March Books

This is what I've been reading aloud to the boys this month, plus non-fiction they have read themselves.
(Does not include reading done in course of other studies)
1. Usborne History of Britain, The Middle Ages
2. My Story, "Armarda, diary of Thomas Hobbs"
3. My Story "The Queen's Spies, diary of Catherine Lumsden"
4. The Danger Zone "Avoid Being Mary Queen of Scotts" by Fiona Macdonald
5. DK 24 hours Mountain
6. DK 24 hours Arctic
7. Extracts from Stories of the Prophets, Ibn Kathir
8. Extracts from Atlas of Quran
9. My Story "Spy Smuggler, diary of Paul Lelaud"

Organizing

It is that time of year again, alhamdulillah. Around the approach of spring I start to look forward to tidying up the current academic year, and preparing for the next, inshAllah.
I get the need to record more! Maybe you think I record quite a bit already, well, there is lots more on paper! I don't look back on old waffle on the blog too often, but I like to have lists.
So, I've been listing completed work for this year, by the boys and Ia. Lists of topics covered, chapters of textbooks completed etc for the boys, and lists of workbooks completed and other projects by Ia. Of course I have all the actual paperwork too, in box files.
Obviously it is not possible to record all learning in such lists, the reading, the online stuff, the daily experiences. But it helps to capture some of it.
I've also been looking through the boys' files for Year 2, thinking forward to what Ia could be doing next year, and looking for old workbooks for U to reuse. I think I erased the pencil work from about 5 workbooks this afternoon.
I've also been completing lists of work to be completed this academic year, and looking through the shelves to make sure I haven't missed a resource bought long ago. I also need to reaquaint myself with the contents of some storage drawers, to make sure U is getting the most out of what early years stuff I have.
All this helps me to organise and streamline my thoughts. Uncluttering my head you could say.

Unstructured day!

I started a topic on reflection today with the girls. (Yes, U is in on this one too.) We started looking through the book above, then went on to do fold pictures.

In this one I think the two red shapes look like women wearing abayah running towards eachother, with a big blue butterfly in between!

These look like ice creams!

Today was another unsturctured day due to kids feeling unwell. For the boys it was mostly reading and documentaries.

The girls used Education City and Ia read and did some tapestry sewing.

Arctic Lapbooks

Once again this morning U was in an URGENT RUSH to get her lapbook done.

As you can see above, attention to detail is not a top priority for U. Getting things DONE is far more important, as is making sure you have a lapbook with your name on it filed in the lapbook storage area.

Below is Ia's lapbook on Arctic animals. As you can see I used many printables, partly due to the lightning speed I was expected to conduct the project at.

Useful links:

HighlightsKids

Homeschool share

Albright News

Other than the lapbooks nothing much got done today. J is ill and the boys spent the morning reading, being read to and watching documentaries. J then went to bed. Later Ia wasn't feeling too well either.

Pics from yesterday

Space Hoppers. Kids can bounce on them all day. You can't do that at school.

The book I mentioned yesterday.

U implementing ideas from book. (Playing).

A balanced model.

An arrangement.

Arctic art in progress.

The girls wanted to do Arctic lapbook work IMMEDIATELY upon waking up. Today we used printouts, many from Enchanted Learning. We've also been watching more video clips about various Arctic creatures.

U has decided to start learning Arabic sounds from Tajweed in English. She also used her Learning Ladder CDrom today and did some more rod work, (as in pics above).

The boys have done a graph, Pashto work, typed up yesterday's Wind in The Willows work, made a lapbook piece for their current Islamic lapbook etc.

I checked through my maths resources for Year 1, and found that I have SO MUCH! Alhamdulillah. I don't know how I got time for them all with the boys! It has made me think of all the extended maths activities I should be doing with Ia!

Must get on!

So much to do!

