Printers & Salatul Istikhara

This is a bit off topic but I had to write as the power of salatul istikhara (the prayer for guidance) never ceases to amaze me. When you ask Allah ta'Ala for guidance and trust Him to give it, the answer to your problem just pops up from nowhere.

A couple of weeks ago my printer started to play up, I wasn't happy as I use it daily for our home education. Anyway, I limped on with it until it packed up completely. We didn't have the money for a new one so my hubby (bless him) got me one from the car boot sale...it worked in a fashion and also packed up. So, armed with a desperate need, I managed to scrape together enough money to buy a new one, I went to the shops and had a look at what was available.....I really wanted another one of the same make but it appears they don't make them anymore **sob**. I was really confused, so before I made any decision I said the words of Istikhara, and ended up leaving the shops for home.

A week later, I found myself back in the shops again. I really, really needed a printer and I had done my research and found the printer I thought I wanted...it was more expensive in the shop so I decided to purchase it online.....and I did. Seconds later, I had the urge to cancel the order....and I did. Then somehow (I don't how) I ended up on a website called www.fixyourownprinter.com and in the forums found the answer to my problems alhamdulillah. I was able to, with the advice I found, very easily fix my own printer which is now working better than it has done for many months not to mention the money I saved. Alhamdulillah, you can't go wrong when you place your trust in Allah, can we ever be grateful enough to Him?

I try and pray two rakahs of Istikhara every morning for the events of the day, and then specifically for any other matter that pops up...even if I just say the words... and it never fails. Just in case any one out there hasn't read them before you can find the etiquettes and recommendations of praying Istikhara here, the words here, and a video in Arabic here.

I have been thinking a lot lately, it must be my age (I have verifocals now you know), and I have finished up in a confused state about our home education and where we are going.....the kids seem less keen than ever to do anything and I can decide whether to do structure or not....now I have to say this isn't the first time I have had niggling doubts about structure v's unschooling but at the moment nothing seems to be working and the kids are really unenthusiastic about everything except playing in the garden oh and scouts! It's so very frustrating....perhaps it's the nice weather that is distracting them!

Anyway, regardless of their lack of enthusiasm we have done some work in the last two weeks....DS1 has finished the book they were working on with their English tutor and they enjoyed it immensely. We are trying to choose they next book for them to work on but have hit a brick wall....the stuff that Year 6's are doing in schools are really lame at the moment....they have been reading above that level for the last few months and doing really well with it but the books for older kids can have more mature themes running through them that we don't really want them to be reading at the moment.....very difficult, if you have any ideas please let me know!We are still working through the Scholastic Maths Lessons books and the others are either doing phonics or Nelson Thornes for English depending on their age. DS2 is still not reading fluently and seems to keep forgetting all the rules...grrrrr

A friend that tutors occasionally is going to find some time to teach the two little ones maths & English inshaAllah, which will take a huge weight of my shoulders alhamdulillah. I am also going to be teaching DS2 & a friends daughter English using the book Stig of the Dump.... I didn't read it in school but it has rave reviews so I am looking forward to reading it with them inshaAllah. Whilst I am doing that, the other sister will do some math with the little ones mashaAllah.
I am hoping that the change of routine and a few planned field trips will light a fire under them again inshaAllah and we can get back into a good HE routine inshaAllah.
The boys have also just come back from camping with the scouts alhamdulillah. The older boys had to put up their own tent and do their own cooking and cleaning mashaAllah, am just trying to get them to transfer their newly learned skills into the house work here lol. They had a great time and met lots of new people....DS1 has decided he wants to stay in the scouts (Network Scouts apparently) until he is 25 and then become a volunteer and help other kids....inshaAllah Allah ta'Ala will grant him his desires if they are good for him inshaAllah. They also learned how to build and light fires....a skill I don't want them to bring into the house inshaAllah, lol.

We also found this cute little fledgling sitting on our doorstep mashaAllah. The nest is under the tiles on our bay window so we couldn't put it back and had to leave it on the floor at the bottom of the bay. We watched from the window after hearing the mum/dad chirping loudly at the bird and saw the mum coming to feed it and usher it into the bushes for safety, mashaAllah it's amazing how Allah ta'Ala puts love and compassion in animals hearts.

Caving

with the Muslim Scouts.....

