, imagine her surprise when she found her friends trooping in to wish her quick recovery. Some had made cards and sent them. They said they wanted her back soon!. When she came to the last card she burst out laughing—it showed Nitya giving a silly answer to the teacher and her friend had written, “ When are you coming back to give such stupid answers? We miss you!” Nitya felt on top of the world again!
Story 2 - Amit was lost in the fair and felt tears pricking his eyes. How was he going to find his parents in the big crowd? He stood bewildered not knowing what to do and where to go. He felt like breaking into loud sobs. He could not spot even one friendly face amongst the milling crowd. Dejected, he sat down on the ground. Then he heard a sweet voice calling out a greeting to him. “ Hello,” said a little girl who was not much older than him. She came and sat down next to him and said, “ Hello! Are you all right? Is there any problem? Can I help you?” Amit felt like hugging her. He felt so happy that there was somebody to help him. Amit told her about losing his parents and her father took him to the announcement counter. Soon Amit’s name was being announced all over the exhibition ground and a few minutes later he was in his father’s arms. Today, Amit is a very popular singer. When anybody asks him which is the sweetest voice he has heard, he says it was the girl’s voice in the exhibition ground that he had heard years ago. Nothing or nobody has ever equalled the greeting that had come from her heart!
Story 3 - The founder of Shri Ram Chandra Mission was affectionately called Babuji. Once a man well known for his misdeeds came to him asking for a meditation sitting and Babuji obliged. After he had left, some people asked Babuji how he could give a meditation sitting to such a person. The answer Babuji gave was typical of his depth of understanding. “ I didn’t look at the man. I looked at his heart and I found divinity there and so I gave him a Sitting,” he said.
Points to Discuss
 Discuss the various ways of greeting, verbal (face to face, telephone), written (letters, cards) physical (hugs, handshakes, touching others' feet, doing pranams) and by sending presents.
 Discuss how you feel
 When your friend calls out a hello to you with a wave and a smile.
 When you are sick and your friend comes home with flowers to see you.
 When you have fallen down and somebody helps you to get up and asks how you are.
 When your friend apologizes to you and says sorry for some mistake he had done.
 When you are in a strange and new place and somebody smiles at you.
 Tell the class about occasions when you have been greeted by strangers who later became your friends, for eg. your first day in school, when you had to travel alone etc.

Activities
 Make greeting cards for different occasions.
 Used greeting cards can be reused in innovative ways. Here are some suggestions.
 Cut pictures from the cards and reuse them to make new cards, decorate your books with them, make labels or use the pictures to make flaps for phone books or note pads.



CHAPTER IV - LOVE

LOVE IS CARING AND SHARING

Objectives
 We must learn to care for others.
 We are able to share our things with others when we care for them.
 The person who cares for others and shares his things is twice blessed.

Introduction
For young children who are still very possessive about their belongings, sharing takes a little longer to understand, though some are able to do this easily and naturally. When the attitude of caring is developed, sharing follows automatically. Often in the race to ‘finish’ the syllabus, the vital human qualities of love, caring and sharing take a back seat. All the more reason for us to consciously seek opportunities to develop these qualities in the classroom situations. It is never too early to understand that the receiver is, no doubt, blessed by the gift of love, but the giver is even more blessed!
A way to begin
 Talk to them about how a devastating earthquake hit the state of Gujarat and destroyed the life of thousands of people. Many collected money to help them. Some children in Delhi decided to collect the money that their parents would have spent on buying crackers for Deepavali and gave this to the Gujarat fund. Let the children talk about what they could do to help.
 Ask them to think of the statement—"The more you give, the more you will get". Has it happened in their case? Have they received more than what they had given?
 Sharing need not be only in things. You could share your time, energy and thoughts with others. For example :
 If you are stronger, help someone in moving and lifting things.
 If you are able to understand your lessons better, help someone who has difficulties.
 If you have good ideas about how to do something, share them with others.
 If you have the time, spend it in helping others.
 If you love animals, help in taking care of them.
 If you love children, play with them and make them happy!

Story Time
Story 1 - A Marathi folk Tale - Two sisters Ekki, who had one hair and Dokki, who had two hairs lived near a forest with their parents. Dokki was so proud of herself that she used to tease Ekki endlessly. One day Ekki ran away to the forest to get away from her sister. As she went deeper and deeper into the forest she heard a mehndi bush asking for water and an old cow asking for grass. Kind hearted Ekki sprinkled some water on the bush and fed some grass to the cow before untying its rope and setting it free. Then she found an old lady in a hut who was very happy to see Ekki. She asked her to have a bath and to wash her head with some special powder. Imagine Ekki’s surprise when she found beautiful silky tresses falling down her head after her bath. Happily she ran home to show her lovely hair to her family. Dokki felt so jealous of her that she decided to go to the old lady herself. She ran into the forest. The Mehndi bush called out to her to give it water, the old cow called out to her to give it some grass but Dokki didn’t bother and just ran on. When she found the old lady she asked Dokki to have a bath just as she had asked Ekki. But imagine Dokki’s dismay when she found that even her two hairs had vanished and she was completely bald! She had learnt her lesson and went home wiser.

