Another week has gone!

Assalamu alaykum,
yet another week has passed by silently, quickly, happily, sadly, suddenly, forcibly, hurriedly...
A long week I must say, very, very busy!

My family has been with us for the last 27 days, mash'Allah! Almost one whole month together with the ones I love:my mum, my sister and my brother! It has been a great month full of occasions for my kids and I to learn.

For the almost full month we have decided, conciously to put our Calvert programme away...and spent some free, quality time with my family.

Nevertheless, my boys have been revised for their exams which will start next Monday. They have been revised Qur'an (full Juzz Amma - 30th part of the Qur'an), Ahadith Bukahri and Muslim, Tawheed and Arabic. They are nice and ready for their exams and I pray they will pass, amin.

I myself had time to do things I love such as reading ( I almost finished the book 'The bookseller of Kabul) and gardening. I left my mum and sister in charge of the cooking ( I don't really enjoy cooking, lol). Kids have helped too: yes making mess of the compost and pulling out the ground my sweet pea plant thinking it was weed!!! :(

Because of my passion of gardening, I treat myself and of course the family all, ;) to a trip to Kew Gardens.

We spent a whole day inside the big, huge garden and still we couldn't finish to visit it all!!
Here, for you all to enjoy, some pics!

Silent Sundays...

Assalamu alaykum,

Sundays are always a treat for me! After a hard week teaching my boys I really need to recharge my self.

Usually I wake up around 7am and get myself ready for swimming. I go out at around 8.30am and go to the only swimming pool for Muslimah in town.

I have a good 1hr swim and then I drive back home. That leave me the rest of the day all for myself as it is the only I have for a bit of relaxation.

LOOKING FOR SOME PEACE!!

The kids are off to football with dh and its' a treat for them too as they do miss their dad after 6 full days of hard work and unless my lovely neighbour pop in for a cuppa, baby S and I have all the day for ourselves.

On Sundays I like to read Qur'an, or watch Islam Channel in peace as when my kids are around I cannot hear a single word from the Sheik in my fav programme IslamiQA. If the weather is sunny like today, I do my weekly washing machine and a good cleaning of the windows.

My house today is very quite and as my baby is sleeping I can stay a bit longer typing at the PC.


Another thing I like to do is gardening.
I have just cut the grass and had a good clean of my shed. Hamdulillah it was not too much like the first day I cut the grass after the cold season.



I find the days are so quickly to pass and the time left for hobbies and a bit of rest is very limited. I don't know if it's only here in the UK but I constantly feel tired and wish for some days of rest.

There is always so much to do and with the kids on tow 24/7 is not as easy but hamdulillah it's the way I chose and it was not imposed upon me.



We are contemplating leaving UK, looking for a place for us to feel comfortable and more at ease. Insh'Allah soon.

Prayer for Parents

Prayer for Parents

The Prophet [SAWS] said: “A man’s status will be raised in Paradise, and he will ask, ‘How did I get here?’ He will be told, ‘By your son’s du’aa’s (prayers) for forgiveness for you.”
[Reported by Ibn Maajah]

O our Lord! Cover (us) with Your Forgiveness - me, my parents, and (all) believers, on the Day that the Reckoning will be established![14:41]

My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was small. [17:24]

We are Muslims Hamdulillah!

Assalamu alaykum,
as my kids grow older, grow as well in Islam, I realize more and more how important it is to believe and live by Islam.

Today we went to the doctor as my little one is not well, hamdulillah. As we were waiting for the doctor to call us, my baby was approached by a child of around 1 year old. The little boy got stranded in my pushchair and fell on the floor. Quickly the father came over to see what happened. Me and another sister went over and said ' bismillah'. I looked at the sister and she looked at me, I guess we thought the same 'We are Muslims, hamdulillah!'. While the father of the child was concerned about the well being of his child and checked that his boy was 'all in one piece', me and the sister we called unto our Lord and together exclaimed 'Bismillah!'.

That was a good Islamic lesson and a reminder for my kids to reflect upon. Of course the father of the child was right to check on his child and to make sure he was ok, but as Muslims we first think of our Lord and call upon Him for help in any matter, no matter how big or small.
The child was ok in the end. Hamdulillah.

Everyday, I try my best to teach my children about Islam and I pray to Allah they can one day be successful Muslims in this dunya and specially in the akhira. Amin.
It's hard for us, living in the West to fully appreciated 'Islam as a way of life'. I hear more and more sisters leaving to go abroad, go back to Islamic countries where they came from, or the husbands were born, or where their fathers/mothers originated. I can see their happiness when they talk of their everyday life, their blessings right in front of them...their Iman is intact! While in the West, we struggle more and more everyday to keep safe our Iman and our kids', theirs it is getting stronger and stronger.
They hear the call of five daily salah, we hear music coming from the cars i the streets and racists abuse, they pray in the Mosque everyday, every prayer, we pray at home and wish that one day we can pray in the Mosque if not all the prayers but at least the Friday one!
I don't like for me kids to live in the West as I can see my struggles...if i could choose I would go abroad. Insh'Allah one day.
For now I have to do my out most best to up bring my children in Islam and keep on making dua'as.