We had a busy weekend, alhamdulillah. The boys were out a lot, doing sporty stuff. U was still home and chickenspotty, but she helped me clean and bake for my sister's visit with her children. My sister bought Space Hopper toys for the girls, which have been a big hit. I have said these things will have to go into the garden in the summer, but for now they are bouncing round the downstairs, then taking the hoppers to their bedroom at night. I did take photos but I'm having another of those technical breakdowns where I can't get the pictures to come out onto the computer.
I did lots and lots of home ed thinking! Had a few discussions about copywork and dictation before realising that I do do copywork with Ia, I just don't call it that! As for dictation, I don't give the boys any passages to study, but I do actually give them dication work here and there amongst the daily stuff. Again, I just don't call it that! I might give the passage thing a try though, inshAllah.
I really need to check through my resources again and make sure that I'm using everything I want to for the different levels. Try to set out a bit what I would like to complete before the summer, inshAllah.
U is more and more keen to have her own task list, alhamdulillah. She has even taken to scribbling extra squiggles beneath her name, to indicate the subjects she wants to cover. Today I started using the "Idea Book for Cuisenaire Rods at the Primary Level" by Patricia S. Davidson. (Again pics stuck in memory card). I wouldn't exactly recommend this book, as many of the ideas are really pretty obvious, but they are enjoyable ideas for the child, so I'll use them again. With the boys and Ia I really started with the book too late, when it was already too easy. This time with U I hope to target it more accurately.
The boys started some project work on the "Wind in The Willows" play today, in the form of a plot summary and review. Ia is due to begin her Arctic project, so I've been searching out online ideas. Just put "Arctic lapbook" in the Google box, and lots comes up. It is all you need to get a project going, an interesting library book and a quick google search.

DK 24 hours Series

I really like this series of books from DK. 24 Hours tells you about what goes on in a certain habitat, what the creatures that live there are doing on a typical day. We are borrowing the two books above from the library at the moment, and we already own the desert and rainforest ones. The rainforest book was an essential resource for us with the rainforest lapbook Ia made a while ago. Ia found the Arctic one of these at the library on our last visit, and she is keen to make a lapbook based around it. InshAllah I hope to start work on that next week. Ia is very interested in animals, maashAllah.

Today every one worked hard to get their work done in the morning once again

Ia has finished reading Peter and Jane book 7a. She and U are working on learning Surah Masad. Inexplicably Ia knows it, except for one word, which she misses out every time. Every time I remind her, then straight away she misses it out again. Sometimes Ia's learning is baffling. Very different from the boys.

J has memorised Surah Duha, and is due for a treat from the shop this afternoon, inshAllah.

The house has got really messy again. Spring sunshine is beautiful, maashAllah, but it also shows up all the dust and dirt! So, tackling that looks to be my mission for the rest of the afternoon.

Wednesday

We did some kitchen chemistry this evening, following the work set out in the chemistry workbook we are using. The idea was to record the reactions observed. Of course the baking powder and vinegar featured again! J filmed the experiments, in a style which he seemed to have picked up from the Periodic Table of Videos they've looked at recently.
Today was sunny and warm, alhamdulillah, so we spent the afternoon in the garden, getting the rest of the work done in the morning. The boys and Ia played with a football, then read. U helped me dig out the enormous root of a dead plant.
U is not really feeling too good at the moment as her turn for the chicken pox has come.
With the change of weather I think I'll need to make some adjustments to the way we structure the day, so that we can make the most of any fine weather when it comes, but still get the work covered.
I finished reading another "My Story" historical fiction diary to the boys this morning. This time it was "The Queen's Spies", all about the Babington plot to replace Elizabeth I with Mary Stuart. I'm really feeling like getting reading some more Islamic history, and will need to search out more books.
Ia finished another lapbook today (another one she has been working on for a while), inshAllah I'll post it on Always Learning Resources around the weekend.

Spring time!

I tried to get everyone to hurry up and finish their work quickly today so that we could get out to the park in the afternoon to enjoy the fine spring weather, alhamdulillah. Ia is now completely well, alhamdulillah, and U is yet to develop any spots - so just have to wait and see.
We got the spring packs from the Nature Detectives. Below you can see Ia and U using the pack to design their own forests. Notice all the animals just waiting to be able to move in!