Story 2 - Duryodhana wanted to know why everybody was praising the charity of Karna and not his. To show him the difference between the two, Krishna assumed the role of an old brahmin and went to Duryodhana and asked him for some firewood for the wedding of his daughter. Duryodhana asked him to come the next day but it rained so much that night that all the firewood became wet and he couldn’t give any dry wood to the brahmin. Then the brahmin went to Karna and made the same request. The firewood at his place was wet too. But Karna did not send him empty-handed. He looked around and found the wood used for building the ceiling. He took away the wood from there and gave it to the brahmin even though his roof was leaking now!

Story 3 - Nisha Narayanan is a ten-year-old girl who lives in Toronto, Canada. She lived in India for two years with her parents. Here is an article written by her about her stay in Delhi.
Helping the poor
What is it like to be poor? Not having all of your toys, going on without food for many days, having no home, and having to beg for money. Living on the streets, and waking up in the morning smelling gasoline. Walking bare foot on rough stones and taking no notice of all the scrapes you get. Waiting for something to happen, something that will change your life forever. Do we give a thought to the poor? Do we realise how lucky we are to have a nice house, nice clothes to wear and a comfortable bed to sleep in? Do we appreciate the food that is laid down on the table in front of us?
My father’s company sent our family for two years to New Delhi, the capital of India. There, I went to a wonderful school called the American Embassy School. It was a very, very, big school, and there were many different buildings there. To get to the music room or the theatre from my class, I had to walk a long way. It had 3 swimming pools.
On one day of every week after school, the school staff would open the gates for the poor people to come in and enjoy themselves. They took baths, played games with volunteers from high school, learnt new things, and they got medical attention. I often used to watch them. What amazed me was the smile on everybody’s faces--the volunteers, the children, and the adults. Everybody was having such a good time. I’ll bet you anything that when the volunteers first volunteered, some of them thought that volunteering for helping the poor was like a chore you did not have to do. They thought that they were just being nice. After a while on the job, it was obvious that they were having fun. They just loved it. A high school student playing soccer with a little poor kid. Another one holding his hand. It is wonderful to see something like that. If all the people in the world were like that, it would be the perfect place to live. That is something that could change a person’s life forever.
Points to Discuss
 Think about what Nisha had written about the children in her school volunteering to help others. Why did Nisha think they were happier than those who came in to enjoy the benefits of the school?
 What should you do in the following situations?
 You have just enough food for self and you notice that another child hasn’t brought any.
 You have just one pencil and the child next to you hasn’t brought his/her pencil.
 You have just a few minutes to spare and someone asks for your help.
 You are tired and are sitting on the only chair in the room when an elderly person walks in looking for a place to sit.
 You are in a hurry to reach your class when you see a child falling down.
 Talk about a time you had helped someone. How did it make you feel?

Activities
 Extend your love to elderly people at home. Sometimes they may feel lonely. So share your day’s activities with them.
 Look around you and see if you can help someone less fortunate than you. As a beginning, you could talk kindly to the people who work in your house instead of ordering them around, you could teach a poor child to read and write and you could read to children who are blind. How about spending your birthday in a different way? Instead of the usual birthday party, you and your friends could visit some place where you could be of help. Maybe share your ice cream with children who do not have the means to buy them!
 Read this poem and think about it.
If you were busy being kind,
Before you knew it, you would find,
You’d soon forget to think ‘t was true
That someone was unkind to you
 If you were busy being glad,
And cheering people who were sad,
Although your heart might ache a bit,
You’d soon forget to notice it.

CHAPTER V - HAPPINESS

HAPPINESS IS A STATE OF MIND

Objectives
 Jealousy, negative thoughts and desires are some things that make us unhappy.
 There is a difference between wants and needs.
 We must count our blessings and be happy with what we have.

Introduction
Often we are unhappy because we think we don’t have enough. We are jealous of others and want to have what they possess. Negative thoughts make us feel dejected.
The way to be happy is to count our blessings. Then we will find how God has given us so many things and how we should be grateful to Him for that. Contentment helps to get rid of our jealousy and be truly happy. We will also learn to differentiate between our wants and needs and not crave for unnecessary things.

