Arabic Alphabet Lapbook

I was really excited to try this project that a friend of mine showed me. I took two file folders and stapled them together, then make a bunch of small booklets and glued them on. Every day were gonna do a couple of new letters of the Arabic alphabet (but not in order) and then learn a couple new islamic terms inshaAllah. If Yusuf sees the arabic alphabet (in proper order) he knows all the letters but he has a hard time recognizing them on their own. I love having homeschooling friends to get great ideas from alhamdulillah! =)

Map

Yusuf has been spening alot of time making this map today. He used pieces of tape to represent peoples houses.

Whats missing?

We did this game in Preschool time last week and Yusuf LOVES it! Basically you put a bunch of random objects on a tray, then the child closes his eyes and then you remove something and then he guess whats missing. Its simple, fun, and improves your memory (something I could use!)

A pet?

MashaAllah Yusuf turned four today! I cant believe how fast time flies! Please remember him in your prayers.. may Allah give him (and all our children) a long life filled with emaan, taqwa, love and happiness. And may He always keep us close to one another and keep our hearts united! Ameen.

So I may be crazy but Im thinking of having a talk with Yusuf tomorrow about how hes a big boy now and he needs make sure he listens / helps and stuff. Alhamdulillah on the most part he is a great kid but is having typical issues of not listening / having me repeat myself ten times. So Im *thinking* of talking to him about getting a pet. If he can prove that he will be responsible and help take care of it then inshallah we can get one. Now the idea just popped into my head... so I may need to sleep on it... but... does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of pets would be good? Any personal experiences? When I was a kid, we had a dog, a turtle, fish, a bunny, and a budgie (not all at once!). It goes without saying that minimal maintenance would be preferred. But we already did the fish thing and it was kinda boring! My husband who reading this post as I type and is suggesting a snake / lizard... something to make the boys tough. :\

Anyways... any suggestions?? :)

Excitement of the week!

I made a basketball court with masking tape on the floor today. Yusuf is *very* excited! [So is Ibby!]

Diaper Math

The boys' room was a mess today! So we spent a while cleaning it up... There was a pack of diapers on the floor and Yusuf decided to sort the diapers based on the character on the front. There were lots of Elmo ones!

Drawing

This morning I was getting ready for Arabic class when Yusuf decided that he would go to his desk and start writing. When I came out of the washroom, he came running to me and said "Momma, look, I drew mad!"

I know its simple but mashallah I was proud of him. Im not sure what prompted him to make it, but I was proud of how he sounded the letters out himself and knew what he wrote.

[I took the picture at the end of the day... Im not sure how the paper ended up ripped in half but I still wanted to take a picture to document his art work]

Science Center

Me and the boys at the waterfall
(since we went with alot of kids, we had special red playgroup shirts made)

Yusuf's 'friend' teaching him about camoflage

Ibby 'helping' Yusuf build a ramp

Checking out the skull

Alhamdulilah we had a field trip to the science center yesterday. We had lots of kids mashaAllah! Everyone came on a school bus but I decided to drive my van and then stay after (bus was there from 10:30-1). One of Yusuf's friends and her aunt stayed back with us. We bought a membership for the year and Im so happy I did (it pays off in 2 visits). We had so much fun and were learning at the same time. And because it was a weekday it was really empty. The staff was awesome! They were so friendly and would come up to us and teach the kids and play with them. We will definatly be going back soon inshaAllah! = )

Preschool Class

Today we went to the preschool class. They practiced their names (writing and with stickers) and made a snow picture.

Picture

Yusuf's Description: There is a D. And there is a door.

Picture

Yusuf's Description: The x's are soccer players. At the top I drew a referee and I wanted to connect the dots. I made a big S because s is for soccer. The circles are the cheerleaders. Nothing else.

Bath Time Books

Today I decided Ill try something new : reading books to the boys while they played in the bath (since they LOVE the water).  So as I was running the bath water I told Yusuf to go get some books so we can read while hes in the bath.  I turned around for a second, and he had thrown the (library) book into the bath...Perhaps I could have been more clear.

I explained to him that we dont put books in the bath (something I though was common sense!) but alhamdulilah I was able to keep my cool and we actually got a good laugh out of it.

Banana Muffins

Today we had guests over so we baked banana muffins with chocolate chips and flax seed.

Hockey Stick + Laundry baskets = Hours of Fun

Yusuf wanted to be a dog...

Igloo

Doorbell

Yusuf decided he needed a doorbell for his room. Completely his idea. We now have three around the house.

Snowman Puppets

Yesterday we had a friend over and made snowman puppets out of cotton balls and paper bags.

