INDEPENDENT LEARNERS

'O Allah increase me in knowledge,
amin.'


Monday 11 May 2009

Inventions and Inventors!

Assalamu alaykum and hello to all my readers,
one more week of busy 'schooling' has passed.


Last time I wrote it was on Sunday 3 May. Time's flying and soon summer will be upon us. Time to rest but also for my exams which I am already dreading. I need all your duas, please.

So what have we been learning?


Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I schooled the boys as usual using Calvert and mindsprinting. But also enchantedlearning.com and homeschoolshare.com


A. is reaching lesson 120 now and soon we will be saying goodbye to Calvert :( He has also been busy with his new lapbook 'Ancient Greek'. This time we are taking more time to complete the booklet as we have many resources to go through. I bought some great booklets at the British Museum full of activities and resources, mash'Allah. Also time has been an issue, as always and we have not worked on the booklet everyday as planned. Hamdulillah.



To top it all up A. switched his attention to yet one more project: 'Inventions and Inventors'. triggered by a visit to the Science Museum, Wallace and Gromit, a world of cracking ideas!



So one more lapbook is on its way, a very short booklet this time but full of fun things to make and do and lots to search and learn on the net about inventors and inventions. Did you know who invented the post-it note? And the Velcro? Really interesting!



Further to our visit, A. decided to learn how cartoon animations such as Wallace and Gromit have been created. So he got busy making his own 'cartoons' with plasticine and he took pics and now he wants put it all into a movie. A long process and to be honest I don't know where to start so if any homeschoolers and non, out there has any ideas please do share. Jazakallahu.

We also paid one more visit to the British Museum to enjoy the exhibition about Ancient Greece. This time around we have not enjoyed it as previously for so many reasons. Hamdulilah. When we arrived at the Museum, we found a picture of Shah 'Abbas on the floor. Some local artists painted many A4 papers and added them together like a mosaic to construct the face and body of Shah 'Abbas. Now all was fine until we got closer and found that one picture had the name of Allah on it. The picture was laid on the bare floor. Now, why on earth would you put the name of God/Allah on the floor????



I was really upset and made a complain. They quickly removed the paper. Still I am out of words since everybody by now should know how much importance we give to our deen.


The exhibition in itself was not as good as we expected and we couldn't access some of the rooms because there was not a lift available! I felt so discriminated against just because I was with the pushchair.


And then? S. got lost and I had the worse 30 minutes of my entire life. Hamdulillah a security guard found him and we were re-united.


We left the Museum annoyed, tired and upset!! Not a nice start of the day. I thought to make it better and head towards Covent Garden, one of my favourite place in central London.
Hamdulillah the day was warm and we enjoyed the long walk down to Covent Garden market.
The bad experience at the Museum gave me an opportunity to talk to S. about safety and we started a lapbook about safety based on the book 'Gloria and Officer Buckle'. This story is included in one of the reading book from Calvert. We used this website to help us with the lapbook. I need to say jazakillah to sister Umm R. for suggesting this over to IHSAN forum.


What's more? Felting! Lots of felting. This time we tried to make a mat. We started with a very long rectangular shape and very tick consistency. We started at around 5pm, one afternoon. At 7.30pm when hubby was at home we were still rolling the mat!!



The result was a very soft but tick mat which my son is using it for his Lego city. Mash'Allah. Next time I know I will need more wool if I want to make a longer mat. Insh'Allah. You wouldn't believe how much the wool can shrink!?



Sports and other activities were on as usual but once more we missed the Thursday meet ups at the park with the other homeschoolers. This time we didn't have the car :( Kids really missing their friends there and I miss the sisters too. I know sisters have been asking about us, jazakallahu kheiran. Insh'Allah we will be attending again soon.


Qur'an and Arabic is now on 3 times a week and kids have carried on reading the Juzz 'Amma, just revising really and reinforcing their Arabic reading skills. Mash'Allah. The tutor asked them to revise often at home. I am finding hard to follow their progress as my reading skills are now rusty and I need to exercise first.



I am looking for a valid Arabic course for them but I don't want to spend a fortune and then find myself that I cannot help them because of my lack of knowledge in Arabic. What would you suggest? I may even consider leaving UK for a while to be within Arabs speakers, but where to? What would you suggest?
Lots to ponder and think over before taking any rushy decision.

