What a great time to be homeschooling!

And what a great time to be Islamic homeschooling, masha Allah!

Why? (Among Other Reasons)

(Here we go again with the nostalgia) Back when I started homeschooling……………………

There were not so many FREEEEEEEEEEEEE Ebooks online.

Well that has certainly changed, masha Allah (though perhaps not all are with posted online with permission) :0

Anyhoo,  over at TJ (which by the way, I sincerely apologize as TJ is  in bad need of repair)/updating), I have a page called IS Booklist on which I listed/linked to free Islamic texts which could be used for IS textbooks or at least as a spine for IS studies. (and yeah, that page too was in need of updating). Ok, well, I have compiled a more robust listing of texts (though by no means exhaustive)…

Fill Up/Fill in

If your Islamic Studies E bookshelf is empty, has cobwebs, check out the list below and have a download fest.  Or maybe you’ve got many/several books listed and just need a few.  Whatever the case, hope you find the listing helpful.

So Where Are They, Already?

Well at least for me……………………

When I first started homeschooling, everything was done by hand, lessons, worksheets, manipulatives, etc. because we didn’t have a computer.

Then of course, once we got a computer, look out!  If I didn’t make my own  stuff, I was able to download all sorts of ready made things.  Just let me find a site with free printables and my printer was given a workout!

When we lived in Yemen, I was printing like a mad woman. I could buy printer cartridge refills kits for next to nothing and get like 4 refills per kit.  I printed without hesitation.

That Was Then, This is Now

So now that I am in a new place and  haven’t found the good deals, I am being more conservative in my printing as I haven’t found great deals on cartridges and my current printer is an ink guzzler.

But I find that even not considering ink usage, it takes me so much longer to make things on the computer (or find them) than if I just sit down and make them out by hand. Ok, so I am not an artist, but you know what? Doesn’t matter. I made some kindergarten/preschool math mini bag activities for my 4 year old and he went right to them.  Didn’t matter that I just used pencil and just drew circles or triangles, he still loved them! 

So I am doing more and more things by hands these days in an effect to conserve ink as well as time.

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If you find that your time is super limited and a hand drawn effort will work just as good (or heck even almost as good), why not save yourself some time (and ink) and write it out…….so its maybe not as flashy, pretty, or colorful in some cases, but I’ve been able to knock out a great deal more of things to USE this way……………………..

I don’t know what has gotten in to my big boys lately, but I’m likin’ it!

For the past couple of weeks, my 16 year old has been bitten by the bread makin’ bug and this week, my 11 year old joined in.

Why the Interest?

I asked my oldest son what made him want to start making bread?  He is homesick for Yemen (from where we just moved) and remembers seeing the men in the makbazah baking up flat bread and roti.  When he would go buy the bread from the store downstairs, sometimes it wasn’t ready so he would eagerly watch them making it.

So, one day a couple of weeks ago, he jumped online and found a recipe for flat bread and headed to the kitchen…..to my delight, masha Allah!

Ever since then, he’s been baking up a storm!

Not Just One Type

A few days after his bread making began, I whipped up some dough for soft pretzels and that became his next project. He’s made pretzels two or three times since and the day before yesterday, he really “perfected” them.  Its funny (in a good way)  to hear him talk about what he learned, how to tweak the recipe to get better results.

Yesterday, he made flat bread to go along with our lentils for dinner.

And also, yesterday, my 11 year old joined in on the bread wagon…..

I had started making what has become like our breakfast for nearly everyday for the past few weeks…crescent rolls. So yesterday I was making the dough and he said that he wanted to help. As I had oodles of school stuff to attend to, I ended up letting him take over.  He rolled out the dough and cut it and folded up into the rolls. Halfway through, he got the idea to make them like cinnamon rolls so I mixed up a cinnamon sugar mixture and he buttered the doll and sprinkled the mixture on.

And today, again, I made up the dough and he’s been belting them out.