Arabic Around the House

Alhamdulilah Yusuf is really enjoying his new Arabic classes. From Oct - Dec he attended a class further away from our house and he was really enjoying it.. but.. the kids were ages 3-6 yrs and it was a larger class. The teacher was great but it was hard for him to cater the different needs of the kids. So a friend of mine arranged for Yusuf and his to friends to begin classes at my friends house. The new teacher is also great and because its more frequent (45 mins twice a week instead of one hour once a week) I find Yusuf's picking up a lot. So Ive put a few things around the house for him to continue learning his Arabic. I had cue cards and made posters a while back so I put them back up. And in the summer I bought a place mat with the Arabic alphabet and yesterday I made a poster of colours (which I need to learn as well!).

This Mornings Breakfast

Mickey Mouse Chocolate Chip Pancakes
(topped with chopped bananas too!)

Toilet Paper Roll

Recently I decided to give Yusuf a special job: to change the toilet paper roll when needed. It may be something small, but Ive noticed hes really given his new responsilibity alot of importance. Sometimes he goes to the washroom just to check if his job needs to be done. Some other jobs he has around the house are: putting his dirty laundry in the hamper, clearing his dirty dishes, hanging up his jacket when we come home, and of course tidying his toys when needed [which is the one job he does not enjoy doing!]. InshaAllah as he gets older we will slowly increase his responsibilities. Im hoping that they remain something he gives importance to as he learns to be a contributing member of our family [and a good future husband inshaAllah!].

Change

I felt like going for a wintery look.

Playgroup: Winter

Today we went to playgroup. MashaAllah it was a lot of fun. It started with our usual circle time (surahs and songs) but for the first time we had the kids do show n tell which was cute. Ibby took a ball, and Yusuf took one of his new cars along with a Malaysian Twin Towers figurine that Baba brought back from his trip. Inshaallah we will continue to have show n tell apart of our regular circle time.
We then read the same book which we read at preschool class yesterday [The Mitten] and the all the kids brought their mittens, put it on a sheet, and used the sheet as a parachute and tried to bounce off the mittens and see which one lasted the longest. The kids had lots of fun!
After that we played with ice. The Mom whose house it was at froze a bunch of different ice shapes, including a big ball of ice made by freezing a water balloon, and different ice cubes, some of which had food coloring in it. The kids used water to stick the ice together to make buildings. It was a great playgroup.. and you can check out some of the pictures here and here (sorry Im having issues uploading pictures)

Preschool Time: The Mitten

The book that was read (which I found to be pretty cute)

The activity that was done after the story (as you can tell, Yusuf doesn't like to colour!)

Yesterday I took Yusuf and his friend to the Ontario Early Years close to our house. I planned on just going for drop in but they had space open in their preschool time program so I registered them. The class had calendar / circle time, songs, a story, a craft and snacks. InshaAllah I plan on taking both Yusuf and his friend every week as long as they continue to enjoy it. Its one hour and once a week.

Ice!

I saw this idea on a blog a few months ago but forget where.
Anyways, we collected some stuff from our front yard (leaves, sticks, flowers, stones) then put them in a margarine container n filled it with water. We then put it in the freezer and waited for it to freeze [we had to check the progress every 15 minutes].
The next day I put it on a baking sheet for Yusuf to play with. He slid it around, played hockey with it [as you can see in the bottom pic, hes scoring], we put salt on it n watched it melt and then put it back in the freezer since it was time for bed. Well probably take it out again tomorrow.

Smartie Math

Ive been wanting to do this activity for a while now.
I wrote numbers 1-10 on pieces of paper, then gave Yusuf a bowl of smarties for him to put the amount of smarties that was written on the paper above. He did it quickly and perfectly. And afterwards, I told him he could pick one number and eat all the smarties under that number... he chose number ten :)

First Time Playing in the Snow - 2011

watching snow plow

hot chocolate

Jummuah!

Its Jummuah today [Friday]! And alhamdulilah after a few weeks of not feeling well and our schedules being upside down because of Baba's travels, we are back to normal.  InshaAllah today we will be going to the mosque.  I found this great link @ Talibudeeen Jr to teach kids a bit about Jummuah. 
Click here = )

Playgroup: Winter

It was our turn to host playgroup today. For January we are doing a unit study on winter inshaallah. We read this book called "Snow."
We also watched a time lapse of the four seasons. To watch, click here
We passed a ball around our circle and each child said what their favorite season was.
We looked at what snow flakes look like up close. I cant find the link we used but heres similaar one. Click here.
And then we made snowflakes using these instructions. Click here


Then the kids drew a picture on construction paper and then used a q-tip and white paint to make snow. Alhamduliah it went well today. = )

Starfall

$12 @ Once Upon a Child.

I love the store Once Upon a Child. Its like garage saling in the winter time. And they always have new stuff coming in.

$1 @ Michaels

Juz Amma

Yusuf is working on his Quran memorization. Juz Amma is the last 30th of the Quran which consists of many small chapters. So far he knows six and inshaAllah we will continue to work on this. I got this awesome chart from www.muslimstickers.com = )

Welcome Home Baba

Yusuf's cousin helped as well.