Wordless Wednesday...

What we been up to?

Assalamu alaykum,
so I haven't posted in a while...sorry! Anyway, as this is a diary of what we do in our homeschooling days, here's what we have been up to.

My mum came to visit us from back home. Kids enjoyed their time when she is here as she cooks scrumptious food! Mash'Allah! Also I get to spent more time doing the things I love like reading, Internet browsing, shopping, visiting friends, picnics etc

We have had a busy week; no house chores or cooking for me but lots of quality time spent with the family and friends.

Today we visited the Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark, South-East London.

We had this visit in programme since a while. So we set off together with a dear ukhti and her two lovely boys.

We met up other homeschoolers in the Museum. The visit was short and sweet. The kids got to try on firefighters uniforms and received pictures of fire engines, and firefighters to be coloured.

We learnt about different fire engines, from the early 1830 up to date. We then ended up our day with a picnic in the park with other home edders.

It was a nice day, very hot! Mash'Allah! Another day for my boys and me to spent in company of other home edders and learnt more about how to be a better educator!

An Ode to English Plurals

Assalamu alaykum,

I have received this in my inbox. My kids enjoyed it when I read it to them.

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An ode to English Plurals

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,

Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,

Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,

Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,

Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,

And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,

But though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,

But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;

neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England .

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.

We have noses that run and feet that smell.

We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.

And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

Calvert: Our review!

Assalamu alaykum,

so we are in lesson 30. That was so quick!

We already sent back one test (lesson 20) and we are now getting ready for test lesson 40. Test lesson 20 was 'easy-peasy' as my son described it. The teacher sent us back her feedbacks and she was very impressed with my child's progress. She pointed out about how easy my child found Math.

In fact my lad here likes so much Math and he is also doing fine with Science and English. But he doesn't really like Geography. At least so far, he is always complaining about learning names of Continents, oceans, the compass rose etc. He's finding hard to remember where all the continents are and the single countries. He never learnt about Geography before so i guess he needs time to adjust to this very new subject.

I must say, I am very happy with Calvert. It has proven to be a good, well structured and laid out programme. The workbooks are really well made, full of exercises and reviews for the child. The actual text books, Science, Reading, Maths, Geography, Poems, Social Studies, and Phonics are full of colourful pictures, good quality paper, hardbacks and made special for the grade my son is in. E.G. the reading book is full of colourful pics and it teaches kids not just about reading, but also, new vocabulary, fiction and non fiction stories, learning about the author of each story, related themes and working around each theme.

Also Calvert offer full support for the kids, a list of websites the child can use for further studies, online support and list of good reading books divided into grades.

I found that Maths is a bit too easy for my child age. I was told grade 2 would be ok for a 7 years old but I can now see that it is not the case for my child. I am still happy as my child is just repeating what we have been doing last year, at least in Maths.

I love the Reading Books : Delights and Adventures. They are both big, sturdy books. The stories are great. My child does truly enjoying reading the stories.

Science text book and the worksheets booklets is full of experiment to do and make with easy to use resources that you can find around your home.

As for myself, the home teacher manual is what I really needed! It's just an easy ride for me. All I have to do is to sit with my child for around 1 1/2-2 hours and tell him what to do by following the manual. It tells you exactly what you should do in each lesson and also gives you some very good tips and hints.

It's a great fun, as up till now I had to prepare my own lessons. I don't have anymore such a hard time. It all comes in a big box deliveried by UPS directly from US and it costs around £500-£600 depending on the rate exchange. I am paying around £60 a month as I chose to pay by payment plan.

Also, I am sorry for all those sisters who asked me about taking pics of Calvert books, but I don;t think I can do that as the books are copyrighted. You can still look in ebay.com (US site) to see some pics of the books' covers.

Insh'Allah this helps all those who decide to become a Calvert homeschooling family!

Tagged!

The six word memoir
The Rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post
4. Tag six more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
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Assalamu alaykum,
so sis Oum Anas tagged me!! Jazak'Allahu kheir. That gave me the chance to look up the story behind the 'six words memoir'.

Here's my 6 words memoir.

SALVATION LIES BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR!

And the short story behind it...
In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway bet ten dollars that he could write a complete story in just six words. He wrote: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn." He won the bet. Now an online magazine is asking its readers to sum up their own lives in just six words.
Smith, the American online magazine, has used the Hemingway anecdote to inspire its readers to write their life story in just six words, culminating in a book of the best contributions, entitled "Not Quite What I Was Planning".

I am going to tag:
Sister Umm Salihah- Sister Iman - Sister Aminah - Sister Qalballah - Sister Um Nour - Sister Nadia