A way to begin
 Ask them to make a list of Feelings and then list them under Positive and Negative feelings.
 Ask them how does it feel when they have positive thoughts. Do they feel the same happiness when they have negative thoughts like anger and jealousy? Is it good to have these feelings? What should they do to get rid of them? (fill their heart with love)
 It does not take much to make one happy. Ask them whether they have noticed how very young children are happy to play with the container in which an expensive gift has come rather than with the gift itself. Have they felt that way too sometimes? Why is it so? What does this teach us?
 There are many things we want to have. But how many of these are essential things without which we cannot live and how many are things, which we want to just possess? Make a list of things under the headings ‘I need these things’ and ‘ I want these things but I can do without them’
 Ask them to sit quietly and think of the many things that the God has given us. What is the best way to thank Him?

Story Time
Story 1 - Once a fisherman caught a fish after waiting for a long time. As he was about to put it in his bag, the fish started to speak. It begged him to let it go and in return it promised to give him whatever he wanted. The fisherman took pity on it and let it go without asking for anything. He was content with what he had. Not so his wife. When she knew about the fish she scolded her husband and asked him to go back and ask the fish for a house and servants just like the rich neighbour. The fisherman asked the fish and wish was granted. But the wife did not stop with that. Once she became rich, she wanted power, and wanted to be the Mayor. One day she saw the queen going on the road and people bowing to her and she wanted to be the queen herself. The poor fisherman had to go and beg the fish each time. One morning the wife was sleeping when the sun’s rays fell on her face and woke her. It angered her so much that she wanted to become God so that she could order the sun! When the fisherman went with this foolish request, the fish was so angry that it took back everything it had given and the poor fisherman found himself back in his old hut.

Story 2 - Pandora’s box –this is a Greek mythological story. When the world was created, it was a very happy place with no sorrow and people were pure and good. Then the Gods created a beautiful and graceful girl whom they called Pandora and gave her a locked box and told her to keep it very safe and never to open it. In the beginning Pandora did as she was told. But as time went by, she became more and more curious and one day, very slowly and cautiously she opened it just a little bit. But the lid just flew open and out came the devils Gods had locked inside—anger and jealousy, sorrow and misery, greed and hatred! Pandora could do nothing; she just watched in horror the damage she had done. The world was never the same again. It had become a very unhappy place. How is the story relevant to us? The devils that Pandora released are always trying to enter our hearts and once we give them a place, we can never be happy.

Story 3 - (From Panchtantra) Once four friends decided to travel to distant lands to seek their fortune. On the way they met an ascetic. They sought his blessings and he gave them each a feather. He told them that at whichever place the feather fell, they would find a treasure if they dug at that place. Happily they set out. Soon, one man’s feather fell on the ground. They dug at that place and found a pot full of copper coins. The man said that he was happy with what he had got and did not want to go any further. Sometime later the second man’s feather fell down. When he dug, he found silver under the ground. He also decided to stay on with whatever he had got. He asked his friends to stay on but they wanted to go further. Soon, the third man found gold. Now he decided to stay there and told the fourth to stay and share the gold with him. But the fourth man was greedy and wanted to go further. He thought he would find something even more precious. He walked on and on and reached a desert. The hot sun made him very thirsty and he kept wandering around looking for precious water. He saw a man with a big wheel rotating on his head and asked him for water. No sooner had he said this, he found the same wheel whirling on his head now! Bewildered, he asked what had happened. The man explained that it was the punishment for having been greedy. He had also come there in greed, searching for something more precious than gold and this wheel which was on the head of another man had come on to him. Now he was free, as he had found another person as greedy as him!
The story ends with the fourth man still with the wheel rotating on his head!
Points to Discuss
 Why was the fisherman’s wife never happy? Was she right in expecting more?
 Which of the following might have escaped from Pandora’s box?
Peace, anger, kindness, jealousy, love, selfishness, hatred, poverty, hunger, honesty, unselfishness, laughter
Think of the 7 things in the given list that did not come out of the box. What would have been the result if these things had escaped?
 Buddha was a prince who lived a long time ago. The misery and unhappiness he saw around him troubled him. He gave up his princely life to meditate and find out the cause for unhappiness. He found out that our desires make us unhappy. If we give up our desires we can be content and happy. Do you agree with this?