Love and duas to all.
wa alaykum assalam



working with plasticine


Mum safety tip #10
Officer Buckle and Gloria book
S.lapbook about safety tips based on
Officer Buckle and Gloria book
Some more safety tips
Day out at the lake

Walking through the woods
At the exhibition
Making it work!
A giant bath tub complete with bubbles
and colourful ducks
Water energy
A scene from the latest cartoon of Wallace and Gromit
The soft play area
How the hoover have changed over the years.
My mum had the one standing, very heavy and not so practical.
Old TV!
Old style fun!
One more scene of the cartoon
Weather-hats machine... funky invention
Wellies anyone? From dark age to a more familiar pair
The entrance to the exhibition

Love it!
in Covent Garden we found some having a pj's. party.
Jumping on a massive bed!
It says it all!
Cool.
The mosaic about Shah 'Abbas
Ancient Greek's vases
The acropolis, a small temple

Earlier version of the vases


One side of the soft merino wool mat we made
And the other side.
Rolling the mat, hard work. My arms are more tonic now...strange :)
Just starting off with the design, dry wool.
Below:the actual size of the mat before shrinkage

5 comments:

ummrashid said...

Salaam,
Sorry about your problems in the museum.
You can use Windows Movie Maker to make a short animation. You just arrange the photos in order and play them back at the speed you set. I don't know how it works really because my sons worked it out for themselves. Movie Maker came already inside our PC. Maybe you have it too?

Sofinee Harun said...

Salam sister,

I don't really understand what you means by moving out of UK and be with arabic speaking environment.

Did ou mean you want to leanr arabic language or readinf wuran or both. From my humble opinion, there are two different things here. For example, when I been to hajj, i sit next to one arab sister. i was reading quran and she was listening to me, after a while I ask her if she want me to take one quran for her, she said to me in arabic, which I seems to understand although i can't really speak arabic, that she can't read quran. she don't know how to read quran but of course she understand when I read. I dont' really understand arabic and what I've been reading, but alhamdulillah I can read fluently and this is advantage when I teach my kids to read quran.

So, from my point of view the important of all is learn how to read quran rather then arabic language it self. And there's no other way to fluent in reading quran except practice. And even if you struggle inr eading at first and got to brush up your skill, you get more reward because of your reading and youre struggle, masya Allah.

And it's good although even you busy, but read at least ten ayah a day and practice will make perfect. may be I don't understand arabic, but for me, reading the quran frequently is more important which mean we don't forget Allah words. Plus there a lots of reward of reading quran plus certain surah which our prophet will not go to sleep without reading it first.

May Allah keep me, you and others in maintaining our quran reading.

A Muslimah - Another Stranger said...

wa alaykum assalam sister umm rashid,
jazakillah for that. I will have a look to that. I have the actual software, thing is I have never used it. It's a long process. It's taking us so long for few shots because of the plasticine. But my son is determied! Mash'Allah. We shall see.
x

A Muslimah - Another Stranger said...

Assalamu alaykum sister ummi,
I want to learn to speak Arabic myself and I want that for my kids too! It's difficult to learn a second language if you don;t travel and be amongst those who speaks it. My kids already know how to read Arabic fluently. For the last two years they have been learning Hifdh of the Qur'an. I was not so happy for them to learn only recitation so I am now paying a private tutor to teach them tajweed. for the past 5 months they have been learning tajweed mash'Allah and progressing very well. What i like is for them to speak Arabic and understand it. I can read slowly and help with reading but i cannot speak.
We do read Qur'an everyday mash'Allah.
If I had the means I would take my kids to my dh home country and let them be for few months just to learn how to speak Arabic.
insh'Allah one day.
Jazakillah for sharing your experience while in Hajj.
Ameen to your beautiful dua.
wa alaykum assalam
x

Sofinee Harun said...

It's nice for you, at least you have hubby that came from arabic country. at least that will be your kids second language.

It is easy to learn another language if we are there in the environment our self.

I should had write more of my experience on Hajj. As it's not finish yet. Alhamdualillah, I got very beautiful hajj, and it just flow as we were dream off.

Wassalam.