The coming week......

I've been planning a few things I'm going to do with the girls this week insha Allaah, with K I will be re-introducing money for Maths, I don't feel she's competent enough for her age in this area, and it's been a while since I first did the lessons with her, so we will go over it again insha Allaah, with T, she will be learning about solid shapes. This evening I printed out some flashcards and worksheets to accompany the lessons, as well as some colourful posters to put up on the wall.

We're also gonna work a little more on nouns, just so I know K completely understands it all, we are working through 'first language lessons' by Jessie Wise, Co-author of 'The Well Trained Mind' and so I've just printed out a few worksheets for a bit extra practice, I also intend to introduce verbs with her, we were talking about them last night, and she caught on real quick masha'Allaah, so insha Allaah we won't have to stay on that for too long.




With T we will pick up where we left off in the 'Reading Reflex', and for both I want to continue doing daily narration work, using 'Aesop's fables' insha Allaah.

I posted a link to a poem on the parts of speech last night, well here it is, we have it up on our wall, ready to be memorised, insha Allaah it'll be a help.


And with Autumn upon us now, I would love to start a wall display, 'sparkle box' have some nice pictures and other resources on this season which would come in very handy for this.

Going back to Ramadhan, we did do a display, but unfortunately it never got finished, but I was happy that we had it half finished, rather than not done at all, insha Allaah I will take a few pics and post them before we take it down for the next one :)

A fresh start....

After quite a long break away from my blog, I return once again! I do apologise for not being consistent with the updates, I will try my best, insha Allaah.

We are now getting back into our homeschooling, we are kind of late, it was supposed to be September, but better late than never :) We're just starting off mainly with Maths and English, and I intend to start re-introducing the other subjects over the next couple of weeks insha Allaah. Throughout the Summer holidays I had wanted to plan for the coming year, something I had not done before, but after being away for half of the holidays, my plans went down the drain, but Qadr Allaah, I will do what I can.

I do want this year to be better than last year insha Allaah, I have said this before, and I'm sure I've said it many many times since then, it starts with me.......with planning, consistency etc... So far I feel a bit of a failure with the homeschooling, I know I need to do better and be more on top of things, my children rely on me for this, amongst other things.

This year is a fresh start for us, a time to make some positive changes and improvement insha Allaah. I want to help K(8)tch up with her Maths, hopefully before the end of the year, this is one of my goals, and also to have T(5)ading fluently, we haven't used Reading Reflex for a while, instead we were using the synthetic phonics series by Ruth Miskin, and just working through the books, which each have a few stories in them, alhamdulillah she enjoys these, I will re-start reading reflex, and continue to use these alongside for extra practice insha Allaah.

I also recently signed up to the smart kiddies website, the kids find it useful for Maths, majority of the lessons will start off with a tutor teaching the concept, and then will follow with some online practice activities, and assesment, they can also earn points through playing Math games, and earn certificates, I printed some off tonight and will award it to them tomorrow insha Allaah, K has seen hers and was so happy, insha Allaah I'll laminate them and they can stick them up on the wall.

Tonight I found a realy useful poem for teaching the parts of speech, insha Allaah I will have mine memorise this, and also make sure that they understand it too.

Thanks for reading :D

Back on the blogosphere!

Assalamu 'alaykum,

I haven't updated the blog recently as I went away to my mum's in Wales, had a nice break alhamdulillaah, I think I needed it. Just trying to settle back into life in Brum now, and get back into my normal routine insha Allaah. So watch this space!

Time saving tips, free ebook

Another useful resource on homeschool freebie today - '77 time saving tips for busy parents and families'

Description of the ebook - A great collection of simple, practical to-the-point time-saving tips that you can put to use instantly, covering not only general principles of managing your time, but also specific household, kitchen, business, computer, shopping, and family ideas that can save you time and energy.

Freebie will soon expire.

Time management for homeschool mums - Free-ebook!

