Dhul Hijjah

Yusuf, a few years ago,
at a playgroup
Hajj Demo

MashaAllah we are blessed to reach these special days of Dhul Hijjah.  May Allah accept the good deeds from us and accept the Hajj of all those who were invited by Allah to His House, Ameen.

Alhamdulillah I have found some really beneficial things on the internet this week related to Hajj and wanted to share.  Take a look inshaAllah!

*Watch Hajj Live
Click HERE

*Very nice activity printout booklet for the days of Dhul Hijjah
Click HERE

*Ten things to do with your children
Click HERE

*Hajj Wheel
Click HERE

*More Hajj Ideas
Click HERE

Keep us in your duas inshaAllah!

Confession

Confession : I send my kids mixed messages by taking pictures of them when they do naughty things.

Confession

I used to be slightly judgmental of parents whose children wrote on walls.  Since my boys never wrote on walls, I (wrongly) assumed that if kids wrote on walls, it was due to parents negligence.

I now have a daughter who loves to write on walls, and have been put in my place as far as being judgmental goes....I now understand all too well how quickly a toddler can make her mark on a wall while you simply turn your head for a moment.  *sigh*

Confession

Today my kids were eating this this morning.  And I didn't stop them. But I did get to speak to my Mom on Skype and drink my chai in peace :)

Spice Craft

Last weekend while I was working in the kitchen I got the kids to learn some spices and make this wheel.  They really enjoyed it. Afterwards Yusuf helped me make dinner and I got him to guess the spices we were using.  

Confession

On my facebook page, I started confessing to my many imperfections.

The reason behind this was that it is one of my number one pet peeves when people realize I'm homeschooling, they resort to tell me how patient and amazing I am.... and Im on a mission to prove that Im not!

I want my blog to serve as a support for others out there, and I know its all to easy to portray your life as a pinterest perfect dream.  So here I am showing you how it is, and keeping it real....

This is the mess I swept from my floor the other day. ..

Ramadan

Alhamdulillah living in a Muslim country provided us the opportunity to visit many different Mesjids this Ramadan.
I hope the kids appreciate and remember all of these experiences... If not, the blog will inshallah serve as a good reminder :)

Daughter

A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future.

-Author Unknown

Goodnight Moon

An all time fave in our house, with all three kids.

But what makes it even that much more lovable, is when they read it together <3 

Canadian Curriculum

I have been asked numerous times what books I use with the kids, and to be honest, I not kept consistent with many curricula until recently.  For the last couple years, we have just done selected worksheets from different books and websites.  We did remain consistent for the first level of Math U See ( however Yusuf developed an aversion to it so we stopped), and we are almost finished the second level of Life of Fred, but besides that, nothing else.

While visiting Canada a few months ago I saw a friend was using this so  picked it up from Costco.

MashaAllah we have really enjoyed it and are almost finished.

There are some topics that I expand on with other worksheets and stuff, but for the most part, its been a success alhamdulilah.

If you're looking for something comprehensive (it covers four subjects), and interactive for the kids, but not overwhelming, I highly recommend giving these books a try!

Can't figure out how to rotate this pic........There you have it, Im not as tech savvy as I pretend to be.........

Phases of The Moon

Alhamdulillah we have been able to establish a playgroup here in Malaysia which is a huge relief for us. Having a weekly get together with other homeschooling families has always served as a great sense of support for us.
We rotate houses and each parent who hosts that week also puts together an activity for the kids.

Last week we studied the phases of the moon in a very tasty way! Alhamdulillah!

3D Shapes City

Yusuf has recently been learning about 3D Shapes in his Canadian Curriculum book we've been working through. To give him some hands on experience we made some shapes out of paper.
He decided he wanted to make a city out of the shapes.. So that's what we did.
The cube became the kabah.
The prism, a car wash.
The cylinder, and Islamic work building.
The cone a prison.
And the pyramid, a museum.

The Return to The Blog

We're baaaa-aaack!

After a long break, a failed attempt at switching to a Facebook page, a trip to Canada and back, two kids becoming one year older, and Momma bear growing and learning a lot about herself, we're back.  And Facebook was fun while it lasted, but I love my blog.  Having the option to go back almost five years, and to filer my posts by topic just cant be beat.

It's that time of year again when people at the grocery store are asking what grades the kids will be entering...and I've noticed I don't fumble as much as I used to. I've learned to reply with an almost whole hearted smile as I say, "We actually homeschool." There's still a small lump of hesitation in my throat as I tell myself that other peoples judgments do not matter... so long as my kids are happy and this is working for our family right?

But I've come to the conclusion that Ill never be fully sure of our decision to homeschool. Ill probably always ask if this is really whats best for us. Ill most likely always be tempted to look elsewhere. And ill most definitely doubt myself on the inevitable bad days.

And that's why I've returned. Because I know there are people like me out there who struggle and search for validation and inspiration.
I hope and pray that I can give some of you that glimmer of hope that I so often find on other blogs and pages.

May Allah guide us, assist us, and accept our efforts from us, Ameen. May He make us a means of Jannah for our children, and our children a means of Jannah for us! Ameen.