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 :)