I don't know about you, but I'm not all that great with my time management, some days I'm on top of everything, the day's plan is going great, place is clean, kids in bed on time, you name it, but then come another day, everything is a shambles, the place is a mess, don't have time to fit all our lessons in, kids in bed late.... you get the picture right? I'm constantly up and down with my time management, so when I checked on homeschool freebie today, I was delighted to see that they're giving away a great resource to help with this, check out the description below -

Finding Time To Do It All: Homeschool Moms Share their Time Management Woes and Solutions (PDF ebook) - In today’s resource, we went right to the source and surveyed over 400 homeschool moms to discover what Time Management concerns, secrets and suggestions they might offer if they could share their experiences with other families. The “real life” insights, frustrations, tips, and ideas that they share here address the unique time management issues that homeschool families face. Discover what Time Management solutions have worked for others, and apply them to your own household!

Click here to download today’s resource!

Note - The free resources on homeschool freebie are normally only available for 1 day, sometimes longer.

Green thumb family toolkit

This is crazy, we know… but sometimes that’s the way we do thing around here.

With garden season right around the corner… and the economy being the big scary mess it is… we just decided (literally on the spur of the moment) to offer our huge Green Thumb Family “Toolkit” at a jaw dropping discount you’re not gonna believe.

19 wonderful resources designed to encourage and inspire your family to learn together, work together and grow together in the great outdoors… all Spring and Summer long!

And it’s… how much?

Click here to check out the Green Thumb Family Toolkit… and prepare to be amazed!

I just went ahead and purchased this, I personally think it's great value, and seen as we've recently started doing a bit of gardening of our own, thought it'd be a great resource to have.

btw, I am not an affiliate for homeschool freebie, I will not get anything back from this, Just wanted to share with whoever may read my blog.

Note - Resource will soon expire.

Free poetry e-book

Don’t Forget the Poetry by Amy Ringger (PDF ebook) — This brief but activity-filled unit study on poetry will get you excited about studying poetry with your kids this coming year. This little gem was written to put the tools in your hands to immediately be able to bring poetry to life for your children!
* Learn how poetry opens the door to improving your grammar and spelling skills.
* See examples of poems in different forms that her family has written (that you can emulate) to show you that anyone can write poetry.
* Learn how to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your kids’ own imagination and writing skills by creating their own poems.
* Follow Amy’s helpful tips and instructions for compiling your own book of poetry favorites using blank books.
* Also included: Amy’s own “gold nugget” resource guide to favorite family-friendly poets and poetry books, to ensure you get started with some wonderful poetry your kids will love.
This short little guide will help you put together a concise, “hands on” unit study that — accompanied by a trip to your local library — will give you all you need to conduct an entertaining, educational and memorable study of poetry. It does NOT require a lot of preparation on your part to implement. You can read through it and map out your study plan in about an hour.
To download this freebie, click here!

(offer will soon expire)

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'.

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)

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.

This mess is a place!

We don't always do school on a Friday, and so today was one of those 'no school' days, I was feeling in the mood for giving the house a good clean, I had hopes to get the whole of the house done, and the windows outside, lol, but soon realised that just wasn't gonna happen. I had a good sort out of our classroom, put a few more things up on the wall, so it gives it more of that classroom feel, threw out 'loads' of paper, I have this habit of piling them up wherever I see an empty space, it's as if I feel the need for every side to have something on it, lol. I was happy with the end result, I couldn't bring myself to do a before and after shot, I mean it wasn't 'that' bad, or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better about the amount of clutter that was piling up, hehe!

So here you go, a little peak at our classroom, it's slowly coming along, alhamdulillaah.

The big brown cabinet you can see, was so cluttered on top, it was a proper eyesore, things balancing on top of each other, but now I just have our laminator, cd player, and printer stored on there, and one or two other things, but it looks a whole lot better to how it was masha'Allaah. Also the silver drawers had loads of paper on top, no organisation whatsoever, it's so nice to have it all clear. Let's just hope we can keep it like it insha Allaah.

