Just pics...

Assalamu alaykum


I have been not too well lately and decided to stop homeschooling and start our holidays. I thought to homeschool the boys throughout the summer but I had to stop 'cause of my health. I would have to slow down anyway as the boys will be busy with the free courses I registered them to. Hamdulillah and certainly Allah is the best Planner, la hawla wa la quwwata illah billah!!

So here are some pics of our past week or so. Hope you like them.

And for now happy summer holidays to you all.


Wa alaykum assalam

Last on the right. S art work

Canary Wharf Building
Watching a hockey game

Trying out a new sport

A. 99 names of Allah rocket

S. rocket

A. wrote a book for kids ages 3-4 about Tawheed

Leaflet about Tawheed for non Muslims made by A.

S. poster about Tawheed 'Who created us?' 'Who created everything?'

A new visit down the sea

Finally a sandy beach

Lots to do...

...but so little time!!
Assalamu alaykum
summer just started and as promised the free courses and sport events are out! So much to choose from. This year looks even bigger and better than any other year! Mash'Allah.
So I took advantage of those great free courses once again and registered both boys to some maths, literacy, science, fencing, tennis, cricket, art and craft club and much more!!! Insh'Allah.
This year, above all, I am so interested about what the Muslim Community has to offer for our youngsters and small ones. I found some excellent resources and I am sure so many kids won't be bored at home, stuck in front of telly! Mash'Allah there is lots to choose from: from Islamic science to the Seerah, from Quranic classes to Nasheeds workshops! There is bound to be something out there for your kids,insh'Allah.

Back to us...
The past week I have home educated the kids for 3 days mash'Allah. I was hoping to stay indoors for 4 days but the weather was irresistible!! Mash'Allah!
Saturday A. gave a miss to the Saturday school and we ended up having a picnic at the park.
Sunday the boys were at wrestling all day while me and baby attended a janaza prayer at the masjid. May Allah have mercy on my dear friend/sister.Amin.
On Monday we re-started homeschooling.We carried on with Calvert curriculum for A. . Just few more lessons and we are finished for this year. I am really hoping to finish before the end of July insh'Allah but I don't think we will.
S. carried on with mindsprinting for literacy and numeracy. But he used enchanted learning and parents in touch for science.
Monday the boys attended swimming and had their tests. Looks like they passed, mash'Allah. I am just awaiting for their certificates and new badges.Insh'Allah.

This week was also the start of our new Islamic curriculum. I am so pleased with it and I cannot tell you how much my kids have enjoyed so far.
We started to talk about Tawheed. I wanted the boys to re-start afresh with Islamic Studies and go back to basic.
We made a poster and wrote about the categories of Tawheed:
Tawheedur-Ruboobiyyah: Maintaining Oneness of the Lordship of Allaah
Tawheedul-Uloohiyyah: Maintaining Oneness of the Worship of Allaah
Tawheedul-Asma was-Sifaat: Maintaining Oneness of the Names (Asma) and the Qualities/Attributes (Sifaat) of Allaah
We studied Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeeyah and Tawheed Al Uloohiyah in depth and produced some nice work. Kids listened to this lecture prior to start the lesson about Tawheed.
The kids worked on two main projects: it was a story book for A. He had to write down a story for children of 3-4 years about Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeyah. He wrote a story of two children that while enjoying in the park wondered about Allah's creation and ask questions about who created this and that. Mash'Allah. He completed his work adding colourful pictures to his booklet and a hard back.
S. worked on a mobile made out of paper clips and straws. He attached to each paper clip a cloud. In each cloud he wrote about Tawheed ar-Ruboobeyah answering questions such as 'Who is my Creator?' 'What does Rabb means?' ' Name three small things Allah made' etc. Mash'Allah.
This Islamic Curriculum is really one of the best for us as it uses very nice and inexpensive resources, mostly free from the Internet. Hamdulillah! I would recommend it to all. (see my previous entry for more details about Tailor Made curriculum).

Thursday we attended the usual meeting with other homeschoolers...there weren't many this week. Where were you all???? I bet the weather was far too out for the kids!!
My boys really wanted to go so I made an extra special effort to take myself down the park without the car! And the bus was crowded and hot!!!!Kids complained all the way...hamdulilah.

Also this week, art and craft club for S. He mastered a new technique using paint and cotton buds. Mash'Allah. We reproduced same technique at home and decorated some paper plates.

