Our Muslim Homeschool

Day-in-the-Life: Homeschooling and Trip to the Farm!

2017-02-16T11:45:00.002+00:00

Hi Everyone!

Come along with us on a typical homeschooling day.

If' you're new here, we are a Muslim homeschooling family from the UK.

The kids are 6 ,4, and 2 years old. I hope you enjoy seeing what home education looks like in our home.

I pray you find encouragement and support in this little video of ours!

WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Thanks for watching!

Products Featured:

Juz Amma Sticker Chart:

This beautiful sticker chart is a great way to encourage your children to memorise the Surah of Juz Amma, and help you monitor their progress.

If you would like more information about this chart, CLICK HERE.

When Children Love to Learn:

http://amzn.to/2lOj5bL (UK)
http://amzn.to/2ln19Uz (US)

Keep your eye out for the GIVEAWAY of the JUZ AMMA CHART on my INSTAGRAM account: http://instagram.com/ourmuslimhomeschool

To watch last month's Homeschool favourites video,
CLICK HERE:
https://youtu.be/lx6PUZjcEZw

Thanks again for watching!

In need of your duaas,

Peace and Love.

You Might Also Like:

CLICK HERE

January Homeschool Favourites

2017-01-26T23:44:00.000+00:00

It's time to find out what we've been enjoying in Our Muslim Homeschool this month!

Welcome back friends! This month I'm excited to share a lot a wonderful books and educational resources that we've discovered!

There is also a GIVEAWAY this month. If you'd like to enter ,scroll down to the bottom of this post and enter via the Rafflecopter widget.

Dont forget to watch the accompanying YouTube video, to get a closer look at all the products mentioned in this blogpost.

WATCH THIS VIDEO:

January Homeschool Favourites

Life of Fred Math

I know what you're thinking ..."Not another Maths curriculum Gemma?!?!"
I know. I know....I can't help myself!

I have been hearing about Life of Fred Math for a long time. It is well known within homeschooling circles as an unconventional method of approaching maths. Life of Fred Math teaches maths in a narrative form, with humorous story line and a distinct lack of practice questions!

It is unlike any other maths book you've ever seen!

I'm not sure what it was that finally prompted me to order it, but I'm so glad that I did!

My son absolutely loves. When ask him, "What maths book shall we do today?" he always says, "Life of Fred!"

Despite a minimal amount of practice questions and worksheets, the mathematical principles we are covering seem to be sticking in my son's mind. He loves how each chapter incorporates lots of other interesting facts and information (not always Maths related) and how the maths is put into real-life context.

We have the levels "Apples", "Jelly-Beans" and "Icecream." To decide which book is best for your child, visit the Life of Fred website.

If you would like to see inside the books, please
WATCH THIS VIDEO!

If you would like more information about Life of Fred Math, you can visit their website by CLICKING HERE.

Life of Fred can be difficult to find in the UK. I purchased mine from Conquest Books. They are the largest supplier of Homeschool curriculum in the UK, and have loads of other useful curriculum for homeschoolers. To visit there website CLICK HERE.

If you are based in USA, Life of Fred is widely available from most homeschool stores including:
- Life of Fred Website
- Educents
- Amazon

Islamic Behaviour Chart

We have been using this sticker chart from MuslimStickers.com to establish a good morning routine with the children.

We have been using the Islamic Behaviour Chart for 4 weeks now, and the change in my kid's behaviour in the morning has been phenomenal! No more sluggish and sleepy boys!

No, they're ready long before I am!

Having a good morning routine is so important, even as adults, to having a productive day. I have seen that when we are slow to start school in the morning, we never get as much done and the children are less enthusiastic.

This reward system has helped us all get ready for the day and begin school by 9am insha'Allah.

You could use this sticker chart in so many ways! When you recieve it, it is almost completely blank and you can customise it as you wish.

For MORE INFORMATION about the Islamic Behaviour Chart, and see what is included in the pack,

you can read December's Homeschool Favourite Blogpost,

watch the accompanying Youtube video,

or Visit MuslimStickers.com

Young Explorers Adventures in Mecca

Receiving this book was such a blessing to our home and to our family.

Young Explorers' Adventures in Makkah is the story of a family's trip to Mecca for Ummrah. In addition to talking about Hajj and Ummrah, the book also relates their travels around many of the historic sites in the area.

Many of you are aware, that the authorities in Saudi are slowly demolishing and covering up sites of Islamic historical significance. Whatever their reasons, there is a risk that knowledge of these places with be lost from the general public.

This wonderful book, shows you where many of these sites can be found. It locates the house of Khadijah (ra) and what it looked like inside. It tells you about the birth place of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and where it can be found. More than half of the book is dedicated to sites around Mecca that hold an importance with the Seerah and our Islamic heritage.

Often, when you come across a book about Hajj and Ummrah it will fall into one of two categories. Either it will be very factual, listing what is fard and sunnah etc., but may be a little "dry". Alternatively, you may find a story book which, although it is very pleasant to read, it provides little information to teach the children from.

This book falls somewhere between the two. Children are captivated by the emotive story-line that runs thoroughout, whilst also learning from the wealth of information it offers about the pilgrimages and the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (saw).

If you are interested in purchasing this book for your family, it is available from Amazon (USA) Amazon (UK) and Wordery.com

For more information, visit their website: Islamopedia.co.uk

I'm so Angry

This is the story of a young boy named Huthayfah, who gets angry with his mother. This touching story draws on the Prophetic advice for the best way to deal with anger.

It is well written and the illustrations are colourful with faceless characters.

If you have a child who struggles to control his or her anger, this book may help you and you child to find ways to cope.

The author, Sarah Javed, is a fellow homeschooler from the U.K. She shares her snippets of her homeschooling life on her Instagram account.

I'm so angry is available from Amazon (USA) and Amazon (UK).

Tiny Twinkle Products

Now for something a little different!

I have been aware for sometime that mainstream bath products contain potentially harmful ingredients. For almsost 2 years, I have been using a variety of natural and/or organic products on my children.

I was delighted to be introduced to Tiny Twinkle Products on Instagram who produce Organic, Natural and HALAL bath products for children.

The products contain only natural ingredients, and gentle on my children's skin. They are all labelled with the "halal" sign, and (very importantly...) they smell incredible!!!

The products in their range retail between £7.50-£18.

