Maps

As part of geography this year with Ia I'm using the book Mapstart 1. Mapstart 1 begins with the different ways we can look at objects and then a room. There are questions on every page and I'm just working through these with Ia orally, as the point is to learn about maps and plans, not to write comprehension answers! Most of the questions at the beginning of the book are very easy anyway, asking the child to find things in the picture and using the language of direction (next to, on the right of etc).
On Friday we reached the page showing the model Lego town and then the plan of the model. To follow from that I asked Ia to make a model of part of a town, which is shown in the picture above. After that she drew out a plan of the model, with labels.
I remember that when I did this with the boys we did a really big model, covering our table. It was a good model, maashAllah, but they tired a bit of drawing out such a big plan, so I scaled things down for Ia!
This is a fun activity, whether or not you are using Mapstart!

Reading this week

I'm trying to integrate some whole book studies into the boy's shedule. I'd like to assign them some reading through which they can learn something about history or society etc. The idea is that they will read the book one week, then do some written work on it the following week, probably in the form of several short essays.
I'm going to have to put some effort into sourcing material for them, but at least for this week I have assigned "Lost Riders" by Elizabeth Laird.
The book is about child exploitation, with poor boys from Pakistan traffiked to Dubai to work in camel racing. In the preface it is mentioned that the UAE has passed laws to prevent this now.
The story is shocking, but written in an easy style. I think the boys found it quite compelling reading as they each finished it in a day, maashAllah.
(By the way I'm not planning to only post here on Wednesdays now, it just seems to have turned out that way recently!)

Couple of links

Today we watched one of this year's Royal Institution science lectures on iplayer. (Tomorrow, Thursday, is the last day these are available). For the first time we did not watch an iplayer programme gathered around the PC screen because the boys now know how to watch the iplayer on a normal tv, via the Wii console.
As kids get older they are a real help with technological matters, maashAllah!
I thought I'd post a couple of links to other online stuff they've discovered and experimented with recently:
Sumo Paint This is free and you don't need to download it. It works in a similar way to the old Paint, found on most PCs, but with more features. The boys have been trying out designs on there.
CamStudio This one allows you to video what you are doing on your screen, like the print screen button, but in video. You might not think there is much use for that, but the boys sought this tool out for a specific task they had in mind, and it seemed to work out for them, maashAllah.

Sometimes I have tried showing them things online that I've found links to on home ed lists or on blogs, but usually they don't take those up. They need real tasks, which they devise for themselves, to get themselves searching for and using tools like these. I suppose that is more like "real life" anyway!

Different Maths

From time to time the media report a decline in standards, or state that exams are getting easier etc, and there are some who agree and others who refute this every time. I can't comment on that, but I am finding that the modern maths curriculum for keystage 3 is different from what I experienced in my school days.
For a start I don't recall needing a scientific calculator as early as year 7. I'm pretty sure we still had to use primarily mental calculation at that stage. Also I'm sure I did not cover some of the topics the boys are now working on through Conquer Maths, for example statistics. In today's lesson the "sigma" symbol came up (I don't know how to keyboard that!). I don't remember that symbol at all, or other terms used in this topic. I can remember mean and mode, but that's about it! I don't think its just my memory failing, even if I can't remember much about something the keywords will usually jog some distant memory. I think statistics wasn't on the curriculum I followed.
I'm not too worried however! The wonderful ConquerMaths explains it all excellently, so the boys don't often need my less than helpful input on this subject! They work independently through the lessons, alhamdulillah, but if I'm called upon for back up I just watch the lesson myself and take it from there. Sometimes the methods differ from what I learnt at school. I'm pretty clear when it comes to working with percentages for example, but I found my methods were not the same as those on the programme, although I was still getting the same answers (phew).
One thing I'm glad about though is that I followed a maths curriculum through the primary years and built up the boys basic skills and maths knowledge, at a stage when it was all familiar and easy for me too! I think that it is because they have that behind them, alhamdulillah, that they are ready to take on the Conquer Maths independently. The programme does take for granted that you know the basics.
The way I see it the primary maths curriculum is a direct preparation for secondary maths, in a way which does not hold true with most other subjects.
With maths in the primary years I was always (and still am with the girls) plodding and methodical, sometimes repetitive, as the curriculum was just a bit like that. At the time the boys did not like maths too much, but now it has paid off in my opinion, as they enjoy it much more now. Maybe its a bit like learning a foreign language. When you plod through lots of vocab lists and basic sentences it can feel quite dull, but once you can actually speak the language and find yourself really using it, it is so much more enjoyable.
For me having the boys ready to take on unfamiliar maths topics independently through Conquer Maths, means that secondary maths is "doable" at home, even for me as a non-maths person and with a very different looking curriculum. Alhamdulillah.

Still here!

Long time no post!
Well, we are still here, still home educating alhamdulillah. We are in the winter work mode, so ploughing on with the basics while outdoor opportunities are scarce.
It has been kind of "no frills" around here lately, but, inshAllah lots of learning still goes on and no one is complaining, maashAllah.

