We’re back…

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

SOLACE for revert sisters in difficulty – please spread the word!

 

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;

• Listening service through the support scheme, by trained SOLACE volunteers
• Household help for revert sisters who have no family support
• Counselling by qualified counsellors and life coaches
• Parenting workshops
• Coffee mornings and day trips
• Much more, insha’Allah

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. 

1. SOLACE needs volunteers.

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

www.solaceuk.org

info@solaceuk.org

(Solace is supported by MRDF: Muslim Research and Development Foundation)

Changing Education Paradigms

Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
 
This is just absolutely brilliant. I would really recommend that everyone watches this short video about education. Its why I and many others home educate!
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=player_embedded#!
 
Wasalamuu alaikum
Umm Raiyaan xx

Ramadan Guide for kids

Salaam,

From the sisters at Tailor Made Educational Guides:

Asalamuu ‘alaykum

We are in the process of finalising a few final touches on a new Ramadhan Guide.

With this guide, we have two options:

GOLD which will include instructions and all resources/materials for 28 days of hands on activities during the month of Ramadhan. You would simply take the appropriate file for that day and your child has fun whilst learning about Ramadhan. PRICE: £34.99 only (includes p&p)!

SILVER which will include instructions but without resources/materials. PRICE: £9.99 only!

The above guide is suitable for children aged 5-10.

The guide is not currently available on our website. Ramadhan is soon approaching. If you would like to take opportunity of the GOLD option and receive your package in the post in time for the arrival of Ramadhan, send us an email at info@tailormadeeducationalguides.co.uk with ‘Ramadhan Guide’ in the Subject box and we will arrange payment and shipment details.

The SILVER option will be available to be purchased on our website http://www.tailormadeeducationalguides.co.uk in the next week (Allah willing).

Do check out the other Ready Made Guides on our website. Although we have stated fixed prices for our Ready Made Guides, if you would like to buy the BRONZE or SILVER option and cannot afford the said price, we would be more than happy to email you the guide at a price more affordable to you. Our primary aim is that children enjoy learning.

Thank you and kindly inform your family and friends about TMEG.

Walaykum ‘aasalam
On behalf of the team at TMEG
Umm ‘Abdullah

Tailor Made Educational Guides Website

Remember this from one of my old posts.  Well, their website is up:

Here is the sister’s email:

Asalamuu ‘alaykum,

We begin with the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

Our website is now up and running, walhamdulilah.

You can visit us at: http://tailormadeeducationalguides.co.uk/

Please spread the word amongst your contacts. Especially all of the mothers who do not want their children spending hours in front of the TV or computer during the summer holidays. And for the home educated mothers who want to start something new and different for this coming September.

Thank you to everyone who has made duaa for us and has emailed all of their contacts. From the emails alone, we have had so many orders that have prevented us from completing the website until now.

Please continue to make abundant duaa for us.

Walaykum ‘aasalam
On behalf of the team at TMEG,
Umm ‘Abdullah

I’ll be posting a longish post soon. We have been doing LOADS AND LOADS of Arts and Crafts, Arabic and Quran. Oh, and R is whizzing around quite confidently without stabilisers on her bike now, masha’Allah.

Tailor Made Educational Guides

No, we haven’t disappeared. Just been very busy with myself finishing up with my own studying for this year. So, we have been taking it quite easy.

Am writing this post, because I really do like to support my brothers and sisters in their business ventures, especially if it has anything to do with HE. 🙂 This is a sister I know. Please do spread the word. I know that she is putting a lot of effort into this and is very good masha’Allah. Here is her message:

In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Asalamuu ‘aalaykum,

Are you a Home Educator who wants to provide your children with a fun education, specific to their own interests and needs? Do you want your children to learn the ‘traditional’ subjects but in a fun way related to their hobbies? Are you a parent who is unhappy with the ‘boxed in’ approach within your children’s school and wish to provide a supplement at home to your child’s education that they will enjoy? Are you a parent who not only values the education of your children but also is passionate about them excelling in their unique interests? Are you a teacher who works in a private school and needs help with planning for your unique students?

 If you have answered YES to any of the above questions, then I am excited to announce something that will insha’Allah meet your needs, more importantly your children’s needs and will give you more time to enjoy educating your children. My name is Umm ‘Adbullah and I would like to introduce you to Tailor Made Educational Guides.

All praise is due to Allah, we are a small group of sisters who have led careers as teachers. Some of us left the ‘traditional’ teaching path and are now home educating our children. We provide a service whereby the parent, home educator or teacher contacts us with the interests, strengths and weaknesses of the child. A tailor made educational guide is then produced specifically for that child. We take into account the hobbies of the child, what they absolutely HATE doing, and what they LOVE to do.

