Butterflies

Yesterday afternoon we went out to the park for a couple of hours and when we came back one butterfly had emerged. This morning when I came downstairs a second one had emerged. Later I took the girls to the library and when we came back......

you guessed it, another one had emerged. So we missed seeing all of them come out!

Shortly after lunch I suddently noticed a fourth butterfly, but this one was all folded and crumpled, so had just emerged. I quickly called the children to watch how it started to straighten out. So, at least we saw a bit more of that one!

There is one more left, but that crysalide is not dark yet, so I don't expect that one today.

We have fed them with apple, grape and sugar water and we have seen them feeding, subhanAllah.

Handwriting

It is that time of year when we finish off and tidy up. This year Ia has been using the book above for handwriting skills. It teaches joined up writing, focussing on the joins between pairs of letters and building up into joining words. She has used it a little at a time, usually for about 10 minutes before the rest of her English work. She did the last bit today. I have the next book in the series, which she will use next academic year, inshAllah.
The book itself is good, it consists of 20 units, each divided up into short exercises, so it is easy to break up. It is a textbook, so the actual writing is done in a handwriting exercise book.
I can't find fault with the book itself, and indeed I recently saw another child's handwriting and just from looking at it I could tell that he had learnt from this series. I asked him and showed him the book. Yes, it was the one he had used in school!
The problem with handwriting is that it is boring. Ia now knows how to join her writing, but she still prefers to print, as she finds it easier and the result looks neater. Ia can write neatly,but if she finds the handwriting exercise boring she won't be as neat as she can. So, although I follow this handwriting course I sometimes wonder how much use it really is. I think I continue because at least then the child has the knowledge of how to join their letters, even if they choose not to implement that knowledge. It could be something they want to do in future.
Good handwriting is an important skill, but the child needs to want to have beautiful writing and I just don't know how any book, no matter how well thought out, can instill that! What is the secret?
So, at the moment I'm happy with correctly formed letters that are easy to read, a sensible size and a knowledge of joining! Alhamdulillah.

Reader Rabbit

If you are looking for up-to-the minute reviews of new products you are in the wrong place! I've just discovered Reader Rabbit, which is quite an old piece of software. But then you don't go looking for things until you need them I suppose, and until now I didn't consider buying software to help with learning to read, as it didn't seem necessary. U is a different sortof learner. She loves books, maashAllah, and will spend ages reading stories to herself through the pictures, maashAllah.However she is not too keen on reading through normal early reading books. I think it is because it takes longer than making the story up! And yet I know that she will, inshAllah, love reading once she can do it with ease, because she loves stories, just as the boys did and still do, maashAllah.
So, I started looking for software, because she does well with Education City, and she enjoys learning independently. Reader Rabbit has turned out just right for her because it is simple and uncluttered and has a clear route of progression. The disc began with work she is already familiar with, but she has also been able to learn new words too. She has used it every weekday since it arrived, maashAllah.
I did not expect to need many new resources for my youngest child, but you never know how things may turn out, subhanAllah.

Creative and caterpillars

The girls have had a creative day today, maashAllah, making bead designs, sketching and making flower pictures with cut-outs from catalogues. There has also been lots of playing in the garden.

Our caterpillars have started to change into chrysalides. This picture was taken in the afternoon, when a couple of them still look like caterpillars but by this evening they have changed some more.

Magnets

At the moment I'm using the Forces part of "Bite-Size Physics" with the boys. Today's lesson had something that everyone could enjoy - making magnets.

You just have to stroke an iron nail with a magnet, making sure to always go the same direction, until the nail becomes a magnet. In the picture the paperclip is magnetically attached to the nail. After that we dropped the nails on the paving outside to demagnetise them. Everyone had a go at this. The girls enjoyed the experiments and the boys learnt about the science behind it.

Alhamdulillah, it was great to have something for everyone!

The differences

These are the types of books that both girls are selecting from the library at the moment, amongst others. They are both slim paperbacks. I read them aloud to U and Ia reads them herself. A book like the one in the top picture is a quick read for Ia, but she enjoys reading something easy with cute pictures. She also chooses longer chapter books, which she reads one chapter at a time. With the sort of book pictured above she'll happily read through two or three at one go, maashAllah.
The book in the picture below is one she is reading aloud to me at the moment. It is a comfortable level for her. I tend to alternate the levels, letting her read one at comfort level, then another with a little bit more challenge, then back to comfort again. She usually has at least two books on the go, one she reads to me, the other by herself. She usually chooses the titles from the library herself, but some I keep for her to read aloud. She also enjoys non-fiction books about animals.

The thing is that having this type of book around is a novelty for me. The boys seem to have missed out this stage altogether and gone straight from learning to read to reading books designed more for the stage above.

It just goes to show how each child learns in their own way, even when you start them off in the same way, maashAllah.

Easy to do science

Today we have been rubbing electrons on and off things. Learning about electrical charges.

After being rubbed on hair the balloon attracts the strip of paper.

Same thing with the scarf and the shirt.