Activities
 Draw some pictures to illustrate the stories.
 Dramatise one of the stories. Write your own dialogues.
 Play a game. A student has to say I want or I need followed by some articles. As long as he names the right things, he is in the game. As soon as he mentions something wrong, he quits the game.
 Enact the following situations. How will you react? How will you give it a happy ending?
 You go to the shop with your parents. You like some toy there and ask your parents to buy it for you. They tell you that it is too expensive and they cannot afford it.
 You want to go to a theatre and watch a movie but your parents take you to a park.
 Your friend shows off his latest fancy watch and brags about it.
 Your sister has accidentally broken your favorite toy car.



CHAPTER VI - NATURE

STOP THIS POLLUTION

Objectives
 Pollution has increased manifold over the years. It is causing destructive changes in the environment and this affects every one of us.
 Collective action is necessary to stop pollution.
 We should not destroy what God has given us.


Introduction
Over the last two or three centuries, an explosion in human population coupled with rapid technological progress has resulted in destruction, the delicate balance in nature. Though resources are available in plenty, man in his greed and selfishness has depleted these without thinking about its repercussions.Thus a crisis is fast approaching. Growing pollution is threatening mankind itself.
Children can contribute to putting a stop to this rapidly deteriorating state by being aware of the dangers of pollution, its causes and how to reduce them. Though most of the theory part is being taught as part of science, the human angle to it, the way it affects individuals, can be discussed in the value education classes. God has given us the privilege to live in this wonderful planet. We, as temporary residents here, must take care to see that we do not spoil or destroy it. We should make this planet, this gift of God, a better place to live in. If we cannot do that effectively, at least let’s not make it worse.

A way to begin
 Visualize this—You want to select a very good gift for a friend. So you take a lot of trouble -- go to many shops, spends many hours and find a wonderful book with beautiful illustrations. It is very expensive, but you buy it because you love your friend. You give it to him hoping that he will enjoy going through the book. The next time you go to his place, you look for the book. You find it—but in the rubbish bin! Its pages are torn, the pictures disfigured and the whole book is in tatters! How will you feel? Think. Are we not treating this earth, this wonderful gift that God has given us, in the same manner?
 The earth has become so polluted that in every field its destructive hand is felt. But many of us have no other choice but to live with it. As an example, take a glass of water and put some mud, chalk powder, a few drops of ink and some dead insects in it and ask them if they would drink that water. Then tell them how many people in our country have to be content with polluted water like this. (The only difference is that sometimes the pollutants are not as clearly visible). Tell the children how our rivers have got totally polluted now. Cite the case of river Ganga and talk to them about Project Ganga and tell them how many problems it faces. Discuss ways by which children add to this pollution and how they could reduce that.
 Let them realize the value of SILENCE. Make them sit quietly and listen to all the sounds nearby. Let them find out how silence rejuvenates them.
 Talk about the more serious problem of pollution of the mind and the importance of keeping it clean. Discuss the role of the media and how it affects one’s state of mind.



Story Time
True Fact 1 - This is a true story. On 29 June 1974, fishermen in UP noticed that, Gori, a small rivulet that joined the river Gomti, had suddenly turned black. Soon people in Lucknow saw that the river Gomti had become black too. It was discovered that a sugar factory near the river had discharged huge amounts of untreated effluents into the river. That had flown down the river. The people could not use that water at all and the city went dry. All the fish in the river died. The loss at that time was estimated to be Rs. 5,50,000. Twelve years later just as the fish population in the river had grown, the same thing happened again. When this disaster happened, the fish had just laid their eggs. So the fish at that time plus the future generation was entirely wiped out.

Fact 2 - In December 1984, the worst industrial disaster in the world occurred in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, when the deadly chemical methyl isocynate leaked out of a storage tank in the Union Carbide pesticide factory. More than 2,500 in the city died and thousands got sick due to the exposure to this poisonous gas. The full impact of this disaster is yet to be gauged, as no one knows what will be the long-term consequences of this exposure to the fumes.

Fact 3 - Thousands of people in our country are becoming deaf due to noise pollution. It is not just the workers who have to work with noisy machines, but ordinary citizens like us too have felt the impact of increasing noise levels. Many are having serious problems with their eyes due to the enormous pollution in the air. Talk about how pollution in every field has made life so difficult to live.

Points to Discuss
 It is not adults alone who cause pollution, even children do it. How? ( by keeping their surroundings dirty, by throwing things in water which is to be used by others, causing noise pollution, by using too many things made of non biodegradable stuff like plastic, by insisting on going by car to some place etc.).
 How can you help in reducing pollution? Have a discussion on the following:
 Keep your immediate environment clean.
 Before the waste matter is thrown outside, sort the garbage into bio degradable and not degradable and make sure the garbage does not end up littering the street.
 Do not add to the junk. Do not use too much of anything, especially plastic things.
 Help in reducing noise pollution. What must you do or not do for this? (Keep the volume of the TV and stereo low for a start).
 Help in reducing air pollution (Keep the vehicles in a good condition, use carpools).