The business is run by a Ruhana, a primary school teacher and new mum. When I asked her to tell me a little about herself and why she started her business, she said:

"About a year ago I found out I was pregnant. This was a happy and overwhelming experience as I would become a mother for the first time.
During my pregnancy I started making a list of what I'd need to get for my new arrival. I asked other mothers about their recommendations. I then heard about Johnsons baby products having cancer related chemicals and thought I don't want to put chemical based products on my baby. So I started researching.
I first made my own nappy balm with all natural organic ingredients. After my daughter was born I started using this on her, and noticed that she got no nappy rash at all.
My husband was also impressed and told me to start a business selling organic baby products. Some friends and family had asked about these products as there was a gap in the market for purely organic halal baby products, so I started creating my own brand called 'Tiny Twinkle'.
Alhamdulillah, since starting, the response has been amazing. "

If you are looking a range of halal, natural bath products for kids, I would recommend Tiny Twinkle.

For more information about their range, and to place an order, visit them on Instagram and Facebook.

GIVEAWAY

It's Giveway time!!!

This January I am so happy to be able to share SIX of my favourites with one of you! It's MASSIVE!!!

I will be giving away:
- 1 Copy of I'm So Angry by Sarah Javed – (RRP: £5.99)

- 1 Copy of Young Adventure in Makkah - (RRP: £10.05)

- 1 Islamic Behaviour Chart - (RRP: 4.99)

- 3 Products from Tiny Twinkle (including the Nappy Balm, Mild Shampoo and Whipped Lotion) - (RRP: £29.50)

The January 2017 Favourites Giveaway will run from Friday 27th January at 12AM, until Friday 3rd February at 12AM GMT.

The giveaway is open Internationally.

All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering from overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (click HERE is you would like to know more about Rafflecopter).

I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email.

The winner has 24 hours to respond, otherwise I will have to select another winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you found it useful to see what we've been enjoying in our homeschool this month.

I'd love to know what your family has been using this January :)

Please share in the comments section below insha'Allah.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

You might also like:

CLICK HERE

Our Homeschool Field Trip to London

2017-01-07T20:44:00.003+00:00

Last weekend we traveled down to London with the children to visit the historical sites and museums.

For almost 6 months, we have been meaning to take the kids to London for a field trip, and last weekend we finally did it!!!

I remember visiting the amazing museums and historical sites as a child with my mum. Maybe it's jut nostalgia, but I wanted my children to have the same feelings of awe and also feel inspired as I was when I was young.

It took about 4 hours to drive down from the North-West and reach our hotel near Kew Gardens.

Before we tackled the museums, there was something much more important that we needed to address....our stomachs!!!

The first place we visited was Southall for some GOOD CURRY! We went to Mirch Masala and the food was delicious! After dinner, I visited a lovely Islamic book shop called Al-Jannah bookstore, and purchased a few goodies...but you'll have to wait for my next favourites Youtube video to see them!

After a good night's sleep, we set out to central London by car. I have always been intimidated by driving in central London, however my husband makes it look easy! mashAllah. Thank goodness he was with me!

First stop....

The Natural History Museum

This was the one place that my children insisted we visit because of their extensive collection of dinosaur fossils. Even as a "grown-up", I couldn't help but be impressed by the size of their collection.

The kids particularly enjoyed the robotic T-Rex!

We even found the place where Andy's famous time-travelling clock should have been!

(You know, from CBeebies TV show "Andy's Dinosaur adventure"!)

It's time to go an a Dinosaur Adventure!

In addition to the dinosaurs, we visited the section about Marine
life. The room with the life-size blue whale was incredible!

Then we went to the Volcanoes & Earthquake section. This was my eldest son's favourite part. It is lay out really well, with loads of hands-on learning experiences. There is even one room that you can stand in and experience a simulated earthquake!

My boys were so inspired by this part of the museum, that we are going to incorporate earthquakes and volcanoes into our science this term insha'Allah.

On the drive back to the hotel, we drove through Westminster and saw the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. However, as the kids were tired, instead of stopping to look around, we decided it was best to head back to the hotel.

After another trip to Southall for dinner, we went back to the hotel for a good night's rest.

The next day we visited the British museum.

The British Museum

Honestly, I could spend a week in this museum!

I go nuts for Ancient history, and this museum is full of exhibits and artifacts from every ancient civilisation you can imagine!
It is my happy place!

However this time we only had a morning to spend here so we went straight for the ancient Egypt section.

In our history curriculum, we have spent the last 3 months focusing on Ancient Egypt. It was so nice for the children to see the historical artifacts in real life. The section was very crowded, and seemed really popular with tourists, but we managed to see a lot of fascinating things.

I love the British museum, and I'm already planning our next visit!

Before leaving, we sat and enjoyed some hot chips, whilst admiring the incredible architecture outside.

Travelling around central London with kids can be difficult. One of the best things I can advise is plan ahead; plan your nappy bag, plan your route, plan where you will have lunch, pack snacks...plan plan plan! Also, try not to be over ambitious with what you hope to achieve in the day. Personally, I do not expect to visit more than one place a day, and anything extra is a nice bonus!

He looks like I feel after a day out in London with the kids! ;)
(Mauritian Dodo from the Natural History Museum)

Have you ever taken your children on an educational trip around London?

We are planning to visit London again in the next few months. Where would you recommend we go next time we visit?

I would love to hear your ideas and advice for travelling with kids.

Please leave your comments down below!

To make sure you don’t miss the next blog post or YouTube video:
Subscribe to Our Muslim Homeschool by Email!

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

Homeschool Favourites | December 2016

2017-01-04T14:58:00.003+00:00

Ok, I know it's January...I'm a little late!

December was so much fun! We've had a blast in out homeschool using these books and educational products. I am so excited to share them with you.

There are a few more than usual, but I didn't want to miss anything out!

We are taking a short break for the next few weeks, to give ourselves time to "refuel" and get ready for the term to come.

I am really happy with the way our homeschooling has been going. Alhumdullilah!

With the exception of Maths (I'll talk about that later), we are loving all of our curriculum. The kids really enjoy "school time" and we are excited to start homeschooling again soon!

Homeschool Favourites | December 2016

To take a closer look at the products, and see inside the books I mention in this blog post,

WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!

Myriad Toys

I am in love with this online store!!!

Myriad sell natural toys and crafts, as well as home decor and more! They stock lots of beautiful wooden toys and toys made from natural materials. If you follow the Waldof method of home education, this would be a great shop for you.

We do not follow the Waldorf methodology, but I still adore their toys and craft!

We bought lots of things this time round, and I've already got my eyes on a few others bits!!!

In our haul we purchased:

Star Weavers

My sons were obsessed with these star weavers! For about two days all they wanted to do was make braids with these wooden stars!

Crayon Rocks

These sweet wax crayons are lovely for my toddler's little hands. She can easily grasp these to colour and draw, and we are also using them to teach her the colour names.

Lyra Super Ferby Pencils

These beautiful pencils are highly pigmented and draw beautifully! They are triangular in shape so they are easy for my child to grasp. The only thing is, they don't fit into out existing pencil sharpener, so I've had to purchase one separately (around £4) from Amazon.

