I am under shock and my hands are slightly shaking as I type this.
My little 25 year old brother announced today that he has become a Muslim and is getting married in a few weeks! Am totally under shock. I can’t believe it. I always said I would shout it from the rooftops if someone in my family embraced Islam.
Well, here I am SHOUUUUUUUUUUTING it! lol
Takbeer! Allah Akbar!
Assalamu alaikum,
Ummihomeschoolsme has been closed for some time. I can’t go into details but I had to make it private for some time. I apologise for not replying to everyone individually who emailed to ask for access or to ask that it be reopened etc. I ask Allah (Swt) to accept this blog as a means to attain nearness to Him, to help others along this home ed journey and to protect, guide and nurture myself and my family along the way. Ameen.
We’re back! 🙂
During Ramadan, I have been planning for next year inshaAllah and we are going to be trying out some new methods, curricula and so stay tuned for more ummihomeschoolsme posts.
A request please: I hope that I will not have to make this blog private again and so I ask you all to make dua for me and my family.
JazakhaAllahu khairan,
Umm Raiyaan
There are so many Islamic books for kids out there now. Some are good and some are not so good. But these two lovely books are just so beautiful mashaAllah.
They are both hardback and so perfect for Z’s age (3-5) to read.
The first book, Allah is Al Khaliq by Saba Ghazi Ameen is A book about colour. She links the teaching of colour to Allah’s name Al Khaliq (The Creator). The pages are tabbed and each page is a different colour. It really is just so cute and I love the original drawings in there.
The second book, Allah is Ar-Rahman (The Compassionate) explores the theme of shapes. Again, top quality mashaAllah. This is also a lift the flap book. I know I keep saying it but really, these books are top quality and just so cute.
Am amazed at how this author has brought in colour and shape and linked it to the names and attributes of Allah. Perfect for little ones and shows that Islamic teaching can really be brought into any subject.
Please do visit www.alfarooqinternational.com where these books can be bought and remember that they have a special 25% discount for us home edders! Enjoy! Leave a comment if you end up buying them and what you thought of them.
Z will be 3 in about 3 days inshaAllah. I used to do quite a lot of work with R when she was that age but subhanAllah, he is such a different character and learner!
I set up Z’s Montessori space a couple of weeks ago and he can only go and use the activities when R is doing her formal work. The way it works, is that when R is doing her work, Z can choose any tray of activity he wants from the shelves. One rule of montessori is that they choose it themselves and then they have to tidy it away and put it back themself before they take the next one.
Here are some montessori activities that he has been doing:
This week we’ve all been at home. Aside from myself nipping down to the shops when hubby was at home, I stayed at home. It was actually nice to be at home all week – here’s what myself and the kids have been up to:
Z’S TURN
These are the old school trays. Alhamdulillah, a good find. Perfect for montessori inshaAllah.
I’ve spent this week preparing to start with Z’s home ed. He’ll be three next month inshaAllah and so ‘MONTESSORI LEARNING – HERE WE COME!’ I’ve spent my time searching montessori websites and blogs for ideas. Went down to the pound shop to buy certain items needed for montessori and alhamdulillah have got my trays ready. I’ll be using our famous ‘cupboard’ (for those who have been to my house) as his space and the trays will be placed on the shelving in that cupboard. He can choose as many trays that he wishes whilst I home ed R and outside of those times he won’t be allowed to work on his trays. I really think this style of learning is going to suit Z inshaAllah. I’m actually really excited!
Z has enjoyed a few random activities this week – nothing planned:
Beading onto pipe cleaners:
The pipe cleaner and small beads are ideal for little fingers!
Baking – this time R didn’t join in. It was just me and Z whilst R watched baby Y in the other room. He absolutely loved it! I think I need to schedule in more exclusive baking time for Z and me.
Lol! He wasn't as messy as R normall is when she bakes!
His favourite part - sticking the edible stickers on to the cupcakes!
What R has been up to:
For those who know a bit of arabic, click on the pic to make it larger - just wanna show you how child friendly this book is.
R has decided herself that she wants to focus on her Arabic reading and so mashaAllah she decided to read a little of this everyday to herself. It is the stories of the prophets in Arabic and the level in this book is perfect for her right now. It is engaging, repetitive and the level of Arabic is not too difficult. In fact, she was reading aloud whilst I was having a lie down and she was testing me by asking me to translate what she had just read. I was definitely learning. I asked her father to listen to her when he came home and he also tested her and she is understanding what she is reading mashaAllah. This has been my dream, for my kids to be able to read, write and speak Arabic. Although R can speak Arabic mashaAllah, her reading and writing was definitely not up to scratch. But alhamdulillah, it is now picking up.
