Hmmmm, I have been incredibly lazy at updating this blog, apologies....not turning out to be the record of 'things we do' as I intended but never mind - gives me something to do occasionally lool. I would also like to apologise in advance for this very, very long post....

The boys made these 'Halo' things out of their Lego and made me promise that I would add them to the blog and not being one to break a promise (inshaAllah) here they are - I'm not sure if I like them or not but you can all judge for yourselves.

DS2 made this picture out of card black card, gold pen and some breadcrumbs, rice and coconut that was out of date.....

Here are my poor unsocialised children with the friends they made in the park working together to make this fort with a waterway, all under the watchful eye of their organiser DS2..... lol, they were there for hours mashaAllah - we literally had to drag them away.

Here is the first 'real' picture done by the princess that had a whole story behind it...ahhhh!

This is a pigeon that stood pecking my hubby on the legs until he just had to bring it home. Anyway, it turned out to be a very educational experience.....the bird was a racing pigeon. It had a ring on its leg that we were able to look up on the internet to find out it belonged to someone in the Welsh Homing Pigeon Society and that some birds are 'printed' with their owners details under their wing, and this bird was no exception (research skills). We contacted the owner who was able to tell us where he lived, where the bird was released, how many birds he release and how many he had lost (fractions, percentages & geography). He asked us if we could look after the bird for a few days until he could arrange to have it collected by....get this....the pigeon courier services, yes pigeon racing seems to be big business. We then had to look up how to care for the bird on the internet and my husband, who has kept pigeons previously, showed the kids how to handle it etc... they nearly cried when it had to go as did it's owner when I phoned to say it was on it's way.... apparently it's one of his favorites awwww.

Finally we went to an eid bash at the Islamic Foundation for the new muslims and their families and it was wonderful. The space is great and the kids can run around in greenery and climb trees and you don't have to worry about them alhamdulillah. They had an animal road show and this pic and the ones below are of the kids holding the smaller animals - I had to disappear when they wanted to hold the bigger snakes and the yukky ones like the giant snails and giant millipedes....arghh.

The boys have also started Muslim Scouts and are thoroughly enjoying it I must say, they have already learned how to fix a bike and are half way to earning their cyclists badge, then they will be going on a 17 mile bike ride. Other activities planned before the end of December are: DIY, fire lighting, hiking, games and much more. They are loving the scouts and can barely contain themselves until the next week lol. We also have archery starting for the boys soon alhamdulillah, they have been wanting to do that for ages.

DS2 helped me put together their bunk beds yesterday (I was very brave and even let him use a power tool too lol, he loved it) and when he was using the allen key I could hear him whispering to himself 'loosy leftie and tighty righty' (another thing he learned at scouts) lol.

They have also been back at madressah for the last two weeks and are really enjoying it mashaAllah, they were really missing it (never thought I would hear them ask to go back to madressah!!!!).

We also went for a long walk in the park and collected lots of interesting leaves, cones etc etc and used them to make these lovely plaques with plaster of paris (well except for Lego crazy DS1 who used Lego men to make his lol). We got this activity from the IHSAN website, here.

We have been using Mathletics as a base for our maths, it's a fantastic online resource for maths and I have to actually limit the time the kids spend on it 'cos they love it so much. It's designed as a support facility for schools and is based on the National Curriculum however, we use it as our sole curriculum coming away from it to do some odd work in the Maths books or to take a hands-on-approach to make sure they are understanding new concepts and for additional practice away from the PC.....I'm loving it as it takes all the stress away from me as I don't have to plan or think too far ahead.

For English we are still using the staged lessons from Mindsprinting and Nelson Thorns. We are also starting up our Monday group classes and will be studying Structures & Mechanisms using a unit we downloaded from Currclick. I and another sister are also arranging for a teacher friend to tutor our eldest sons once a week in English inshaAllah, and I will be doing a special tutoring session with DS2 and her daughter once a week at the same time while she does some work with the little ones inshaAllah. It all seems to be coming together alhamdulillah, I am so grateful to Allah ta'Ala and I pray that it can continue inshaAllah.

Maths off the cuff...

DD brought me this book to read today which led to an activity where I gave her various shapes (two shown below) and I asked her if she could make them into two equal halves. She then cut the gummed shapes in half along her fold line and stuck them on paper; she then had to find the 'whole' shape and stick it on the bottom. We kept repeating the half/whole words used in the book and by using the shapes we revised her shape names; she also traced over the words 'one half circle'; 'one whole circle' etc until she got tired.

Fun, fun, fun.....

We have spent the last week doing lots of fun things and I have decided that I can't do sit down learning with my kids. I feel that they learn much more and take in much more during conversational learning and doing stuff together - whether it's a trip to the park or museum to watching documentaries - So we are going to be doing a lot more unschooling inshaAllah. I feel quite liberated mashaAllah.

