0 Bookmarks

Alhamdulillah, Reading is one of Big sisters favorite hobby. She decorated her bookmark with sequin and uses it. An interesting and useful activity for kids.

This was done by our little princess although she don't know to read :)

 

Our Little Solder's bookmark who wanted to imitate his sisters :) 

For detailed step by step guide how to make page corner bookmarks pls visit
Tally's Treasury blog.

0 Selected Morning and Evening Duas

الحمد لله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبى بعده

All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon him after whom there is no other Prophet.

And pronounce the name of Allah morning and evening. [76:25]

Islam is a true religion which shows the mankind the way to achieve success happiness and goodness in both the worlds. The master both the worlds Muhammed صلى الله عليه وسلم was so concerned of his ummah that he not only told seek protection from harm, he himself taught the ummah supplication for each and every action at the beginning and the end.

In this way the supplication said in the morning and evening is a powerful weapon against all harms. The example of making mention of Allah often is like a man being pursued at speed by the enemy until he reaches a protected fortress and so protects himself inside it. Likewise is the servant, he can only protect himself from shaitan through remembrance of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.

Alhamdulillah this small dua card designed by Abi with some selected supplication for kids, as it will be interest for them when it come with colors and decorations. The wise parents are those who teach their kids to remember Allah often which make one attain nearness to the Almighty.

Ahadeeth (PDF 80kb) Download link
Du'a Card (PDF 10mb) Download link

0 The Best of Creation

(click on the image for larger view) 

الحمد لله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبى بعده 
All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon him after whom there is no other Prophet.

 And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds. [21:107]

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضى الله عنه أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ ‏ إِنَّ مَثَلِي وَمَثَلَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ مِنْ قَبْلِي كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ بَنَى بَيْتًا فَأَحْسَنَهُ وَأَجْمَلَهُ، إِلاَّ مَوْضِعَ لَبِنَةٍ مِنْ زَاوِيَةٍ، فَجَعَلَ النَّاسُ يَطُوفُونَ بِهِ وَيَعْجَبُونَ لَهُ، وَيَقُولُونَ هَلاَّ وُضِعَتْ هَذِهِ اللَّبِنَةُ قَالَ فَأَنَا اللَّبِنَةُ، وَأَنَا خَاتِمُ النَّبِيِّينَ (رواه البخارى)

Narrated Abu Huraira رضى الله عنه : Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: My similitude in comparison with the other prophets before me, is that of a man who has built a house nicely and beautifully, except for a place of one brick in a corner. The people go about it and wonder at its beauty, but say: 'Would that this brick be put in its place!' So I am that brick, and I am the last of the Prophets. [Bukahri]

Alhamdulillah, We have entered into a blessed month (Rabi al-Awwal) in which the bearer of glad tidings, The Warner, The Radiant Lamp, The Prophet and mercy whom Allah clothed with the garment of honor and acceptance, master of both the worlds Muhammed صلى الله عليه وسلم was born.

The success of both world lies only in complying with the commandments of Allah in the way shown by Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم .

Today the world is corrupted so much that the immature hearts of our innocent children are being attracted towards sin and immodest lifestyle of kuffar. So, it is a must upon every parent to inculcate the love and the lifestyle of our beloved Rasulllah into their hearts. Also to teach the biography of the blessed and his family members.

Love of Allah's messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم  is better than the blood which flows in ones body. (as life in this temporary world depends on the blood in our body, whereas the eternal life on the hereafter is doomed if one does not possess love for the prophet.

Another point to consider is to teach them on how to invoke blessings on Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. There are several blessings and virtues mentioned in Ahadeeth.

It is narrated that Abu bakr used to say invoking blessings on the prophet extinguishes sins more than the cold water extinguishes fire and sending peace on him is better than freeing slaves.

Subhanallah, A wonderful book that enraptured my heart, Manifestations of Prophet Muhammad's Beauty complied by As-Sheikh Yusuf Motala. Sheikh everything in detail about Rasullah صلى الله عليه وسلم His Family members, Clothing, Camel, Goat, Food he like etc.... A great book to read together with kids.

Masha Allah, Another computer program found about Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for children. To make them understand the characters of Nobel Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in an interesting way. We have uploaded a demo on our YouTube channel including download link.

