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.)