Have you been to Easel and Ink? They make so many nice graphics over there, MashaALLAH! I’ve suddenly developed an interest in graphic arts, lol. Check them out, InshaALLAH.
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AlhamduLILLAH,If you take a look at Noorart, or any other online stores, you can see a steady growth in the variety of homeschool material. Just four years ago, there was much less available and I didn’t know any homeschooling families in Toronto.
Granted, I was out of the loop and indeed, very new to parenthood itself, but today it’s not uncommon to stumble upon homeschool families in random places (always in Walmart, lol).
Now, the amount of curricula available affords us the luxury of choice. Quantity aside, I still find that there are many things that I would tweak, change or supplement. I’m seeking quality; I want my children to have an exceptionally rich education and so far, I cannot rely upon general texts for this. Publishers need to consider basic criteria, like whether the materials are age/reading level appropriate. I sometimes find that the required reading is far too easy, even for lower elementary students. Once a child has a grasp on phonics rules, they need to perfect their spelling and increase their vocabulary. Children need to be pushed. A curriculum should contain lessons that are challenging, to avoid creating a false sense of mastery.
I’m piecing together next year’s curriculum in between homeschooling and my personal studies and I hope to share that soon, InshaALLAH. What are you planning for next year? If you could design the ideal curriculum for your family what would it be like?
Did you do anything fun? I sure hope so. If not, try something fun tomorrow, InshaALLAH.
Loving you for the sake of ALLAH,
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| Homeschool Moms for Moms™
Building a stronger homeschool community by engaging mothers. |
A message to all members of Homeschool Moms for Moms™
| Homeschool Moms for Moms is becoming a living, breathing resource for homeschooling families across the country. We will be sending out a weekly “CHAT-WORTHY” to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of site just in case you missed it.
We just launched four weeks ago and we are already 36 members strong and growing. Thank you to everyone for participating and helping this community get off the ground! The site is buzzing with discussions, add your two cents! Bilingual Homeschool Discussion: Give your fellow moms advice about bilingual education or share resources that have helped you teach a second language. Three families, including Andrea’s, handle the language issue in different ways, what’s your take? Have you considered or tried online curriculum? Dawn and Kelly share their thoughts about online education. Do you have anything to add? Gretchen wants to know how you handle your summer education goals. Do you take a break from learning? What has worked (or not worked) for your family? Have a great week, and we’ll see you online, Your Homeschool Moms for Moms Team |
I recently joined this homeschool group and hope that you will join also. There is a forum for homeschooling moms to come together and discuss different aspects of our lives. I think that right now I am the only Muslim in the group but it’s a good way to give dawah. There have already been a few questions about what it means to be a homeschooling Muslim mom. I can only speak from my point of view, but I did my best to convey the message that we as Muslim moms want what everyone else wants for their children : we want them to be logical, intelligent individuals who are strong in their convictions, and for us, servants of ALLAH. I welcome you to join me since there is strength in numbers.
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Whew! Please tell me how in the world do you all teach about ancient civilizations? Is your lesson planning as frustrating as mine? Do you find it difficult to convey certain ideas while avoiding all of the shirk?
This was the toughest ancient culture to discuss so far because so many aspects of their lives were haram. They were polytheists, they drank wine, they were nude or partially nude quite often… wait, is this ancient times or now?
We used the same eBook (pdf) from History Pockets (Ancient Civilizations) for this lapbook and free clip art.
We managed to find our way through Ancient Greece all the while praising ALLAH. There were many opportunities to discuss tawheed and the importance of avoiding shirk. We remodeled the Parthenon a little bit and deleted any mention of pagan gods.
We discussed how the purpose of the Ancient Greek Olympics was to honor their gods, (AudhuBILLAH). I found an interesting discussion on whether or not Muslims should participate in the modern day Olympics. You can read it here if you like.
This year we incorporated geography into our lessons and this really came in handy when we talked about the Greeks’ travel to nearby nations for trade. My daughter was able to picture how close to some of the nations that we have been studying, like Egypt, Turkey and Syria.
