Learning To Read

My son is doing well with his lessons, mashaALLAH. I am using the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and so far he likes it. He’s not quite ready to begin writing so I am showing him how to form letters with sand on a tray.

Sand Writer

It’s a bit messy but he likes it anyway. Also, I make words with the few letters that he knows and I ask him to read them by sounding out the words or I ask him to identify the letters by sound (i.e. “Show me the letter that sounds like mmmmm).

Sounds like mmmmmmm

We also still have the other tree on the wall. I decided to take down the rain forest animals (finally) and add the alphabet. I will probably just have him find the letters that he knows by pointing them out (with the meter stick) and tell me the sounds. I think that I will add some acorns to the bottom with the capital letters on them.

Our Alphabet Tree

He’s also doing well with his math.

Singapore Math K Book A

Sometimes I let him work with his dad just to take the pressure off of me. It’s different and he learns to adjust to different styles of teaching.

Learning With Dad

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Week in Review

Last week was busy, mashaALLAH. In fact, it will probably feel very busy around here for the next month since Ramadan is on the way, InshaALLAH.

We’ve been doing a lot more work in a shorter period of time and so far, so good, AlhamduLILLAH. My daughter likes the shorter sessions but she sometimes wants more to do, lol. This weekend, she did extra work so now she’s a bit ahead.

Last week, we finished our plant growing section. We learned about growing food and what it takes to make the cereal that we eat.

From the Fields to the Table

We also finished our plant growing experiments. We discovered that our plants will not grow if they are missing one of the key components (air, light or moisture). We filled a jar with water and beans and then waited a couple of days to note the changes, if any.

Discovering Why They Didnt Grow

I knew they were going to stink, lol but for the sake of learning, I asked her how they smelled. You can see from her expression that they did not have a pleasant smell.

Sinky Experiment

We also kept track of the other beans that we laid on a moist paper towel inside a plastic bag.

Ready to Transfer

MashaALLAH, those beans are doing well and we have added soil to a small jar to nourish them.

Planted

She is very proud of them and is treating them like her new pets (we released the snails a few days ago).

Growing Like A... Bean

We also began notebooking for our Islamic Studies.

Islamic Studies Notebooking

We are using the notebooking binder pages from Talibiddeen Jr. along with our Stories of the World books by Safia Iqbal.

Our second lesson was on the early men and clues of them left behind by archaeologists. Of course, we also learned that the biggest clues about how people lived is found in the Qur’an.

We also attempted to make tools by using twine, sticks and rocks.

Tools of The Early Men

Tools of The Early Men

Early Men

We’re also learning about implementing Islam outside the home and the importance of being a good Muslim no matter where you are.

Following Islam Away From Home

When it was all over, my daughter put together an Arabic alphabet puzzle that we bought her last year for Eid. We were so busy after having the baby that she never got a chance to open it!

Arabic Alphabet Zoo Puzzle

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Have You Seen The Islamic Will Calculator?

It’s right here.

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More Toddler Activities

We’ve been really busy for the past two weeks and I’m searching high and low for ideas that my toddler can use. There are a lot of moms out there with really good ideas but the problem right now is time. I spend time taking care of the home, teaching, tending to the baby (and everyone else)and I’m trying to consistently workout (20 lbs gone, mashaALLAH), so when am I going to find time to implement these good ideas?

I’ve been a little busy here and there, doing things in spurts since there is no way that I could get a whole project completed. LOL, sometimes, I can’t even complete a thought without interruption. There’s always someone who needs something, subhanALLAH.

My children like puzzles a lot. They have quite a few but I know that they get bored doing the same ones over and over. My sister in law gave me a 500 piece puzzle a couple of weeks ago (imagine how horrible it would be to let my toddler open the box, lol). I can see it now; puzzle pieces in the sofa, under the dining table, and all over the floor. For now, I’m hanging onto it.

I found some pictures via Google Images then printed, laminated and cut them out so that we have some handmade puzzles.
From time to time, I read a blog called Chasing Cheerios and I think it was she who inspired me to do this.