One of our recent customers was a homeschooling mother. Her youngest child, aged 5 loves insects and reptiles, hates writing and loves maths. We took this into consideration and produced a 6 month guide whereby he pursued his love of insects and reptiles (with integrated Islamic Studies), enjoyed the fact that there was a lot of ‘insect and reptile maths’ and we created ways in which he could practice on his writing skills without realising he was actually doing so. In the end, a happy mother and child.

We have a range of guides to suit you:

* 1 YEAR CURRICULUM

* 6 MONTH CURRICULUM

* 3 MONTH CURRICULUM

* HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

* EXTRA HOMEWORK CURRICULUM

* UNIT STUDIES.

The process is as follows: – You contacts us with your requirement. We then email you a questionnaire which will enable us to create a tailor made curriculum for your child. – You choose a GOLD, SILVER or BRONZE option and within an agreed time frame, you receive your educational guide.

GOLD: The guide with resources.

SILVER: The guide with ideas to do with your child.

BRONZE: The guide.

We specialize in Islamic Studies as well as integrating Islamic Studies into your child’s hobby-based guide.

The benefits of this option:

* A quality educational guide based on what YOUR child ENJOYS.

* You have more time to enjoy educating your children as we do all the planning for you.

* Authentic Islam integrated into the tailor-made guides based on the Qu’ran, Sunnah and way of the righteous predecessors.

We are in the process of setting up our website, but in the meantime, if you would like to take benefit of our services and to request a quote, you may contacts us on tailormadeeducationalguides@hotmail.co.uk

Waalaykum ‘aasalam Umm ‘Abdullah

Hijab and Time Lapbooks and Traffic Lights!

Firstly, for those of you who were having problems subscribing to the blog, I have rectified the problem. Please visit the page at the top of the blog that is called: ‘To subscribe to this blog…’ and follow the directions.

Secondly, do visit the old entries of the blog for work that we have done when R was 2.5 years+. (See the side panel for the monthly archive).

 

Like I stated in a recent post, we have become a little lapbook crazy! Last week, we completed 2 lapbooks and this week we are working on another one.

TIME LAPBOOK

As you know, we are working on telling the time. R had a wristwatch that I bought her, but has lost it. She is absolutely devastated. But I am adamant that I will not buy her another one as she has to learn to look after her things! Anyway, we made this lapbook – which in my opinion has everything you need to teach your child how to tell the time. Here are some pics:

Front Cover:

R making a paper clock to go into the lapbook.

The digital card packs have different times on them. R pulls out a card and then has to show the time on the clock.

This fan mini book teaches the 5 minute ‘slots’ of time.  She had to draw the clock hand to represent 10 minutes past, 20 mins  past. She uses this mini book a lot to help her put the time on the analogue clock as per the digital card.

Here, R had to colour in the triangle to represent the 15 min ‘slots’. This has taught her quarter past, half past, quarter to and o’clock.

 

HIJAB LAPBOOK

I took this from this wonderful blog. R really enjoyed making this. A lot of copywork went into this blog which was an option I took.

I measured and weighed R to put into this heart-shaped mini book. And she uses the tape measure to measure her doll’s hijabs etc.

This was her favourite part of her lapbook and she at least takes her Muslim doll out weekly. Here, we cut out the doll, laminated it and put it together. Then, we printed and cut out all her clothes. R coloured them in and the doll sometimes wears a skirt and blouse if she is at home, and puts on her abaya and handbag if going out! R loves it. 🙂

To finish off this long post, we also made this; it was to reinforce the ‘sh’, ‘ch’, and ‘th’ sounds. In case you think it is a lollipop – lol. It isn’t. It is a traffic light. R copied the sh, ch, th on the outside and wrote words with that sound in them on the inside of the traffic lights.

Busy busy!

I am really going to try and make a conscious effort to blog more. We have been so busy – so this is going to be a longish post.

Firstly, I received some advice in one of the discussions on the IHSAN forum. A sis mentioned that she does her cleaning in the evening when the kids have gone to bed, that way – when she wakes up, its dishes and beds to do and then she is free to home educate. I have implemented her advice and alhamdulillah it has proved wonders for our HE as well as me being less stressed during the day.

So, what have we been up to?

MATHS

Lots of addition work. Wanted to buy the rods that aid addition, but they were soooo expensive, so decided to use tiny pasta shells. Worked a treat. I know I keep going on about the Big Sticker Book of Maths from Usborne (bought it at bananas.co.uk for £3). But it really is fantastic.

We have been working on Time in Maths a lot lately. R has a watch which I bought for her a few months ago. She loves it and wears it almost everywhere. She is constantly telling me the time and asking if she is correct, so decided to really work on ‘telling the time’. The above book is excellent, it has a movable clock. We enjoy reading this book a lot.

We have also been working on a time lapbook which we completed today. I will do a post about that in the next couple of days insha’Allah.