Wooden Combs

These were a bit of a splurge, but I needed to get two new combs for the kids. These combs are beautifully made from beech wood, and look and work wonderfully.

Beeswax candles

I've never had beeswax candles and I was curious. I needed some to fit into some of my mother's old candle sticks, and these tapered beeswax candles fitted perfectly!

Write from the Start

This handwriting programme is fantastic! I have never seen anything like it!

Instead of pages and pages of copying out letters, this book contains a huge variety of exercises that improve you child's fine motor and perceptual skills.

My 4 year-old son loves this book, and will often pull it out and start working on it independently!

The Boys Choice: Independent Reading

This month I decided to ask the boys directly, "What was your favourite thing we did in our homeschool this month?"

I thought they might suggest a field trip we went on, or maybe a craft activity...but they surprised me! They chose their independent readers!

My youngest son (4) is reading through the "Biff, Chip and Kipper" books Level 1 from Oxford University Press.

These are great for children who are just beginning to read. There a short stories filled with sight words and CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words. He obviously is enjoying them!

My elder son (6) chose his collection of Roald Dahl books.

These books are fun and silly, and he loves them! I must warn you, they do not teach good character traits, and some may consider them bit rude; but they have given my son so much confidence in reading. He now goes off by himself to read for fun!

A Maths Journey

As I mentioned above, we have had some issues with Maths!

Previously, we had been using Saxon Math 3. I really appreciate this programme's thorough and systematic approach to Maths. However, for my son, the slow pace and the repetition became very frustrating for him. So we decided to make a change!

Instead of using a complete curriculum, I have been piecing together my own Maths curriculum from various resources. These include:

Perform with Times Tables

Math for the Gifted Student Grade 2

Ray's Arithmetic

and

A Maths Journey

A Maths Journey if a collection of 4 books that uses real-life exampls to teach kids to understand topics such as geometry, statistics and algebra. They use a variety of pictograms, infographics, fun illustration and photographs to explain these core concepts.

Titles in this collection include:

Wonders of the World
Extreme Sports
Deep Sea Adventure
Computer Games

These books are fantastic if you're looking for something to stretch you child in their Maths ability, or if your child does not enjoy the usual math book format. These books are so different and I love them!

If you are in the U.K. this collection can be purchased at The Book People.

Ali and Sumaya DVDs

At this time of year, Christmas is all over the T.V.! As a family who have chosen not to celebrate Christmas, it can be a very confusing time of the year for the kids. So the T.V. has been andoff, we have been enjoying these two Ali and Sumaya DVDs: Let's Pray & Let's Read!

The chidren love the nasheeds and the incredible animations. The children have learnt so much from these DVDs, even my little 2 year-old has started reciting parts of Surah Fatihah after watching these DVD mashAllah!

I have previously written two reviews about these DVDs if you want to know more about them, click on the links below:

Let's Pray

Lets Read!

If you are interested in purchasing your own DVDs, visit http://aliandsumaya.com/

Islamic Behaviour Chart

This Reward Chart from The Muslim Stickers Company has transformed our mornings!

We were struggling to get the boys up and going in the mornings. Getting dressed, brushing teeth etc. was taking forever. This meant we were not starting school until after 10am.

This Islamic Behaviour chart has been a great way to motivate the children to get ready and reinforce a good morning routine. It's working so well...too well! The kids are up and ready to start school before I've even had my first cup of coffee!

It is highly customisable and can be used to motivate kids in lots of different ways; such as encouragement to do their homework, chores or improve behaviour.

The stickers are adorable with phrases like:

"Super star MashAllah", "I Love Allah" and "Splendid Subhanullah!"

They're so cute.

These Islamic stickers are great because, not only to they make the child proud of their achievement, but also help to make them proud to be a Muslim! Encouraging a positive self image and Muslim identity is becoming increasingly hard for children growing up in the West, and products like this make it a little easier.

This sticker chart, along with a wide variety of Islamic sticker products, stamps, sweets and toys, can be purchased from MuslimStickers.com

Life of Prophet Muhammad

If you are looking for a new children's book about the Seerah of Prophet Muhammed (S.A.W.), get this one!

Unfortunately, I have found some Islamic children's books to lack depth and "heart". This book,

"The Life of Prophet Muhammed" by Leila Azzam and Aisha Gouverneur, is the best Seerah book we have in our collection.

As I was reading it aloud to the children, the stories it told reminded me of the stories m teacher used to teach us. It is by far the most accurate Seerah book I have come across for children, as well as the most in depth. The illustrations are beautiful, although they are not faceless, and there is a beautiful family tree in the front of the Prophet's family.

As I read this aloud, it moved the children and evoked feelings in them, like not other children's Seerah book has.

Since it goes into quite a lot of detail, I anticipate that this book will be enjoyed for many years to come. If you are reading aloud, this book is suitable for children aged 5-11, or 8+ for independent readers.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what we've been enjoying in our homeschool this month.

Do you have any new discovers? What have you been loving in your home this month?
What is your favourite online store for children's toys?
What is your favourite Seerah book for kids?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

To make sure you don’t miss the next blog post or YouTube video:
Subscribe to Our Muslim Homeschool by Email!

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

See you next month insha'Allah!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

Homeschool Favourites | November 2016

2016-11-29T23:57:00.001+00:00

It's November, and it's time for another Monthly Homeschool favourites!

In these blog posts, I share with you some of the products and resources we have been enjoying in our homeschool this month.

As some of you may have noticed, we didn't do an October Favourites video! Whoops! Actually, my family and I went travelling around Kenya and U.A.E that month. So we took a 3 week break from formal homeschooling, and allowed the children to benefit fully from their new experiences abroad. If you'd like to see some of our holiday photos, you can see them on my Instagram account.

This month, I have so many fun and exciting new products I want to share with you! This includes a really cool electronics kit that my kids adore, some great books we've been enjoying, and a gratitude journal for Muslims.

As usual, we have a GIVEAWAY running this month, so if you'd like to enter, scroll down to the bottom of this post, and enter with the Rafflecopter widget.

HOMESCHOOL FAVOURITES | November 2016

To take a closer look at all the products mentioned in this blog post,
WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Cambridge BrainBox Electronics Kit

My children have really enjoyed using this Electronics Kit from Cambridge BrainBox.

I was looking for an electronics kit to supplement our science lessons. This one was significantly cheaper than everything else on the market, and I think it's great!
It really well-made, and is easy for the kids to use independently.

This kit covers most of Key Stage 1 and 2; working brilliantly as an introduction to electricity for children.

There is an easy-to-follow manual included, that not only explains how to set-up each experiment, but also explains what it shows.

The components are very easy to fit together and your children will have new circuits set up in minutes!
If you don't believe me...WATCH THIS VIDEO!