What's more?
-There was a visit to the Natural History Museum to learn about mammals and to the Investigate Centre;
-Qur'an and Arabic was on as usual;
-Learning the stories of the Caliphs from a audio CD from Islamic Foundation. Really nicely made and A. really like to put it on in the evening before listening to the Qur'an. It's a bit like bed time story, mash'Allah.
-Boys received new Islamic books mash'Allah. Some great titles there such as 'Qur'an stories', 'Parents love', 'Ramadan is coming', 'The story of Yusuf (as)' and I was impressed by one in particular. It is called 'Let's go Dua catching'. A really sweet story with very nice pictures. A different Islamic book from the rest.Mash'Allah.

More about this week in our pics...it's 4.15am and mash'Allah dawn is here...such a beautiful time of the day...I am going to catch some blessings insh'Allah!

Happy home edu to all! x

Bubbles: a classic of summer!

Thursday Group!

Baby at the Thursday group.

Some more pics of the park we do attend on Thursdays

Foam puzzle, learning about continents. £1 from Poundland

Learning about the Human body in English and French.

Baby's art attack!

New arty technique

Painting with cotton buds

A.'s painting his paper plate

Baby and his friends: ducky and eeyore.

Learning about Art very fast, mash'Allah.

The mobile S. made about Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeya.

It's the one with the clouds!

A close-up of one cloud. it says: Allah is my creator.

Lavender blooming in my garden

Some really nice flowers I forgot kids planted in Spring

And our veggies...cherry tomatoes

Dwarf beans

Some freshly made mint tea after dinner...

better drank in the garden.

A collection of 5 books, great value for money and great titles.

' Let's go dua catching'

At the Investigate centre, Natural History Museum

baby's learning too.

A.'s writing about his findings

A 3 mt. long snake skin (python)

S.'s using the computer in the centre

The Investigate centre

Summer is here!

Assalamu alaykum, summer is here!!! Such a special time of the year and this year is even more special!! Ramadan will be starting soon. Here the kids cannot wait...they are looking forward to the atmosphere and peace of such a blessed Month!!!
I am too getting ready for it, I know it's late, not really an example taken from our predecessors...Ya Allah!
We have the summer all sorted, insh'Allah and Allah is the Best Planner!! A. will be attending summer schools and learn some more literacy and numeracy, ICT and Maths and finally gardening. Insh'Allah. S. will be at a summer play scheme in the local leisure centre. Both kids will then join the local leisure centres for some fencing and archery. I cannot wait!! And the best bit? It's all for free!!! Mash'Allah.

Back to our past week.
We have been homeschooling 4 days, mash'Allah. Trying our out most to finish Calvert on time. Mindsprinting and Calvert will be put down by the end of July so I hope by then to have the kids completed all the required lessons. Insh'Allah.
So what have we been up to?
Art and Craft was on. We painted glass jars with the same paint-markers we used for the tiles. Kids painted two big jars for the biscuits. And three glasses that we now use as candle holders.
Also this week S. brought back home his clay pieces he made 2 weeks ago at the Art and Craft Club. Mash'Allah he was so happy with himself and showed the pieces around to his friends!

Qur'an and Arabic was on. The tajweed is getting along mash'Allah and the tutor seems happy with the boys. They are now approaching the last few verses of Juzz 'Amma.
Although they already know all the 30th part of the Qur'an by heart, mash'Allah, this time around they are more confident because they know their Tajweed rules and can actually reading the surahs rather than repeating them.Mash'Allah tabarak'Allah! It's a long process to teach kids tajweed rules, but I felt it is for the best as only Hifdh cannot replace reading Qur'anic Arabic.

Also to implement their understanding of Qur'an,we carried on using the tafseer booklets from the ad-Duha institute, hamdulillah. I find that kids can benefit much more by understanding the stories behind each surah.
I have also ordered two guides from Tailor Made Educational Guides. Mash'Allah I have received them both in record time and I couldn't believe myself!! They are fantastic! I have asked them to tailor two guides in Islamic studies for my boys concentrating more on the lives of the Companions and Tawheed. I am so pleased with the guides and we have started using them right away. Mash'Allah! Prices are very competitive and the resources are based on authentic sources. They don't do only Islamic Studies.
Here it's what they do.
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Asalamuu ‘aalaykum,
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What's more?
-Lots of picnics and visits to the park. One more visit to 'Discover' but opted to stay outdoors in their front garden.
-Wrestling;
-Swimming;
-Saturday Supplementary school for A.;
-Gardening and eating 'al fresco'!
Hamdulillah!

wa alaykum assalam
happy weekend and a very good home education week to all!