LITERACY

I am really focussing on her reading. So a lot of work on the oo, ie, ee phonics. Alhamdulillah she is reading much better now. And can read the level 2 oxford reading tree quite well. Level 3 still requires my help but she is getting there masha’Allah. As you can see from the pics below, I really want her to remember a lot of her phonic work. So, I am going to try and make the learning of sounds like ‘ng’ and ‘ie’ etc more fun.

 

R loved writing and still does but I guess she is getting a bit tired. I still ask her to do copywork and a lot of our copywork has been based around another lapbook we have been working on – almost finished – but more on that in another post. Due soon inshaAllah – promise.

QURAN

Masha’Allah, she has been really working hard on her hifdh. She finished memorising surah Ghashiya and Surah Ala and is now on surah tariq. Not long to go insha’Allah before she completes juz amma.

ARABIC

She has been working a lot on Arabic. Alhamdulillah, I was fortunate enough to receive 2 big bags of books I ordered which a dear sister (I miss her soo much) brought with her when she was visiting the UK from Saudi. We have been using these with R. And alhamdulillah her vocab has improved. She speaks fusha fluently masha’Allah, but I keep telling my husband to use different vocab with her so as for her to improve. We are using this series (there are quite a few books in the series): From the book, the new words were drawn in pictures and written. We are going to make a huge wall poster out of them. This seems to be a good way for R, as this week she keeps telling me what the name of this is in Arabic and then cheekily telling me ‘But don’t worry Ummi, you don’t know! But one day insha’Allah you will learn Arabic!’

We have met up with quite a few HE families recently, and it is nice to see her form some lovely relationships with some friend’s children. Eg. today a sis called me, and all 3 sons wanted to speak to R which they did. I am very happy with the friendships she has formed. Alhamdulillah.

Not sure if I have ever posted these. The pics are not very clear, as they are stuck on the wall. These things have been on our wall since R was 2.5 years old. And they moved to our new place and are still on the door/wall. Every time we leave the house, she does through the checklist. Have I combed my hair, am I wearing hijab? Have I said my dua. You can find this here. Also, this poster from muslimstickers is ideal for any child who is memorising juz amma.

And that is it for now. See you soon insha’Allah when I post about the 3 (yes 3!) lapbooks we have been working on this week.

Happy Home Ed! 🙂

A surprise for me and our HE!

Can’t believe how long it has been since I last posted! The IHSAN Website is really taking up a lot of my time. It is still in its early stages. Actually, it is the IHSAN forum that is the real culprit!

Anyway, we have been quite busy. I think I’ll start with the ‘Take it to your seat centers’ that we made together. I know I have said this before, but I really think a lot of the learning occurs in making resources together.

We made two centers: a Time center and a Human Body center for the two units we are currently working on. Here are the pics:

 

 

These centers were really easy. I bought them about a year ago and haven’t started using them until now. I doubt I’ll be making anymore as they are preK-K. Think I’ll put them away in storage to make and use with her little brother insha’Allah. You can buy centers for any age level and they really are worth it. I bought a book that contained 14 centers for just over £10. Each game would cost you just less than that in a shop. All you need to buy is a laminator (in this case we didn’t use one), the paper bag or envelope to store the center and thats it.  You can buy the centers from a dear sister who sells them at Stimulus Learning. She sells all the age levels.

R has shown an interest in shapes recently. Apart from when she was 2 years old, we haven’t really studied shapes. But have to go with what interests her. One morning after waking up, she immediately took a bucket of bricks I bought her when she was 18 months old and made this by the time I brought breakfast in! I was quite impressed masha’Allah:

 As you can see, she copied the picture on the actual ‘box’ (or bucket!)

Again, was making dinner and when I came into her room to check on what she was doing, she had completed this:

Okay, now here is the exciting part. And I have been wanting to blog about this ever since I got it. I am the proud owner of a second-hand bicycle! Complete with basket! 🙂 (BIG GRIN) Now, just so as you know, I do wear full hijab with abaya and half big hijab and yes I am able to wear exactly that and nothing shows at all! It is a lady’s bicycle which I think makes all the difference. Went for a ride with R today and it was gorgeous masha’Allah. Wanted to take a pic but forgot! Anyway, whilst we were out cycling we talked about road safety. So when we got home, we worked on this:

Masha’Allah she enjoyed it so much she actually finished it. We got it free from somewhere but I know you can call the Department for Transport and they will send it to you insha’Allah.

We have also been reading a lot. I received the full set of the Oxford Reading Tree series from my library. She is continuing to read them to me. She seems to be trying to read most things especially billboards when we are in the car. I’m kinda worried what to do when she reads the billboards that advertise things she shouldn’t be seeing!

Not as much Qu’ran has been done as in the last few weeks. But alhamdulillah she completed memorising surah fajr and keeps telling me she is almost there til she gets her party here and Allah (swt) reserves something for her in jannah (inshaALLAH).

And that is all I can think of at the moment…feeling very sleepy…those long summer days!

Happy homeschooling! 🙂