Mostly History

The boys are very interested in history at the moment. I prefer them to learn about Islamic history, because there is so much to learn and benefit from there. We read about the life of the Prophet Muhammed (saw), his companions and the earlier Prophets too. Then there is all the rest of the history of the Muslims, in the centuries after the Last Prophet (saw). I have done very little on that yet. It’s all history that we can learn and read about together. Anyway, the boys want to learn about ancient empires and other civilizations or peoples too, so today we were looking for Aztecs, found this, and later read some of the other sections too. Of course Aztecs and many others worshipped idols, and I was pleased to find that the boys were not interested in reading the details about the Aztec religion, it was their decision to skip over that, alhamdulillah.
Later I used this link from Educating the Muslim Child, and they spent some time on the names of countries, capitals, continents and oceans.
Following their achievements in reading Surah Baqarah I decided to read to J and R about the night prayer (Tahajjud) of the Prophet Muhammed (saw). They loved the following hadith to the extent that they were laughing out loud in wonder, imagining themselves following such a long prayer. I just wanted them to know that what they have done is great, but there is so much more to aspire to, insh’Allah.
Hudhaifah ibn al-Yamaan said:
“I prayed with the Prophet (saw) that night when he started soorah al-Baqarah. So I said (to myself), “He will make rukoo after 100 ayaat.” But he carried on after that, so I thought, “He will finish it (the soorah) in two rakahs.” But he carried on, so I thought, “He will make rukoo when he has finished it.” Then he started soorah an-Nisaa and recited it all, then he started soorah aal-Imraan and recited it all. He was reciting slowly; when he came to an ayah in which there was glorification of Allah, he glorified Allah; at an ayah which had something to be asked for, he asked for it; at mention of seeking refuge, he sought refuge (with Allah). Then he made rukoo….” Muslim and Nasaa’i

Conversations

Over the summer I've had various home ed conversations. Weeks ago I met a sister in a park who said that home ed would be her worst nightmare, as she usually couldn't wait to get all her kids out of the house so she could clean it. That cleaning thing comes up a lot. People say, how do you manage to find time to spend on the children when there is all the cleaning and cooking to be done? It baffles me really. Is there any better way to avoid housework than the worthy pursuit of being with ones' children?
Yesterday I met a couple of teacher/tutor sisters who although confident about teaching other peoples' kids were not so about their own. They felt there was a different relationship with their child when it came to learning. I don't understand that. It seems to me that there is a difference between a mother and a housekeeper, but a mother and an educator are one and the same thing. Are ironing and washing up really seen as part of mothering? I would happily allow someone else to help me with those chores, or even pay them if I could afford to. But hand over the kids and let someone else have all the fun of seeing them learn? That would be me being robbed.
A couple of days ago my new neighbour asked me which school I'd registered the kids in. She managed to maintain her cheery, bright expression through her obvious surprise when I told her I home ed. Then she went on to say that the schools round here aren't much good anyway. Wonder what she'll do with her toddler when the time comes.
An HE friend told me recently how the coach of her kids summer sports programme took her to one side one day and asked her to explain more about HE as he had seen how lovely her children were and would rather his 8 month old turned out like them than like the rest of the kids.
This collection of thoughts from bits of conversations doesn't lead to any coherent conclusions. But I'm always shocked by the idea that some people prefer to spend time with the housework than with their kids.

Maps

Its been a few days of outings, walks and visitors. We're out of routine, but kids are always learning, especially if you mention that it might be bedtime. There is no better way to avoid bedtime than to suddenly be doing something educational, such as reading a potted history of the Persian Empire, or drawing a map of an imaginary town.

Well done J and R

Today they have (together) completed the reading of Surah Baqarah in one day. MaashAllah. I know that some children manage to memorise large parts of the Quran by this age, and for those children this would not seem like much of an achievement, it is basically reading half the surah each, but for my boys it’s excellent.
And the sun is at last shining, alhamdulillah. The cat is out basking in it.
We did a little French this morning. The boys used to learn the Arabic language where we to lived before, but I have no one here to continue teaching them that yet. I think it is important for them to get to know a little of another language from a young age, so I'll switch to French now, as I can’t personally offer anything else. I have a friend from France whom I asked to check out my rusty pronunciation, which was found to be adequate. If I find an Arabic teacher they can do both!
The boys also revised the duties of Prophets today. Alhamdulillah they remembered a lot from before the summer.
Ia and U have been running in the garden and playing pets and babies. Ia is getting into pets!