2 Friendship in Islam

 

Your only friend is Allah, then His Messenger and those who believe, who establish Salah and pay Zakah and bow before Allah. [5:55]

حَدَّثَنِي مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بُرْدَةَ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا بُرْدَةَ بْنَ أَبِي مُوسَى، عَنْ أَبِيهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏‏ مَثَلُ الْجَلِيسِ الصَّالِحِ وَالْجَلِيسِ السَّوْءِ كَمَثَلِ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ، وَكِيرِ الْحَدَّادِ، لاَ يَعْدَمُكَ مِنْ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ إِمَّا تَشْتَرِيهِ، أَوْ تَجِدُ رِيحَهُ، وَكِيرُ الْحَدَّادِ يُحْرِقُ بَدَنَكَ أَوْ ثَوْبَكَ أَوْ تَجِدُ مِنْهُ رِيحًا خَبِيثَةً

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari رضي الله عنه said The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace. [Sahih al-Bukhari] 

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ‏ الْمَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِهِ، فَلْيَنْظُرْ أَحَدُكُمْ مَنْ يُخَالِلْ

Abu Huraira  رضي الله عنه  reported: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends [Ahmed]

Alhamdulillah, we all know how much it is exciting and entertaining when it comes to meeting friends and spending time together. Mankind can't live alone every individual must live and interact with others. When interacting with others one either influences or is himself influenced.

As parents it is very important to choose decent and faithful friends to our kids. It has been proven through experience that habits and behavior of friend and associates slowly manifest in an individual. Without realizing a person begins to adopt the style and behavior of his friends. 

There are 3 types of friends:

1. Those that are necessary like nourishment and you can't live without them.
2. Those that are like medicine and our beneficial, so you need them sometimes.
3. Those that are like a sickness and you do not need them at all 

I know the emotional feeling of my own kids on how they behave when they receive the letters from their pen pals. Why not! friendship is an important part of each individual to show their feeling, experience, happy and sorrow.

Even the best of creation our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had a highest level of friendship with whom we all knew is Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه the first man to accept Islam. Even after being beaten unconscious by the Quraysh, he was most concerned about how the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was. 

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ مِرْآةُ أَخِيهِ، فَإِنْ رَأَى بِهِ أَذًى فَلْيُمِطْهُ عَنْهُ

Also the child should be explained the above hadeeth, Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه said that Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Each of you is a mirror for his brother. If he sees something bad, let him remove it for him. [Tirmidhi]

Because he helps him to maintain correct behavior, so each one of them should advise kindly without exposing him publicly or sneer at him when they do something haram.

Instead of making friends with the misguided ones we should befriend with righteous, yet treat the rest in a gracious and just manner. 

The dangerous of having corrupt friends isn't confined to the worldly life, such friendship produce repentance on the day of resurrection too. 

And (Be mindful of) the Day the wrongdoer will bite his hands saying,“Would that I had taken a path along with the messenger! Woe to me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for my friend! Indeed he led me astray from the advice after it had come to me.” And the Satan is man’s betrayer. [25:27-29]

The 2 main regrets on the day of judgement are not following Muhammed صلى الله عليه وسلم on the path of guidance and befriending a person who diverted one from the truth. The Exalted says in Nobel Qur'an:

Friends, on that day, will become enemies to one another, except the God-fearing [43:67]

Here the Qur'an is not saying that friends will not help or benefit each other on that day, it is saying something much stronger that friends who were not God fearing will be the enemies of each other on the day of Qiyamah.

Another point I would like to emphasize is the company of the scholars, these are the words Luqman عليه السلام instructed his son, "keep the company of the scholars and listen attentively to the words of the wise, for therewith Allah revives the dead hearts just as he revives the dead earth with heavy rain".

Finally we ask Allah to make us of the righteous ones and give us companions that will take us away from his wrath and lead us his pleasure and paradise!          

2 Soil Activities

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "I will create a human being out of clay from an altered black mud. (15:28)

Surely, the case of Isa (Jesus), in the sight of Allah, is like the case of ‘Adam “He created him from dust, then He said to him, “Be”, and he came to be. (3:59)

From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time. (20:55)

Abû Mûsâ al-Ash`arî رضي الله عنه relates that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Allah created Adam from a handful taken from all over the Earth. Therefore, the descendants of Adam came forth corresponding to the Earth. Some are red, some are white, and some are black, and some are intermediate between those. Some are easygoing, some are difficult, some are bad, and some are good.”   (Abû Dâwûd)

Alhamdulillah, Eventually we were able to make a flap book about soil. Anyway science is one of our Big Sisters favorite subject. 

Subhanallah as homeschoolers we parents have a good opportunity of discussing the verses of Allah and the words of the final messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم when we are involved in this immense responsibility of educating our children. 

It is very fascinating to do such activities with kids only matter is the shortage of time.

 Filled a jar with soil and after 30min humus was formed

"All About Dirt" is a wonderful document links to many online resources. (download link, file size 1.54mb) 

0 Time Management

Indeed All praise is due to Allah, We praise him, seek refuge with him and seek his forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides there is none who can misguide him. And whoever Allah misguides there is none who can guide him. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon the master of peace Muhammed صلى الله عليه وسلم

With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful.