Tiles anyone? Or maybe some potatoes?

Assalamu alaykum,

I am feeling quite relaxed this evening.My exams are almost over, two down and one to go! I did well and so far I received only one of the two exams outcome and I passed! Mash'Allah wa hamdulillah!

So this evening, after a long day in central London sitting in a big hall with lots of other students, I decided to sit and rest a bit. Just browsing around and catching up with others' blogs and forums. Kids are in bed reading their books. Baby is fast asleep and the house is quite! Just what my brain and body need right now.

This week has been a very hectic one for me and family all. My preparation to the exams took all my time and that meant little homeschooling and lots of fun for the kids! Not much fun for me that I took my course books literally every where we went!

Following are some of the activities in pics.

So now all I have to do is 'the List':

-kids attended a workshop in the British Museum about Islamic tiling and produced some nice tiles, hubby joined too for the first time!;

-We took our potatoes out the ground and made a nice summer salad with them, really delicious!;

-one more picnic in Regents Park, kids enjoyed the weather in the playground.

Quran and Arabic was on as usual and we carried on using the tafseer booklets. We are also re-reading the stories of the prophets and S. is joining in with Qs. and As. quiz.

Swimming and wrestling has carried on as normal and soon they will have an exam to check their abilities in both sport. A new tournament is on the horizon...

For now it's about it! Happy home education to all and enjoy the weather! :)

Great weather for a picnic

Kids tiles up on their bedroom wall
Some more tiles from other children and adults too ;)
A.'s tiles, before you ask the red one are roses not hearts
and the blue dots are not baloons but leaves!

S.'s tiles some flowers and leaves

In the process...

Almost there...

Summer salad with freshly produced, home made potatoes Freshly out the ground

In the end we took the potatoes out!

A Photographic update of our week!

Assalamu alaykum
just a photographic update to cut time but keep on top of the blog!! LOL!

Snails have been eating up all our beans plants

Just one survived and mash'Allah look the small beans

Cherry tomatoes are growing nicely

A.'s plants growing fine

More pics of A.'s flowers

Potatoes, is it time to take them out???

Kids built a masjid with their new found love for woody toys

S. new mini book

And a massive pyramid made out Lego

Yum, yum, Baked Aubergines, S. helped with the dish

New found love for cooking. S.

Magnetic tiles, decorated by S.

A.'s learning Cross stitching

Decorating the bathroom tiles with Bath crayons

More on bath crayons

S.'s building with woody blocks

A lovely Hadith colouring book from Umm An-Nu'man website

S.'s mini book about cursive letters

The List:

-Qur'an and Arabic as usual. Kids are progressing very well. I was wondering if we were allowed to celebrate when a child finishes a Juzz of the Qur'an;

-Swimming and wrestling was on as usual;

-Visited the Library almost everyday as S. is so into reading now. Need more books...thebookspeople here I come!;

-had a massive clear out and gave away all the plastic toys. We replaced with some nice old style woody toys mainly bought from charity shop and couple from ELC. We will keep to few but good ones.

-Kids started a new hobby: cross stitching. A. is really into it but S. got bored after the first try.

-A. finished to read all his collection of 10 books of Roal Dahl and his favourite was 'Danny the Champion of the World'

-re-organized all our files and folders that contain all the worksheets and resources for this coming year;

...the end!

wa alaykum assalam

x

We have all learnt something new!

Assalamu alaykum,

one more week of great activities have passed by so quickly.

I am so late in updating this blog just really busy up to my eyes with study and homeschooling!

So here it goes 'The List'!

-Monday to Wednesday: home schooled the kids. Monday afternoon:Swimming and Tuesday afternoon:Art and Craft Club! S. learnt a bit about pottery and made his first tile and a small cup with clay. Wednesday afternoon: we spent our time in the library enjoying books and a reading session in a small group of children.

-Thursday:we attended the weekly homeschooling meeting at the park. While there, I ended up sitting with a dear ukhti that taught me how to knit!!! I couldn't believe it, me?Knitting? My mum and sister are shocked and wanted the proof of me knitting. I had to take some pics!! Thursday: afternoon I sat with my knitting needles and started my first, very own project! Don't yet what it is. It could be anything, from a scarf to a purse, to a very large bag!! But it's pink that's for certain!

-Friday: we went to 'Discover' in Stratford and learnt all about pirates. They had set up a pirate theme and there was so much to learn and do!

- Saturday: A. attended the supplementary school and enjoyed ICT and English. We spent the afternoon indoor with me studying and kids watching documentaries and science experiments on TV.

