Jummuah Journals

One of the many things that I love about homeschooling is that we are able to go for Jummuah (Friday Prayers) just about every single week together as a family alhamdulillah.  I find it to be a really nice family bonding time and also a good opportunity for learning.  I find my kids have easily learned the etiquettes of Jummuah through repetition and routine.
Our routine usually includes:
-listening to surah kahf
-showers
-nice clothes
-atr
-trying to arrive early, and a reminder of the hadith that the angels stand at the mesjid doors writing the names of the attendees
-dua for entering / leaving mesjid
-reminder to be quiet during khutbah (and now as yusuf gets older listening to more of the khutbah)
-meeting friends
-greeting elders by going up to them and shaking their hands
-giving charity
-and most of the time we go out as a family for lunch afterwards

Last Jummuah, mashaAllah I noticed Yusuf really sat nicely and quietly to listen to the khutbah.  The khateeb spoke about the tongue / speaking good etc.  I realized that mashaAllah Yusuf is old enough to learn or retain at least one thing from the khutbah and I thought of the idea of having a 'Jummuah Journal.'  Since writing is not one of Yusuf's strengths, I thought that he could get the needed practice by writing out what he learns in a journal every week.  So the next day, we spoke about the khutbah and he told me what he remembered.  I then wrote down a sentence to summarize it and then he copied it in his journal.

I hope inshaallah we can continue to do this on a weekly basis.