Learning All the Time with Homeschooling

Its really been a natural learning experience as well (had to throw that in as a HOMESCHOOLER, lol).  Both the youngest and oldest have learned how to use the stove (we had a cheapy gas stove in Yemen for so many years so this one had more bells and whistles); they learned about the properties of yeast and really, so much more (and I didn’t have to give a lecture!)

Here are the recipes we started with:

Pretzels: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttery-soft-pretzels/detail.aspx (read the first user comment, its packed with a mini science lesson about why baking soda is used).

Crescent Rolls: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/golden-crescent-rolls/Detail.aspx

Happy bread making if the bread bug hits (has hit) you too!

That’s right…..and Eid ul Adha is around the corner too!(Dhul HIjjah is around 10 days away).

Besides Hajj occurring in the month of Dhul Hijjah, there are many virtues of that month.

You may want to take a peek at my Dhul Hijjah/Eid ul Adha unit/lapbooking starter kit from last year to brush up/learn about its virtues before it arrives!

Dhul Hijjah/Eid ul Adha Learning Pack can be found here in this post.

]]> http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/hajjdhul-hijjah-is-approaching/feed/ 0 talibiddeenjr 3089289188_88a47026b7_s http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/spelling-city/ http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/spelling-city/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:34:30 +0000 talibiddeenjr http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/?p=1466 ]]>

You’ve probably heard of Spelling City, but if not, stop by and you are in for a treat!

My 11 year old is such a smart little guy, masha Allah, but not the studying/school type. So its hard to get him interested in studying.

Lately though, he’s been doing better (better being relative here, lol) and though not perfect, he has been cooperating more. So I am  trying to be more accommodating.

Yesterday, I called him for spelling. To my surprise, he had a good attitude. He asked me could he type the words on the computer. My first instinct was to say no, get a pencil and paper, but since he was cooperating, I thought, why sour the punch?

But………………….. I was at my desk and he was way over on the other side of the room (ok, well it wasn’t that far) and I couldn’t see the words that he typed…….ok, he could have come closer but we had just fooled around earlier getting Yahoo Messenger on his computer so that popped into my head.

And boy what a winner that was!

So I IM’d him and called out the spelling word. He typed it in and sent it. Boy did he get a kick out of that (no writing!) and he said, you know, this can help my typing skills too!

If he misspelled a word, I typed it in correctly. I even had him type misspelled words several times in a row.

He didn’t want to stop when it was time to break for lunch!

Ok, I’m so not posting EVERYDAY on our 100 Easy Lessons progress  (smile)

but just wanted to share a few printables that I have made to go along with our studies.Yesterday was day 3 for us.

I need to establish a regular time everyday with the little guy, but its just so hard to juggle homeschooling so many, he makes student # 7.  So insha Allah, I’ll work on paying more attention to this.  Yesterday we didn’t get to the lesson until the afternoon but I was trying hard to make sure that we did do it.

Our progress thus far:

Day 1 -Lesson 1 and 2

Day 2 – Lessons 3 and 4

Day 3 – Lessons 4 (for review) and 5

My intent was to just do one lesson a day, but well, we just play it by ear and see what he’s up for. He’s a smart little thing, masha Allah but cannot sit still. Ok, that’s nothing new for moms but its just so funny because I still see him as my baby and so I am trying hard not too be too strict, but let him know that its time to settle down for a few minutes and learn. Its just hard to believe that he’s on the brink of “official homeschooling.”

Daily Log

100Easy Lessons Daily Log – My pal Umm Samyrah gave me this idea (ok, its not a new earth shattering idea, but I hadn’t really thought of doing it). You just log in the lessons you did each day and note any problems. That version is my printer saver where the columns are smaller so I can fit in two columns of dates as opposed to one.  For the original one column worth of dates, see this 100 Easy Lessons daily log – version 1

The Handwriting Portion of the Lessons

Each lesson has a handwriting portion.  On one review I read that someone said they just skip this section.  We include it as its kind of fun for my little guy.  He only likes to trace though, not write on his own as its “too hard” (the book says give some for tracing and then some to write on his own…so I don’t push.  Donna Young has some handwriting worksheets specifically for 100 Easy Lessons, but to save on printing paper, I just make dots (tracing and starting dot) for him.  One thing I do that I learned from somewhere else, is that after he writes/trace, he picks which letter he thinks he wrote the best and then he circles it. He LOVES that part. If time permits, I may make up my own worksheets (as those who know me would expect), but for right now, the old fashioned method of handwriting it for him works………

What supplements are you using, if any?