Activities
Make posters with the following sayings –
 Dirt and disease go together.
 Don’t shout! We are not deaf yet!
 Don’t choke Mother Earth. She is the only one we have.
 Live and let live. Don’t pollute.
 Yes, we want to reach the stars. But, first we want to SEE them!
 Make a list of pollution you see around you.
 Complete this crossword (prepare a crossword on pollution)
 Give reason why
 we should not litter things around.
 we should carry our own bags to the shop.
 we should not use too many plastic bags.
 we should not cut too many trees.



CHAPTER VII - DISCIPLINE

SELF DISCIPLINE IS THE BEST DISCIPLINE

Objectives
 Will power helps us to develop discipline.
 Self discipline is the best form of discipline.
 Discipline gives us freedom.

Introduction
Self-discipline yields better results than discipline imposed from outside. When discipline comes from within, it helps in the development of character. The success stories of famous people indicate how self-discipline helped them rise up in their lives.
Freedom and discipline are inter-linked. The more discipline one has, the more freedom it gives him to attend to other things in life.

A way to begin
Tell them a story about an imaginary country which was very rich in its natural resources but the people were lazy and not disciplined. So they remained poor. But they did nothing to improve themselves, as they did not want to work. A new ruler came to power. He decided to impose many rules and regulations and punished all those who did not obey the rules. In the beginning the people did not like this discipline, as they could not do whatever they wanted to. But slowly they saw how good their lives were getting. The city was clean as nobody could dirty it. Things happened faster as there were orderly lines. There were no accidents, as every one had to drive carefully. In a while, all of them became disciplined by themselves as they realised that only discipline could guarantee good living. This may be an imaginary story but there are countries in the world where there is very great discipline. In Singapore one can be fined heavily if one threw even a chocolate wrapper on the ground. As a result, it is one of the cleanest countries. In USA if you did not follow traffic rules, you could be fined. Three offences and you can even lose your license. As a result there is good discipline on the roads. Many such examples can be given.
That was an example of discipline, which started as imposed discipline but ended as an inner, self-discipline because people found how beneficial it was to be disciplined. Which is better? Self-discipline or imposed discipline? Discuss why.
 Look at the rules given below and check to see how many of them you follow:
 Do you get up on your own, early in the morning?
 Do you avoid eating junk food even when you are on your own?
 Do you tell yourself, you will not watch TV till you finish your work?
 Do you limit your playtime yourself when there is work to be done?
 Do you keep things in their place without anyone telling you to?
 Do you remain honest even if no one is watching?

Story Time
Story 1 - The young boy Milka Singh, was a natural runner. He could run miles without getting tired and he could run fast. His teachers in school predicted that one-day he would even win the Olympic medal. He came first in the school races but one-day he lost to another boy and he was very upset. His coach called him and told him that he was losing because he was not practising enough. The boy decided to improve himself. From the next day onwards, he got up very early in the morning even though he liked to sleep late. Without anybody telling him to, he started to run for hours on end. He avoided food, which he should not eat, slept early and got up early and concentrated wholly on his improving his skill. Soon he became the fastest runner in India.
It is not just in athletics but in every field, if you want to do better, you have to discipline yourself and do the things that will help you to win. You cannot win if you depend on others to tell you what to do.

Story 2 - A man was marooned on an island for a year before he was picked up. He was hale and healthy and when asked for the secret he said one word -- Discipline. He said that he disciplined himself to a life where he had to do certain things and he did them regularly everyday. This kept him so busy that he had no time to think about his condition and that kept him sane and happy!

Story 3 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin were the first men on the moon. They had to undergo rigorous training. When they travelled on the rocket, they had very little freedom to do what they wanted. They had to obey every single thing the ground control asked them to. But no one was as free as they were as they got away from the earth and reached the moon itself! This is how discipline and freedom are inter-linked. A person who is walking has the freedom to go in any direction he pleases. When he travels by car, his freedom gets a little restricted, as he has to obey the rules of the road. When he travels by air, he has to be more disciplined though it gives him more freedom. And one who travels by the rocket has the most freedom but the most discipline too!

Points to Discuss
 Nature works under a law. Seasons follow each other. The spinning of the earth does not stop even for a minute. Things happen in an orderly manner because the rules are obeyed. Can you imagine what will happen if the Earth stopped spinning even for a minute?