The snail

This snail had made it to the top of the patio door this morning.
Been feeling a bit cooped up by the building works on one side and the torrential rain on the other. All of us, all day in one room, pretty much. Alhamdulillah.
HE wise we did the basics, then the boys chose to do some more on their castles project. R did a very good, detailed drawing of Framlingham Castle, which we visited last year. He found a drawing of it in one of the books. J traced a drawing of a Japanese castle. Ia also drew a castle, but was more concerned that there should be enough sheep there, than with the architecture. They also looked castle stuff up online, using the internet linked Usborne Book of Castles. They especially liked this knights site.
Then, around 4 o’clock R decided that they should read the whole of Surah Bakarah, between them. They began, taking turns, and continued for ages, maashAllah. They actually made it to two thirds through. R was determined not to give up, but in the end it was too long for him! I still think they did really well, maashAllah.

Rainy, rainy

As the rain whirled down you could have been forgiven for thinking it was November, if it wasn't for all the greenery and the still vibrant, yellow flowers in the garden. Even the birds are getting confused it seems, we saw our first visitor to the bird table, a thrush, which just chucked everything off the table. Should fit in round here then.
H took the boys to an indoor nets cricket practice, from which they returned highly excited.
I think I've finally settled on an effective routine for the home ed. A lot has changed since the move and we needed to find new ways of working. Now I'm making a weekly list of topics to be looked into, under very general headings, such as "history", "project". The list should be completed within the week, but in no particular order and on no particular day. This gives us the flexibility we need. The boys get to have some control over what they are learning and when, but I still get to "manage" the overall balance. This is on top of daily Quran, and 5 times a week maths and English.
Yesterday I continued reading to them from a history of the Prophet Muhammed (saw). I'm using "Man and Prophet" by Adil Salahi. Its for adults, and I tend to skip over the analytical bits and stick with the narrative, so that they understand better. After that they filled in a time line for key events in the Madina period. We used a time line kit from Learning Roots, because we had been given it, but it is easy to make really. That will go on the boy's bedroom wall, together with the Makkan period one inshAllah...once I find the blu tak.
We've also been doing some more work on the general history of the Prophets as part of our study of the Pillars of Emaan. The favourite facts from that session were that Adam (as) was 40 metres tall and lived for 960 years. Sound incredible? The Prophet (saw) said "Allah created Adam according to his (Adam's) image, and he was sixty arm-spans tall. After him, the size of people continued to shrink until now" This hadith was recorded by Al-Bukhari and others.

Ia has been busy with her art work as ever. She has also been cutting and sticking things into an exercise book.
Today the boys did the final maths test for Year 3. (They love tests - so did I as a child - just the sort of challenge I could manage and do well at) They got exactly the same percentage mark, although different questions wrong. Its a twin thing.
We've also got plumbers in. One of them had an accident today and put his foot through the hall ceiling. The debris just missed U, alhamdulillah.

Hiding

Had a lovely visit from a good friend this week and following some conversation I have decided to stop trying to hide this blog. After all it is not as if I do rant posts, or deeply personal posts, both of which a person may prefer not to go too public. I have gained much benefit from others sharing their blogs, so sharing is good. You never know what someone may take from these sleepy posts! This does not mean I'm suddenly going to put myself on a blog ring, just I'm going to tentatively be more blog sociable!

It has been a good, busy week, the kind that gets blurred out of memory. We worked quite hard at the beginning. Made posters of the names of the Prophets, in order. The picture doesn't look like much, but they took ages. We are not artists.

A few hours of cricket were squeezed between the showers. The girls room is now pink, with curtains that look like a little dress. I also passed my driving theory. That was the easy bit. Now I have to remember how to start the car. H cannot understand how I could forget. But I can, because I CAN'T SEE IT WRITTEN DOWN! If I want to remember something I visualise the page. Where is the driving page?

Everyone loves exploring

Spot the apples.

Spot the stream.

Lords and ladies.

Signs of the season to come, inshAllah.

Just because they are so pretty.

Apart from a lovely explore today, how can I account for the rest of my time? I did a little gardening, until it rained, I repaired the holes in the girl's walls, ready for painting, I read to U, I tried to deal with the contents of one box. Re the comment from the last post, I do usually try to deal with one small zone at a time, but right now different members of the household want different things done first. So that leaves me juggling.

This afternoon the girls and I got an unexpected invite to a sister's home, where we enjoyed a sociable few hours. Ia made a new friend.

