Over the weekend

U has said that she would like to be a "libraryer"when she is bigger. She has mentioned that it will be hard to find a library to live in, and that stamping the books will be the best part. Ia and U decided to play at having a library, but as I disapproved the idea of them stamping marks all over the real books, they decided to make books for the game.
Also this weekend R has found out that he can bowl at 37 mph, and J at 40 mph.
I have found out that I can make Dundee cake.

Flustered on Friday

Some days are like this, for no identifiable reason they just don't work out as expected. Today felt very end of weekish to me. Maybe the mess in our work room was just too off putting! The children were co-operative, so I can't blame them at all! The boys got through their morning work. I've gone back to doing a bit of French with them again. I bought a text book from Galore Park, to give me a bit of reassuring structure. I would like for them to learn Arabic, but this is not realistic in present circumstances. French we can do, so French it is then.

Ia and U mostly played and drew. Ia got a bit concerned that she hadn't done any work! The boys did four day weeks when they were her age, but she likes to keep up! It really does help, maashAllah, that she has taken up this attitude. Helps me to keep on top of everything, inshAllah.

In the afternoon we went out to visit friends and I'm sure a couple of hours of playing outside did the boys lots of good, alhamdulillah.

Time for a weekend recharge I think.

Quick round up

Ia has started work on place value.

We've also been working on the topic of the 5 senses, today making use of some interactive resources found here.

The boys have been working on perimeter in maths. In English it is back to the textbook, after our literature project and today they were happy to do their favourite educational activity, writing an imaginative story. Funny how I can see the Enid Blytonisms coming out, especially in dialogue...Meg chimed in .....etc.

Ia and U have both been producing plenty more pictures, maashAllah. Today they drew, then cut out and stuck into a scene.

Heron

At about half past seven, as I was looking out of the patio window thinking about how we don't see many small birds in this garden, I saw a heron. I know it is a tiny image, but a heron has a distinctive shape, I hope you can make it out!

Another lapbook, done!

We finally finished the "Tamburlaine's Elephants" project, alhamdulillah! This time the boys did a lapbook each, rather than making one together as we've done in the past.

I've written up a full description of the project on Always Learning Resources.

Today Ia started work on an Elmer book. More elephants! I was going to keep it to a quick few activities, but she wants to make a whole lapbook on it. So, it looks like we'll have to do work about elephants, colours....

About organising

R was man of the match in football today. He did well, maashAllah! And he loves fruit loaf.

This post is meant to be about organising. I never used to be well organised at all. I would get my HE activity planning done, but at the expense of everything else! House stuff, meals and so on would all be done in a mad catch up, covering the basics only. But recently I started to do weekly meal planning. I shocked myself with that one! I would never have seen myself doing that. I'm not much interested in cooking, baking I like, but not the daily meal cooking.

I felt moved to it from reading the advice on Towards an Orderly Muslim Household. The idea of an orderly house seems such an attractive aspiration!

Well, begrudgingly I have to admit that it does make things easier. After a few weeks practice I am now able to come up with meals for the weekly list fairly painlessly. However, I do tend to shove unlikely concoctions down towards the end of the week, so when I get there I think...what is that?? But overall it is an improvement, alhamdulillah, and makes sure that if I need to defrost something I do actually do it in time, instead of realising at the last minute when it is too late.

Being able to plan and organise better I think is the result of not having any under threes in the house anymore. The under threes are certainly very cute and have many endearing ways, but they sure do make a lot of mess and demand a lot of attention. Nowadays I wash up straight after a meal, that was unthinkable a year ago! U would always be needing my immediate attention back then. Now she and Ia play together a lot, U reads, draws and does puzzles independently. MaashAllah. Things always move and change. Make the most of your under threes while thay last!

U's day

At last U has completed her lapbook! I say at last, that being her opinion on the matter. Most of it was printed from Homeschool Share.

U also did her own Humpty picture, and Auntie Z made the clever fold down Humpty. U likes to see everyone involved in making her lapbook.

Today everyone got their work lists done nice and early, alhamdulillah, so we had a relaxing afternoon with friends over to play.

U helped me make a sponge cake, at the assembly stage. She doesn't like the electric whisk.

Ia has been enjoying reading books from a set of synthetic phonics readers. She is bringing them to me to hear her read, maashAllah!