Activities
 Imagine yourself as the Principal of the school for a day. What rules will you impose? Which ones will you get rid of? Give a talk on this topic.
 Improvise a game with its own set of rules.
 Write a few sentences on what your ambition in life is and how you will work towards achieving it.
 Have a debate on the following topics :
 Which is better-- self-discipline or imposed discipline?
 What helps us to develop discipline -- will power or punishment?
 Does discipline give us freedom or does it restrict us?



CHAPTER VIII - WORK AND PERSEVERANCE

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING

Objectives
 Be proud of the work you do.
 Set high standards for yourself and do not be satisfied with low quality work.
 Be persistent and not give up when there are obstacles and things become difficult.

Introduction
For young children even small difficulties may get magnified into big problems. To encourage them gain confidence, stories of people who surmounted obstacles with will power, persistence and hard work should be told. These role models may inspire them to set up high goals for themselves. It is important to stay focussed and keep working when one is facing difficulties. Help them to see the obstacles and difficulties as challenges that they should look forward to conquering. Encourage them to talk about the challenges they have had to face.

A way to begin
 To instil dignity of labour, assign work like cleaning the blackboard, sweeping the classroom, picking up rubbish and throwing it in the waste bin, collecting notebooks etc. to the children. Remember to praise them when the job has been done well. Make the children feel pride in their job, however menial it is. It always helps to pay attention to the work (the room looks so clean!) rather than the worker, (you have cleaned well!) Tell them how Birbal, the famous courtier of King Akbar, started work in the cow shed. He did his job so well that he was given work in the library. He caught the attention of the emperor by his diligent work and intelligence and ended up as his prized courtier.
 Ask the children what they want to do in life - Do they have a goal? Do they want to join IIT, become a doctor or a cricketeer? What must they do to achieve their goal? Is it enough if they are smart and intelligent? Do they have the desire to work hard? Do they feel motivated? They must WANT to do well. Then they will willingly work hard and do their best.
 More important goals are to develop into a good, loving and caring human being, overcoming undesirable qualities like jealousy, anger etc. Let them not look down upon goals such as becoming a good parent and a homemaker.
 Bring in the importance of prayer and meditation in achieving their goals. Train them to sit in quiet prayerful meditation for a short while everyday.


Story Time
Story 1 - Helen Keller was born in 1880. When she was 19 months old, due to illness, she became deaf and blind. Into this dark and silent world came her teacher, Anne Sullivan. In the beginning Helen refused to learn anything from her. One day the teacher made Helen touch water and at the same time traced the letters on her hand. Suddenly, Helen made the connection between what was written on her palm and what she was touching. This was the beginning of an endless journey of discovery for her. She learnt to make sounds by touching the lips and throat of the speaker. With undaunted effort she taught herself to read, write and speak. She had to work very hard but she never gave up. Her story is an example for not only the handicapped but for all of us.

Story 2 - Madam Marie Curie, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Radium, was born in Poland. Her parents were not very rich but they gave their children good education. Marie studied well and married Professor Curie whom she met in the university. Both the Curies shared a passionate enthusiasm for research and a passionate dislike for fame and fortune. They had found out that there were some unknown radioactive elements which were there along with a known element, Uranium, but how to isolate it? All that they could afford was the residue after the extraction of Uranium. In an icy cold shed, because they did not even have a lab, they kept burning the residue for four long years. They forgot to eat and sleep on many occasions and worked like labourers, inhaling the poisonous fumes, before they could present the world with the wonder element, Radium.

Story 3 - Kutraleeswaran, the young swimming champion, comes from a middle class family in Chennai. When he was very young, his father took him for some swimming lessons. He was so good that he was given special training. With grit and determination he practised and became a good long distance swimmer. Once he tried to swim the Palk straits between India and Sri Lanka. He was only 8 years old at that time. It took more time than he imagined and it got dark. Still he swam without stopping and created a record. Find out the names of some more child achievers like this who can inspire the children to do their best with perseverance.

Points to Discuss
 What jobs do you find difficult to do? What are some difficulties you have in a particular job? Let the children in the class offer practical solutions.
 Here is another way to tackle the problem
 Stating the difficult task or the difficulties in a task.
 Dividing the task into smaller components.
 Solving the components one by one.
 Resulting in solving the problem.
 Think whether you did the right thing in the following situations:
 You have to learn decimals but you find it very hard. You tell yourself you can’t do it and start watching TV.
 You have an important test the next day. Instead of doing your work, you postpone studying till the end and when you sit to do it, the lights go off!
 Your father tells you to learn to polish your shoes yourself. You don’t want to do it and do a sloppy job of it