If your children are interested in electronics, or you are planning to look at electricity as part of our homeschool curriculum, I would highly recommend this Electronics Kit by Cambrdige BrainBox.

The "Making Science Fun" kit is their most basic package. They also have kits to make boats, cars and all kinds of fun projects for your children!

Pinocchio

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi has been an absolute joy to read with my children. This is the original version, that is so different to the Disney movie!

It is full of rich vocabulary, beautiful illustrations and a deep undercurrent of good moral teaching runs throughout the book. It is a feast for the imagination and so much fun!

My eldest always asks me to keep reading from it when I finish a chapter. He has NEVER done that before with any book! mashAllah!

I would recommend Pinocchio for children aged 4-9.

Fitra Homeschool Journal

Finally! A homeschooing journal for the Muslim homeschooling community!

The Fitra Homeschool journal publishes articles written by homeschooling families all around the globe; bringing their perspective and opinions to print. They have articles about homeschooling methodolgies, personal accounts, resource reviews and a plethora of homeschooling information and inspiration.

The Fitra journal is available in both print and digital versions from Amazon.

This issue if no.1, and focuses on "Getting Started"; with articles about organization, budget planning , advice for reluctant parents and self-care tips. It was both informative and really really interesting! I love hearing about how other families approach home-education!

If you are new to home-education, or even if you are very experiences, I think that you will find the Fitra journal a really enjoyable and a useful resource.

365 days with Prophet Muhammad

We LOVE this Seerah Book for Kids!

The 365 Days with Prophet Muhammad has become our new favourite. The book divides the Story of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) into 365 sections; one for each day. 

I love the idea of dedicating part of each day to learning the Seerah of the Prophet. We read our copy bed, in the hope that these stories and meanings will fill my children's dreams, insha'Allah.

365 Days with Prophet Muhammad is available from Ibraheem Toy House.

Gratitude Journal

Children growing up in the West often face the risk of becoming "entitled" and forgetting how Blessed they truly are.

Keeping a gratitude journal is a beautiful way to nurture shukr in your children's hearts.

We are ordered by Allah (SWT) to be grateful slaves, and this is something we must teach to our children:

"Then remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not reject Me" (Al-Baqarah 2:152).

We have been using the Softcover Gratitude Journal for Muslims - #AlhumdulillahForSeries.

This little book is filled with the most incredible water-colour illustrations of examples of things to be grateful for.

There are several lined-pages where you are invited to write down something you want to say "Alhumdulillah for" for each day.

If you are looking for a journal with lots of space to write, this is not the right fit for you. However, I think this journal is perfect for busy people (or for children) who want to develop a habit of gratitude, and would like to simply write down a list of things, or short sentence.

Finding time in our busy lives to reflect on the Blessings in our lives, is a very beneficial practice to teach to your children, and I would urge you find a way to begin this in your home.

Some families simply ask their children to say thank you to Allah before they go to sleep, others make impressive wall-art to display. I recently saw one mother who had made a Gratitude Tree, and on each leaf was written something to be grateful for.

The Gratitude Journal for Muslims is available in Softcover, Hardcover and as a Download.
You can purchase it from the Ayeina Website, or find your local distributor.

GIVEAWAY

It's GIVEAWAY Time!

This November I am thrilled to be able to share TWO of my favourites with one of you!!!

I will be giving away:
- 1 Softcover Gratitude Journal for Muslims – #AlhamdulillahForSeries from Ayeina.com (RRP: £12)

- 1 Fitra Journal: The Muslim Homeschool Quarterly: Issue#1(RRP: £7.56)

The November 2016 Favourites Giveaway will run until Wednesday 7th December 2016 at 12AM GMT.

The giveaway is open Internationally.

All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering from overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (click HERE is you would like to know more about Rafflecopter).

I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email.

The winner has 24 hours to respond, otherwise I will have to select another winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you found it useful to see what we've been enjoying in our homeschool this month.

I'd love to know what your family has been using this November :)
Please let me and all my lovely readers know in the comments below!

To make sure you don’t miss the next blog post or YouTube video:
Subscribe to Our Muslim Homeschool by Email!

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

See you next month insha'Allah!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

A Day in the Life | Our Muslim Homeschool (2016)

2016-11-21T19:34:00.001+00:00

Hi Everyone!

This is A Day in a Life of Our Muslim Homeschool!

Watch what we do on a typical day; from early morning Quran, morning lessons, craft projects and our afternoon nature walk!

Come along and see how we home educate our children!

WATCH THIS VIDEO:

Products mentioned in this vlog (includes affiliate links):

Holy Quran for Beginners: http://amzn.to/2fLlL6b (UK)
http://amzn.to/2ga4DUQ (USA)

Qai'dah: https://safarpublications.org/product/abridged-qaidah-a5/

Maths: https://raysarithmetic.wordpress.com/ (free download)
Multplication Book: http://amzn.to/2gCLBLW (UK)
http://amzn.to/2gvFOab (USA)

Spelling: http://amzn.to/2eZDpDW (UK)
http://amzn.to/2ga56X6 (USA)

First Language Lessons: http://amzn.to/2eZFcce (UK)
http://amzn.to/2ga6LM5 (USA)

Alphabet Sound Puzzle: http://desidollcompany.com/product-category/sound-puzzles/

Magnetic Calendar: http://amzn.to/2gw7sno (UK)

http://amzn.to/2gDlx32 (USA)

Islamic Calendar: http://ourmuslimhomeschool.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/islamic-calendar-for-children_14.html

ABC Mouse: 30 DAY FREE TRIAL! (Affiliate)
Click the link below:
http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-8201566-12635175-1467988603000

BFG: http://amzn.to/2fiDiyT (UK)
http://amzn.to/2geXsf7 (USA)

Story of the World: http://amzn.to/2fLqMvI (UK)
http://amzn.to/2eZGBzw (USA)

Pinnochio: http://amzn.to/2gvInZy (UK)
http://amzn.to/2gf0Vdx (USA)

If you have any more questions, feel free to leave me a comment down below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

This post has been shared at Nourishing Joy, What Joy Is Mine, Chaotic Bliss Homeschooling and The Modest Mom Blog.

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Ancient China: Ming Bowl Craft

2016-11-17T14:19:00.000+00:00

We have been learning about Ancient China in our homeschool. The history of China is so interesting, and the children have really enjoyed learning more about the Chinese culture.

In addition to the history of China, we have learnt more about the physical Geography of China, including map work and read some Ancient Chinese legends.

The idea for this craft came from Story of the World: Activity Book 1.

Both my 6 year-old and 4 year-old boys enjoyed doing this activity, and our Ancient Ming bowls look beautiful displayed in our dining area.

