What is Balavihar?
In Balavihar, the rich cultural heritage of India, including its teachings on moral values, is taught to children and youth at different levels, using the medium of stories, drama, arts and crafts, and discussion. Children are also taught popular Bhajans and Slokas.
Chinmaya Mission centers have become models for teaching India’s rich spiritual heritage and the fundamentals of Vedanta to the next generation. The Balavihars are organized into grades which match the grade of the child in school. Each of the grades caters to the age group of the child. The grades range from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
The Fairfield Balavihar is conducted under the aegis of the Chinmaya Mission Tri-state Center (CMTC). The CMTC maintains two ashrams, “Kedar” at Langhorne, PA and “Vrindavan” at Cranbury, NJ. Click here to go to the Chinmaya Mission Tri-state Center web site.
Who conducts the Balavihar classes and what is their background?
The current teachers for Balavihar are volunteers who devote their time to educate the children using a Mission-wide curriculum/syllabus that is directed toward the ages of the members.
In addition to their children, the parents also have a choice of classes to attend.
Please remember that the Balavihars are not like childcare centers where the parents drop off their children and leave. It is expected that parents will also participate in one of the Adult study groups.
Please note that parents are not allowed to sit with their children in the classes.
Cancellation Policy
In the event Balavihar is cancelled due to inclement weather, a cancellation message will be posted on our Chinmaya Mission website, on or before 7 AM. Please check the website before starting from home.
There may be instances when some members cannot access the Internet due to power outages. In such cases, you can call a list of volunteers to get cancellation information. The volunteer list was emailed to you. Please keep a printed copy of this list handy to use during outages. Send an email to websevak@chinmayafairfield.org to get the latest volunteer list.