Activities
 Divide the class into groups. Let each group enact or mime the story of a person who overcame obstacles to reach his goal (one person reads out the episode and others show silently what is being read).
 Choose a student to run the race and reach the goal at the other end of the room. Let some other children stand in the way as obstacles. To make it more interesting blindfold the student. Now make him go through the room overcoming the obstacles in the way. Discuss highlighting how the obstacles were overcome. The same attitude should be there in life too.
 Read this poem--Look Up To The Sky
Look up to the sky, when all you see is rain
But when the clouds have blown away, the sky is blue again.
So when you're lonely and afraid
And life is hard to understand, remember
Happiness is waiting near
And peace will take you by the hand.
Look up to the hills, they seem to touch the sky
But when at last you reach the top, they aren't so very high.
Look across the fields, the earth is bare and cold
But when the summer comes, the corn will turn the fields to gold.
Look into the dark, the night hides everything
But then at last the dawn appears and birds begin to sing.



CHAPTER IX - TIME MANAGEMENT

PATIENCE PAYS

Objectives
 Learn to use the time properly without wasting it in useless activities.
 Be patient. Learn to wait for things to happen.

Introduction
One of the important lessons to learn is that we should not fritter away time in useless activities. People who succeed are those who don’t let time slip by but learn to use every minute of it profitably.
One has to learn to be patient. Many things happen at their own time, so there is no point in losing patience. Work done in a hurry, without patience is never done well.

A way to begin
Take a beaker, some stones, sand and water to the class. First put the stones in the beaker and ask the children if it was full. Now put in as much sand as can go between the stones. Again ask the same question. Lastly pour in the water and show how something, which appears to be full, can take in more things. This is the same with our time also- we may feel we don’t have any time but it is always possible to squeeze in something more. This example can also be used to illustrate how we must take care of important things first. If the beaker had been filled with water, it would not be possible to put in anything more.
Ask the children how they spend their time. Do they have a timetable of activities to do in a day? Do they follow it? Is it possible for them to do something more? This is the time in their life when they can learn many more things and widen their horizon.
Tell them--Don’t they feel happy when a gift they have given is used well? If we take Time as a gift from God, should we not do our best to utilize it to the maximum?

Story Time
Story 1 - It was a new experience for Arun, who had come from a small place, to be in Mumbai. He found that he had to travel nearly an hour to reach his college. He said he didn’t have any time to study as the travel took so much time. His uncle told him he was very lucky, he could at least sit in the train. He told him to look at his fellow passengers and see what they were doing. Arun was surprised to see how the travellers used the time. Some students were reading their textbooks, some were working with their files, some were sewing and some were even chopping vegetables! Arun had learnt his lesson. From the next day he started looking forward to going by train.
Story 2 - The King of Puri wanted to build a temple and he wanted the sculptors to make an image that would be incomparable. Many came with their work but the king was not satisfied. One day a sculptor came to the king and convinced him that he would do such work that no one would be able to find a parallel to it. He putforth one condition. He should be given a room where he would work but no one should disturb him. When the work was over he would come out himself. The king readily agreed. The man shut himself inside the room. Days went by but there was no sign of any work being done. The king knew the man was still inside as it was well guarded.
The king was getting impatient. One day he broke open the door to see what was happening. To his surprise, he found that the room was empty! He could see three exquisite statues but they had no arms and legs. As he stood perplexed, he heard a voice. “ O, King, why were you not patient? Why did you break your promise? Now these statues will never be completed.”
The king realised that God himself had come as the sculptor. Even today we can see the incomplete statues of Puri Jagannath in the Puri temple.

Points to Discuss
 A person who is patient is calm, cool-headed, does not get angry or upset while waiting and uses his time profitably. What kind of a person are you? Do you get angry and impatient when you have to wait for something? If you learn to use your time profitably, then you will not even know how the time passes! Look at the following examples and see how the people are using the waiting time profitably. Think of more examples.
 Rahul’s teacher is delayed in coming to the class. Rahul has to paste some pictures in the project file and uses the time to do it.
 Arvind’s family is at the station waiting for the train, which is late. His father uses the time to teach his children how to use the Railway timetable.
 There is a long line at the milk booth. Sita uses the time to remember her Multiplication table.
 Lakshmi’s mother knits or sews while watching TV.
 Her father does not wait for the bus. He walks to the office uses this time to do his daily exercise

Activities
 Write and act out a play about a person who is very impatient. Think of some funny situations.
 Look around you when you are travelling or standing in queue waiting for something. How many people stand with a bored expression? How many are just talking away? How many are reading a good book or the newspaper? What would YOU do?
Sit quietly with your eyes closed for a few minutes. In the beginning this may be difficult to do but with practice you will be able to sit quietly in a meditative mood with patience. This exercise helps you to develop inner calm and peace.


