Gopal’s Garden’s Celebration
“My six-year old daughter is absolutely blossoming ever since she started attending Gopal’s Garden Homeschool Co-op,” said Jaya Krsna das, Manager of the Palace Lodge. “Gopal’s Garden is one of the main reasons my wife and I moved to New Vrindaban last year, and it is a major factor in our decision to stay here.”
Jaya Krsna, his wife Taraka and their two children moved to New Vrindaban in the summer of 2011 from a rural devotee community in Kansas. “Before we moved here, my wife tried to homeschool my daughter, but it didn’t go well,” explained Jaya Krsna. “But now, she reads to me at night instead of the other way around, and I fall asleep before she does!”
At Gopal’s Garden, students focus heavily on the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. But they also receive instruction in subjects not available in most public and private schools these days. On staff at Gopal’s Garden are two music teachers, an art teacher, and a drama teacher. Moreover, at the end-of-the year party in December, the students who range from age 6 to 13, recited verses from the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and English and recited dramatic stories from the Mahabharata. All the guests at the end-of-the year celebration were impressed by the children’s presentations. Following the presentations, everyone sat together and relished the wonderful prasadam prepared by the parents and teachers. As one parent commented, the Gopal’s Garden is like a family.
“When I saw my daughter standing up there with the other children, I practically started crying,” said Jaya Krsna. “Gopal’s Garden is one of the best things that has ever happened to my family.”
For more information about Gopal’s Garden Homeschool Co-op, please contact Ruci devi dasi at Story108@juno.com.