I cleaned up a bit also in the front room, and then helped Dd(5) with her bedroom later on, it looked like a bomb had dropped in there, no kidding! it's been like it for weeks, because she keeps piling things up on the floor, like clothes etc.. and it's basically become too overwhelming for her to clean up now, I'd kind of given up asking her to go clean it up, cos I know she wouldn't do it all. So I decided to help her with it, and insha Allaah starting from tomorrow, they will all have to go to their rooms twice a day, 1pm and 6pm and make sure everything is back in it's place, we did start this before, but I'm not sure how it stopped. Insha Allaah, this way they will keep on top of their rooms.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I had lost my usb cable, well as you can tell by seeing the last picture, I've found it now, alhamdulillaah, it was in the cabinet amongst all the papers, lol, well, at least they're out of sight there! So I've had a few different pics I'd wanted to post of when it was snowing etc... so will add them below.







I also came across these quotes on housecleaning, hope you like them! love the first one, so to the point! haha.

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller, Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, 1966

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it. ~Author Unknown

Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy. ~Author Unknown

I'm not going to vacuum until Sears makes one you can ride on. ~Roseanne Barr

The trouble with living alone is that it's always your turn to do the dishes. ~Author Unknown

I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby. ~Nancie J. Carmody

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance. ~Author Unknown

This mess is a place! ~Author Unknown

My idea of superwoman is someone who scrubs her own floors. ~Bette Midler

A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life: he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's all in the attitude - housework is exercise. Slim your way to a clean home! ~Linda Solegato

If the shelves are dusty and the pots don't shine,
it's because I have better things to do with my time.
~Author Unknown

There may be dust in my house but there isn't any on me. ~Author Unknown

Source:Quote Garden

Decisions,Decisions!

I've just looked back at my last homeschool update, and realised it was on the 18th January, I was suprised I'd left it so long. I only have a brief update, and a few thoughts I need to blog about insha Allaah.
Well, school's been going well, alhamdulillaah. Masha'Allaah we've had quite a bit of snow in the last week, so the girls did some pictures with a snow theme using cotton wool, cut out some snowflakes, we talked a little about the sense of 'touch', and the girls touched some snow and told me what it felt like, I then did a poster on it. I've taken quite alot of pictures but unfortunately I can't seem to find my usb cable to connect my phone up to the computer, insha Allaah will have another look and get them up on here.

Girls are coming along well with reading the Qaa'idah, masha'Allaah, maths is starting to become a bit more fun since we started using the '150 daily maths lessons' book for Dd(5), Dd(8) sits in on some of her lessons, and some of the extra practice has done her good, allaahumma baarak feehaa.

Both coming along well with the reading reflex lessons, masha'Allaah, it's exciting to see the progress alhamdulillaah.

well, I did say it would be a 'brief' update, it's quite late here, wasn't sure if I was gonna get the time to type anything up, I've just finished planning what we're gonna cover tomorrow, and didn't want to leave it any longer before writing something on here.

Today, the brother who picks my son up for school and brings him home, informed me that after this week he will not be able to take him anymore, due to clashes with time, as he also picks up at another school, and it takes extra time to come to this area, I was gutted when he told me, I actually felt close to crying, there are many reasons why I prefer my son to be in school, one of them being the interaction with boys his age, if he were to be homeschooled, he'd mainly be around girls (his sisters), and also my husband works away, and I feel it is important especially for my son to have a role model, someone who can set an example daily for him, and at the school, brothers teach there, and I feel this is good for him insha Allaah. He's also doing well with the Qaa'idah Allaahumma baarak feehee, I fear now that if he were to come out of school, I'm not going to be able to help him progress as quickly as he probably is now.