R also finished her story, Bella:
The notebooking pages at the bottom were just perfect for her book and we used the same page for each writing part for each story. Got these from currclick.com
She enjoyed marbling which I’ve been wanting to do with her for ages. I remember really enjoying this as a child and found a really cheap set of marbling inks on ebay:
After adding different colours and blowing them around in the water, she laid the paper on the water, and then lifted it up and here you have a variety of marbled pieces of paper!
She started her own project, making a doll’s house. This is a shoe box. The lid was cut into two which made the two different levels. She then cut the corner off of another shoe box and made the roof. And painted the whole thing. She has little medicine boxes to make the cooker, fridge, bed etc:
Probably a house from the 70s with the colours she chose for the walls and carpet!
At our home ed group a few weeks ago, my dear wonderful sister Oum L brought in some sunflower seeds and pots with a little sign. R planted the seed and she has been looking after it really well. Can’t tell you how excited she was when she saw the shoot! And so she is following her father’s guidelines of watering it every other day and now there is a shoot, every 3 days. (I don’t have a green finger in my body so glad he’s advising her lol). She then said that she wanted to learn about Sunflowers. And I remembered a fantastic project I had picked up from somewhere, dug it out and alhamdulillah thats sorted.
It was only yesterday that I thought about doing another clear out in terms of our books and educational resources but then subhanaAllah I’m glad I didn’t because something like this sunflower project book has come in handy!
Please support this email to your contacts – especially those that want to gain some reward from Allah and volunteer for the project. And revert sisters in difficulty who would benefit (it doesn’t matter how small or big the difficulty is).
As Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,
May this meet you in the best of health, happiness and imaan.
Here is some really exciting news, Masha’Allah.
SOLACE, a new voluntary organisation has been set up to help revert sisters in difficulty. www.solaceuk.org
At some point, you have most likely received a forward in your inbox or a text asking you if you know of anyone who can house a revert sister who has been thrown out of their home or asking you to donate money for a revert single mother who is unable to pay the rent and has been threatened with eviction.
How often do you think that these sisters get the help they need? And after their immediate problem is solved, who is there to follow up with the sister on a regular basis, just to see if she is okay?
What most people forget is that many revert sisters may have been rejected by their families and don’t always receive the support they need from the Muslim community either. Sadly, we are not in a position where mosques or Muslim community centres can offer lasting assistance to these sisters and they are often left to fend for themselves.
SOLACE, with the help of Allah, aims to provide comfort, companionship and practical assistance to these revert sisters.
Here is a taster of the kinds of support SOLACE will provide, bi idhnillah;
By the grace of Allah, we have the support and full backing of Sheikh Haitham Al Haddad, who has given us his time and advice to help establish SOLACE. May Allah reward him for his generosity.
However, SOLACE needs YOUR help.
Here’s what you can do…
1. First of all, please spread the word to revert sisters you know who may be facing difficulties. They may be coping alone with health problems, suffering depression, isolation or loneliness. Or suffering marital problems or physical/emotional abuse, or needing help dealing with non-Muslim relatives? They may even be considering leaving their Deen.
If so, please pass on the SOLACE website address to them: http://www.solaceuk.org
2. SOLACE is a voluntary organisation that relies solely on fundraising and donations. It is still in urgent need of an extra £5000 funding.
– If you would like to host a fundraising event in your area please contact info@solaceuk.org
– If you would like to make a donation, then visit the website where donations can be made via Paypal or direct bank transfer, (to be safe and secure.)
– If you know of any companies that would like to sponsor SOLACE, forward this email to them and ask them to contact donations@solaceuk.org
100% DONATION PROMISE
You can be confident that 100% of the money you donate goes towards assisting reverts in difficulty. No money is taken from your donation for our administration costs.
Do you know of any sisters based in London who have 1-2 hours a week to spare, to listen and provide support to a revert sister in difficulty? (full training will be provided free of charge).
Do you, or anyone you know have skills that you think SOLACE could benefit from?
eg. administrative, fundraising, counselling skills etc
SOLACE needs your support to make this a beneficial service for revert sisters in difficulty.
Please make du’a for this project.
JazakAllahu Khairun
Wasalamu alaikum
SOLACE Team
(Solace is supported by MRDF: Muslim Research and Development Foundation)
I have been neglecting my baby – my blog that is! 😉
I am just so busy right now, that I rarely have time to blog, to even visit the IHSAN forum.
Just a very quick update.