Homemade Puzzles

She likes the vivid colors and the animals so I hope that she doesn’t get bored soon. I might rotate them every so often and actually, it just occurred to me that I can make them with the Arabic alphabet or a du’a for my older kids, AlhamduLILLAH.

My oldest daughter used to be obsessed with tangrams when we started Saxon Math and so I have these various little shapes in our math supply box.

Saxon Phonics

I found some printable tangrams from abc teach and then I cut them out and laminated them. I also punched a hole in the corner and added a ring so that they would be easy to flip through.

Mini Tangrams

We haven’t used them yet but I hope that she likes them, InshaALLAH.

I also made some lacing cards for her. A couple were printed from a website (I cannot remember where I got them) and then I decided to make some from a box that I had lying around.

Lacing Cards

Handmade Lacing Cards

Doesn’t the tire look flat on the truck?

I’m also considering the purchase of Preschool Activities In A Bag, which sounds like a real asset to have according to a few folks that have recommended it. I can certainly see the value of having ready and assembled activities on hand for a busy, distracted child. If I get it, I’ll let you know how it is, InshaALLAH.

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Canada: Coloring (Colouring) By Province

Get your coloring pages here.

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How To Keep A Science Notebook

Tips for keeping a science notebook, table of contents, labs, etc.

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Oops, I Forgot

To add our art project from last Friday. We tried the glue resist dinosaur from That Artist Woman’s blog. We didn’t have the proper tempura paints on hand so we used our acrylic paints. It slipped my mind to fill in the facial bones and since it was a trial, we didn’t worry about it. Still, I like it and I think my daughter did a good job. We have a couple more waiting to be painted, so I’ll try it with the tempura paints and see how they turn out, InshaALLAH.

Glue resist dinosaur

Glue resist dinosaur

Glue resist dinosaur

Glue Resist Dinosaur

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Adding New Components Such As Notebooking

As she gets older, my daughter is able to retain more information and she’s able to grasp more difficult concepts, but I don’t want her to just soak up knowledge from a book and not apply the knowledge. She likes to be involved in her lessons rather than just sitting at a table all day, so I try to think of projects for her that are fun and relevant to the lessons.

I recently stumbled upon a blog called Science Notebooking and now of course my mind is racing with ideas that I have no time to work on (but I will, lol). Homeschooling is a constantly evolving, never static process. I learned long ago not to fear changing or adding to our agenda. If it’s beneficial, why not? We used to do a bit of notebooking so I am familiar with it.

Her Science Notebook

We are using a science book that needs to be printed and put into a binder anyway, so I thought that I would try to make it as interesting as possible while allowing her to create her own book of science along the way.

Beans in Jar Science Experiment

The first few chapters in her book are about plants and seeds and germination. She’s thrilled to do anything that involves seeds so she’s having lots of fun with this.

Germination

There are lots of ways to personalize your binder/notebook. I thought of using a composition book like the teacher at Science Notebooking but I decided to stick with the binder since we have to print out the lessons. It would be too much work to properly size the worksheets and then glue them into the composition book.

I also plan to add some pages for our nature studies/walks. I found lots of notebooking pages for science all over the net, like these and these.

We’re also working on a small, handwritten glossary but I didn’t get a picture of it yet.

Up next, InshaALLAH, toddler activities.

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Muslim Heritage Day

AlhamduLILLAH, my husband managed to get free tickets for Ontario Place, so we took the family today.

Muslim Heritage Day

We had a great time and managed to spend a few hours unwinding before the thunderstorms came crashing in, subhanALLAH. I didn’t take the big camera (didn’t feel like carrying it), so of course my little point and shoot photos were pretty blurry. Oh well, here are the best ones:

Muslim Heritage Day

Ontario Place

Muslim Heritage Day

Free Fall

Free Falling

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Mini-Office Sheets

These are great for at-your-fingertips references. A mini-office is a good way to save space if you don’t have adequate wall space for posters and they also provide a small barrier when the children are doing separate work but they are worried about everyone’s work but their own. Just stick some file folders together and you can make it as big as you want. Go to squidoo and learn all about it.

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