I Need To Stop Wasting Time

I just can't seem to get enough done. I start the day with good intentions, for example this morning I trimmed the lavender and hung the flowers up to dry, then I completed clearing that flowerbed of weeds. The kids helped to deadhead some other flowers. But so much remains, the chaos is ridiculous. I intend for there to be an improved, visible difference by the end of the day. But usually its a worsened, visible difference.
Ia has been busy making things again. She did a lovely hama bead butterfly this morning, which of course I can't iron because I can't find the ironing paper. Then she began painting an eggbox, to make a bug when dry. Later she had her first go at sewing. I've been waiting for that!

Alhamdulillah, the flowers need no improvement at all. And the sun is out so we can read in the garden. Although the boys tend to read indoors, during meals, when I've just asked them to go get dressed etc. Reading, they know, is a way of avoiding doing something else. I'm not really going to insist they stop reading am I?

This was yesterday's "make". A nest, with birds. The birds live next to this nest (!). To avoid cluttering up its beauty? And there is a Topsy and Tim book. Never far away.

Can you see what I think is a tiny Scarlet Pimpernel near these dasies in the park? My camera is old, so image not sharp.

The boys have been learning about Venn diagrams again. This is so easy, they've done it so often. I'm in the last week of the summer term work now. So a few easy lessons to take us to the end of Year 3 work. Nearly finished the Year 4 English textbook too. I think I'll try some other English ideas before going to the year 5 book, (which I've yet to buy anyway). Time to turn away from the computer now and face all the things I have not done.

She was gone

But she came back – the next morning! So Ia is happy again, after a tearful night before, and I don’t have to feel guilty, alhamdulillah.
It was a good start to a generally good day. The boys got on with maths with minimal protest and although reluctant to start English they got into it well, as the topic was quite funny. They took their time over it, in a good way. R did some really neat handwriting, which is worth mentioning for its rarity. The neatness continued this evening when I got them to do some work on composting from the detailed leaflet which came with the composter.
Meanwhile Ia began the day with making a model nest and a couple of gluey pictures. U did some colouring and they both listened to an audio book.This afternoon we went to the library, where the shelves were almost bare. They all chose audio books again, as well as the normal ones, audio books being a thing they are into just now. They like to listen and drink hot chocolate.

Where has she gone?

Nala the cat has left. She has been gone for seven hours, which may be nothing for many cats, but for Nala, who does not really like to go out at all without us, it is ages. We were in the garden with her in the morning, then she vomited (she often does this), so when I went in I closed the patio door so that she would not come back in and vomit again inside. We were only in the room with the patio window, so she could see us if she stayed there, and I opened the door again after about 45 minutes. But at some point she left, and has not come back. I think that may be it

Cricket

The boys have enjoyed another cricket session out in the sunshine and breezes today. They had a county player as a guest coach. The girls and I passed the hours in the play area again. I took a note book and Ia did some drawings of some of the wildflowers that we saw. Then she drew the playground equipment too. Still not many players turning up. The coach blames the people of the local area for not caring.
Last week the boys played their first cricket match. H took them along and to his surprise found himself umpiring. The coach spent the whole of their batting innings in the changing room helping the boys put on the pads etc. It was a quick succession of costume changes, as the wickets rapidly fell. R had a turn at batting first. J was to come out next, but getting the protective gear on took time, so he was delayed getting out of the pavilion. When he finally managed to waddle onto the pitch, Michelin man style, the opposing team cried foul, complaining that the same player had been sent out for a second time. Twins. The boys team was utterly thrashed, by boys mostly twice their size. But the memories live on as legends.
We’ve started a compost bin, which is home to lots of slugs and woodlice now. Of course the boys have exploited this opportunity to terrify their little sisters by carrying them down the garden and threatening to put them in the composter with the slugs. We really don’t mean to disturb the evening calm of the neighbourhood with high pitched screams, especially as the other nearby family of girly shriekers appears to have gone on holiday.
Nala is still being intimidated by the neighbour’s cats. They come up close and wait there until she shrinks, cowering away.
I’ve also been decorating. The boys tastefully chose ivory coloured paint for their room, after pre-moving ideas about black, car wallpaper etc, they were surprisingly sensible. So one room looks fresh and neat, in contrast to everywhere else. It is better to go out in the garden. So I did.

Photos

Some garden treasures.

Ia's work.

Outline of a castle, with surrounding villages.

Family of bugs.

Two little men with large hats.

Obviously.