Ancient Chinese Bowl Craft

Craft Supplies:

Air Drying Clay
Cling-film (Plastic wrap)
Small plastic bowl
Rolling Pin
Blunt knife
Blue paint
White glue (optional)
Paint Brush

How to Make your Ming Bowl:

Roll out clay to about 1 cm thick, so that it will cover the entire plastic bowl.

Wrap the plastic bowl in cling-filmand turn upside down. Make sure your surfaces are covered in newspaper or an old table cloth.

Lay the clay over the upturned bowl.

Use your knife to trim away the excess clay and make the edges smooth.

Leave clay to dry over-night.

Once completely dry, use your blu paint to decorate the outside of the bowl. Chinese pottery was typically painted with flowers, birds and outdoor scenery. Leave to dry.

If you would like to give your bowl a gloss finish, mix 2 parts glue with 1 part water to make a glaze. Paint this mixture over the entire bowl, and leave to dry.

Here are my son's beautiful Ancient Chinese Ming Bowls:

My 6 year-old painted waves onto his bowl, and my younger son (4 years-old) chose to paint trees on his. They were really pleased with the results and have been showing these bowls to anyone who comes to visit!

More Resources for Ancient China Unit Study:

Other Resources we have used for our Ancient China Unit Study include:

Story of the World: Volume 1: Ancient Times

The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

The Story About Ping (Independent Reader)

This Fun Youtube Video!

We have really enjoyed learning about Ancient China. The only thing left to do now s get some Chinese take-away and watch Kung-fu Panda!

Have you been looking at Ancient China in your homeschool? Have you done any interest Chinese crafts?
I would really love to hear what resources you have been using. Please share with us in the comments below!

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

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Advice to Ambitious Mothers: Muslim Lifestyle Expo 2016

2016-11-13T16:05:00.000+00:00

Can we have it all?

Can we be devoted mothers, beloved wives and have a career of our own?

How do Muslim businesswomen manage to juggle all their responsibilities?

It was an honour, to be invited to the Muslim Lifestyle Expo 2016 as an on of their Official Bloggers. I had planned to scour the MLE arena, looking for innovative new toys or books that my readers would be interested in.

However, in addition to the incredible products I saw there, what moved me the most, was speaking to the Muslim businesswomen. I was intrigued how they managed to run a business, take care of their home, the needs of their husband and children and themselves. I wanted to know, what motivated them when they started the business and what keeps them going?

I met so many incredibly strong and ambitious Muslim women at the MLE, and I want to share their story and the advice they gave me here.

To see my vlog of the Muslim Lifestyle Expo, and hear from these women yourselves,

WATCH THIS VIDEO:

Advice to Ambitious Mothers: Muslim Lifestyle Expo

The organisers of the MLE announced that more than 60% of exhibitors were women. Many of these women had children and were running their business from home.

Here are just a few of the inspiring women I met there:

Nazia Nasreen: Ibraheem Toy House

When I arrived, I knew exactly who I wanted to meet first; Nazia Nasreen, the Founder and CEO of Ibraheem Toy House!

Ibraheem Toy House is the U.K.'s first and largest online Islamic Toy Store.

Nazia began her business at home when her children were very young. Having begun with only 4 products and a Facebook page, she now, only 2 years later, sells more than 200 products from her website, has international clientele, and was recently featured in the Times, Business Quarterly, and the Guardian.

When I spoke to Nazia about what advice she would give mothers, who want to start a business she said,

“Go for it! Don’t think that starting your own business means that you wont be a good mum….You’re actually setting a really good example for your children because you are showing them that you can get good things in life by working hard.”

To hear the rest of this interview, WATCH THE VIDEO!

Sabah Nazir: Islamic Moments

Sabah Nazir, the founder of Islamic Moments, began her business in 2004 selling mainstream greeting cards; and then later venturing into Islamic products.

Her company, sells a range of Islamic greeting cards, Eid and Ramadan décor, and stationary. They recently launched a line of beautiful mugs for Muslim homes, and an Arab-inspired fragrance collection.

Sabah’s advice to mums who want to start a business from home was,

“Time-management is the key to everything! Be super, super organised...Believe in Allah and insha’Allah things will be right.”

To hear more from Sabah, WATCH THIS VIDEO!

The Sweet Board

The wonderful thing about the MLE, is that you get introduced to amazing products and services that you never knew existed!

Sister Saadia, managing director of The Sweet Board, runs her confectionery business from home.

She said,

“It has always been a hobby of mine to do party favours…and now its expanded!”

Her stand was so beautifuly presented mashAllah! To see it yourselfe and hear more from Saadia, WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Zukreat Nazar – AOM Cosmetics

If you don’t know who Zukreat is…where have you been?!?!?

Zukreat Nazar, is the Founder and CEO of Artist of Makeup Cosmetics, and has a Youtube following of more than 300K and Instagram following of more than 570K!

She was part of a panel of Muslim business women, talking about how they started their businesses, what their motivation was, and how they juggle their many responsibilities.

Zukreat said,

“ If you’re planning to have a business, have good people around you to give you confidence….If you have a passion for something, and you feel you’re good at it, just pursue it!”

For more advice from Zukreat, WATCH THIS VIDEO

Zanib Mian

– Author and Founding Director of Muslim Children’s Books and Sweet Apple Publishers

I met Zanib Mian on the Ibraheem Toy House stand, where she came to do a book signing and read from her book “Migo and Ali”.

What struck me most about Zanib, were her manners mashAllah. She is so polite and humble, despite her many achievements, and is very approachable and easy to talk to.

Sweet Apple Publishers was set up in 2004 to truly represent the world we live in with diverse characters taking the main roles in their books. Her second publishing house, Muslim Children’s Books, publishes books with the aim to inspire a love of Allah in young children’s hearts, through vibrant illustrations, quirky wording and a sprinkling of humour!

Coming away from the event, I felt almost euphoric! It was as if my eyes had been opened to so many possibilities!

Perhaps it is possible for a mother to pursue her dreams and ambitions, and still manage all her other responsibilities. Perhaps it’s not just those untouchable “superwomen” who can do it…maybe I could do it…maybe you could too!

I have heard many people speak about business in a negative light; it is just chasing the dunya (the temporal world), and it is for people who are only interested in money.

However what motivated the inspiring women I met couldn’t have been further from that! Their motivation was not amassing money (although that was a perk!), but rather it was to make a positive impact on the world, and help people in someway.

Ultimately, these lofty intentions have turned running their businesses into a form of worship. May Allah accept their efforts and reward their intentions.

I cannot wait for the next Muslim Lifestyle Show! The atmosphere was amazing, and we all left the event feeling positive and proud to be Muslim! I hope I'll see you all at the next event :)

What do you think about mother's running a business?

