Motivation

Hectic start of the day as I started  cleaning ,the people were coming to collect the sold goods . M after his Quran reading and breakfast prefers to read books for an hour. In the beginning I was reluctant to let him do this, because I felt that his mind would be fresher to do maths and other lessons  first thing in the morning. We were willing to try his way, to see if he would use his time productively and resume his daily tasks without a fuss . To my surprise he seems more alert and in fact faster in finishing his work . I suppose he likes that we respect his views and try his methods .

Today was a rewarding day  for M as he completed his salah chart . Alhamdulillah this method seems to motivate him, especially getting his weekly financial reward! I still have to remind  him but hey!! he is only 8!!!

M has been very much into this book  since dh got him a week ago . This morning he was practising how to make different types of knots . Today he mastered the Taut-line hitch which is the type of knot mostly used by mountain climbers and also used to tie down tent lines because it can be tightened and loosened quickly . He was proud  beause he had learnt something fiddly all by himself .

We discussed more on volcanoes as to the different phases they go through and some terminologies . More cutting ,writing ,colouring and gluing . J is more involved and enthusiastic Alhamdulillah .

They let off some steam by going to visit their friends and a quick visit to the library .

The children were promised that they would  get to watch a documentary today and stay up a bit late . We watched The Secret Life of the Elephants in BBC iplayer :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00gtgd2/The_Secret_Life_of_Elephants_Episode_1/

M has already launched unto his next project on Mammals for which he already created power point p all by himself .

This is a very interesting article which found to be useful in bringing up our children -click on it.

what we should be teaching our children

Back to Work

The last fortnight we were busy spring cleaning .SubhanAllah  unbelievable how much junk we hoard .Still there is lot more to be done InshaAllah .

We have been working on our volcano lapbook  ,Alhamdulillah almost coming to the end .I  have to agree  I always  seem to take my time in finishing  these projects .We are also on our way  in constructing  a volcano in the process -paper mac he'.

Today J has been working on his Singapore English workbook .I find it too basic and not challenging enough as the Singapore maths ,but i choose parts of it thats interesting .J had to write the story looking at the  picture and construct proper sentence.

J is now showing great interest in the times table, which he was doing as a part of his work .

So to feed his enthusiasm i give him a small reward if he memorised .Successfully he has done the 2 and 3 times table and working hard on the 4Th.

As i mentioned before ,for Arabic we are working on animals mentioned in the Quran .I decided to do this a bit different in a book form .As you can see in the picture the information on the left hand side is some facts about the animal and the one on the right is the verse mentioned in the Quran about the animal .And the green coloured paper is where they practise writing the word .

The print outs  are  from the site:   http://www.talibiddeenjr.com/downloads/library_animals_in_the_quraan_print.pdf

Doing this way  we also get to discuss the tafsir of the quran  related to the animal . 

                                                                                                       

Things are moving faster than we thought .As we are going to be moving to the middle east

we put many things on sale and people are showing  great interest .

The house is a complete tip, as many things  are going on ...throwing ,boxing ,sorting........etc.

The boys got on with their work in the morning .As for lunch they made their own self designed pizza .They enjoyed tucking in and topping them .

They helped dh to put stuff in the dump yard.

We are at present reading about another sahabah ,Umayr bin sa'd who was young boy who was an orphan .He grew up with his mother and his stepfather who dearly loved him .Umayr  was heart broken to find out that his stepfather was a munafiq.And Umayr played his part in saving his father from the great torment. 

 

M learnt how to put up a real tent in his scouts ,as they are planning to go for  camping at the end of this month    InshaAllah .     

life moves on.........

Over the weekend ,I became ill with flu and fever and completely knocked out .

But the children had a nice time with their cousins.
Dh  even  managed  to make  a bonfire with the children .  

The children went out with my in laws to have more fun with other friends as they were invited for dinner.

 

We usually start on the Sunday evening to get home ,but since dh also fell sick ,we had to change our schedule .Finally arrived home around mid morning .I was in bed for the most of the day .

The children were allowed to play in snow ,they had a wonderful time making snowman with their next door friend .They played outside most of the time ,as we don't have snow so often .