DS1 spent a day caving with the scouts in Matlock, Derbyshire; a part of the Peak District. I always encourage my kids to embrace every opportunity that comes their way and to experience new things...after all if they don't like something they don't have to do it again. However, when DS1 announced he wanted to go caving I was a little apprehensive and had to hide my fears as he is claustrophobic and I know that caves can have narrow passages etc; I did show him a few videos of people caving on You Tube to prepare him and he wasn't dissuaded so off we went on our day out to Matlock....

Kit and apparatus being explained....
All kitted out and looking at a map of the cave to be explored...Medical/emergency kit being checked... The entrance to the cave...
Two and a half hours later they returned and this i what they looked like.. but very happy, he later said that it was probably the best experience of his life so far and he couldn't wait to have another go. Alhamdulillah.

Here are some photos that we took of Matlock as we walked around while DS was underground...it's a big meeting place for bikers so there were a few pubs etc in the town but it was a very beautiful place and well worth a visit if you are visiting the Peak District. Apart from being a good hiking space there is a museum, Gullivers Theme Park and the Heights of Abraham to visit, if you fancy a visit click here for information on things to do it the Peak District.

Getting better...

at updating this blog, but there is still lots of room for improvement ;0)...

This week hubby has been laying a new floor in our front room, so the boys have been learning lots about angles and building design...they were very surprised to see how the floor was suspended and very disappointed not to find a stash of treasure or a skeleton of some sort.

Anyway, apart from the learning that goes on as a part of life DS1 gave a lesson to the little ones on how hot air balloons work...Not very well received and he was a little disappointed but it hasn't put him off, he has a more interesting topic planned for next week (if he doesn't get distracted).
DD wrote her first story (I know it doesn't look like much but it took her a full 27 minutes to read it to me, loools).
We also did lots of painting this week, either piccies (as DD is doing here) or whole knights costumes or masks made out of old cereal packets....Peter Duncan would be proud...
Boys are also preparing for scout camp this coming weekend and DS1 has been avidly reading his 'Scouting Skills' hand book to prepare himself....DS2 (who has been before) is extremely nonchalant throwing the odd tip in now and again to make sure DS1 doesn't mess it up! We have also been rounding up numbers from 10's to 100,000's (for the biggies), and more simple additions for DS3 and number recognition for DD.

This week DS1's English tutor also gave them a SATS test, which they took under examination conditions. Now, I have never been a fan of SATs tests (or tests of any sort really) but I must say I surprised myself by the feelings it brought out. He did actually do quite well score wise although he was a little disappointed and vowed to try harder next time....it was a good exercise for him to see his own weaknesses for himself (as opposed to me nagging him) and it also highlighted that they were not applying the skills they had been learning into new situations. So a clear way forward has been identified by himself and by his tutor.....I am now in the process of avidly printing off other SATS test here so I can assess where he is in other subjects too lol, poor boy, I actually feel sorry for him lol. DS2 is continuing with his Nelson Thornes units....can't wait to start the next two units they present the opportunity to expand the learning with art/craft/maths/D&T etc so it should make it more interesting for him. DS3 is still trying to absorb his phonics but is reading and spelling CVC words with ease alhamdulillah, I am trying to teach DD her phonics too as she is asking for work but it just doesn't seem to be sinking in...

We had gymnastics and swimming canceled because of poorly instructors but hubby has had them over the park three days this week. He also had them playing a game this week where they had to act out a role play...it was hilarious, they kept advising/complaining about the acting i.e. "a hungry woman wouldn't say that, she would be quite and more patient" etc.

Freedom Flotilla

Just a quick note to rally support for those aboard the freedom flotilla on it's way to Gaza, the organisations involved are asking us to take part in the demonstrations (Monday, 31 May 2010 at 10 Downing Street) or write to our MP's etc further information can be found here.

What a shining example the people aboard the flotilla are to us all, may Allah facilitate their journey, help them to reach their goal, protect them and bring them back safely to their families inshaAllah. Ameen.

We have had a good week this week alhamdulillah. The most exciting thing (I think!) we did this week was make cheese, it's surprisingly easy and not as cheap as buying it but it was a great experience all the same. First we heated the milk until almost boiling....