The options available to me right now, are probably to get the bus over there every day, with the kids and the baby, I'm not keen on taking the bus, especially with a big pram, I used to do it for a while back in Cardiff when I was pregnant, it was quite hectic somedays, often we'd have to let one or two buses go by as they would be too full, or the weather would be bad etc....
or my other option is to homeschool him also, I'm scared of taking on this extra challenge in a way, don't get me wrong, I would love to teach my son along with my girls, but when I did used to have him home before he was more interested in playing than learning, and it was just easier to teach my eldest daughter, and actually my youngest, as she would like to sit it on a lesson, and be eager to do some work, so from that lack of teaching him at that time, when he did go into school, he was very behind, and had to be put back to Reception when he should have been in Yr1. Now alhamdulillaah, he has started to catch up, with his reading etc.. but he still has got alot of catching up to do insha Allaah.

There are days also when my son and my youngest daughter go in silly moods, and often my eldest daughter will too, and no matter what I say to them, they'll keep giggling and joking around, I find it stressful when they're like this, and I wonder how many of those days would we have if I were homeschooling them together.

I feel quite confused right now about the whole situation, it's funny cos only a week or two back, I started to have thoughts about bringing my son out of school, mainly due to an increased 'bad' attitude he has had, which I feel he has picked up since starting the school, also at one point, I had been reading something about teaching our kids, and it made me feel bad in a way that I was homeschooling my daughters but not my son, and how that he's out from the home from 7.30 am until nearly 4pm each day, I'm missing out on a big part of his life, but then I started to think about the importance of him having his friends, teachers etc... and thought maybe it's the best thing for him to be there, Allaahu a'lam.

I think I need to make istikhaarah insha Allaah, and take it from there, I wondered earlier whether to start looking again for a house in the area that the school is in, so I could keep him in there, but imagine I do move, and then decide that I'd rather homeschool him? hhmmm! we're all feeling kind of settled here now alhamdulillaah, and masha'Allaah we've got a cat now, so haven't really heard any mice, that was one of the main reasons I wasn't feeling too happy here, but so far so good alhamdulillaah. Insha Allaah, intending to restart my driving lessons again soon, but not sure when, and don't know how long it would take to pass my test, so I can't rely on that.

Like I said, I will make istikhaarah, maybe speak with the school, see what they suggest. To be honest, the thought of teaching my son , does kind of appeal to me, but I'm just feeling very apprehensive, I don't want to mess his education up, and I'm just feeling a mixture of emotions right now, mainly sad, for my son, he has said that he would like to be homeschooled, but he's also said he'll miss so and so, etc... and I can kinda tell that he will miss going to the school, I want him to be settled, and don't want him in out of school, well, Allaah knows best, it's written already, so I shouldn't stress myself over it, will keep you updated.

Sorry for the essay!

Feeling panicky!

I was just sat here finishing off online, when a thought just came to my mind, 'what if I don't teach my children properly, and they end up not knowing enough?!' scary thought huh? but I'm sure majority of us have had this thought cross our mind sometime or another. At the moment I really don't feel we're doing enough, and I think that's why this thought has just come at me, I need to put my mind more to the planning insha Allaah.

SubhanAllaah when you look at the big picture, our kids education and academic future insha Allaah is in our hands, it's a great responsibilty, and one that I need to be taking alot more seriously, I owe it to these kids, I can't mess it up for them insha Allaah. And it shouldn't be all about academics, their deen is so much more important, and right now to tell you the truth, we're not really doing any islamic lessons, I'm so not sure which resources to use, we started with these books, can't remember what they're called right now, but the kids just didn't seem to be that enthusiastic, and it didn't encourage me either. I have the IQRA books, and was thinking about starting them up again, I just don't have that really positive feeling about them though. I don't know why. So that's also something I need to get a move on with insha Allaah. Because each day is so very precious, we lose a day, we lose another opportunity for learning, I feel so bad for my kids right now, I don't want them to be behind, Dd(8) is with her Maths, but coming out from school last year, she was, and has progressed a bit more, since homeschooling her again, Allaahumma baarak feehaa.