 

Then M and J spend their time reading Horrid Henry's 2009 given to them by their aunt. It has lots of riddles, facts ,experiments,tricks ........etc.

The rountine of the perious week has payed off ,as  boys did the washing up .M makes us tea as and when  need Alhamdulillah 

Iam very anxious and concerned about the people of Gaza who are undergoing hardship and misery by losing thier dear and loved ones SubhanAllah .May Allah pour down upon them mercy and peace ,Ameen .

Love is where the heart is

We started our journey which was 1 1/2 hrs drive .We ended up with a number of interesting discussions stimulated by dh about Allah 's love for us that was immense and uncountable  .So the discussion stirred as to how to measure the unit of love ......lovometer ,rose power etc.And that lead J to question ,if the love for someone was from the heart or brain .He was strongly convinced that it was through the heart ,but he could not explain .M was convinced that it was through the mind .So it almost turned it to a debate reflecting their personality. 

Then we finally arrived ,the children ran around in excitement meeting their cousins .I only saw them for dinner and sleep time ...gave me break at least.

Their cousin finished reading Quran ,which is  great achievement Alhamdulillah .

 

MMmmmmm........time  to eat .The children enjoyed it .I

let them loose today to sleep in their own time (past nine),had their so called mid night feast .

SubhanaAllah when I see children playing  carefree without worries or  in fear ,it aches my heart to think about the children in Gaza who are wrapped up under their mother's tender arms knowing not what will happen next .Lets us all pray to Allah to ease their   situation and bring tranquility in their life  ,Ameen. 

Review of the week

Since dh is off work ,the boys got to go for the juma'h  Alhamdulillah.

Most of my day was occupied in cleaning and scrubbing . 

 

Apart from the academic side of things  this week ,I  encouraged the children to do some  household chores .M  and J surprised me  by agreeing to wash up the dishes and actually doing it through out the  week. M washes up after dinner and J does it after breakfast,and they enjoyed doing it .

InshaAllah the other routine we wanted to establish was salah(prayer)for M.So we  came up with this idea of ticking the chart each time he prayed  and he would be rewarded at the  end of week (Friday) a pound  .I got the print out off the net and laminated it and hang it in the hall way so that I and dh can  keep an eye on it ,and remind him in case he forgot to pray.

 MashaAllah as you can see he has achieved it this week .Since the print out is in Arabic ,he has learnt the names of the days in Arabic Alhamdulillah .

The plight of our Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine brings tears to my heart .May Allah strength their heart and  establish their feet firmly  in eeman .May Allah unite them together and give them victory in this life and the next Ameen.

Maths can be fun!!!

Quiet  start 

After  quick and short lessons, M had to go for his football training today.He came home pleased that he was  man of the match .J couldn't go for it as he was having cough and cold .J continued working .While M was away J and I with help of little ds1 prepared a fun trail for M .

I wanted to do something different to the norm.Doing maths in a work book or worksheet can be boring for the children at times.So, while I cut them to strips from the sheet J and ds1 went around the house sticking them .

The aim  is  to do the maths mentally and look for the answers on the other strip, then read the question on that and carry on until you come back to where you started.M really enjoyed it and started  straight away as soon as he entered the house and noticed them .

I got this idea from www.parentsintouch.co.uk

I prepared for the next lapbook that we are going to make on volcanoes ....printing .

Then I read some  information about volcanoes to them- today it was about Paricutin, a volcano in Mexico 1943-1952. We discussed the damage  caused by the volcano and it's consequences on the people and the surroundings .

 

The next sahaba that we have started to read is about Ummaiyr ibn sa'd Al Ansari  who  was an orphan and entered in to the fold of Islam in his tender age of 10,SubhanAllah.

As a bed time routine we read them books  ,at the moment i am reading The Mysteries collection by Enid Blyton . Next I am going to try reading Sherlock Homes as M and J like detective stories.

Little ds2 decided to help us sort through the books as we were boxing them .Censoring the books with a critical eye of disapproval .........I  am  trying hard  to understand mummy!!!!