New, improved, Ihsan Website

The new Ihsan website should be up and running on 15th March, inshAllah.

Ihsan (Islamic Home Schooling Advisory Network)

Read more about the new look website and forum here.

Hope you'll visit, inshAllah.

Ia's 5 Pillars of Islam lapbook

Ia finished this lapbook today. We had been working on it for some time. I copied the idea from a friend, maashAllah.

Along the way I did extended work on the topics of the Shahadah, salaah and zakat. That work has not been included in the lapbook. The lapbook is a kind of summary. InshAllah I intend to do further work on fasting and Hajj when the appropriate seasons come along.

Last couple of days

For the last couple of days drawing has become very popular! I sincerely hope that drawing imaginary creatures does not break the Islamic prohibition on drawing living things, as they are not real living things.

Ia and U have also been doing lots of colouring,

cutting up and sticking,

and U decided that it is time for her to begin on workbooks. She even agreed to do the pages in order.

Ia made a copy of a Surah Fatihah poster.

This morning I finished reading "Armada, Thomas Hobbs",a "My Story" book published by Scholastic. It is one of a series of historical fiction diaries. The boys enjoyed the story and it is a light, easy way to pick up historical general knowledge. There are plenty in the series in the library. (Lots come up if you put "My Story Scholastic" in the Amazon search.)

Simple Experiment

This is a very easy way to show how a flower absorbs water. Put the flower in water with plenty of food colouring.

Twenty four hours later the flower has a definate green tinge. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but if you compare the two pictures you can see yellowing. That is not just the light in the photo.

If you look carefully at the underside of the petals you can see the streaks of green. These show up more all over the flower now.

Useless attempt at an explanation

Last week I was asked how I plan and how I organise my time. I find this such a hard question to answer. I mostly just do what seems right at the time. Ideas pop into my head and I follow them, or I come across something in a book or online and I follow it along to see where it takes me. There is a back up structure of the textbooks I have bought, but what has led me to those particular textbooks was the "following ideas and suggestions" method. Pick and mix, trying things out. I know this is not a satisfactory answer. It may also sound disjointed, but it does not work out that way. Because, for the most part, I do not follow prescribed methods or "alternative" curriculum, I have, I think developed an overall style which maintains a consistent approach even with the many diversions the route throws up. Does this make sense? The more I explain the worse my answer becomes.
(The main reason I don't do prescribed methods is that I can't be bothered to wade through and absorb the mindset of another person. I may well be missing out on something, but I do pick up nuggets here and there from other bloggers who are thoughtful enough to explain.)

An example may make more sense. In our English textbook (So You Really Want to learn Junior English book 3, Galore Park (for year 5)), there was a comprehension extract from the playscript of "The Wind in the Willows" by Alan Bennet. The boys actually did the comprehension a couple of weeks ago, but last week it occured to me that they might enjoy reading the script aloud together. My school English lessons involved lots of reading aloud, and I really enjoyed it. Reading aloud is completely different from acting, and I think being able to read aloud with some feeling and intonation in the voice is a useful skill.
So, anyway, I got a copy of the play and we started reading it together today. (I skim read it over the weekend first.) The boys did appreciate the humour, and enjoyed it. The horse character is meant to be "a cousin of Eyeore", and J had a good go at that.
If this goes well I shall consider doing a lapbook on it. So, this was not planned, it just sort of happened, alhamdulillah.
Chicken pox update (Ia): the itching phase seems to be over, alhamdullilah, and so now we need to wait for the spots to fade away, inshAllah.

Garden Tidy Up

It is the time of year to plant seeds. Ia and U helped me plant snapdragon and yellow poppy seeds this morning.