Insha Allaah I will start working harder with them, doing the best I can, and at least I can say 'I tried'!

Last week's update/report

I've been meaning to come on and do a post before this, but been busy busy and just didn't have the time to come on and blog. So just a brief update for last week. Alhamdulillaah the week went well, we've been doing the usual subjects daily, Qaa'idah, Handwriting, Reading, Maths, we're still working on number bonds, trying to get the girls to memorise the different combinations for numbers up to 10, it's kind of a slow process though, and don't want to hold them back until they've memorised them. In the singapore maths guide, it recommends your child learning them as quickly as they can, even though some may learn it quicker than others, apparently it can be a great help as they progress with Maths, it says to give your child lots of practice with the number bonds, but you can move on and continue to have the child memorise them through the next few units. It's kind of getting a bit boring staying on the same topic, so can't wait to move on insha Allaah.

Dd(5) has been practicing some stories in the Reading Reflex book, she's coming on really well, Allaahumma baarak feehaa. But normally one story is enough for her to read, she get's a bit fed up of reading after a bit. She's quite different to how Dd(8) was when she was learning to read, she was alot more eager, and read loads and that really helped her to progress quickly, masha'Allaah she's the kind of child that when she wants to do something, she'll put her mind to it and keep trying till she's learnt it, she learnt to tie her laces by herself, and plait hair, I was shocked when she did her first plait, same with riding a bike, Allaahumma baarak feehaa.

I introduced history last week, we are working from the book 'story of the world' by Susan Wise Bauer. The first chapter was on ancient nomads, I read aloud to the girls and then Dd(8) narrated back what she remembered, and drew a picture to be filed in the history section of her folder along with the narration page. Insha Allaah we are going to continue with that lesson tomorrow, Dd(8)really loved the story about a young nomad girl, and can't wait to continue with it, she came downstairs not long ago looking for the book so she could read the rest, but I told her that it was just for our lessons, and besides I don't think we'll be working on everything in the book, I'm gonna leave alone myths and the like insha Allaah.

Have been reading through the Charlotte Mason Companion, masha'Allaah I love this book, it contains much useful info on child rearing, such as bickering amongst siblings, instilling of good habits etc... and also the home education side. I find the book to be very inspiring masha'Allaah, after it I would like to try and read Charlotte Mason's homeschooling series through properly.

Lil update of yesterday and today

Yesterday we only managed to do our akhaar, Qaa'idah, handwriting and some Maths practice, I had a guest coming for the day, and had to go out to get some things, felt a bit gutted we weren't able to do more though.

Today, I had an appointment, so we didn't do anything today, time we got back it was duhr time, had to serve lunch etc.. It started snowing again when we were out, the bottom of my abayah,my socks,trainers were all soaked through! my feet were like ice.

Bought a few Islamic books today, masha'Allaah they were quite cheap, there was one I bought called 'My Yemeni Village' by Goodword Kids, and written by a 13 yr old boy living in Yemen. Earlier when taking a look at the book, it dawned on me that maybe this is what is classed as a 'living book', it gives a personal insight into life in Yemen, and not a book of dry facts. I was so excited, lol, ok I was probably was a bit over the top,lol.

Tomorrow we'll be going to a sisters house insha Allaah, that we go every 2wks to do a lesson there, we're going to do a sale with things we no longer need/want etc.. insha Allaah there should be quite a few sisters there, so looking forward to that. The last time we did it, the kids really enjoyed, it gave them the opportunity to handle money in real life situations, which was one of the main reasons we did it.

Oh, and Dd(5) can now write her name Allaahumma baarak feek. I am so pleased, her name is quite long, but she just copied it almost daily, until she was able to write it by herself. So well done T!

Ok well that's it from me for now, will try and remember to take some pics of the sale tomorrow and post them up if I can.