Do you think women can juggle it all, or is it an unnecessary pressure that modern women put upon themselves?

Are you a stay-at-home mum who works from home? How to manage everything?

Or are you choosing to wait until your children are older before you begin?

Lets have a discussion in the comments below! (Keep it polite please! )

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

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Homeschool Favourites | September 2016

2016-09-15T23:35:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it's September already!

In this blog-post I will share some of the products and books we have been enjoying in our Muslim homeschool this month.

I'm thrilled to show you a really great science kit, some art equipment that my son loves, and even an app that my youngest son plays!

We also have a GIVEAWAY running this month, so if you'd like to enter, please scroll down to the bottom of this post to the Rafflecopter widget.

Homeschool Favourites | September 2016

To get a better look at all the products mentioned in this blog-post, WATCH THIS VIDEO:

Table Art Easel

This table-top art easel is made by the company Winsor and Newton. We decided to give this to my eldest as an Eid gift, because he is developing an interest in art.

Well...needless to say...HE LOVES IT!

Thanks to its beautiful leather handle, he seems to be carrying it around everywhere!

Our bay window has become his "Art Studio!"

Inside the easel there is room to store lots of arts supplies, and the adjustable arms means that it can be used with a wide range of canvas sizes.

If you have a child who loves to paint, but don't have the space for a full-sized easel, then this table easel might be a great for your family!

Almost done!

Magnetic Science Kit

The boys have really enjoyed using this Magnetic Science Kit by Thames and Kosmos to supplement our science curriculum.

We have been learning about magnetism and this kit has been a fantastic resources. It contains all the specialist equipment you need for 33 experiments (including loads of different magnets, iron fillings, magnetic discs, a compass and loads more!) and a instruction manual.

The experiments in this particular science kit teach children the basic principles of what is magnetic, why its magnetic, how compasses work, and introduces electro-magnetism. There are also instructions for some fun games you can do with the magnets!

Migo and Ali: Love for the Prophets

My kids are really enjoying this collection of stories about the Prophets of Allah. This books contains stories about fifteen different Prophets (A.S.), with a large section at the back dedicated to stories about Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.).

The stories are short, well-written and each section end with a dialogue between Migo and Ali as they talk about what they learnt.
The illustrations are beautiful! It is worth noting that there are no depictions of the Prophets or Sahaba in the pictures.

They have also made the effort to have the book approved by scholars of Islam.

This wonderful book is suitable for children aged 3-8, and is one of those books that your family will pick up again and again to read together.

I got my copy from IbraheemToyhouse.com

Gambian Mommy Arabic Worksheets

In Our Muslim Homeschool, we have been making an effort to teach my youngest son the letters of the Arabic alphabet. In my quest to good educational resources, I was introduced to these worksheets by Gambian Mommy.

Ngaima Sesay designed and produced these worksheets, as she was becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of resources available to teach her own children Arabic.

As a homeschooling mum herself, she recognised the need for good quality teaching material, and set about producing an incredible selection of Arabic worksheets for other mothers.

The worksheets she has put together are brilliant! There is so much variety! Whether you child learns visually, or by writing, or is an auditory learner, there are worksheets for everyone! There are even games for the kinesthetic learners amongst us!

Some worksheets are in black and white, and others in colour...they're so pretty! It is clear that a huge amount of time and thought that has gone into these worksheets.

Each pack has instructions on how to use them, a phonics section to help parents pronounce the letters correctly, and a dictionary section to explain the meanings of words.

If you are looking for interesting and fun ways to teach young children the Arabic alphabet, I would highly recommend you
on the Gambian Mommy store on TeachersPayTeachers.com.

Alif Baa app

When I asked my 4 year-old son what he thought of this app he said, "It's cool!"

I totally agree with him! The Alif Baa app teaches children the letters of the Arabic alphabet, as well as some Arabic vocabulary.

There are four games to chose from:

- Flashcard style game: Where cards with each letter are shown, and sounded out, along with a new vocabulary word .

- Find the letter: The game says a letter and the student has to find it in amongst the other letters.

-Put the letters in order: The student has to put the letters of the Arabic alphabet in order in the quickest time.

- Trace the Letters: Students are shown how to write each letter and then have to trace along the dotted lines.

This app is a wonderful way to make learning Arabic fun and enjoyable for young kids.

For more information on this app CLICK HERE.

SheCasa Hijabs Prayer Dress

When you stand on your prayer mat, in the presence of your Lord, it is nice to present yourself in something clean, and beautiful...something special!

SheCasa Hijabs is a shop on Facebook and Instagram that specialises in handmade Prayer dresses and Tasbeehs.

The material they use is so soft and luxurious, and they look so beautiful!

I have had prayer dresses in the past from abroad, and they always fray at the seams and the material seems cheap.

However the prayer dresses from SheCasa Hijabs are a great quality and so well made mash'Allah. They are beautiful!

GIVEAWAY

It's GIVEAWAY TIME!

This September I am so happy to share THREE of my favorites with one of you!!!

I will be giving away:
- 3 Worksheet Packs from the Gambian Mommy (RRP: $12.00)

- 1 AlifBaa app (RRP: $1.99) - iPad or iPhone only.

- 1 Prayer Dress and 1 Tasbeeh from SheCasa Hijabs

The September 2016 Favourites Giveaway will run until Friday 23rd September 2016 at 12AM GMT.

The giveaway is open Internationally.

All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (click HERE is you would like to know more about Rafflecopter).

I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email.

The winner has 24 hours to respond, otherwise I will have to select another winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway =

I hope you found it useful to see what we've been enjoying in our homeschool this month.

I'd love to know what your family has been using this September :)
Please let us all know in the comments below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

See you next month insha'Allah!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

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Homeschool Curriculum Choices: Kindergarten & 1st Grade

2016-09-04T20:21:00.000+01:00

I am so excited to share Our Muslim Homeschool Curriculum choices for 2016-2017.

In the U.K. my sons would be in Reception (Kindergarten) and Year 2 (1st Grade).

We follow an eclectic approach, drawing heavily from the Classical approach and the Charlotte Mason method.

Please WATCH THIS VIDEO to see what books and resources we are using this year in our homeschool. If you want more information, or would like to buy anything for your family, I have given links in this blog post for almost everything that is mentioned!

I hope you enjoy the video and find benefit in it!

