We’re finally trying to follow most of our new routine. My daughter is learning what it feels like to work on her own a bit and not be so dependent upon me. After all, she can read pretty well, so now is the time to get her into the habit of reading the directions (aloud) and following them.

She loves math. I asked her which she liked better, art or math and she said that she likes them both the same. AlhamduLILLAH. However, she informed me that her career choice is “Arabic teacher with a school somewhere” and that she will need to “find some Muslims to go there.”

The Singapore Math is coming along nicely. We go through a couple of units at a time and then at the end of the unit block, there is a review session. This is the first time that she has had to complete written work on her own so there was some initial apprehension but she soon found her way.

Of course, they always come up with clever ways to convince me to get out the paints.

Seeing them around paint is so stressful, lol! The whole time, I am wondering if they are going to spill it (or eat it) but I know that I need to learn to relax.

And on that note, lol I managed to finally print out some elementary school rules.

I found these online so long ago and I lost the link. I have the pdf so if you are in need of them, email me and I will do my best to get them to you, InshaALLAH. Some of them don’t have faces and the others are easy to mark out.

I also have a few signs to show others in the house what we are doing and where we are at a particular time in the day. They are also good for those pesky solicitors who come to the door during the day – just stick them on the door and perhaps they will go away. I printed them on cardstock and now they need to be laminated.

And of course, what is more fun than earning a prize for doing your work and following the rules? Stickers are the ultimate motivators around here. Right now, the kids are going through a planet and star phase.

It has taken a few weeks to adjust, but even the little one managed to join us as we revisited the money and five pillars lapbooks today.

I sort of got away from making lapbooks because they were so time-consuming for me. I think we need to find some simpler ones that don’t take so much cutting and pasting time.

My daughter is an excellent reader, MashaALLAH, so now is the time to hone her skills by tweaking her spelling. Last week, she started Emailing my mother to practice. Every couple of days, my mom sends a message and my daughter types a response – there is no emphasis on punctuation at this point, although she does add interjections via smileys and emoticons.

Another project that we completed in the last week was some amateur bookbinding.

You can learn how to do it here. We used cardboard, embroidery floss and Elmer’s glue to make ours. It’s not fabulous, but we were impressed.