I felt under pressure to have them sit and write pages of stuff and do more structured learning like school at home but I have come to realise that it's just not for us! We were all miserable (I think I have been here before - do you think the phases of home education are cyclical?). I have had them write pages of stuff so I know they can do it and I know that they were able to write legible responses to questions because they did so well in their exams so I am just going to calm down, relax and enjoy my kids whilst we learn inshaAllah. I have actually found that they have been doing more writing when I am not forcing them to do it.... go figure!!

We will still be doing spellings, and I will have a rough idea of what I want them to learn but other than that it will be pretty relaxed inshaAllah with a few 'tests' thrown in here and there to make sure they stay on top of things inshaAllah.

Well, what have we been up to...... we had a day trip to Wicksteed Park in Kettering - what a lovely family day out, yes there are some 'rides' but it's not too focused on thrills just simple enjoyment alhamdulillah and best of all there is no loud music banging out. You can buy a few tickets if you want to go on the rides or there is lots of free stuff to do too, with lovely grounds and parks to play in. We are planning to go back for Eid if the weather is compliant inshaAllah!



We have had swimming, park & more 'Quest Seekers' at the library! I hurt my back yesterday so DS1 has stepped in to take my place mashaAllah and he has been cooking up a storm - he made a wonderful pasta yesterday and today we have oven cooked salmon, salad and rice on the menu, yummy can't wait. DS2 has been drawing loads and labelling all his pictures, he has also been writing lots of ad hoc sentences for some reason but has amazed me at his spelling capabilities even though he is not yet reading fluently mashaAllah. He has decided that he wants to be reading properly by the time he goes back to madressah, so I need to get on top of that inshaAllah. We also had a great morning making these masks, learning to follow instructions is an important skill inshaAllah.

Lots of verbal maths going on, times tables via Timez Attack a freeware programme that the kids love. A friend and the Murderous Maths books have inspired me to do more interesting maths the boys and they are certainly enjoying it mashaAllah.

Well, I am completely unprepared for Ramadhan so this week is going to be really, really busy getting in our last minute preparations. Education wise I am just going to see how it goes day by day, I am hoping that we will all become semi-nocturnal during Ramadhan to make it easy on every one as the kids usually wake up about 5.30am but that will make it a very long fasting day, but we will have to wait and see how it pans out.

Apologies for yet another long post, I guess I will just have to post more regularly to keep them shorter!

It's been so long.....

I have forgotten what we have been doing......Well the DS1 & DS2 have finished their exams at madressa and have achieved 96% and 94% respectively so I am chuffed - although they did cheat a bit 'cos the teacher let them do some of it orally as they were having difficulty with all the writing mashaAllah. We celebrated with a nice tea and a gift each from Toys R Us - I really struggle with whether to reward them or not but came to the conclusion that Allah ta'Ala rewards us so maybe it's OK Allahu alim; would love to know what others thoughts are on this!

We have been doing lots of stuff with the Nature Detectives who have a daily activity downloads throughout the summer holidays and DD made this flying bird - this is a fantastic site and I encourage all to join inshaAllah.

We had a huge spider in my bedroom which meant a very sleepless night for me as I kept waking up to check it was still there lol, not because I am afraid of them of course! I had to wait for DH to come home at about 2am to rescue me, my hero, but even he whistled at its size. DS2 wanted me to catch it so he could study it but there was no way that was going to happen. Apologies for the poor photo but I think I may have been trembling lol

The kids have all joined Quest Seekers, the national summer reading scheme, and we have been attending their activity sessions and the kids made some dragons and walkie talkies (your impressed arn't you (lol)).

I had DH up most of the night the other day laminating and cutting out resources for our new 'school year', one of the things we made was this fishing game with magnets to help DD with her counting and number recognition - but she didn't get a look in as the older ones wanted to 'fish' too, so we had to extend it by adding numbers to the box too so they had to match it to the fish they caught. All got a bit silly I'm afraid!

The two elder boys also had a day camp with the Muslim Scouts and will be joining the local troop (or whatever the collective noun is) inshaAllah. The activities planned were changed because of the decidedly soggy weather but they still came home covered in mud and had a really great day. Among other things they learned how to pitch a tent and did some caving (I think!) of some sort, there were some girls that went too and I was really impress with how the sexes were separated at all times. Thumbs up for scouts I think!

What else....well lots of reading, swimming, sorting and organising and planning. We have been doing maths online and I have organised a membership for home educators in my area for Mathletics - an online scheme to learn and practise maths inshaAllah, it is the favorite of schools nationwide but I will give my final verdict once we get to use it properly inshaAllah. The boys have been making lots of robot stuff and lego models with levers and cams etc. We have had a very relaxed few weeks and I can see it continuing so until after Ramadhan!