Curriculum choices

Umm Ahmad requested that I describe my curriculum choices, so I'll post a little about that today, inshAllah.

I don't follow any particular methodology or approach. In fact, I'd say I'm pretty conventional about the way I home ed, but I don't stick to any ideology. I don't think it is necessary to stick to any one curriculum until you are actually preparing an exam syllabus. I use the National Curriculum as a reference spine for some subjects, but not at all for others. I do not attempt to apply the whole National Curriculum. No way. Avoiding the limitations of the National Curriculum is an advantage of home education.
With my daughters, while they are under 7/year 3 I have focussed mainly on English and maths, with other subjects done on a topic basis. This means that I don't teach separate science or geography, for example, but these things are covered through projects or practical learning. Of course there is Islamic studies too, but again I cover this in a topic/project way. Only from year 3 do I start to make separate sessions for the different subject areas and think more carefully about what is covered under each subject heading.

So, with that in mind I'll run through some of the resources I'm using with my girls this year.

First the 5 year old. For English we are using Literacy Now age 5-6 (Andrew Brodie). I like this worbook, it has just enough to do, but its range is quite spread, from easy at the beginning to quite a bit harder at the end. For this reason I don't use it continuously, I use each double page unit as I feel that U becomes ready for it. So I might use this book several times in one week, then not again for a month.

We've also finished off Schofield and Sims First Phonics4, which deals with blends in a clear straightforward way. Then there is Bond No Nonsense 5-6 years. This again I use a sprinkling of, not too often, in this case because it is so boring. I see the virtue of this book, but it has the National Curriculum drill them to death mentality about it. As it says on the back it is for children who want to do better. Better in National Tests I presume, through endless repetitive practice.

I also have the Letts Literacy Activity Books for Year 1, which I intend to start using sometime during the next couple of months, inshAllah. I also hope to get on to some story book lapbooks, as I did these with Ia when she was in year 1. U is a springtime baby,and so a little younger for her year group. At this stage I think the months still count, so I'm delaying these things until she maybe more ready for them, inshAllah.

She also does some handwriting practice, and reads from the Peter and Jane series

For maths I'm using some Collins Primary Maths workbooks, and the very old SPMG workbooks which I'm not sure can be purchased any more. she also has accounts on Mathletics and Education City.

Everything else is topic based and chosen randomly. Plus there is reading library books and practical things like art and baking done here and there, but not in a sheduled way. I don't use any other specific resources, just whatever is helpful for a particular topic. U is also now going for Quran lessons with a teacher, alhamdulillah.

With the 7 year old I use Collins Primary Maths (the version has just gone out of print), plus Mathletics and Education city. Maths is the one area that I stick with a curriculum carefully. I think that it helps to keep to one style with maths, as soon as you find the right one, as different systems teach different approaches. I found Collins suitable for us up to year 5, so I'm sticking with it, inshAllah.
For English I'm using Collins Focus on Literacy, (can't locate on Amazon just now) along with Nelson Thornes spelling and handwriting and Spellodrome, which comes with Mathletics. I continue to read aloud to the girls, as this is part of their language learning too, in my opinion.
For science I'm using year 3 National Curriculum topics, together with the CGP topic workbooks on those topics. For the two topics we've covered so far I tried to make it more interesting with a lapbook or practical activities. I'm not worried about covering everything, it is more important I think to cover a selection of topics in an enjoyable way, inshAllah.
For geography we have started working on the Trail Guide to World Geography. There is really no rush here. We'll go at a nice, comfortable pace, inshAllah, and do as many or as few notebookpages at each desination as we feel like.
For Islamic Studies I'm using Iqra workbooks on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and also doing notebook style work on the other Prophets (as), in order. We are still on Hud (as)! I may do a lapbook approach for some history of the Prophets. With the boys I varied the approach with each Prophet's story, and the whole thing took up to year 5.
Ia also has Quran lessons and does a bit of art most weeks, plus reading of course. Sometimes she does a little French on the computer.
I wonder if I've missed anything? If not, then that's about it, inshAllah.
So, I suppose in general I just try to find resources which seem to suit for each subject are, then I just work with them until I'm no longer satisfied, then I'll look for something else.

These days

These days as we plod along with our usual book work, the children have been coming up with other things they are interested in doing too. R made some chocolate bread with a receipe he found in one of my baking books. it is basically a white bread dough enriched with a little butter,a spoonful of sugar and some cocoa powder. Finally a chopped up chocolate bar is kneaded in just before it does into the tin to rise. I've been training R in ordinary breadmaking, so he could knead this one successfully himself, maashAllah. It turned out well, alhamdulillah. It looks like cake, but does not taste like cake, it is much less sweet and has that slight sourness of yeast. It was lovelywith some poured cream, maashAllah.
U has suddenly taken an interest in art,maashAllah and has been selecting projects from one of our "make and do" books. She has also added "rt" (art) to her task list, as well as "bak", which means "I must make jam tarts now". This did not happen yesterday as the girls went swimming instead. You can't get everything in a day!
However the art has been going on for the last couple of mornings. Some results below.