INDEPENDENT LEARNERS

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

Sunday, 3 May 2009

The picnic season is here, some more felting and a finished project!

Assalamu alaykum,

the season for picnics is back and we do enjoy a lot to be out in the sun, eating some nice home cooked food and enjoy Allah's creation!

It reminds me of my childhood. We used to camp out during summer and enjoy the mountains and valleys. My mum always cooked food at home and brought big dishes of lasagna, pasta salads, stuffed peppers, pizza, pastries and various salads including fresh watermelon! Basically it was not a picnic, but you would be eating out in great style :)

In London, you cannot fully enjoy Allah's creation and be in contact with everything that is natural and that is so important for me for obvious reasons. Let's just say that I would rather be living in a big farm surrounded by green valleys! I am just dreaming now...

I would love for my kids to enjoy the great outdoors as much as I do, but I don't think they fully appreciate it.

Nevertheless it has been a week of picnics. We had time to spend some good quality time together as a family, finally after months of being apart. Hamdulillah.

Of course homeschooling was on as usual. We haven't just been out, stuffing ourselves :))

Kids have followed through with their programmes:Calvert and mindsprinting. And they carried on with their Qur'an and Arabic lessons daily. Hamdulillah.

A. finished his lapbook about Prophet Muhammad (sallahu alyhe wa sallam) and we are currently reading the story of the first caliph, Abu Bakr Siddique (ra) as a carry on for our Islamic History lapbooks collection.

S. made a mini lapbook about shapes and colours.A really simple approach to lapbooks, just as I realized he couldn't finish a big project, see Arabic words and letters lapbooks still incomplete.Hamdulillah!

Sports and other activities such as the art and craft club were on but we did not attend the Thursday meet up as I was recovering from my usual back pain. Hamdulillah.

There is so much more I should write but at this moment things are coming up all muddled up and I cannot put them in order. In fact this post looks more like a list of events!

So to carry on with the list:
-visit to Hastings and the bluereef aquarium;
-felting. Mash'Allah we are doing great! It's hard work, lots of rubbing and rolling but enjoyable;
-picnic with friends at the Lady Diana Memorial Playground on a very hot, sunny Friday. We had such great fun and ended up with 3 big ice-creams offered by a lovely Italian lady at the nearby cafe'. Thanks again!;
-Art in the back yard! Kids coloured with chalks the back garden including walls, shed, floor etc;
-Our vegetable patch (pots!:) Veggies and potatoes are growing very nicely.

And now the for the pics.
wa alaykum assalam
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