DS1 has also been learning lots of maths through the Murderous Maths books - they are in the stamp of the 'Horrible Histories' etc but not quite so vulgar inshaAllah. He read two in one day mashaAllah, he thought they were great and they even had me giggling - I did test him on what he read as I thought he was just reading it for laughs but I was surprised that he had actually taken in quite a lot of the maths too mashaAllah. We got ours from our local library so check them out and see what you think, each one has a different focus i.e. measures, predictions, arithmatics etc.
Focus on the next 6 weeks includes, lots of ibadah in Ramadhan inshaAllah, DS to read fluently, finish off our current projects, number recognition and counting to various levels for the littlies, and more phonics, I also purchased some ready made stuff from Tailor Made Educational Guides to do with the little ones for literacy etc and to take us through Ramadhan inshAllah whilst taking the pressure off of me - just for a little while at least...

Mom of the year award

From Oum Anas, some time ago...

The rules of the tag are:

1. Admit one thing you feel awful about (involving being a mom). Once you have written it down, you are no longer allowed to feel bad. Remember you are a good mom!

2. Remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list 7 things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you.

3. Send this to 5 other moms of the year that deserve a reminder that they are too the best moms that they can be. Remember to send them a note letting them know you have selected them, and also add a link to your post that directs people back to the person who nominated you.

1. Being inconsistent!

2.
a) I love seeing their faces light up when they 'get it'.
b) I love the wonderful conversations we have about everything!
c) I love seeing their energy and drive for things that they enjoy, they are an inspiration to me at times.
d) I love cooking with them.
e) I love our 'family times' and so do they!
f) I love their kindness (to others, they bicker with each other all the time lol)
g) I love them for what they teach me.

3. I'm tagging

Umm RaiyaanUmmi Home Schools Me!
Umm Rashid of Always Learning
Qalballah of Islamic Home Schooling
Umm Junayd of Homeschooling and Home
Umm Suhayb of Home Education (or not) in Sweden

Busy doing nothing....

Literally, DH was back on Monday so all week we have done absolutely nothing...

Madressah, swimming and sports as usual and other than that the kids have been enjoying their father whilst I have taken the opportunity to file my tax returns (oh what joy!!!).

But the kids seem to have been really busy and we have had very few disagreements alhamdulillah. Things we have done include: trimming down all of the tree weeds etc in the garden and the boys have been stripping the branches and making bows and arrows and having battles in the garden. Alhamdulillah place value has finally sunk in for DD2, after weeks of teaching, he just sat there are reeled off the whole concept one morning alhamdulillah. DD1 has been asking for lots of spellings to do.

New Lego kits arrived, thanks lil sis, so they have been busy building new creations and DS3 has been enjoying his mini-figures (he is the only one of my boys who is really into imaginative play mashaAllah, where he does all the voices etc, it's so cool to watch him mashaAllah).

DD has been ill miskeen, so has done nothing much else than sleep and sneeze alot alhamdulillah. She has really been asking to 'do her work' and is constantly asking for work the whole day; 'can you teach me to say my letters', 'can we do some reading', 'can I do some writing', 'can you teach me my numbers' mashaAllah it's never ending subhanAllah - girls are so different from boys! My boys NEVER ask for work, in fact sometimes I have to bully them into doing thier work so I am really looking forward to working with DD when she gets better inshaAllah.

In an attempt to up the anti with DD1's education I have enlisted the help of Tailor Made Educational Guides to write a 6 month curriculum based around his interests inshaAllah. I, and DD1, are really excited about this and we can't wait for the guide to arrive inshaAllah - make dua for us, I am finding it increasingly difficult to teach this boy - he seems to be getting stropier by the day - subhanAllah but I am determined not to give up inshaAllah.

I love these long hot summer days but not the nights too much.... we have all had very sleepless nights because of the heat and the lack of sleep is beginning to show in all of us; we are getting decidedly grumpy! So a large part of today has been sorting out disputes between the kids (arggg). I also had appointments this morning so left them with a list of questions on the whiteboard that they had to research and have answered by the time I got back - babysitter doesn't always = no work!

We have also been doing lots of revision of the kids madressah work as they have an exam at the beginning of August - I was a bit worried about how they were going to react having never been tested before but they are being quite nonchalant about it so far...let's hope it continues I am not very good around stressed people 'cos I am sooooo laid back I don't always 'get' why they are panicing.

Anyway, after some more experimentation on the properties of water in the pool we actually built some stuff using our hydro-pneumatics kit and this is what our first build looked like....

We also played (for the longest time) a DK game called Silly Sentences we had lots of fun and I thought of lots of ways to extend the game and get them writing **grin**, will let you know how that goes inshaAllah. It's a great little game mashaAllah with all the different parts of the sentences in different colours i.e. nouns = orange, conjunctions = yellow etc

I am definitely on 'unschooling' kick at the moment and I really do feel that it works better for us I am definitely a better learning facilitator than I am a teacher. I was getting the 'I have nothing on paper' feeling again - however, there were some great tips on the IHSAN Forum that put me back on track mashaAllah.

We also did some planting in the garden, learned all about DS1's new pet (a Venus Fly Trap plant: sorry but I have enough to do without looking after real pets! lol).