Weekly Report - 31st January 2010

I wanted to get this update in before I head off to bed, otherwise it'll probably never get done! We had a fairly good week alhamdulillaah, this is a brief summary of what we did,

Maths - we worked on Number bonds (can't wait till they learn them insha Allaah), we used the number bonds machine that I mentioned in a previous post, I try to have them do at least 5 minutes of it a day.

Dd(6) did some adding/takeaway in her book and volume and capacity on Smart Kiddies.

They both practiced their times tables, and wrote them up in their book.

Played on Timez Attack - again, practicing their times tables.

Dd(9) worked on some fractions, alhamdulillaah it went well. She went on Smart kiddies first, then did some work in her book.

Also covered some division and multiplication.

Grammar - Dd(9) did lesson 43 and 44 of 'first language lessons for the well trained mind' which were 'poem-months' and 'nouns-ideas'.

Dd(6) read some Dr Seus books, she's really into them right now, so am I !

We have put writing with ease on hold for now, as we wait for the workbook to arrive.

History - Re-started SOTW, ancient history - The first nomads become farmers, I read aloud, and Dd(9) wrote down in her own words the parts she remembered.

We watched some videos on crocodiles/alligators and Cheetah's, these were the animals of the week before that they studied. We found out where the animals mainly live, and looked the countries up on the map and globe, Dd(9) wrote up a fact sheet about Cheetah's.

Geography - Local area and Continents in workbook. And did a nice set of worksheets from the Teacher file box on Globes and Continents. The girls drew up a map of the garden, using symbols for the things that are in there, like swings, plant pots etc..

Dd(9) is really trying hard now to get the hang of knitting Masha'Allaah, she's getting there, I've ordered this DVD to help her progress a bit more insha Allaah



I'm also intending to use it ;) I'd love to learn this skill again insha Allaah.

She's also started back learning to touch type alhamdulillaah.

We're intending to start doing some salt dough crafts, maybe this week insha Allaah, we've got the flour ready, and the acrylic paints and brushes, just waiting for the gloss to arrive. Here's the basic recipe for those who don't know ,

You need:

- 1 cup of salt
- 2 cups of flour
3/4 to 1 cup of lukewarm water

you can add in some glitter to the dough or some paint if you want to give it some colour.

Mix the salt and flour together in a bowl, using a wooden spoon. Then add the water until a large ball has formed. Knead at length on a lightly floured work surface (somewhere smooth and easy to clean). The quality of dough you finish with will depend on the time spent on kneading.

It's probably a good idea to make your model on a sheet of baking paper so it's easy to pop it straight in the oven when your finished.

Bake for approx 2 hours using a low temperature setting
50-70C for the first half hour then increase temperature
slowly to 90-100C and cook until the piece is uniform
in colour.

You must gloss or varnish the finished product to preserve it insha Allaah.

We will upload some photos of ours when we've done them, can you believe the usb cable I thought I had ordered for my camera phone, was actually still sitting in the basket at the amazon website, lol, looks like I didn't put it through the checkout after all!, so still waiting for that to arrive, plus have ordered a new camera, which I'm hoping I'll have no problems with insha Allaah, I'm missing my photography :(

Weekly Report - 23rd January 2010

Our week went pretty well, we did the usual subjects :

Maths: Worked on times tables, Division. We've taken a small break from Singapore Maths so the girls can learn more of their number bonds, recommended in the book before moving on to further units. So mainly doing their work in their Schofield and Sims Workbooks.

Grammar : First language lessons, Dd(9) did lesson 36, which contained the story of 'The hen and the golden egg' and involved written narration work. Alhamdulillaah we are starting to do a bit more narration now, the more they do insha Allaah the better their mind will become at remembering the passage/information read to them, insha Allaah.


Dd(6) worked on lesson 3 - common and proper nouns, and lesson 4 - proper nouns - first names, in which she was required to write down names from our family, with the capital letters being emphasized to her.


