The importance of friendship

Did you have a best friend when you were a child? well, I'm sure most of us did, my bestest friend before high school was a girl called Heidi, she lived next door but one, we would have sleepovers and all sorts, we had some good times.

Well, now it's nice to see my eldest daughter who is 8 becoming rather fond of a close friends daughter, Masha'Allaah. Up until recently she always preferred playing with the boys, before we left Cardiff her best friend was Abdul-Hakim, and she just found boys more exciting than the girls, more energetic like her masha'Allaah.

But now, as you can probably understand, I'd prefer her to develop friendships more with girls around her age, she's growing up masha'Allaah, and I think it's important that she can have friends who are being raised in the same way she is, learning the morals and manners she is insha Allaah.

Companionship is very important for us as adults, and who we choose to keep as our companion, and likewise for our children too. We want them to be influenced in a positive way, and feel proud of their islamic identity insha Allaah.

So tonight my daughter wrote out a beautiful poem from one of her books for her friend, and on Thursday she gave her a gift of a book she had copied out herself, which took a bit of time to complete. Alhamdulillaah, it's nice to see children eager to give one another gifts, and to feel the joy out of 'giving' not just when 'recieving'.

The water cycle

Every two weeks we go to Umm Faatimah's, who also homeschools her children, we take it in turns to plan the lesson, this time it was her turn.

The topic was the water cycle, Masha'Allaah, everything was planned really well, may Allaah reward the sister ameen. The lesson started with a brief talk, and then the kids watched a short video clip, showing how it actually rains, the kids enjoyed it masha'Allaah.

Then we had a little demonstration using the kettle and a cold spoon, to show how when it boils, the steam rises up, and created tiny droplets of water on the underside of the spoon, this helped them to understand the water cycle a bit more.

The kids then had an acitivity to do, I didn't event think to take pictures until this point, hence the reason there's only a couple here of the finished job.





I think we all learnt a thing or two that day! alhamdulillaah.

Simple Ways To Make Babies Smarter

Parents.com

*Make eye contact. Take advantage of those brief moments when your newborn's eyes are open and look right into them. Infants recognize faces early on -- and yours is the most important!

*Each time he stares at you, he's building his memory.

*Stick out your tongue. Studies show that newborns as young as 2 days old can imitate simple

facial movements -- it's a sign of very early problem solving.

*Let him reflect. Have your baby stare at himself in the mirror. At first, he may think he's just eyeing another cute kid, but he'll love making the "other" baby wave his arms and smile.

*Make a difference. Hold up two pictures about 8 to 12 inches away from your baby's face. They should be similar but have one small difference (perhaps a tree is in one but not the other). Even a young infant will look back and forth and figure out the distinguishing features, which sets the stage for letter recognition and reading later on.

*Chat Her Up, Make Her Laugh, Blab away. All you may get is a blank look, but leave short pauses where your baby would speak. Soon she'll catch on to the rhythm of conversation and start filling in the blanks.

*Go gaga. Your baby really tunes in to your silly cooing and high-pitched baby talk.

*Clue him in. When you announce, "I'm going to turn on the light now" before flipping the switch, you're teaching cause and effect.

*Tickle her toes. In fact, tickle her all over. Laughter is the first step in developing a sense of humor. And playing games teaches your child to anticipate events.

*Be a funny face. Puff up your cheeks, and have your toddler touch your nose. When she does, poof! Have her pull your ear, and then stick out your tongue. Make a funny noise when she pats your head. Keep to the same routine three or four times, then change the rules to keep her guessing

Free islamic resources

Assalamu 'alaykum,

Masha'Allaah I just took a visit to the lifetime learning blog, and found a link to a great site in which you can download free du'a posters, and which I'm sure will make for a good colourful display on your classroom wall, insha Allaah. The sister also had a link to the freezone section on the Ad-Duha website, where you can find e-books written specifically for muslim children, and are fully illustrated but contain no images of humans/animals.

THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD QUR-AAN

I was just forwarded this in my email, thought it would be a good poem for kids to memorise insha Allaah.


The word Qur-aan linguistically

When broken down methodically

Means reading or recited piece

By most of those who dare to teach

It's reached us in its purest form

From massive chains still carried on

The Arabic speech of Allah

Revealed to Ibn Abdullah

In word and meaning both preserved

In mus-haf form gone undisturbed

A standing challenge for all time

For those who claim it's just a rhyme

(source-TheFiks.Org)

This tickled me....

My eldest daughter (8),

"Hoyo, these are called eyebulbs?" (pointing to her eyes)

I could not stop laughing, and she then corrected herself with the right word 'eyeballs'

Tagged:Mom of the year award

Masha'Allaah I was recently given a 'mom of the year' award from homeschooling muslimah, wow! jazakillaahu khairan sis, even though I feel I'm really undeserving of this, I really appreciate your kindness.

The rules of the tag are:

1. Admit one thing you feel awful about (involving being a mom). Once you have written it down, you are no longer allowed to feel bad. Remember you are a good mom!

2. Remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list 7 things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you.

3. Send this to 5 other moms of the year that deserve a reminder that they are too the best moms that they can be. Remember to send them a note letting them know you have selected them, and also add a link to your post that directs people back to the person who nominated you.

*1. I feel awful that I don't do enough with my kids, like activities, crafts, taking them to the park etc...

2.

*Alhamdulillaah I'm happy that I'm trying to instill in them good mannerism, and teaching them the importance of worshipping Allaah alone.

*I love how they're sometimes so eager to please me, I may find one cleaning the bathrooom or kitchen as a suprise, masha'Allaah.

*I love seeing the look on their faces when we go somewhere special and different than usual.

*I love it when they quietly utter the words 'I love you' what mother doesnt?!

*I love seeing my girls dressed in abayah and hijab, Allaahumma baarak feehim, may Allaah always guide them, ameen.

*My kids love it when I'm a 'cool mum' lol, and act all silly and giggly with them.

*I love my kids' individual characters, Allaahumma baarak feehim.

I think that those deserving of this award are:

Oum Anas

Independant Learners

Umm Rashid

Anne Marie

The Homeschooling Ummi

Some of you may have already had the award, if so, don't worry about doing the tag again.