Introduction

National Curriculum: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110113104120/http:/nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/

Well-Trained Mind:

http://amzn.to/2c5R1MW (UK) http://amzn.to/2bOZq5u (USA)

Home Learning Year by Year:

http://amzn.to/2c3UgSV (UK) http://amzn.to/2bNWgSg (USA)

For the Children’s Sake:

http://amzn.to/2bLugZb (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpkjCE (USA)

Charlotte Mason Companion:

http://amzn.to/2c5SJxW (UK) http://amzn.to/2bNVFQn (USA)

Pocketful of Pinecones:

http://amzn.to/2cbyE8f (UK) http://amzn.to/2ceJ0Tg (USA)

KINDERGARTEN

MCP Phonics:

http://amzn.to/2bNVAMO (UK) http://amzn.to/2bNWTeA (USA)

MCP Maths:

http://amzn.to/2c5Tirr (UK) http://amzn.to/2bLMezY (USA)

FIRST GRADE

MATHS

Saxon Math 3:

http://amzn.to/2c3VQ75 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bZDan4 (USA)

Rays Arithmetic:

https://raysarithmetic.wordpress.com/

Problem Solving:

http://amzn.to/2bNWKHS (UK) http://amzn.to/2bZCcqX (USA)

Maths for the Gifted Student:

http://amzn.to/2c5TJCd (UK) http://amzn.to/2bNX1ef (USA)

Kumon Multiplication:

http://amzn.to/2c5TU0d (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpkwGd (USA)

LITERACY

Well-Trained Mind:

http://amzn.to/2c5R1MW (UK) http://amzn.to/2bOZq5u (USA)

First Language Lessons:

http://amzn.to/2bNXJYI (UK) http://amzn.to/2bNXrkt (USA)

Spelling Workout B:

http://amzn.to/2c5TIOK (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpkZs4 (USA)

Spelling Workout C:

http://amzn.to/2bVq0Zj (UK) http://amzn.to/2cplHp8 (USA)

Spelling Workout Table of Contents and Sample: http://www.christianbook.com/spelling-workout-level-b-teacher-edition/9780765224897/pd/224897?event=AAI

Read Me Out Loud:

http://amzn.to/2bNYGAk (UK) http://amzn.to/2bP28I5 (USA)

A Child’s Garden of Verses:

http://amzn.to/2c5UlYG (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpm42R (USA)

Montmorency’s Book of Rhymes:

http://amzn.to/2bNZm8N (UK) http://amzn.to/2bVq9Mu (USA)

Winnie the Pooh:

http://amzn.to/2bVsmr0 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bVqGy7 (USA)

Carol Vonderman Handwriting:

http://amzn.to/2bVqcI3 (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpm96I (USA)

The Content of Character:

http://amzn.to/2ck0ix4 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bP3Adp (USA)

The Black Ships before Troy:

http://amzn.to/2bLxr3j (UK) http://amzn.to/2bNZiG3 (USA)

Bambi:

http://amzn.to/2ck0Y5w (UK) http://amzn.to/2bP45o1 (USA)

Charlotte’s Web:

http://amzn.to/2bNYUrj (UK) http://amzn.to/2bO0kC7 (USA)

A Bear Called Paddington:

http://amzn.to/2ck1dh3 (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpnmes (USA)

Just So Stories:

http://amzn.to/2c5VvDm (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpnnPr (USA)

Hardy Boys:

http://amzn.to/2c3X3eR (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpnSc9 (USA)

The Happy Prince:

http://amzn.to/2bVsnLL (UK) http://amzn.to/2bO00TM (USA)

The Wind in the Willows:

http://amzn.to/2ck18dn (UK) http://amzn.to/2ceLpgQ (USA)

Jungle Book:

http://amzn.to/2c3YcTp (UK) http://amzn.to/2bO0x8q (USA)

Raggedy Anne:

http://amzn.to/2bVrnXZ (UK) http://amzn.to/2c5VKhF (USA)

Winnie the Pooh:

http://amzn.to/2bVsmr0 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bVqGy7 (USA)

Audible FREE TRIAL:

http://amzn.to/2bO0BVz (UK)

Audible FREE TRIAL:
http://amzn.to/2bO11Lq (USA)

Magic Treehouse:

http://amzn.to/2bO0QQh (UK) http://amzn.to/2c5VSxF (USA)

Tutankhamun:

http://amzn.to/2bO1Dko (UK) http://amzn.to/2bZF1bu (USA)

Time Warp Trio:

http://amzn.to/2c5Wx29 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bVrHWK (USA)

The Odyssey:

http://amzn.to/2bLzjJo (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpqqHh (USA)

Stories from Ancient Eygpt:

http://amzn.to/2bLUIH5 (UK) http://amzn.to/2c3yjUT (USA)

The Trojan Horse:

http://amzn.to/2bO94rV (UK) http://amzn.to/2bW7wpZ (USA)

The Greek News:

http://amzn.to/2bO8hHd (UK) http://amzn.to/2bPbJ1p (USA)

Croco’Nile:

http://amzn.to/2bO99M1 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bW8zX6 (USA)

Magic School Bus:

http://amzn.to/2bVw6cl (UK) http://amzn.to/2cqm1qi (USA)

MTH: Leonardo Da Vinci:

http://amzn.to/2bO8Fp6 (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpydon (USA)

Usborne: Leonado Da Vinci:

http://amzn.to/2bO8b2x (UK) http://amzn.to/2cqmvNl (USA)

Laurence Anholt Books:

http://amzn.to/2bO8SIX (UK) http://amzn.to/2bVwCH9 (USA)

The World of Peter Rabbit:

http://amzn.to/2bLUDU4 (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpzmw8 (USA)

My First Story Writing Book:

http://amzn.to/2bVyjo7 (UK) http://amzn.to/2bWaYkt (USA)

HISTORY

The Story of the World:

http://amzn.to/2bLXAnf (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpCN6d (USA)

The Story of the World Activity Book:

http://amzn.to/2c64ioS (UK) http://amzn.to/2cznoo0 (USA)

Usborne Ancient Egypt Sticker Book:

http://amzn.to/2c64G6D (UK) http://amzn.to/2bVAurR (USA)

Egyptian Painting Kit:

http://amzn.to/2c65l8n (UK) http://amzn.to/2bOdA9M (USA)

Egyptian Mummy Kit:

http://amzn.to/2cbM0kO (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpE1OZ (USA)

Book of Centuries:

https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/basic-book-of-centuries/

Book of Centuries Cover Page:

http://afterthoughtsblog.net/2013/08/my-book-of-centuries-solution.html

SCIENCE

What’s smaller than a pygmy shrew?:

http://amzn.to/2bLYUGJ (UK) http://amzn.to/2c3DtQK (USA)

Switch on, Switch off:

http://amzn.to/2bOeLWS (UK) http://amzn.to/2bWfn6P (USA)

What makes a Magnet?:

http://amzn.to/2bOeK4W (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpEoco (USA)

What is the World Made of?:

http://amzn.to/2c470ce (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpEPTP (USA)

Germs make me sick:

http://amzn.to/2cbMVBM (UK) http://amzn.to/2bWg3t0 (USA)

