Alphabet picture wheels

Last night I was exhausted, not too well, with a sore throat and achy....but knew I would not be able to sleep! Alhamdulillah. So I was up late searching google images for activity ideas to do with Z today. MashAllah I came across some great ideas which I plan to use in the near future inshallah.

Amongst searching I came up with my own idea (although I am pretty sure hundreds of people have probably done this)

I decided to quickly prepare some alphabet wheels, as I haven't done alot with Z on her alphabet since we started, we've still only covered s,a and t alhamdulillah.

All I did was print off 4 clip arts from google images starting with each letter. And then today Z and I put together the wheels.

First I cut out the images ready for Z to stick.

 For the wheels I just used a bowl to draw around, and cut out a quarter section of the top piece.

I then laminated each of the pieces and put together using a brass fastener. Now Z can use it to spin around and see different images which start with each letter sound inshallah.

Inshallah, each new letter I introduce, we will make a new letter wheel. I'm trying to make more resources rather than buying them, and I think if a child helps make it, they will get a greater benefit from them inshallah.

As I was typing this up, Z was sat behind me with the little instruction booklet for one of the learning roots snap cards we have......because it is written in both Arabic as well as English, she thought it was a Qur'an and sat there "reciting" (you know what I mean....mumble jumble made up words with a Qur'anic rhythm) - was cute, reminded me of what K used to do (how quickly it is to forget those days!)

K was using the galt picture shapes and nails - she followed the instructions to produce this, as she was pleased with herself she instructed me to take a pic to put on the computer! (little madam mashAllah!)

All about me lapbook

K completed her "all about me" lapbook today alhamdulillah - she started it last Friday and had a couple of bits to finish off today....she wanted to get it finished asap because she knows I have prepared 2 more lapbooks she is interested in, one about the body, and another about dolphins!

I printed selected pages from the all about me lapbook on Home School share.

K decorated the "mirror" and then I helped her to cut out and stick the foil....she was disappointed it did work as a real mirror though! ....then lift up the mirror to draw a faceless picture of herself.

To list her favorate things, K wrote what they were, and then we went onto google images, to save, and insert into word, reduce image size and then print (all done by K mashAllah)...so got some basic IT skills in there too!

I tried to get K to cut a small piece of hair to stick in....but she was horrified at the thought...so she just drew a few strands of hair instead!

When K filled in the "my names and Alias" section both she and Z were horrified to discover they have their father's name as their middle name because its a "boys name"....they only calmed down and accepted it once I explained I also have my father's middle name Mahmood!

Story of Hud

Once a week, we have a few families who get together each Monday for a Qur'an and Islamic Studies lesson - this week was the story of Prophet Hud alais salaam (we are going through the prophets stories each week inshallah) and was taught by one of the other sisters mashAllah.

This is what she did - she recapped the story of Prophet Nuh alais salaam before reading the story of Hud, followed by an activity in which she had asked the children to make a tree to bring to the class so that they could make a city using blocks and the trees.

The sister then used a desk top fan to use as wind to show the city being blown down and destroyed (with a little help from excited children's hands!)

I might print out the pictures and ask K to do a small write-up of the Story....we'll see!

What about socialization (from another angle)

I read this on the yahoo home educating group - liked it, so thought would share....

Its not at all intended to suggest that home schooling is superior to traditional schooling - rather just to serve as a myth buster I guess you could say, for those who have pre-conceived ideas that home education equals isolation from the rest of humanity!

