The STAR Program for Children

The S.T.A.R. Program stands for Success Through Accepting Responsibility and was developed by The Jefferson Center for Education, located in Pasadena, California. Originally designed for an academic setting, the program is used in over 5,000 schools and 50,000 classrooms across the country. Yoga Mandala has been implementing aspects of the S.T.A.R. program into the Satsung (educational) portion of our children's yoga classes since it so neatly supplements the elements of yoga philosophy that are relevant to school life and daily living. This program provides an ongoing, systematic method of teaching the core value of yoga to our students of yoga and encourages parents to explore the topics covered in class with their child(ren) outside of class.

Student Participation in S.T.A.R. (to earn a Gold Star Pin and a colored sash).

S.T.A.R. stands for Success Through Accepting Responsibility and is demonstrated through the following actions:

• Stop
• Think
• Act
• Respond

S.T.A.R. is designed to teach our students to:
• Take responsibility for his or her actions (this includes class attendance, timeliness & responsible and respectful behavior in the yoga studio).
• Approach and resolve conflicts with understanding and self-control.
• Develop and improve self-confidence, self-esteem, and positive attitudes.
• Set and achieve realistic goals.

S.T.A.R. program has been integrated into a systematic method of teaching the core values of yoga to our students as follows: Ethical behavior towards oneself and others (respect), self-discipline (responsibility), physical practice for the body (asana), breathing exercises to focus the mind (pranayama), techniques in developing concentration (pratyahara/dharana), relaxation and exercises in meditation, and 'illumination' through story-telling and satsung, or discussion. Thus we work with the STAR program to illustrate how yoga can be applied to day-to-day living and real-life situations.

The S.T.A.R. pin given out at the end of each 8-week session represents your child's ability to demonstrate that he or she is capable of accepting responsibility for his or her actions. The colored sash that your child receives at the end of each session is representative of their continued mastery of the art and science of yoga, according to the system of the chakras (or energy body). Each sash color is associated with a virtue (see below) to give it significance above and beyond physical mastery of yoga (although we discuss these virtues in yoga class, we have found it useful to have the parent reinforce these definitions at home as well):

• red (earth) = modesty
• orange (water) = courtesy
• yellow (fire) = integrity
• green (air/heart) = compassion
• blue (ether/sound) = gratitude
• indigo/purple (intuition/third eye) = perseverance & self-control
• white (aura) = (indomitable) spirit

When a child has achieved their white sash (usually within a 3-year period), we offer a continuing-education program whereby the child becomes a teacher-apprentice and assists the teacher in guiding the class (must commit to two 8-week sessions). We find that the student acquires both leadership and verbal skills, as well as relishes a self-confidence that is born from their years of experience at the yoga studio. It is beautiful to watch these children come into their own and discover ways to transfer their own knowledge and experience of yoga to their peers.

Thank you for entrusting your children to us. As always, we welcome your feedback at any time.

Nicole & Alicia