Then when the right temperature had been reached, we added some lemon juice and vinegar to separate the curds from the whey (as you can see below)..
This is amazingly quick and the picture below is when it was almost finished separating.
We then placed a cheese over a colander and poured the mixture in the colander (apparently you can use the whey (liquid part) in soups and stuff but hubby didn't that fancy as he has a dodgy stomach so it was thrown away unfortunately). It is at this stage that you add the salt.
You then squeeze out the remainder of the liquid and tie up the cloth...you than add a weight to the top to ensure all the liquid has been removed and leave it to rest for a while.
This is the end result...it doesn't look as attractive as normal cheese but I guess you could take more time to shape it or even press it into some sort of container. I would have liked to put in some herbs or mint or something, maybe next time inshaAllah. The cheese we tried was a version of what my husband knows as white cheese in Turkey but there are lots of recipes online you can try, I would thoroughly recommend you have a go yourself, there is definitely lots to talk about from an educational point of view.
Well back to the normal stuff, DD1 has been using these matching ladybirds/leaf shapes that I got from here, there are lots of other materials available here too, worth checking out inshaAllah and I do like her blog too :o)). She obviously had to match the number of dots to the correct number to aid number recognition and as an added activity I got her to draw the ladybird in her book and write the numbers underneath.
They have also been learning the months and seasons just by looking at and discussing this lovely A3 poster that a friend made for us....she had it enlarged from from a book and had it laminated mashaAllah its beautiful and the kids love it.
DS3 has been playing with this game this week which I think I got from 'Toys R Us' anyway it's proved a big hit this week with DS3 who has been spelling out some cvc words mashaAllah.

First he started with the pictures and then spelled the word..
Then, just to make sure he knew what he was doing I took away all the pictures and mixed up the words and he then has to read them and put the pictures back on...Last but not least he had to copy them out in his book and draw pictures to match.

DS1 has been continuing with his English lessons with a tutor...mashaAllah the sister is soooo good, they come out almost dancing from her lessons. She is from the 'old school', before the National Curriculum came and learning became too prescriptive...anyway....this week DS1 got an A+ for his homework and was really pleased but alhamdulillah, because we don't make a big thing of achieving on the academic front it didn't go to his head...more of a passing comment really lol.

DS1 & DS2 have both been working really hard on their owl projects so I am hoping to draw a line under that one soon too inshaAllah....hubby wants to take a trip to Hunstanton so I want to get a fish and/or seal project underway before we go inshaAllah. I must try to get some pics up of what they have done so far inshaAllah.

Maths is still on the times (yawn) tables....I am beginning to feel like the boys are winding me up with this one, it seems to be taking so long for this to sink in. Anyway, apart from that I am also having to go over long addition/subtraction & regrouping with DS2....I feel a lot of time is being wasted but madrassah is on holiday next week so we can really get cracking without having to stop inshaAllah.

DS3 has also been doing some jelly bean addition with some worksheets we also downloaded from Sarah Sellers Homeschool Printables which he steamed through..time to up the ante a bit I think.

We (I of course mean they!) have also been gymnastics, swimming and football. DS1 wanted to make his own puff paint so has been experimenting with poster paints and most of the other stuff in my kitchen cupboards....what a mess! Everywhere, clothes, coat(?), kitchen counter etc. DD also learned to rider her bike mashaAllah....just steering to work on now before the garden fence crumbles.

Still making mini-books

We have been doing lots of maths online and still trying to cement the times tables with the boys, I must admit I am finding this a bit tiresome but hey... other work is continuing using the 100 Maths Lessons.

We have had lots of badges earned at cubs and scouts and I HATE sewing them on....must buy some fabric glue....only now am I beginning to appreciate my mums efforts with me and little sis at Brownies, I was so proud of my armful of badges but never gave poor mums punctured fingers a second thought...thanks mum, love you lots! DS1 has been caving (will post about this separately) and DS2 camping and they are both off to another camp in June....I think I am looking forward to it more than them, lol!

DS1 is still with his tutor for English and they are having a whale of a time....lots of new work being introduced and the book the lessons are based around (Goodbye Mr Tom) is really grabbing their attention. DS2 is making steady progress with his reading and is reading to me aloud most days from the 'Read it Yourself' series from Ladybird. The two little ones are still progressing through the Jolly Phonics books.

Here is DS2's effort at making a mini study book....it's going to be about lizards (just in case you missed the huge orange writing ;0)). He's stamped it and decorated the pages and we are just in the process of deciding what should be included in the study.

DS1 took this photo of the two younger boys climbing in their new white thawbs (they had to be white and new didn't they!) he thought it was funny that they got greasy black marks on them but I, on the other hand, was rather distressed and am still trying to wash the stains out...humph!

Well we are still on the mini-book trail with DS1 making the following albums from toilet roll holders