0 Ramadan Prep 1435

Subhanallah, we are here after a long time. Though I couldn’t post anything in my blog we were doing our activities and studies Alhamdulillah. The days were hectic due to some other reasons and my son is also throwing tantrums wanting my total attention.

Qaddarallah, whatever it may be as a Muslim we do have the belief that whatever befalls us is the divine decree and we have to build up our courage and proceed for our Aakhirah along with it.

Alhamdulillah, we are glad to meet another Ramadan and let Allah bless us to achieve what he expect from us through this month. We made a Ramadan bulletin board with the duas to be recited during Ramadan, Oh! If not I’ve to spend half of my energy reminding each one of them the duas. LOL… the tracing and coloring was done by Big sister. The Ramadan calendar dates will be added each day by Little princess so, they will know how many days have passed and how many more days are left to do more and more good deeds in order to get closer to the creator in this great month.

 

I know that time is passing so swiftly and I have to spare my precious little time I’ll get for my Quran, no time for crafts and activities during Ramadan.
And then both of them wrote down their plans how they are going to spend their days in Ramadan. GREAT…. If they follow up their plans. Little princess is turning six around in few months’ time Insha Allah, she is hoping to fast the whole month. The option is hers, no force, no discouragement.

My boy” little soldier” wanted to participate in the activities too, he did the Ramadan pronunciation in Arabic and decorated it. I know that little boy don’t have the idea of fasting at all but always wants to take part in Ifthaar…

Finally I pray that let Allah Th’ala guide us in the straight path and bless us with Baraka in our time for our Ibadah! And most importantly let our good deeds be accepted by the Almighty, if not we will be the ultimate losers, may Allah save us!

1 The Day My Dream Came True!

Is it a matter that is going to happen…? Will my kids get an opportunity to get together and share their emotions with other homeschooling kids as I see in other countries…? What about my kids feeling that they are the only ones who are at home…

These were the thoughts that I was going through since I was homeschooling them.

Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Allah my dream came alive and we had our homeschooling workshop last Sunday with 7-8 families who are homeschooling their kids. Masha Allah it was awesome and kids enjoyed a lot.

 
Indeed, it was something that I never imagined of, due to the fact that the challenges I faced in our society was as intense as homeschooling being very rare.

The problem is that the lack of understanding of what is parenting and what is the role a parent plays in educating their children. Concept of whole child approach (physical, intellectual& spiritual development) is not at all considered to be important than the lesson plans. And it’s a deep subject which cannot be explained in detail whereas it is a subject that each parent should educate themselves before they bear this great Amaanath of raising kids.

I prepared a Powerpoint presentation with some important features to make us understand why we are doing this and I whole heartedly thank hubby for his designing and helping me. Jazakallah 

 (click here to download the presentation)

Kids prepared cards in order to remember their first joy of homeschooling get together while we were doing our program.

 

 

And then we had our quiz session where each mother had to ask questions for kids age around 6-8 to bring an enthusiasm among them. The questions:-

1. How many surahs are there in the Quran?
2. What is the planet we live in?
3. Where was Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم born?
4. Which creation of Allah gives us light and heat?
5. What are the five pillars of Islam?
6. How many letter are there in English alphabet?
7. What was the name of Rasulullah’s صلى الله عليه وسلم beloved and dearest daughter?
8. Who was the first muazzin of Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم?
9. Name any creation of Allah that gives us egg?
10. Who was the first man and prophet of Allah?

Each of them were given a paper to write down their answers and by the grace of Allah the quiz winner was “Big sister”.

 

Little princess too wanted to participate in quiz session though she was out of age group. Her answer says that there are lot of pages in my Quran, It was for the question that was asked “how many surahs are there in the quran” LOL.

The quiz session ended up by giving gift for the winner and the other kids. Finally we had our nutritious refreshments with variety of fruits, Alhamdulillah.

Jazakallah Umm Bareerah for all your efforts and organizing this wonderful day who was insisting me to do this program.

Also I wholeheartedly thank and appreciate the presence of Umm Haani, Umm Haajar and Umm Hamdh for making our program blessed by being the wives of Great scholars of our community as well as others.

I cannot end up this post of mine without expressing my gratitude to my respected midwifery teacher who mentored and guided me on how to conduct programs by opening up our minds and inspiring the imaginations.

And finally thanks for all fathers for taking care of the little ones.

May Allah shower his mercy upon us and help us to raise our kids in a way that pleases him and accept our efforts!

0 Visit to National Postal Museum

Last Thursday the girls wanted to spend some time out with hubby. Hubby was wondering where to take them, finally they went and discussed all what they saw and felt after I saw the pictures as they thought that hubby didn’t mention to me where he was taking them.

What I felt at this moment was the father/daughter relationship which is an interesting and utmost important subject that each father should know if he wants his sweet daughters not to go behind a stranger when he says words like ‘I love you” and “You look so beautiful’ which is going to boost their emotions if they haven’t heard these words from a man before it.

