Bal-Vihar program at the Hindu Temple of Iowa is a Value Based Education program promoting Indian Values and Good Mannerisms in kids 5 to 15.
This program is based on the syllabus developed by Chinmaya Mission of Chicago.

The goal of this program is to instill moral values in children to make them individuals who are not just successful in academics, sports or music but also have morality that make their successes in life more fulfilling for them as well as for their family and the society.

We are making many changes to the program this year based on numerous feedbacks.

• 5-minute meditation to promote concentration
• Weekly award for “Bal-Vihar Kid of the Week” to encourage active participation
• Parents participation and feedback once every 2-weeks
• Temple Aarti to follow Bal-Vihar in timely manner
 

Start – Invocation prayers followed by 5-minutes of meditation
Main – 45-minutes of moral teachings. These include moral stories, role models, good manners, shlokas, festival specials etc.
End of class – Prayer & pledge
Finally – Aarti at the main Temple
 

Timings – 11 AM to 12 PM (with Aarti, the program ends around 12:10 PM)
Day – Every Sunday starting Sep 7th ‘08 and ending in May 2009 (total about 9 months)
Fees - $50 for first child, $25 for subsequent child. This fee includes cost of books, stationery and in-class awards for the year.
 

Currently Dr. Prasad, Mrs. Praveena Chander and Sanjay Srivastava have volunteered to conduct the weekly classes.
If you are interested in volunteering as teacher or as general help, please drop your name to any of the above mentioned volunteers.

Following the huge success of academic competitions in 2007, this year’s competitions will start around Thanksgiving and culminate with an award ceremony coinciding with the Indian Republic Day 2009.
See the details of the competition in the attached flyer.