Reading Reflex : Dd(6) is working on the 'oe' sound, and was required to sort all the ways that sound could be spelt, she did do well, Masha'Allaah, but I think she's going to need alot more practice before moving on to the next sound, it would be great to have some books containing that sound so she could practice more, she has been reading some Dr Seus books which is helping her to progress a bit faster with her reading alhamdulillaah, and is helping her gain more confidence, Allaahumma baarak feehaa (may Allaah bless her in it ameen)


Handwriting - Dd(6) did some more pages in her workbook.


Science - I read to Dd(6) about crocodiles and alligators from the 'First encyclopedia for animals' and she narrated back the main points she remembered, and I wrote it down, she wasn't too bad alhamdulillaah, it's a start anyway.


Dd(9) - Her animal was the cheetah, same method, I read, she narrated and wrote down on paper to be filed in her folder. I feel I have to explain something, I am kind of starting from about year 1 with her for Science and even Maths, she was in school for a while before we moved to Birmingham, but when we moved here and I started to home educate her, I didn't know what she'd covered and what she hadn't, for one she didn't really have a clue how to do a sum, not even by using her fingers, I had to show her that, she didnt know her times tables etc.. and with Science she could recall working on certain topics, but not much. She was a bit behind when she went in there, and I was told she would get extra help to catch up, but I'm not sure if she did get the help she needed, Allaahu a'lam.

I feel in a bit of a mess with it all really, I feel I shouldn't have to be going back this far, but I feel I have to, because I don't want to be leaving anything out, and I feel it's very important to set the foundation, to fully master the basics, because if not she probably will struggle with higher work. She does go to school also in the afternoon, and alhamdulillaah, there she is doing work more to her age group, and doing quite well alhamdulillaah.

As mentioned previously in my other posts we're using the methods set out in the WTM, for first grade, the child would first of all study about 20 animals, supposed to be 1 each week, then after that would be the human body, then plants, what I'm trying to do right now is work on each throughout the week, so for example this week we did the animal kingdom, and also started on the human body, which roughly takes about 10 weeks I think to complete, if done once a week. I think I will leave plants until spring insha Allaah as recommended.

I don't want to cram her brain with too much info, but I'm anxious for her to move on, one of my fears is that when she reaches high school age, she'll still be on primary work, I pray that Allaah will make it easy for me to help bring her more up to standard insha Allaah.

Ok, well back to what we did this week, like I said Dd(9) started on the human body, topic - bones, we did a narration page. I also had a set of worksheets that I'd printed off from 'The teacher file box' and in there was a skeleton she could make, so she cut all the pieces out, pasted on things such as the rib cage and the heart, and fastened it together with paper fastners, which enables the legs and arms to move, she really enjoyed doing that, so did I!

Both girls also finished their 'Animal classification' lapbooks, at long last ! although it wasn't that long ago they started on it, but just haven't been fully consistent with working on it, they look really good masha'Allaah, but unfortunately Dd(6) lost some parts to hers, which I'm sure will turn up soon insha Allaah, will also try posting some pics of these in the week insha Allaah.

I was in the mood for spending yesterday, and so I came across a website called Bright Minds, who by the way have a sale going on, with up to 80% off, so I ordered a world globe and a chemistry set , oooh I get soo excited waiting for parcels, can't wait to try out the chemistry set insha Allaah, you'd think I was the student ! :D
While on my spending spree, I also ordered the workbook to go with our writing programme 'Writing with ease' By Susan Wise Bauer, it basically will save me time gathering together bits from different books for copywork and narration.

Today we also went to Thinktank Science Museum in Birmingham, it was excellent Masha'Allaah, kids had a great day alhamdulillaah. Insha Allaah I will write more about our trip there tomorrow hopefully and put up some photos, but I'm just waiting for my usb cable to come for my phone, so hopefully the beginning of the week pics will be posted.

If you've read this far, well done!! Thankyou :)

Weekly report January 17th 2010 (bit late this week!)

We haven't really had a great week, Ds(7) was off school due to the snow, and so mummy ended up crawling back into bed after fajr most mornings, shattered from going to bed at not a very decent time :( .......................... so our mornings started late, and the workbooks were brought out, I don't fully rely on them, the girls do a page or so a day normally, but I was happy they were doing something at least.

The girls carried on practicing their number bonds, I really want them to memorise them insha Allaah, we're currently working through Singapore Maths and it does mention how important it is for the child to know them before moving on to further units. I put together two small booklets for them, with the number bonds up to ten, progress is somewhat slow, but I think because we're not spending enough time practicing them.