The usual Quran, Arabic, Math, English and Islamic Studies has been taking place. R finished off a sewing project which I will blog about separately as it is a very sweet new product that we were asked to review. At the moment, her interest lies in horses. She has started a new horses lapbook. We seem to be baking all the time! Maybe she’ll teach me a thing or two! 😉 And the usual imaginative play. Sometimes she’s a lion looking after her cubs. Other times she’s an explorer. And more than often she’s Mummy and I find Z in a pretty skirt and cardigan with a headband on his head! Oh dear! She is also really into the Deadly 60 program on bbc iplayer cbbc at the moment. Quite interesting stuff. She isn’t really into reading fiction at the moment. But is reading anything she can find on animals – non-fiction based. We’ve been playing a lot of games: battleship, uno, snakes and ladders, stack ’em.
As for Z, well the potty training is going well alhamdulillah. Going to try and tackle the nights soon. Lots of crafts, imaginary play, and I’ve also started a very simple curriculum with him which I did with R when she was his age. You can find more about it here: http://www.letteroftheweek.com/Preparatory.html
We’ve just started and he cut out a sqaure and decorated it with glitter. We walked around the home trying to find things with square shapes. He is really getting into book and asks me to read things constantly to him. He loves books about dinosaurs, fire engines and trains. I’ve realised in order to keep up with his demands for me to read to him, I literally have to stay put on the sofa for a good amount of time and do nothing else but read to him.
As for baby Y, he’s almost 10.5 months old! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe a year has almost gone by. It feels like only yesterday when I was blogging asking everyone to make dua that I would have my VBA2C! Baby Y is EVERYWHERE! Crawling really quickly, standing up or anything he can grab onto. Pulling books of shelves, putting everything into his mouth! And I think he might start walking soon. He pulls himself up on to something and then lets go and takes a lot of joy in knowing that he is able to stand up on his own without leaning on anything. Yup, I know – I’m in trouble!
Nothing too exciting to report I’m afraid. Oh, R has asked that we go back to our block timetable of doing things – so we’ll be returning to that next week inshaAllah.
Thanks to all the readers who emailed me asking if I was okay as I hadn’t posted in some time. I didn’t actually realise it had been that long! Sorry that I haven’t replied personally to you all.
Since I last posted, we have been busy doing a massive ‘winter clean’ of our home. A huge declutter, cleaning places that go untouched, moving furniture around to have a change etc. So that has pretty much taken up a lot of our time. I have also been very busy with a couple of things which have been taking up a lot of my time and are quite urgent. Hubby has also been off work.
Nothing spectacular Im afraid. Except that Z has finally got the hang of potty training mashaAllah! We persisted and oh my gosh were there tears from him and me – but one day a few days ago he said “Ummi, I need to…” and pointed down below! Couldnt believe it. And so for the past almost 2 weeks all poo poos have been in the toilet and last few days a lot of wee wees have also gone in lol.
Anyone who know how frustrated I was about his potty training will know how happy I am. R was potty trained before she was 2 mashaAllah and I guess I didnt realise how different boys were in learning how to do things. But he got there in the end alhamdulillah. At least now I know he’s normal and won’t be as stressed when it comes to potty training Y. Z has also calmed down a lot mashaAllah and is speaking a lot more clearly and we actually have conversations and not just his demands. He has started to ask me ‘why’ lol
Anyway, back to normal next week inshaAllah and I’ll still be sticking to the reduced timetable for R so that she has more time and freedom to explore her interests and learn more organically.
I think there is a really nasty bug going around. Baby Y has had high fever since Monday night. Z threw up three times, hubby has also been throwing up, I’ve been feeling like I want to throw up but can’t and R is bouncing around mashaAllah – the only one that is okay!
I had a whole week of home ed planned out, but subhanAllah, I really don’t have the energy. So, we’ve had a very easy week so far. We’re normally at our home ed group at this time, but we’re all staying at home in our pyjamas.
Quran as usual, reading, and a few crafts. And just sitting talking, blowing bubbles, blowing up balloons and imaginative play. (Poor Z, with an older sister, I always find him in little dresses and clips in his hair! lol)
Anyway, here are a few things we’ve done this week, if you’d like to try them out with your own.
Z is currently 2. 8 months old and I said I would never start anything formal with him like I did with R but it looks like he might be ready for a little something. Its strange because this was around the same time that I actually started home educating R formally.
Well, here is some stuff that I did with him. What is great about the second one is that you can use all the ideas you used with the first one. I don’t need to plan at all. Because I kept all of R’s work when she was 2.5 years old, I can look through that folder and take the ideas and do them with Z. It was funny because as I did some of these with Z, R remarked “I remember doing that!” I’m surprised she can remember that far back!
Ummi Homeschools Me 