CHAPTER X - COURAGE

BE COURAGEOUS, BE A LEADER

Objectives
 Courage helps us to explore and reach out and learn new things. It helps us to progress and evolve.
 Fear cannot be overcome by running away from it but by facing it and overcoming it.

Introduction
It takes courage to venture into the unknown. Those who are brave discover new things, find new places or break away from the old path to establish a new order. They meet obstacles and oppositions with courage and faith. One does not have to do heroic things to be called brave. Even in our daily life we often need courage to overcome opposition to do what we believe in. We need courage to overcome our fears. Fear of the unknown, of consequences and negative thoughts are barriers to our progress. If we try to run away from fears, they grow bigger and it will be difficult to get rid of them.

A way to begin
Ask them how they felt when they went to any new place (even their new class) or when they had to face some fearful situations. What bodily changes took place? (Heart beating fast, face becoming pale etc.) How would they have felt if they had somebody with them? Would they have felt stronger and less afraid? Tell them to think that their friend, God was there with them, as an invisible presence. This will make them feel courageous at all times.
Let them think of people who need a lot of courage (soldiers, war photographers, policemen, doctors etc. let the children expand the list) Would there be any progress if everybody gave up when they had to face some fearful situations? Think about what gave them courage.

Story Time
Story 1 - This is the story of two men who initiated a silent revolution in the field of religion and spirituality.
Both men shared a few things—their name, Ramchandra, both belonged to the state of Uttar Pradesh in India and both had faith in God realisation through meditation. The elder Ramachandra(Lalaji) who hailed from Fatehgarh had rediscovered and modified the old Raja Yoga system of meditation. This was a simple but effective system of meditation, which led one to God realization. He believed that meditation could be done by anyone who was willing to try it and is above 18 years of age. He found an ardent disciple in Ramachandra(Babuji) who came from Shahjahanpur. He taught his disciple how through this method of meditation he could evolve. When his guru passed away, Babuji himself became a guru. He wanted to spread far and wide what he had learnt from his guru and started an organisation in his Guruji’s name and called it Shri Ram Chandra Mission. He gave the name Sahaj Marg to this system of meditation. In this system there are no religious practices and no rituals. Many people were skeptical and in the beginning and there were only a few who wanted to break away from their traditional practices. But Babuji, as Ramchandra was known by then, did not give up what he had started. With immense courage, which came from total faith in his Master, Babuji travelled all over the world spreading his Master’s message. Slowly, the organisation became bigger and bigger as more people realised how good the system is. Today it is one of the leading spiritual organisations in the world.

Story 2 - Stories of fearless explorers like Megallan, Columbus etc. who bravely went where others had not stepped before.

Story 3 - Shalu was afraid of water. She would sit on the riverbed and watch her friends swim but she herself would not even go near the water, she was so scared of it! One day she was early at the meeting place and sat down to wait for her friends. She looked around and saw a boy playing alone near the water. His parents were a little distance away, talking to someone. As she watched, the child waded into the river. There was too much water and he started to drown. Soon only his head could be seen above the water. Shalu watched horror struck. Without even being aware of it, she plunged into the river. Somehow at that time she didn’t think of her fears or of her inability to swim. She caught hold of the boy and pulled him to safety. Only later did she realise how she had not been scared of water at all!

Points to Discuss

 Talk about things that frighten you and then ask the children about their fears. Some fears may sound silly to others but are real to the person who has them. Try not to make fun of others who are afraid of somethings. Discuss how these fears can be removed.
 Talk about heroes and heroines and martyrs who have died for a noble cause.
 Talk about common people like the handicapped, poor or under-privilegd ones, who have to overcome obstacles with courage.


Activities

 Talk to older people to find out about the changes in the society. Can they talk about a person who was courageous enough to go against the trend and bring in some changes?
 Find out the names of children who got awards for bravery this year. What did they do to win the award?

Learn this prayer

Dear God, give us courage
Courage to go on in difficulty
Courage to face all our problems with cheerfulness.
Courage to stand up for what is right
Courage to be true to our beliefs
At all times when we need that extra courage
Dear God, grant us your help



If we had no winter,
the spring would not be so pleasant.
If we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome.
If you want the rainbow,
you have to put up with the rain.
Rainbows are beautiful, it takes
both rain and sunshine to create one.
It's the same with life.
In most lives there are dark and bright spots;
there's joy and sorrow.
The few people who have never known adversity
invariably don't have lives that are
as rich and satisfying as those who have.
If you can handle it, adversity makes you stronger.
It also makes you a kinder and more empathetic person.
At the end of a life without adversity,
it's hard to find a rainbow.