1. (I swear) by the Time 2. man is in a state of loss indeed 3. except those who believed and did righteous deeds, and exhorted each other to follow truth, and exhorted each other to observe patience.

Ibn Mas'ood  رضي الله عنه narrates, Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: The feet of the son of Adam will not move from near his Lord on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about five matters:

• about his life, how he spent it
• about his youth, how he took care of it
• about his wealth, how he earned it
• and how he spent it
• about that which he acted upon from the knowledge that he acquired

The above hadeeth forewarns against the reckoning the man have to face on the day of Qiymah first and foremost everybody will have to render an account of his entire life time every second of which is an invaluable asset for man.

From various ayahs of Holy Quran and sayings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم we can understand how much important the time is. The Almighty makes oath by the break of the day.

 I swear by the dawn

Also we can know the blessing of the early rising by the narration of Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:

Ali رضي الله عنه narrates, Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Oh Allah, bless my ummah in its early rising.

Dear readers, let us  try to ponder over the words of Allah and his messenger and try to achieve maximum benefits from the life which we have been granted. Insha Allah

Time Management resources:

Here are the 2 valuable books which inspired me to set up a time management. Wonderful books that every mum should have to set up a well organized house. May Allah reward the sisters and guide them on the straight path!

Powerful Time Management Skills for Muslims by Zohra Sarwari 

Some text quoted from this book:

Time has 2 characteristics which makes it the most valuable thing a human has:

• It passes quickly
• Once time has passed, it cannot be returned, nor can it be compensated for.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, 

ask a student who has failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH,

ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, 

ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE DAY, 

ask a daily wage laborer who has kids to feed.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, 

ask the girl and guy who are waiting to get married.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, 

ask a person who has missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, 

ask a person who has avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, 

ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics

101 Time Management by Crystal Paine 

One of valuable lecture on time management by Ash-sheikh Muhammad Al-shareef. (download link - file size 10mb)

0 Almah's Journal

All praise for Allah who raised the skies without any pillar and adorned them with stars & moon.

A journal helps us to keep our written record of what we have done each day, Especially a homeschooling journal is an important record of our "precious gifts- kids".

To me it was very easy and pretty much helpful to organize and prepare my younger kids by having my elder daughter's journal.

The other benefits of maintaining homeschooling journal are:

• To keep track of children progress and education history.
• To keep record of homeschooling experience and share with other homeschoolers.
• Preparation for forthcoming curriculum.    
• To communicate with local educational authorities and officials.
• In the time of admission to college or higher education.

All these journals with beautiful covers were designed and done by my hubby  also he was the one who inspired me to maintain a journal.

hubby 

My current and past journals

0 Tawheed for Children

Masha Allah, thought-provoking lectures for children by Dr. Saleh as-Saleh (Rahimahullaah). He explains Tawheed in very simple manner that can be understood easily by children.

Audio file (20.5mb), PDF file (3.8mb)

0 Year 02 Final Exam and Big Sister's Gift

Alhamdulillah by the grace of Almighty Big Sister completed her year 02 final exam.

The gift she got from Abi: The Usborne Map of the World Jigsaw. (250 pieces and it come around 81cm x 54cm when completed)

First we made the for corners 

Completed frame 

Masha Allah finally jigsaw was completed after 3 hours.

0 Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five

One of fascinating & practical parenting book. Just finished listen to the audio book. Highly recommended for all parents.

Amazon Description: What’s the single most important thing you can do during pregnancy? What does watching TV do to a child’s brain? What’s the best way to handle temper tantrums? Scientists know.

In his New York Times bestseller Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina showed us how our brains really work—and why we ought to redesign our workplaces and schools. Now, in Brain Rules for Baby, he shares what the latest science says about how to raise smart and happy children from zero to five. This book is destined to revolutionize parenting. Just one of the surprises: The best way to get your children into the college of their choice? Teach them impulse control.

Brain Rules for Baby bridges the gap between what scientists know and what parents practice. Through fascinating and funny stories, Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and dad, unravels how a child’s brain develops – and what you can do to optimize it.

You will view your children—and how to raise them—in a whole new light. You’ll learn:

• Where nature ends and nurture begins.
• Why men should do more household chores.
• What you do when emotions run hot affects how your baby turns out, because babies need to feel safe above all
• TV is harmful for children under 2
• Your child’s ability to relate to others predicts her future math performance.
• Smart and happy are inseparable. Pursuing your child’s intellectual success at the expense of his happiness achieves neither Praising effort is better than praising intelligence.
• The best predictor of academic performance is not IQ. It’s self-control.
• What you do right now—before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and through the first five years—will affect your children for the rest of their lives. Brain Rules for Baby is an indispensable guide.