P.s You may be wondering what's with the flowers at the top? lol, well, was looking for a picture to go with my post, related or not, and just loved this one, it's so beautiful masha'Allaah)

Monday's Report (we're back!)

Well, it's been a little while since I last posted, I have not had much time lately to update, and I decided for us to take a break last week as it was Ds(6)'s last week of his holiday, not much of an excuse huh? but this week things have got to start getting a bit more serious insha Allaah, alhamdulillaah we started the week off well, we did:

Our daily adkhaar

Qaa'idah - Dd(5) has now finally moved on to recognising the small letters, how they look when joined up and used in words. Dd(8) is progressing quickly Allahumma baarak feehaa.

Handwriting practice - Dd (5)practiced the letter 'a' and 'd', she can write these masha'Allaah, but does need just a bit extra practice in forming them correctly.
I have decided to move Khadijah on, rather than hold her back going through the letters, majority of them she forms correctly masha'Allaah, there is the odd one that she doesn't, but insha Allaah we can work on them as we move along. She did practice one or two letters today, but tomorrow insha Allaah she will do a couple of pages from the end of the Zaner Bloser book, copying short sentences. Insha Allaah I intend to start doing more copywork with her.

Reading Reflex - Both doing well on their lessons masha'Allaah, I do need to find some good readers for Dd(5), she has read through the first set of 'bob books', I'm not sure what the second set are like, but I really feel she needs to have more reading practice each day, but with phonetic books, not whole language, as this is what I normally come across in the library etc..

Maths - We're still working on number bonds, have included Dd(5) I think she is capable of understanding the concept insha Allaah, I just need to reinforce it more with her. Dd(8) is understanding it masha'Allaah, but we're gonna spend a few more days on this unit in the Singapore maths book. We have started memorising number bonds, starting with 1 and 2. we will do this at the beginning of each maths lesson insha Allaah. I feel it is important they understand the concept and know the number bonds off by heart.

Science - We are following the study suggestions in the 'Well Trained Mind' so our lesson consists of me reading a passage from the animal encyclopedia, Dd(8) had to choose 20 animals she would like to learn about, the first one we started with is the anaconda, Dd(8) narrated back to me in her own words what she remembered, while I wrote it down. Narration apparently is an excellent form of training for the mind, and is used in classical education and was a method used by Charlotte Mason also.

Grammar - Working from 'first language lessons' by Jessie Wise. A new poem was assigned to be memorised, called ''work''by anonymous,

Work while you work,
Play while you play,
This is the way
To be happy each day,
All that you do,
Do with your might;
Things done by halves
Are never done right.

Alhamdulillaah we fitted everything in, I was very pleased with that. I've done my planning for tomorrow, insha Allaah, it will be an even better and more productive day.

I am still currently in the process of looking into Charlotte Mason's philosophy, I ordered the book 'A Charlotte Mason Companion' by Karen Andreola, it arrived last week, I was so excited, I've started it, and read quite a few pages, it has alot of useful information. I would like to read the 'original homeschooling series' by Charlotte Mason after this insha Allaah. I just want to take my time, and introduce things slowly, we may end up a mix of classical and Charlotte Mason, as both sides appeal to me, but are very similar with certain things, such as narration,copywork.
Ok, I'm off to read, will try my best to update tomorrow insha Allaah.

Call this justifiable??!!

I write this while tears stream from my eyes, I have become more aware now of the situation in palestine and the current situation there, this is so sad, I feel so helpless and angry. Palestinians are labelled as the terrorists when they are the ones having their land stolen from under their noses,kicked out from their own homes, left without electricity/water etc, innocent people killed, including women and children! subhanAllaah, why do people think this is justifiable???!!!! Wake up!!! open your eyes and look at the reality. Insha Allaah we need to make lots of du'a for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, May Allaah help them and grant them peace in the land which is rightfully theirs.
I came across this on'a learning muslimah'


Look into my eyes
And tell me what you see.
You don't see a damn thing,
'cause you can't possibly relate to me.

