Qur'an Reading.

Masha' Allah, the twins have graduated from their first Qur'an reading book. We have now moved onto what is called in Arabic the Noorani Qa'ida.  Masha' Allah, the book coincides with our Quranic Studies curriculum, which is from a very resected private Islamic School in our area.

The book is color coded which has helped tremendously to keep teaching/learning simple and more focused.

The book starts with the Arabic alphabet, and ends with short sections of the Qur'an. 

The book can be found at: http://www.islamicbookstore.com/

Library Book

One of the things we have been studying is the change of the season from Summer to Fall. I wanted to share this Library book because it captured everything I wanted to get across to the Professors in a simple, relatable way, for all of them,  Masha' Allah.

Arabic Handwriting Workbooks.

The Professors have been learning both Arabic, and English handwriting simultaneously. When setting out to find an Arabic handwriting book for them, I had in mind I wanted something exactly, or very similar to our Montessori handwriting books. Alhumdullilah, through a suggestion I was so blessed to be able to find this three workbook set, Masha' Allah.

The first pages flow just as the Montessori books, with pattern making resembling the flow of the Arabic letters.

The first book  continues with learning how to write letters independently. 

The second book moves from letters to short words, and the third book finishes with small phrases. All three books include a little Arabic vocabulary with pictures. 

All three books are by the company Goodwords Kids and can be found on: 

http://www.islamicbookstore.com/

September Reflections

I don't often write these types of posts, but since it's been about a year that we've started homeschooling and blogging, Masha' Allah, its a good time to look back, and look forward, insha' Allah.

Last year our main focus was getting the Professors into a school routine. I wanted them to really understand that they were students, and homeschooling is a form of education that is to be respected. Drawing on my early childhood background, and classroom experience, has Masha' Allah been a huge blessing, and was a strong kickstart for us. Now that a routine has been established, insha' Allah this year I want to put house keeping at the forefront, and let school work run along side. Personally, I have always felt a clean, organized, tidy and decluttered environment promotes learning, and reduces stress. Masha' Allah, this year, I have made the Professors classroom, and playroom, so easy to maintain, BP could, and does, help out cleaning it. Bins, and lined baskets are our best friends. I moved the playroom to an area just off the kitchen, and the classroom adjoins the playroom. This helps me keep a work flow going through out the house for everyone, including myself. The basement has become more of a rec area, which I hope will insha' Allah, be beneficial come Winter. We installed a small basketball backboard, and set up free throw lines with tape on the carpet, a way to make sense of all those plastic outdoor balls. We also  have a tunnel, and some play equipment for climbing and playing on. All this has been around since the twins were very small,  Masha' Allah, just repurposing it now, Alhumdullilah.

For school work we have our core subjects we do daily during the week, with Friday still our day off. We also still follow the Montessori Method and the Reggio Emalia Approach, but have also become somewhat Unschoolers. Masha' Allah, the older Professors are in what I like to refer to as Enrichment Classes this year, a regular homeschool park outing, and I have a long list of field trips in mind, insha' Allah.

The final thing we changed is how frequently we rotate library books. Let's just say after a few misplaced books, checking out large volumes of books isn't going to work for us. Now, I have a limit of about 10-20 books a week, insha' Allah.

So that's where we are starting off this year. Masha' Allah.

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Unschooling, Reggio, or Just A Kid Being A Kid....

Today, I wanted to get the Professors out in this incredible pre-Fall weather Masha' Allah, but I also wanted them to start working with play dough again, its been awhile since we've gotten it out. While they were off digging up worms, snails and slugs (yes, literally) in the yard I quietly set out some small jars of play dough and some manipulatives on their picnic table. Masha' Allah,  it wasn't long before Professor #3 announced at the top of his lungs that I had put out play dough.  Everyone got busy doing something, but I wanted to share what Professor #1 did specifically.

Masha' Allah. 

So, was it a Reggio moment, an Unschooling moment or just a kid being a kid and enjoying himself at the play dough table? 

Hard to tell isn't it. 

Masha' Allah, I think it reflects what Dr. Montessori, Reggio and Piaget have been communicating to me all these years, with perfection. Alhumdullilah. 

Update on the Little Professors.

Alot of buzz has been going around about back to school, not back to school, and first day of school, Masha' Allah. I thought it would be an appropriate time to give an update on the Professors and where we are educationally.

The twins, the oldest of the Professors are officially registered as K homeschoolers.  Professor #3 is a pre-K homeschooler, and BP is a toddler now. Masha' Allah.

While we still love the Montessori Method, and the Reggio Emalia approach, Alhumdullilah, I have come to understand over this first year of homeschooling, that the boys are unschoolers, using the two methedologies more as a guide than anything else. I would venture further to say we are more Reggio based than Montessori. At this age, the Professors seem to do better, in a play based, heavily self lead creative atmosphere. Three of the Montessori philosophies that they really adhere to, and benefit from are, purposeful work, simplicity, and the learning approach of the 3-period lesson. We still incorporate Montessori quite a bit, and use many, many of the materials.

For myself I  keep a copy of the 'What Every Child Should Know In Kindergarten.' and 'What Every Child Should Know By Kindergarten' lists. You can find your own copy possibly at your local Library, or Googling it online. This helps me keep things on the right track, insha' Allah, and have a reference point along with our Montessori curriculum.

We hope to have some new posts up on what we'll be working on heading into the Fall soon, insha' Allah.

Ramadan Bulletin Board Update.

We added a few more features to our Ramadan Bulletin Board over the few weeks we had it up, Masha' Allah.

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Ramadan Word Wall

Masha' Allah, I can't find a negative thing to say about the concept of the Word Wall. It's a brilliant idea, Masha' Allah. One of the one's I saw online had the child decorate the word cards. They were  slightly older than the Professors, so we did something similar, but a little different. 

After we defined, and talked about each word, doing 1-2 a day, I asked whomever did not lead the circle time to put stickers on the words we learned. Masha' Allah they loved this idea, and even started forming sentences out of the stickers as you can see below (Go, Go, Go Bulldozer). 

Masha' Allah, when we defined the word Iftar, I remembered I had a print out of the dua' (supplication) for breaking the fast, so we added it, under our dua' poster for sighting the new moon. Since the Professors aren't fasting this year, I just left it up and stated that we break fast with dates and water first, then we can have more small snacks later. The other day, I was walking by the board with BP and he pointed to the poster and said 'Dates, Dates.' Masha' Allah. I was surprised, and still don't know where he made the association. 

Our completed board

Masha' Allah this turned out to be a highlight for me, and we finished all our words except for Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Mubarak. I will insha' Allah add them to our Eid board which we are working on now.