The great thing about this program is that you really don’t need supplements……but sometimes you feel like you just got to have them (see my printables above, lol). I think Donna Young has flashcards to use with this book.  With the little dots and lines under them.  I was thinking about the flashcards, but for right now, simplicity is the key for me  (time and energy wise), so I am trying hard to resist making anything else to use (other than what I have made).

If you are using the program, do you just use it as is or use/make any supplements?

Our goal to finish by: March 18, 2010, insha Allah……………………………

Want to Try 100 Easy Lessons…..?

If you are considering purchasing it, you can help support TJ, by buying from Amazon with the link below

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Umm Ibrahim

You’ve probably heard of this book by Siegfried Engelman.  If not, well, the title’s pretty self explanatory, lol.

Well, a friend of mine recently gave me a copy of the book and  last week,  I embarked on the journey of  using it with my four year old.  (I say embark as the dictionary defines it: “Proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers” —-the danger being that we won’t finish. I am notorious about changing books midstream……..but that’s a whole other post……)

Anyway, the book is highly rated….I’ve only read a few negative comments about it out of dozens of positive ones…(you can see 516 reviews of it at Amazon–of course you  probably won’t want to sift through them ALL , lol).  But they are useful. The most important thing is to use them only if your child is ready, and that goes with any curriculum/book.

Trying it Again

Ok, I have to confess I have tried to use this book before….eons ago with my first homeschooler. But, I had borrowed it from the library and it was on hold so I had to return it before I could finish it.  Now, I remember back then, also that I probably hit a snag early on and wouldn’t have been patient enough to continue with it but I’ll never know……maybe that’s good for this time around?  All kids are different, so it may  not work with one, but it may work with another.

I try to keep in mind what some of the reviews say…..don’t start if your kids aren’t ready…..it may start slow, but it picks up and is so worth it….

Scripted Lessons

So for new homeschoolers or those who like everything laid out, this book has scripted lessons. It tells you EXACTLY what to say.  Sounds great, but after having homeschooled for 11 years, I’ve learned to put my own spin on things and this is what the author suggests you not do…free lance, unless you have gone through the program once or twice. The danger, he says is that you may try to become too fancy the first time around and find out that you probably should not have modified some of the things you did earlier.

Well, that may be a hard one for me, as I am finding that I am already putting my spin on things and I do find scripted lessons a little confining. They seem like a great concept and I will admit, I did not practice using the lessons beforehand (he suggests making a dry run before you start the book).  He says that if you follow the program religiously the first time you present it, “the outcome is guaranteed.”  Well, we’ll see. I know that I will not follow it religiously, ok being honest here, but I really do like having something structured and will try to stick to it as best as I can, Allahu ilm. But I still believe that with everything, you have to put your  own spin on it for YOUR child.

Our Progress

As I know that I have a hard time sticking with things, I thought I would do a series here at the TJ blog about our progress.  (Hoping it will help me be more accountable by posting it publicly, lol)…..Maybe it would help others who are using it but having trouble staying with it? So anyway, that’s the thinking. So, I hope that I can record some progress to you, maybe weekly (but won’t promise, lol….we’ll see how it goes).

100 Easy Lessons Blog Ring?

Ok, maybe not a ring, but are you a blogger using 100 Easy Lessons or thinking about it?  Why not write about it on your blog (if you haven’t already?)

If you are considering writing or writing about it, please leave a comment with your link. As I (hopefully) post our progress, I’ll include your blog link as well, insha Allah.