Two women meet at the park, they start talking........
W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red shirts --helps me keep track of them.
W2: (Smiles) I'm Terri. Mine are in the pink and yellow shirts. Do you come here a lot?
W1: Usually two or three times a week, after we go to the library.
W2: Wow. Where do you find the time?
W1: We home school, so we do it during the day most of the time.
W2: Some of my neighbours home school, but I send my kids to publicschool.
W1: How do you do it?
W2: It's not easy. I go to all the PTO meetings and work with thekids every day after school and stay real involved.
W1: But what about socialization? Aren't you worried about thembeing cooped up all day with kids their own ages, never getting theopportunity for natural relationships?
W2: Well, yes. But I work hard to balance that. They have some friends who're home schooled, and we visit their grandparents almost every month.
W1: Sounds like you're a very dedicated mom. But don't you worryabout all the opportunities they're missing out on? I mean they'reso isolated from real life -- how will they know what the world islike -- what people do to make a living -- how to get along with alldifferent kinds of people?
W2: Oh, we discussed that at PTO, and we started a fund to bringreal people into the classrooms. Last month, we had a policeman anda doctor come in to talk to every class. And next month, we'rehaving a woman from Japan and a man from Kenya come to speak.
W1: Oh, we met a man from Japan in the grocery store the other week,and he got to talking about his childhood in Tokyo . My kids wereabsolutely fascinated. We invited him to dinner and got to meet hiswife and their three children.
W2: That's nice. Hmm. Maybe we should plan some Japanese food for the lunchroom on Multicultural Day
.W1: Maybe your Japanese guest could eat with the children.
W2: Oh, no. She's on a very tight schedule. She has two otherschools to visit that day. It's a system-wide thing we're doing.
W1: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, maybe you'll meet someone interesting inthe grocery store sometime and you'll end up having them over for dinner.
W2: I don't think so. I never talk to people in the store --certainly not people who might not even speak my language. What if that Japanese man hadn't spoken English?
W1: To tell you the truth, I never had time to think about it.Before I even saw him, my six-year-old had asked him what he wasgoing to do with all the oranges he was buying.
W2: Your child talks to strangers?
W1: I was right there with him. He knows that as long as he's withme, he can talk to anyone he wishes.
W2: But you're developing dangerous habits in him. My children nevertalk to strangers.
W1: Not even when they're with you?
W2: They're never with me, except at home after school. So you see why it's so important for them to understand that talking tostrangers is a big no-no.
W1: Yes, I do. But if they were with you, they could get to meetinteresting people and still be safe. They'd get a taste of the realworld, in real settings. They'd also get a real feel for how to tellwhen a situation is dangerous or suspicious.
W2: They'll get that in the third and fifth grades in their healthcourses.
W1: Well, I can tell you're a very caring mom. Let me give you mynumber--if you ever want to talk, give me call. It was good to meetyou.--

Author unknown

Montessori grammar symbols

Following on from Jolly Phonics, we  have been using Jolly grammar since September. Last week we begun work on proper and common nouns.
However, to help understand the different grammar rules, I have decided to also use Montessori techniques inshallah, as it allows a more visual and tactile representation of all the rules.



My grammar knowledge is quite shocking!

The Montessori grammar symbols are fantastic as they make learning all these rules much easier alhamdulillah....I'm going to introduce them later today inshallah, so we will see if K responds as enthusiastically as me inshallah!

Search online, and alhamdulillah you will find a wealth of Montessori websites and blogs explaining all the concepts clearly...I won't do injustice to the lessons trying to explain them myself, but if you don't know much about the Montessori grammar symbols, this blog has a nice simple explanation (you need to read all 4 parts) Montessori for everyone.

So, after deciding yesterday that I will use the grammar symbols, I decided rather than buying the set (which is quite expensive!) I would make it! I'd read somewhere online during my research that a training teacher made herself a set using craft foam...so that's what I did.

The total cost for making the symbols is probably about 5p mashAllah when you look at how little foam you actually use! (although cutting them all out is abit fiddly!)

If I had decided I would make these before I went into the city centre on Saturday, I'd have picked up another packet of craft foam, but since I didn't, I made do with the open packet I already had (each symbol should have a specific colour). (I bought it for abut 99p from The Works - ten coloured sheets and included a child's size pair of scissors...I have 3 pairs of these now alhamdulillah!!!)

I used the black and white grammar symbols on wikisori to use as a template (so all my shapes would be the same size!) and cut out 11 of each symbol.

I took one of each symbol to stick on the grammar description sheet (also printed off wikisori) so that i can learn and remember inshallah, what symbol means what!

The lessons to go along with the symbols are easily found online, including on youtube. You can also find plenty of sites where you can simply print out the symbols in their correct colours and just laminate to use. I prefer the craft foam as I think it makes it a bit more tactile.

Montessori Print shop is a site I found where you can download and print loads of Montessori materials free (they also have a shop to purchase some files)

and of course wikisori which has loads of print outs, and lessons to follow.