The children and I have been under the weather for a few days and I’m just now starting to feel better. I’m still a ways from 100% but AlhamduLILLAH I think the worst has passed, InshaALLAH.

We skipped a day of planned lessons but we still managed to be productive in other ways. In spite of sickness, I’ve been printing and laminating here and there and gathering materials for file folder games. I’m hoping that I can get a handful of them ready for next week, InshaALLAH to keep my two year old busy.

I checked out a book called Hands-On Ancient People (Volume I) and we have used it for a couple of projects. I don’t really feel right recommending it because there are some obviously haram projects in the book (it has art activities for Mesopotamia and Egypt and some so-called Islamic projects that are cultural, not Islamic). I plan to scan the pages that have some value and take it back to the library.

One of the projects we did was a paper chain with the templates from the back of the book.

I might make one more to hang as a banner for the Ramadan sign I have yet to make, InshaALLAH.

We also made mini prayer rugs today. The kids either drew their own designs on the center or glued a picture. I opted for a picture 🙂

One of the books that I purchased at the thrift store a few weeks back is Stuart Little by E.B. White.

It’s a chapter book with 15 chapters, about 130 pages. My daughter read this by herself, mashaALLAH and she narrated the story as she finished each chapter. It took her about a week and a half. I gave her a book report form – I think it’s from Donna Young in the beginner’s book report section.

I pretty sure that I want to stay with the story a little longer rather than rushing to the next book, although she’s eager to read something else. Maybe I will give her something separate to read as we continue to analyze this one, InshaALLAH.

I also grabbed some composition books from the dollar store so that we can begin some creative writing exercises.

I printed some writing prompts from another blog and cut them into strips. Each day, she chooses one and then glues it to the top of the page. Then, she writes a paragraph or so and I read it later. This is just for practice. I don’t check the grammar but I might give some feedback to encourage her to stretch her imagination. Hmmm, and maybe I will add some Islamic topics as we go along with our Islamic studies, InshaALLAH.

We also added in a bit of Montessori math strategies from Montessori Materials to help my oldest review her addition tables. We’re about to start multiplication and division and I want to make sure she doesn’t forget what she’s learned. I stapled some blank paper between construction paper and made a little booklet of math facts. She did the whole thing fairly quickly and didn’t really use the table, so I feel confident that she knows these, alhamduLILLAH.

We’re also keeping up with our Arabic numerals (Hindi)by using these cards from Yemen Links. I really like the idea of the Arabic rummy because it makes her think about the order number. Very clever, mashaALLAH.