Muslimah’s Guide to Puberty: How to talk to your daughter about Adolescence | MuslimMatters.org
Read the article, InshaALLAH, there are handouts.
The volcano was a success! I didn’t really think it would go so smoothly but it was great. The baby was sleeping, AlhamduLILLAH and was just waking after we finished. We used baking soda, a couple of drops of dish-washing liquid, glitter, yellow food coloring (was out of red), tape, felt, Play-doh, a pizza box, a jar, wads of paper to hold the jar steady, green paper, poster board for the mountain, and roses, lol. Notice the goggles? My daughter didn’t want the lava to get into her eyes.
A few weeks ago, my original plan was to learn 15 names a week until we reached the full 99 Names and Attributes of ALLAH, but I’ve revised it. Since Eid was coming, we sort of took a break after the first seven and then started up strong at the end of last week. What we are doing instead is reciting what we know from the previous day, learning five more, reciting again with the five new names (until they are said with confidence and accuracy), and then writing them down. This is much faster and it’s a lot easier than I anticipated. She is writing down the transliteration and I’m not worried about the spelling. She now knows 25 names, MashaALLAH.
“Toy Story 3” was shown at the CNE on Eid ul Adha. The kids can’t stop talking about it so it has been on my mind, lol. As she gets older, my daughter is noticing that her writing assignments are getting longer and she’s not liking that very much. We’ve been discussing how to better improve her writing because I find it is lagging behind her reading ability and she’s also being a little lazy. I came across a lens on squidoo about sentence patterns and thought it might be suitable for what we are trying to achieve. I don’t recall discussing sentence patterns at such a young age but I figure it will help her to convey her thoughts more fluidly.
This assignment was stretched out over a whole week – don’t try to do it all at once or they will be really cranky with you, lol. First, we discussed the movie and I asked her to sum it up in short sentences or phrases, as if she were giving a synopsis to someone who wasn’t going to watch the movie but wanted to know what happened. Kind of like a mini-spoiler. (By the way, if you’re going to see it and don’t want to know what happens, don’t read her paper). Next, she rewrote the sentences using the rules of the sentence patterns. Third, she reread the paper and attempted to edit her mistakes. This was her first time doing this on her own, so I was lenient. Lastly, she rewrote the paper,(the cursive was her idea – she hasn’t had formal lessons yet but she likes to do it anyway).
Next up, InshaALLAH, I want to take a look at this book, because I have heard that it’s really handy to have around the house:
This is the student edition. I purchased it used on Amazon. The only thing that I paid was shipping because I used a gift card, but it runs about $10 or so.
My son is going along nicely with his reading and writing, AlhamduLILLAH and I may be placing a lot more emphasis on his reading in the coming days because he’s itching to get at his big sister’s books, InshaALLAH. His math is pretty good too. He’s a lot quicker with his daily math drills than his sister was at his age and I am grateful for that! He likes to get into the classroom, do his work and leave. My kind of guy!
This week, he’s been learning about weights and measures and the doubles math facts from 0+0 all the way up to 10+10. He can recall them without any effort, MashaALLAH and he was so proud to have his paper displayed in our hall:
We’re also discussing climates and natural disasters for geography and earth science. We’ve been watching volcanoes explode on the National Geographic website. There’s even a little interactive section where you can create the perfect conditions and see a simulation of the natural disaster that you created. We also wrote a little about them and read about them using the Magic School Bus series.
If you are interested in the series, take a look on Ebay. We purchased ours over the summer for about $20 from a local seller.
We also read a bit about the climates of deserts and read a tiny bit about dromedaries in the Handbook of Nature Study and a few other sources that we have lying around. I also have to be brave tomorrow and let the children try their hands at making a volcano, InshaALLAH. I promised, lol so there’s no backing out. We just have to keep the baby from eating it.
I think that we will cover earthquakes and Surah Al- Zalzalah ,(the earthquake), InshaALLAH. Also, we will jump over to Pakistan and discuss the floods. I hadn’t planned to go to Pakistan yet, but since we are studying the Ansar of Madinah, we can talk about ways to help our fellow Muslims in Pakistan as a current events example.
If you’re in Canada, you may be able to find this at your local Dollarama store – it was worth that dollar, believe me.
Also next week, in the Western Sunrise series, InshaALLAH: the people who were sent invitations to Islam, i.e. the Persia,Rome, Syria, etc. with quick geography lessons. وكيف نفعل مع اللغة العربية؟ (And how are we doing with Arabic?)
When I started homeschooling, my biggest fear was teaching my daughter to read. I often wondered if I would be successful and if I could pull it off. I mean, what if I couldn’t convey the message to her properly? Would she fall behind?
Now, I look back and laugh to myself because I was so frantic. And just when I’ve gotten comfortable,I realize that I now have an even greater obligation. My daughter will turn seven very soon, InshaALLAH and I hope to prepare her for salat. She has joined me as I pray on rare occasions, but now, I want to gently nudge her along, hoping that the act of salat will soon become a natural addition to her day and that she feels inclined to show her obedience and love for ALLAH on her own, InshaALLAH.
I’ve started using the lessons from Talibiddeen Jr because MashaALLAH, it’s all there and it’s organized and it saves me time. We’re doing a little copywork here and there and discussing the various positions, times, conditions, etc.
InshaALLAH, I also plan to show her the dvd Pray As You Have Seen Me Pray.
InshaALLAH I am making an effort to keep up with my Islamic learning. This is quite a feat while homeschooling, studying Arabic, housework (cough, cough) and other demands like exercise. Yes, exercise too, lol. I sometimes wonder how it can all be done. Not everything gets done, but AlhamduLILLAH, some things do.
I am keeping several notebooks at the moment. I don’t like binders for myself, but I love using composition notebooks and I have a few spiral-bound notebooks on hand as well.
Right now, I’m slowly working my way through Bulugh Al-Maram and when I find the time,(SubhanALLAH, there is time but I have to stop finding distractions), Al Arabia Bain Yadaik – Arabic Between Your Hands, level 1. I try to get my husband to participate because my reading aloud is painfully slow, but I think it’s probably hard for him to help (because my reading aloud is painfully slow, lol).
I would also like to tackle the Qur’an commentary whilst reading the entire Qur’an over the course of the next year because honestly, this isn’t something that I’ve done before. I’ve started this only because my daughter is learning Qur’an and it motivates me to learn more as well. Do you have a schedule for the Qur’an reading, and how much do you read each day? Do you read in Arabic/English/other only or with a commentary? Are you memorizing as you go along?
As usual, we have had nothing to complain about, AlhamduLILLAH because ALLAH (subhanahu wa ta’ala) has given us what we’ve asked for and more.
The children had an excellent time at the Eid prayer that was held at the CNE downtown and mashaALLAH, I think we were all completely exhausted when we got home. There were rides and food and games and a petting zoo as well. I didn’t bring my camera but my sister-in-law had hers and made me take a few. They are the fuzziest, blurriest memories, but at least we have them, lol.