You're blinded by our differences.
My life makes no sense to you.
I'm the persecuted Palestinian.
You're the American red, white and blue.

Each day you wake in tranquility,
No fears to cross your eyes.
Each day I wake in gratitude,
Thanking God He let me rise.

You worry about your education
And the bills you have to pay.
I worry about my vulnerable life
And if I'll survive another day.

Your biggest fear is getting ticketed
As you cruise your Cadillac.
My fear is that the tank that just left
Will turn around and come back.

American, do you realize,
That the taxes that you pay
Feed the forces that traumatize
My every living day?

The bulldozers and the tanks,
The gases and the guns,
The bombs that fall outside my door,
All due to American funds.

Yet do you know the truth
Of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth that no one knows?

You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of Zionists.
I'm terrorized in my own land
And I'm the terrorist?

You think you know all about terrorism
But you don't know it the way I do,
So let me define the term for you,
And teach you what you thought you knew.

I've known terrorism for quite some time,
Fifty-five years and more.
It's the fruitless garden uprooted in my yard.
It's the bulldozer in front of my door.

Terrorism breathes the air I breathe.
It's the checkpoint on my way to school.
It's the curfew that jails me in my own home,
And the penalties of breaking that curfew rule.

Terrorism is the robbery of my land,
And the torture of my mother,
The imprisonment of my innocent father,
The bullet in my baby brother.

So American, don't tell me you know about
The things I feel and see.
I'm terrorized in my own land
And the blame is put on me.

But I will not rest, I shall never settle
For the injustice my people endure.
Palestine is our land and there we'll remain
Until the day our homeland is secure.

And if that time shall never come,
Then we will never see a day of peace.
I will not be thrown from my own home,
Nor will my fight for justice cease.

And if I am killed, it will be in Filasteen
It's written on my every breath.
So in your own patriotic words,
Give me liberty or give me death.

And why should ye not fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)?- Men, women, and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!" (4:74)

bribes and pipe cleaners

Masha'Allaah Dd(8) really pleased me today, she went on Whizz Maths and one of the lessons was on counting money, I suggested again that she try counting on, for example there was a 10p,and two 2pence's, so I told her to say the 10 and then count the 2p and then the other 2p, which broke it down for her, and she found it quite easy, ok, ok, I'll let you in on something, it wasn't that easy for me to get her to do it, I had to actually bribe her with a chocolate, lol, I don't like to do that, but anything for her to at least try it! Anyway it worked, so we'll just have to see if she tries this by herself next time.

Dd(8) and Ds(6)decided to make a few things from pipe cleaners today, Dd(8)made bracelets, and Ds(6) made dinosaurs, he's crazy about them! masha'Allaah. Dd(8) took the photo of them, and asked me kindly if I would put them on my blog, so here they are:

(Dd(8) made the purple dinosaur.

I've been thinking today about handicrafts, I read that Charlotte Mason included these in her teaching, these are not just art and crafts as we know today, but crafts which will support a child into adulthood, such as sewing,knitting,pottery,oil painting etc... I would love them to try pottery insha Allaah, I did try it a long time ago, and made quite a mess, that's the picture I had in my mind earlier when thinking of introducing it, but I think it would be fun.
When I was a teen I remember I used to love making things from dough and baking it in the oven until it was hard, I would then paint it and glaze it. I had a book, which I found at my mum's house last year, which I used to copy ideas from, I was so happy when I found it, but unfortunately never ended up bringing it back home for some reason, hopefully my mum hasn't got rid of it, I would love to do that with them also, you can make so many things.

Oh, today, the baby took his first few steps masha'Allaah, he's been practicing balancing for days now, it's so cute masha'Allah, he'll let go of whatever he's holding and just stand there, with his hands in front of him as if he's saying ''hey, look at me! no hands!'' lol, so today I was encouraging him to take some steps, he was loving it. So probably wont be long now before he's running wild with the rest of them insha Allaah.