They both reviewed the time we've been working on, like 'o' clock, half past the hour, quarter past and quarter to, Masha'Allaah in the last couple of days, Dd(6) has been telling me the time alot more from her watch her Nan bought her recently, so it's nice to see that it is going in, insha Allaah.

Dd(6) has started 'First language lessons' she will be going on to lesson 3 this week insha Allaah, Dd(9) will be going on to lesson 35, I just can't wait for her to get on to the second part of the book now insha Allaah, we try to fit in a lesson a day if things are going well.

English and Maths was done in their workbooks.

We also had a bit of fun with the snow last week, it's not often we really do anything creative, so I was determined this week that I would fit something in for them, so Masha'Allaah they made pictures on the snow and sculpted igloos and teddybears (Dd(9)'s idea :)

We also did a very simple experiment which I found online, which was to see exactly how clean the snow is, I put some snow in a pan, heated it until it melted, then I poured it into a dish which I had covered with a few sheets of kitchen towel paper and taped it around the edges, there were a few small specks of dirt, but not alot.

I did take some photos of the week, but unfortunately I'm having alot of problems right now, the one memory card I was using with my camera has all of a sudden become 'write protected' and so I'm unable to upload them to the computer, I've just bought a new one, thinking it would be fine, but I'm having exactly the same problem with that one too, I'm feeling soo frustrated as I don't know where the problem is, the cards/my camera/the card reader or the computer??? Insha Allaah I'll get to the bottom of it soon.

Weekly report January 9, 2010

Just a bit of what we've been working on this week :

Maths :

Number bonds practice and memorisation

Telling the time to the hour/half hour/quarter to/quarter past - Alhamdulillaah this is going well Masha'Allaah, just need to keep practising, I picked up a clock yesterday from the chemist which was half price, it teaches the time and has two interchangeable faces, the girls loved it :)

Addition/subraction in workbooks.

Times tables.

Handwriting : Started back with the Zaner Bloser books, we missed them! so they completed a few pages from there, eldest daughter is mainly on copywork now, youngest is also copywork, but I have noticed she's gone back to not correctly forming some of her letters, so will give her more practice on them. Continuing with learning cursive writing also insha Allaah.

Language skills :

Reading Reflex, mainly with Dd(6) working through the advanced code. Still using the Ruth Miskin synthetic phonics books, which I think are great Masha'Allaah, but we've got to the last book now, I think there are further ones, but they don't have them in the library which is a shame.

Sight words

Rhyming words

Grammar:

Using first language lessons, Dd(6) started her first lesson of the book this week, Nouns.

Dd(9) is on lesson 33, she should be further really, but we've haven't been fully consistent with the book, insha Allaah we'll finish it soon, and then go on to the next one.

Irregular plural nouns

Science :

Natural/man-made materials

living/non living things (plants)

Geography :

Map work, using resources from The Teacher File Box, which is an excellent site, though a little costly each month, but most definitely worth it insha Allaah for what it has to offer.

History :

Story of the world - Susan Wise Bauer - Ancient times - Nomads - Narration work.

I was so excited about the Sequential spelling programme I purchased online, but as yet, have still not started it, need to sit and read it properly insha Allaah, so I completely understand the method it teaches.

So that's about it for our week, I did want to do alot more, but alhamdulillaah I was quite pleased that we got to fit in a few extra things. I've been waking the girls up around the same time DS(7) goes to school so we're getting a slightly earlier start, alhamdulillaah.

I recently contacted the LEA and informed them that I home educate, I'm still waiting for a call back from them, I'm just hoping that I've done the right thing, you hear so many stories, some good some bad, just don't know what to expect,but at the end of the day all I can do is try my best with my girls, I want a good education for them insha Allaah, and I hope that the LEA will see that and accept my efforts. I put my trust in Allaah and ask him for goodness and that he be pleased with us in every thing we do, ameen.

Well, on a different subject, it's library day tomorrow insha Allaah, will hopefully meet up with Umm M and her girls and spend about an hour there, that's the highlight of our weekend :D