They also did some digging while I weeded the spring bed by the back fence. I think of this as the spring bed because there are lots of little bulbs in it, and the sun shines on them in the morning. In the summer the ground here cannot be seen as it is covered completely by the bushes above. In spring, before the bushes get their leaves back, it is just right for crocus, forget me not, and other spring plants alhamdulillah.

Still got the right side of the garden to deal with.

Zakat Lapbook

Today was Ia's turn to finish a project. Her zakat lapbook. I used lots of colouring sheets, and other worksheets I had from old work, to quickly put this lapbook together over the last week or so. I intend to describe it further on Always Learning Resources in the coming weeks, inshAllah.

We had a calm day today. As of last night Ia is covered with chicken pox. Apologies to those families we saw earlier in the week, I hope she wasn't already infectious, inshAllah. It is hard to think of where she could have got it from, but I suspect a child from her swimming lesson! Alhamdulillah so far it is not bothering her at all, and she feels her normal self, so we did not change our "work" plans, but the hoped for visit to the library had to be put off.

The brighter (although cold) weather means that theboys can get out into the garden to play more often. Already most of the tennis balls have gone over the hedge, but the neighbours are very good about throwing them back, alhamdulillah.

Prophet Musa (as) Notebook Project

Today the boys finished the project on Prophet Musa (as). J did the contents page on the computer, R did a front cover, which I taped onto the front of the old tourist board folder we used for this work.

Today they wrote out the pages on Musa (as) and al-Khider (as). Originally I was planning to do this as a separate lapbook, but as I found that we had a few plastic pockets left at the back of the book I decided to just do illustrated pages instead.

This page shows an example of the type of presentation we had for most of the rest of the project. We also had a couple of typed and printed pages.

I might describe this project further on Always Learning Resources, I haven't decided yet.

Molecules, paper and a trip

Today the boys made molecule models, using playdoh and matchsticks. This is from the Real Science 4 Kids book that I bought recently. This is CH3OH. I hope we followed the instructions correctly and made it right, as I didn't get the teachers manual.

This is CH4. This was really fun to do, the boys were getting into it!

Ia continues her paper cut outs game.

Then, yesterday we were out and about, meeting new friends and old ones. I should report here that the Natural History Museum is not as overheated as the Science Museum, so it is possible to have a pleasant day out there without the need for headache relief. The most interesting areas for J and R this time were the ecology section and the Vault. (Grown out of dinosaurs already?) I was interested to look at the element display.

We had a great time, jazakAllahkhair to the sisters who met us there with their children.

Tag

I've been tagged by both Ummobaidah and UmmKhadijah.
I'm not very good at tags, plus this tag has gone all over the place already!
Anyway, I'm supposed to mention something I feel bad about as a mum. Well, I am not patient enough, I do get cross. And sometimes I don't listen to them enough, as I'm lost in my own thoughts. I make the excuse that these thoughts are often HE related, so they will benefit them in the end, inshAllah!
Then I should mention 7 things I love about my kids, or love doing with them.
I should like to amend the question, to a list of 4 things, so then I can just list their names.

First Monday in March

So, it's Monday again, alhamdulillah.
We've been enjoying a taste of the garden months for the last couple of days, with the children playing outside and me getting started on the first garden tidy up of the year. Although it does seem like a daunting task at the beginning I've already done the left side, which I kept fairly well maintained last year, so it wasn't too hard after all.
HE wise the boys got most of their work done in the morning, and Ia did most of hers in the afternoon. Both girls have been really busy with their imaginative play.
In brief,
Boys, Quran (and now also dua memorisation), maths (draw rotating shapes), Pashto, spelling, reading, plant biology lapbook.
Ia, Quran, Arabic sounds from Tajweed In English site (now working on words with short vowels), phonics, maths, reading, zakaat project, Education City.

Over the weekend I moved some of the simpler chapter books up to the shelves in the girl's room. Ia is not ready to read them alone yet, but I've started to read them aloud to her. Having them in her room now gives her a happy, growing up feeling, that encourages her reading. U has started reading them to herself, of course! (In her own way.)