Qur'an and Arabic was on as usual. We have carried on using the tafsir booklets from ad-duha institute. Now that the kids can read much better Arabic I'd like to introduce some fiction books in Arabic. I visited this website and it looks great!

Just a bit about the baby. He is talking a lot lately and love reading Qur'an with his brothers. He also enjoying books and salah with his papa! Mash'Allah!

Well, I better go back to my molecules before I get too caught up here...happy home education to all!

wa alaykum assalam

The 'half term'!

Assalamu alaykum,

the half term is almost over and to be honest for the first time I was happy to be out and about with my boys.

We had a surprise visit from my sister and the kids were so happy to spend some time with her. With my great pleasure, the kids have improved their italian and now can understand much more and reply little in italian.

The past week has been a busy one but very, very pleasant!!

So here it goes the non-so-usual 'unusual list' :) :

-Monday to Friday: A. has been at one of the many free courses organized by my borough. This half term he chose 'African Art'. A great way to learn about Africa!

-Tuesday: Kids attended a workshop at the Chadwell Heath Police Station. They learnt about the work of the police, safety and much more. They even got to hold real handcuffs and sat on a police car!

-Friday: we visited the local farm and mash'Allah the sun was out and all the farm animals were about. S. really like the farm. We bought some fresh eggs and honey freshly produced. My sister decided to make some tiramisu'! I am so looking forward to eat it after years!!

Qur'an and Arabic has been on as usual. Kids are still revising the Juzz 'Amma. The tutor was surpised to see my little 5 years old reading all the 30th part of the Qur'an. Mash'Allah. They are now working through more tajweed rules. Hamdulillah.

I started a small tafsir class with my boys. Every evening we read one small surah and then read the tafsir together. We are using a small collection of booklets from Ad-Duha institute .

I need to keep my post short and sweet as I am busy with studying...I can only pause a bit for some tiramisu' and a freshly made cup of cappuccino! :P

Happy home education to all!!

wa alaykum assalam

Tiramisu'!!

A. and S. afternoon in colourland

African mask and Certificate of Achievement

Painting in canvas made by A.

It means 'Be Happy and feel important'

At the farm

Baby S. loves reading

...And now for the movie, excuse me, movies you have been waiting for!!

Assalamu alaykum all,
finally the movies the kids have been working on, are ready!! Since time is a big constrain for me at present, my exams for my final year in Health and Social Care are around the corner, I won't be having time to update this blog as usually.
But here it is a list of what we have been up to in the last 5 days:
-Calvert for A. In English he is learning about homophone, alliteration and contractions. In Maths, he is learning about hundreds, thousands etc and <,>,= and lots of problems solving.
In Science he has really enjoyed the magnets and finished that Unit in great style recording all his experiments in his science journal.He is currently learning about animals living in the great canyon. Very interesting, especially as he loves wild animals.
In History he is now doing the American Presidents and what it means to be a good citizen.He started off with President Kennedy.
In Islamic Studies he is studying about Prophet Muhammad (sallahu alayhe wa sallam) again but concentrating more on the history side including the battles, hijra and the companions.
-With S. we have been carrying on with mindsprinting.com. He is now doing additions and subtraction. He can read books on his own geared for his age. Completed lots of worksheets with long sound vowels and short ones. Also consonant clusters e.g. fr, dr, cr, tr, cl, fl, pl etc. S. has enjoyed a full week of art&crafts not just at the weekly club but also at home. He produced some nice butterflies, dragonflies, airplanes and lots more.
He also completed two mini books. One about butterflies and one about summer. Mash'Allah. -Arabic and Qur'an as usual, hamdulillah.
-Thursday meet ups with other homeschoolers happened this week. Hamdulillah missed all the sisters a lot!! Happy to be back!
-And finally we worked on our new passion: movies!!! And here they are!

Enjoy the weather and happy home edu to all!
wa alaykum assalam Ayesha

PS: tried to upload S. video but i couldn't. And the PC freeze. Will try again tomorrow insh'Allah.

A. tried out some Greek ionic columns with LEGO, of course! ;)

A. said this is the Roman Emperor Villa. Looks a bit too busy and

the walls are not exactly what you would expect to find

in a Roman villa :/

Ancient Greece lapbook cover

Lapbook inside

Timeline

Wooden horse and a Greek vase with a scene of fighting.

If only you could read what A. wrote next to it.

S. little lapbook about butterflies

The life cycle of a butterfly and

The very Hungry Caterpillar story