
“Sanskrit is a beautiful contextual language. It is called “Dev Bhasha” the language of the soul. Here, meanings of the words must come from the heart, from direct experience – dictionary meanings or static meanings have not much value. Meanings of the words vary depending on mind-set, time, location and culture. The words are made to expand the possibilities of the mind.”
― Amit Ray, Yoga The Science of Well-Being
Sanskrit is the root of almost all eastern and western languages, as close we can get to an essential language that contains divine concepts, a flawless system of grammar and gives access to the great eastern texts such as the Bhagvad Gita. In teaching Sanskrit at primary school, we hope to instil a love of languages in our children, engaging them to explore the histories of different cultures through a rich and diverse library of texts. Pupils will learn the basics of the language at primary level which we hope prepares them for learning new languages at secondary school.
It is very rewarding to see such young children enjoy and learn Sanskrit with natural inclination and enthusiasm.
We have begun with reciting the Sanskrit Vowels every class and they are learning to recognize them in written form as well. They will know half of the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabets by the end of the academic year. Click here for a song about the vowels and new sanskrit words that we are listening to at the moment.
They will learn Sanskrit numbers from 1 – 20 and a song of the numbers until 10. Click here for the words of the Numbers Song .
We will also learn shlokas/verses after the Christmas Holidays, which they will know how to recite on their own. Click here to see the Shloka List.
We also introduce a few new words and phrases every class. Click here for the Phrase and word list that your child would be familiar with.
Finally, they will learn the Sanskrit version of ‘Head, shoulders knees and toes’! The Sanskrit words for the Song is here.
Please support and encourage your child to revisit what they have learnt in class by being familiar with this material.
Year 1 and 2 are learning from their new book ‘Sanskrit is fun: Part 1’
This autumn term we are focusing on the Sanskrit vowels. We will also slowly be introducing the 5 alphabet groups/families.
Please refer to the following to help your child revise and support their learning of this fascinating new language.
These are the vowels:
They have also started on the different families of alphabets beginning with the throat family. The groups are named according to where the sound comes from in the mouth. the groups are as follows:
Year 1 are learning the following Shloka from the Brahma Samhita:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
Year 2 are learning the following shloka from the Bhagavad Gita:
maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī
Year 3 and 4 are learning from their new Sanskrit books called ‘Sanskrit is Fun: Part 2’.
Year 5 is learning from the next book in the series entitled ‘Sanskrit is Fun: Part 3’. They are focusing on the new rules of reading and writing in this book.
In the Autumn Term, all classes have been focusing on revising all the Vowels and the 5 different consonant groups. There are about 48 brand new letters that your child is learning and therefore regular revision and repetition is very important. Please reference the following during homework and for generally supporting their learning.
The vowels are:
The 5 different groups are named according to where the sound for the letters come from in the mouth. The different groups are as follows:
They have also learnt new Shlokas from chapter 12 of Bhagavad Gita. It refers to the qualities that Lord Sri Krishna advises us to cultivate for a good life.
adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ
maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī
santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī
yatātmā dṛḍha-niścayaḥ
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ
Year 6 have been working on perfecting the pronunciation and writing of the 48 new Alphabets (Vowels and Consonants) over the Autumn term. This was very important to help prepare them to start reading Sanskrit fluently.
The Alphabets/Consonant groups are here for your referral.
They have also learnt new Shlokas from chapter 12 of Bhagavad Gita. It refers to the qualities that Lord Sri Krishna advises us to cultivate for a good life.
adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ
maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī
santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī
yatātmā dṛḍha-niścayaḥ
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