An open communication and spending time together, especially a father with his daughters (as he is the first man they are dealing with) is definitely important during these days of corruption. All of us are familiar with the stories of how our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his dearest daughter Fathimah رضى لله عنها were close to each other, amazing! What a wonderful example for dear fathers.

We discussed that exchanging letters is an action that was taking place from the times of Prophets also the Quran speaks about it too. Ex: The letter of Sulayman عليه السلام and Bilkees, also the stories of Sahabas رضى لله عنهم which mentions the letters exchanged between the sahabas and emperors etc… 

some of pics....

0 Moon Sighting

As we all know moon sighting is an important aspect in Islam to determine the months and most of other Islamic obligations and rulings.

Last Sunday was the day for sighting the moon for the month of Jumadhal Ula. Usually hubby goes for sighting whenever it is possible for him, this time kids were insisting to take them as it was a Sunday.

It changed into a family moon sighting day, They wanted to join Abi for the task.

For me it was a first-hand experience and it took few minutes for me to identify the moon because it is just a blade of curve. The best part is Big Sister could see it long before me. The other kids were too small for it and they enjoyed playing and having fun watching kites fly high in the calm breeze.

Fascinating thing for me is, it is a part of homeschooling as it is considered to be developing new skills and observations.

The days and months are passing and we are getting closer and closer for death,

May the day that we meet our Lord be the best of our days!

1 Arabic Alphabet Craft (1)

Alhamdulillah, Little Soldier has completed the Arabic alphabets and moved onto combining letters. “Oh, now starts my great job”.  Any way I am convinced what the hadith says and I do hope that I will be listed among those who spend time for Quran about whom the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was proud of. Insha Allah.

I wanted to make the learning interesting by making alphabet crafts. But as the little boy is already familiar with the Arabic alphabet song which goes as:

Alif is for Allah
Baa is for Bismillah
Thaa is for Thaqwa etc…

Link to the video 

So, we couldn’t make appropriate craft for the word and finally ended up with this stuff which worked out well for him to remember each alphabet well and improve his fine motor skills too. The alphabet will be on the bulletin board until he is familiar.

Hope that the stuff what they make now will remind them of the past sweet childhood memories in future Insha Allah.

 (Click on the image for larger view)

May Allah bless them with a healthy, long life!

This is what was gifted by Abi for completing the alphabets.

May Allah accept our efforts and make us and our off springs among the followers of the Quran and Sunnah of the beloved!

0 Mini Chef - Fruit Rice

Oh! The kitchen is messed up with two young chefs. It was not a planned cookery day; we had some fruits and wanted to make something different with kids as I have not done any extra activities with them for last few months other than daily school lessons because I was stuck up with some of my midwifery class stuff.

Training children how to prepare simple meal for themselves is a part of homeschooling; obviously this isn’t something a 5 or 6 year old should do. The great news is that we can count this toward our required school hours since preparing meals is a life skill.

We had green apples, mango and pineapple any fruits of your choice can be used and colorful fruits will add up the beauty.

Big sister and little princess chopped the fruits into cubes and these are the other items we used:

Yes, this is what the young cooks prepared and they enjoyed it well’ the fruity rice” Masha Allah.

I used my precious wooden spoon to serve them. I value it so much because it was carved by hubby and gifted to me. Here is a full picture of it

0 Fabric Arabic Alphabet Book

This is a little gift from Ummi to our wonderful "Little Sister" who has bought so much joy to our family and is adored by all.

Subhanallah, the days are passing so quickly that my little girl is almost reaching her one year Insha Allah. Not just one year let many years pass, but still I can remember all 4 of my birth experiences in vivid detail for the rest of my life Insha Allah.

Masha Allah, Little Sister is picking up things well, quite advanced and wants to do what her siblings are doing. Imitate reading, writing and reciting. She always grabs her brother’s qaaidha whenever he is reciting and makes funny sounds, as if she is trying to pronounce the alphabets Baa, Thaa and aaf for alif LOL! Tearing and folding poor boys Quran. So I thought of sewing this lovely fabric alphabet book for my little girl. She can do whatever she likes (no worries of tearing or hurting the eyes with laminated edges) I used all the stuff what was available at home and inserted some plastic bags to make some crunching sounds when she turns the pages. The “H” inside the heart is the initial letter of her name which shows the unique ownership of her book.

 

 

 

 

Though it was a time taking job I am glad that she loves it so much and she has lots of little teachers to teach her (her siblings).

I do hope that this would be the foundation for her to recite the words of my beloved lord in future Insha Allah, which is going to be an everlasting reward for parents even after our death. Indeed life is not a real life when there is no motive behind it, and the wisest motive is to leave behind something which will give us success in both worlds (Pious children).