My pal, Umm Samyrah over at The HomeschoolinUmmi is using 100 Easy Lessons as well and writing about her progress….stop by and see how she’s doing at her  The Homeschoolin’ Ummi blog.

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Please make duaa for us.  My little guy, 4, has been asking for “school” work and so this book really helps me because I don’t have to plan. Wish they had 100 easy lessons for math, lol (or do they?) smile……………………….

Want to Try 100 Easy Lessons…..?

If you are considering purchasing it, you can help support TJ, by buying from Amazon with the link below

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Goal Tracker:

Our tentative date for completion is March 18, 2010,insha Allah.

Gave myself a goal to try to help stay on track.

(It’s over 100 days as we won’t do lessons on the weekends and I added some cushion in…..)

There’s supposed to be a nice little countdown widget here, but me and Word Press and widgets just do NOT get along lol.

Have you used/do you use 100 Easy Lessons?

Earlier this month I mentioned that we had worked on a lesson for duaa. This was an informal lesson for us where I just read from an article and came up with the activities as we went along.

After the lesson, I put together some ideas for a more formal unit on duaas, but didn’t get around to finishing it.  Recently I teamed up with Umm Abdul Basir to get together Islamic Bulletin Boards and that gave me the motivation to finally finish knocking out the lesson, masha Allah.

So, you can download this 37 page unit (16 mini lessons) here, insha Allah.

Duaa Unit

I hope you find it  helpful…….

And don’t forget to stop by Islamic Bulletin Board’s Duaa Bulletin Board page for free files to create your own Duaa Bulletin Board to go with your studies!

Several weeks ago, we did an impromptu lesson on Jinns.  Through one of my homeschooling groups, I learned about a great site with authentic articles and treatises which I think is perfect to use as source material for your homemade homeschooling lessons: http://abdurrahman.org/character/index-shytaan.html (this is the main page for works regarding Jinns/Shayateen.

As I said, this wasn’t a planned lesson that we did, so I just got some of the articles from the site and started reading them to the kids.  As I went through, I jotted down points that I made (so that I could go back and review them). I am learning more and more, insha Allah that sometimes you just have to forego the fancy lesson plans and worksheets that you don’t have the time to make and tell yourself just do it,  just pick up a book, article and read it and see where it takes you.

After the lesson, I decided to make up some more structured lessons and insha Allah, the next time around we’ll use those.  I took some of the things that we had gone over, some of the impromptu activities that we had done and added some ideas that I thought would have been great to do as well.

One thing I have learned is that the longer I homeschool, better I get at giving impromptu lessons, masha Allah.  Instead of just reading the article, I may stop and think, hey, we can make up a little chart or brainstorm more on this and we go at it, so its not just me reading. Another helpful thing, which I am sure most of us do anyway, is to stop and make sure that they comprehend what’s just been said.  When we get to a little break in the material, before going on to the next section, I take a few seconds to review concepts from not just the last section, but preceeding sections.

So if you are feeling that you have to have everything planned out, and yes that’s a great thing to do, don’t panic if you are unprepared, make the best of it, but do try to do something.  I look back at all the times I could have at least done something, but didn’t because I wasn’t prepared.  My advice to others, and myself, is that even if its just reviewing something from previous sessions, just do something.  Even if you are just reading an article to your kids, just do something.

Saying all that, lol, here is my lesson on Jinns for elementary students.  I like to keep away from explaining things in my own words as I feel its better to leave it up to the scholars, so most of the text is straight from articles. Of course, at times, a lower level  explanation must be made.

There are 8 lessons in total and activities to go along with them.

Lesson 1: What is a Jinn?

Lesson 2: Why Were Jinn Created?

Lesson 3: Everyone Has a Jinn

Lesson 4: Types of Jinn

Lesson 5: Do Jinns Eat and Drink?

Lesson 6: Do Jinns Have Powers?

Lesson 7: Where Do Jinns Live?

Lesson 8: Protection from Jinn

Creations of Allah Lessons: Jinns