I explained that the symbols and rituals of those games are still around today, (like the torch lighting ceremony).
Next, we are headed for Ancient Rome, but before that, InshaALLAH, I am planning to do a special lapbook for our Islamic Studies. Hopefully, we will get it done before the weekend and we are still putting the space station together.
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I seemed to have done something crazy, so make du’a while I get this straight…
Seriously, make that du’a.
:/
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**edit – I don’t know what I did but I think it’s better now, AlhamduLILLAH.
JazakILLAH Khairin to the sister who emailed me the link. It’s rare that we are able to hear these precious stories….
It is more befitting than Romeo and Juliet. It tells of true love, piety and passion. Passion not only for one another but more importantly, for the sake of ALLAH.
Loving you for the sake of ALLAH,
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*photo by Robert Proska
Well okay, she didn’t, but I almost did. Last year, my son knew how to sing the alphabet but he couldn’t say it or tell me what sound the letters make. I assumed that he would follow in his sister’s footsteps and be caught up to her in no time. This was my mistake.
He is only five years old, not 25. Even though I know better, I was comparing his progress to hers. Never mind the fact that he spoke a lot later than she did, or that she knew the letter sounds when she was barely two (on her own). I got frustrated and scared and thought to myself, “What if the first time was a fluke? What if I can’t do this all over again?”
Then, I had a heart-to-heart with my husband (okay, a lot of them), and he just told me to chill out. LOL. That was pretty much it. He figured if I did it once, I already had the know-how and the materials necessary to help my son to read. I nodded my head but didn’t listen. I was still freaking out inside. By December, I got wise and put the Saxon Phonics aside and we worked on his handwriting, using Explode the Code. He finished books 1 and 1/1/2 of Explode the Code and currently is halfway through book 2. Then, I slowly introduced Saxon again without placing too much emphasis on it and his reading really took off. We managed to finish half of the Saxon Phonics lessons. He’s also reading Collection 3 of the Bob Books. I think that by the end of his summer his fluency should improve, InshaALLAH. Overall, he has done more work than I expected of him and he’s memorizing Quran, which is something that I started a bit later with my daughter.
I made a few videos of him reading this week. Here are a few clips:
Random question seen on yahoo answers: How Can I Increase My Love For Allah and Islam? So…I JUST started studying Shariah and i know that my Imaan and love will increase, the more i learn. But what about NOW? I know that i don’t have anybody to turn to when feeling down, but Him. and i know that He’s there with me when speaking to Him – but how can i get to FEEL Him there with me? How can i learn to love Him more at a faster pace? I really reallyyyyyyy want to be closer to Allah, but just don’t know how to =(
please help?”
I was going to write about something else today but then I started thinking. Am I really teaching my children what it means to love ALLAH? To have true passion for HIM? I don’t want to be the kind of parent who is pleased to see their children going through the motions or reduces Islam to a bunch of rituals; Pray! Fast! Wear hijab! Grow a beard! I want to mold their minds and hearts and I want them to sincerely love what HE loves and hate what ALLAH hates, InshaALLAH. I want them to have passion for ALLAH. Ustadh tells us that “A true teacher gives the student enough knowledge to get along without the teacher.” Am I doing this?I sure hope so. As the children get older and more milestones are passed, the concern for their understanding of Islaam grows.
AlhamduLILLAH, one of the ways that they express their love for ALLAH is through the recitation of the Quran. My son recites Quran as he cleans. On his own, MashaALLAH. They are not yet disciplined enough to sit and listen to Quran Explorer on their own every morning without me telling them to, but when they do, I see the benefits. They argue and complain about the correctness of ayahs, they are competitive in learning and this is all great! But what else should I be doing?
We have a theme over here in our homeschool: “Let’s learn about our heroes.” I want them to picture those who came before them and see how hard it is and how worthy a cause it is to love ALLAH.
What are some ways that children can be taught to love ALLAH? What are some ibadaat that you have seen them do on their own? Are you giving them enough that they can “get along without the teacher?”