1 Volcano Project

It was a humdrum Sunday morning and kids wanted to do something interesting…. I was wondering what to do and finally came up with this idea of volcano eruption experiment from Aunty Janice’s impressive Book of Super Science Models.

Here is what we used for the activity. Did a volcano model with sand with a bottle in the middle and then Mixed up some red paint with vinegar as we didn’t have red dye and a little bit of dish washing liquid and poured it into the bottle inside the volcano and finally added some baking soda and this is what happened… The volcano eruption and the lava flow.

 

It was very exciting and interesting for kids as they could see the reaction within few minutes, YEH the boring Sunday is now interesting.

We ended up with the backboard display activity of volcano done by Big Sister. She wrote down the Quranic verse on the title strip, Subhanallah the Quran speaks about every miracles and aspects of present, past and future in detail.

 

What a great pleasure to spend time with different ages of kids talking, listening and discussing together and getting to know their innocent feelings and great ideas.

May Almighty be pleased with all what we do !

1 First Day of Little Soldier

A little man with his white thobe stepped into our classroom, A new student to our homeschool, Who is it….. OH, It is our little soldier, The future great soldier of Islam Insha Allah.

What a joy is the first day of school… Yes, All of us knew it! similarly our little soldier’s my dear son’s first day was too. Though he is quite advanced in other activities and is with us during class hours, formal education just started. I have to use different techniques to handle this curious fellow as my previous both students are girls. LOL

We celebrated his first day of school with some decorations and balloons and the little boy was very happy. As we started our class I asked him what he wants to learn, This is what he said “I WANT TO LEARN ALABIC” Alabic means Arabic in his language :) . As he is interested in Arabic I thought of introducing two words per week Insha Allah.

I hang up the picture that he colors on the bulletin board for few days until he is familiar with the word.

Here is our home made bulletin board with our little soldier’s colored picture of the week and some of Little Princess’s activities.

Our classroom is now so busy with three students of different ages and between them my ten month old pretty little girl crawling, climbing, grabbing books and messing up the whole class.

I spend a serious time with each one of them explaining the lessons and make the others busy with some easy lessons which can be done without my help while I am busy with one of them, And the rest of the lessons are planned depending on how the day is.

As we are homeschoolers we are free to learn at any time we wish YEH!

This is a journey of serious undertaking that any parents has the potential to do successfully, it takes dedication and creativity. Though it is challenging the rewards are many Insha Allah.

Indeed a great responsibility rests upon the shoulders of every parent on raising up good Muslims. A great  Ummah  of Islam,. As family is the original educational incubator that either breathes life into it or kills the nature.(Fitra)

This year's journal with our 6 members of the family :) 

May Allah bless us and our offspring with real education which transforms the mind into a new mind and turns the heart into a heart that is filled with the love of Allah and spirit of Islam!

0 Companion Quest by Learning Roots

And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.[9:100]

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ مَنْ كَانَ مُسْتَنًّا فَلْيَسْتَنَّ بِمَنْ قَدْ مَاتَ، أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانُوا خَيْرَ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ، أَبَّرَهَا قُلُوبًا، وَأَعْمَقَهَا عِلْمًا، وَأَقَلَّهَا تَكَلُّفًا، قَوْمٌ اخْتَارَهُمُ اللهُ لِصُحْبَةِ نَبِيِّهِ صلّى الله عليه وسلم وَنَقْلِ دِينِهِ، فَتَشَبَّهُوا بِأَخْلَاقِهِمْ وَطَرَائِقِهِمْ فَهُمْ أَصْحَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، كَانُوا عَلَى الْهُدَى الْمُسْتَقِيمِ وَاللهِ رَبِّ الْكَعْبَةِ.

Abdullah ibn Umar رضى لله عنهما had mentioned: Whoever wishes to follow the way of another should follow the ways of those who have passed away. These were the companions of Muhammed صلى الله عليه وسلم, Who were the best people of this Ummah, Their hearts were pious, their knowledge was deepest and they were least pretentious. You should therefore emulate their character and mannerisms. By the Rabb of the kabah! The sahabas of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم are correctly guided.

Alhamdulillah, Glad that we are blessed to have another precious collection for our book shelf. “Companion Quest”.

The great personalities whom Allah chose to assist our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for propagation of this pure deen.

It is an utmost important responsibility upon every parent to inculcate the love and respect of the noble Sahabas into the innocent minds of children, especially at this time of corruption.

Masha Allah, A wonderful pack to teach kids with fun. There are two major reasons why I am saying fun.

First, Research shows that anything learned with tension often gets flushed out along with unpleasant memories.

Second, The fun factor lift our spirits and gives us that sense of well-being that opens our minds and hearts.

I would like to express my heart felt gratitude to Learning Roots for this thrilling game and all other fascinating stuffs.

Few words from Big Sister about the beloved sahabaas  رضى لله عنهم