Lifehacker: Saving money in tough times.
We visited the Ontario Science Centre on Wednesday and everyone had such a good time. There are lots of interactive displays for children of all ages and plenty of wide open spaces. I feel like I am still recovering from all the fun, lol.
We tried to get tickets for the IMAX film but it was sold out. It will still be running next week if anyone is interested. It runs about 40 minutes. There was a sea of homeschool children and lots of little hijabs everywhere, masha’ALLAH.
It’s nice to see the contributions of Muslims to the sciences and show our children that we are an integral part of this world. Here are a few of the things that we saw. Enjoy!
Masha’ALLAH. ALLAH reaches every nation.
One of the benefits of teaching kids at home is choosing when and where to go on a field trip. We can go as often and as far as we like. We can go to places that interest us and visit places that are relevant to our lives.
We recently learned of the Sun Life Financial Museum and Arts Pass through the Toronto Public Library. Each family can receive one free pass every three weeks to either of the following: Ontario Science Centre; Gardiner Museum; Royal Ontario Museum; The Bata Shoe Museum; Art Gallery of Ontario; Textile Museum of Canada or the City of Toronto Historic Museums.
We obtained a pass to the Ontario Science Centre and InshaALLAH, we will see the Sultans of Science (1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered)exhibit. There is also the IMAX film “Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta” (watch the trailer here).
I was asked by Ukhti about toilet training (in the comments) but my response was so long that I decided to just post it here.
First, I stopped using the potty. I hate those little nasty things. I put him on the toilet because we have a three floor home and there is no bathroom on the middle/main floor. He needed to learn to use the real toilet and how to get there in time. Besides, my middle kids are too big for it anyway.
Honestly, I was just about to give up when my husband began to offer my son incentives. My husband offered him little chocolates (and sometimes way too big chocolates) if he used the toilet. This encouraged him to go a little more regularly. And we would all make a really big deal out of it by telling him that he was a good boy and that he made us happy.
He was still refusing to poo in the toilet and would wait until we gave him a pull-up. So, I took the pull ups away and I couldn’t believe it! He did it in his underwear. This happened about three or four times. Finally, I got so frustrated that I made him get in the bathtub and wash his own bum. He cried. A lot. But it worked. To me, it seems that a child has to make the transition from being okay with soiling themselves to feeling repulsed.
Also, I started to take note of his behavior and note the time of day that he was needing to go. He liked to “disappear” when it was time to go. He would go behind the sofa or into the kitchen for a few minutes and then come back. Or he would get really quiet. That’s when I could hear him pushing or grunting. Those were all cues that he needed to go.
Another thing is frequency. We got to the point that we were making him go every half hour to forty-five minutes.
My daughter never went this far, but I had to take away her pull-ups and give her underwear in order to move forward. She didn’t want to get her underwear wet so she would cry when I made her wear it. She soon learned that going to the toilet would keep it dry. 🙂
It’s funny. My two year old just turned two last month and she goes to the toilet on her own sometimes already. Kids are unpredictable and AlhamduLILLAH, sometimes in a good way. This time, I think we will skip the pull-ups altogether.
Take care, wa salaam.
If you’ve tried to email me and it didn’t work, try again! It was brought to my attention that it wasn’t working and it looks okay now. I’m themuslimhomeschooler@gmail.com.
Since we’ve been working so regularly around here and the weather was so nice, the kids played in the backyard today.
Even the baby made a brief appearance.
We did get out to the library today and hopefully, we will have a field trip soon. Take care!