Usborne Science Encyclopaedia:

http://amzn.to/2c47RcX (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpEYXy (USA)

DK Science Encyclopaedia:

http://amzn.to/2bOflUm (UK) http://amzn.to/2bOeVxr (USA)

Berenstain Bears:

http://amzn.to/2bVBqfU (UK) http://amzn.to/2bWj9Nw (USA)

See inside your body:

http://amzn.to/2bOf5ox (UK) http://amzn.to/2czoQXr (USA)

Everybody has a Body:

http://amzn.to/2c47Eq7 (UK) http://amzn.to/2c3FgVO (USA)

Magnetic Science Kit:

http://amzn.to/2bOfK9d (UK) http://amzn.to/2c67fFV (USA)

Usborne Spotter’s Guide:

http://amzn.to/2bOgsDu (UK) http://amzn.to/2bWhDuQ (USA)

Usborne Beginner Series:

http://amzn.to/2c67roE (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpFOmW (USA)

Looking at Nature:

http://amzn.to/2bOgaN0 (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpGARb (USA)

Burgess Bird Book:

http://amzn.to/2c67oco (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpGeKa (USA)

A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady:

http://amzn.to/2bOgFqf (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpGmJK (USA)

Handbook of Nature Study:

http://amzn.to/2bM1pcd (UK) http://amzn.to/2bOg8EV (USA)

British Birds Handbook:

http://amzn.to/2bOgBqC (UK) http://amzn.to/2cqtWnu (USA)

Food for Free:

http://amzn.to/2cbNCLm (UK) http://amzn.to/2czpmVf (USA)

First Book of the Seashore:

http://amzn.to/2c6869F (UK) http://amzn.to/2c68c1a (USA)

Little Book of Outside in all Weather:

http://amzn.to/2cbOaB0 (UK)

ART

Famous Paintings Cards:

http://amzn.to/2c48UJS (UK) http://amzn.to/2c3FQTs (USA)

Children’s Book of Art:

http://amzn.to/2bOi7sF (UK) http://amzn.to/2c68LrK (USA)

Lives of the Great Artists:

http://amzn.to/2cbOAat (UK) http://amzn.to/2cpGVTK (USA)

Start Exploring Masterpieces:

http://amzn.to/2bM1M6Q (UK) http://amzn.to/2bOipQh (USA)

Famous Artists:

http://amzn.to/2bOhRK7 (UK) http://amzn.to/2c68p4b (USA)

Children’s Book of Art:

http://amzn.to/2c68o0q (UK) http://amzn.to/2c3Hnc9 (USA)

Heinmann First Library:

http://amzn.to/2bOiUK2 (UK)

Easy Carpentry Projects:

http://amzn.to/2cbPNP0 (UK) http://amzn.to/2cquEBx (USA)

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you found this blog post useful and got some ideas for your family.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

You Might Like:

CLICK HERE

How we Teach the 99 Names of Allah

2016-08-26T14:26:00.001+01:00

This blog-post was written in partnership with Al Maurid Books. Although I was compensated for my time, and given a review copy of the book, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

Teaching the 99 Names of Allah can be challenging for any Muslim parent. In our Muslim homeschool, we use a variety of creative and hands-on activities to help our children remember the names of Allah.

I believe that learning the names of Allah does not need to be rushed. By taking our time, we allow the names of Allah to impact on their hearts, thereby helping to nurture a deeper and stronger connection to the Divine insha'Allah.

Each activity below is designed to help children understand the 99 names of Allah. The names themselves can seem complicated and somewhat abstract to young children. By associating the Divine name with an activity or craft, we show the children a more concrete representation of that name, creating a connection that will help with memorisation, as well as their understanding.

And besides....it's so much more fun this way!!!

To watch a Youtube Video about all the activities we have been doing,
CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW!

Why Learn the 99 Names of Allah?

Learning the names of Allah (swt) is a great way to help children to understand the nature of Allah and create a love for the divine in their hearts insha'Allah.

It has been narrated Abu Huraira that the Prophet (SAW) said,

“Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”

Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 50 Hadith 894

How We Teach the 99 Names of Allah

Allah

The first place we began is with the name "Allah."

Using a FREE TEMPLATE of the name, we filled in the letters with sequins and buttons to make a beautiful calligraphy to hang-up on our wall.

Alternatively, you could use glitter, tissue paper or even make a collage from old magazines or newspapers.

Al-Khaliq

Al-Khaliq can be translated as "The Creator".

For this name, I felt the best way to teach the children about how Allah creates, is to witness His creation.

So we went outdoors; to the park, to the woods, and just around our own garden, and spent some time talking together about what Allah had created. We talked about how He created everything from nothing, with no help.

This concept is something that even the youngest of children can understand. Allah made the clouds, Allah made the sun, Allah made the birds etc.

I asked the children to collect things from our nature walk. We came home with so many twigs, leaves and flowers!

Once we got home, we made a poster using a FREE Colouring Page of the name Al-Khaliq.

Around the name we stuck all the beautiful things that the chlidren had collected. It looked lovely up on the kitchen wall!

For more details about this craft, you can read my previous blogpost HERE.

Al-Malik

Al-Malik translates as "The King."

As a visual representation of this name, the children made a crown!

Whilst they were making it, we talked about how Allah doesn't wear a crown, and how Allah does not look like any king that they can imagine. We spoke a little about the role of a king and I asked them,"Who is the King of the Kings? ..... Allah!"

If you would like to make this crown with your children, CLICK HERE.

Ar- Razzaq

Recently, we have been learning the name Ar-Razzaq which translates as "The Provider."

To help the children understand this name better, we have been using the book "Aishah Learns to Bake" by Latifah Peerbux.

This is the story of a young girl called Aishah who wants to bake. Her mum agrees to teach her how, but she asks her to guess all the ingredients they need. What is wonderful is how her mum uses clues with an Islamic or Prophetic twist!!!

For example, as a clue for dates, her mum says,

"Allah even says we find this fruit up in heaven!

It's the same fruit we eat in Ramadan to break our fast!"

Aishah continues to guess all the ingredients for her cakes, learning more and more as she does so.

The book ends with her father explaining to her how Allah is Ar-Razzaq, the Provider.

It's a sweet and heart-warming story that helps children to understand what a blessing it is to have food, as well as the Blessings that different foods contain; and ultimately to be more grateful to Allah for providing us with them.

As the hands-on activity, we made the Honey and Date cupcakes that Aishah and her mum baked. They were delicious! Alhumdulillah!

Ingredients

Whisking is so much fun when you're 4 years-old!

My toddler wanted to join in!

Decorating the Cupcakes

Honey and Date Cupcakes! Yum!

Al- Wadood

Al-Wadood can be translated as "The Most Loving."

The idea that Allah loves us, even more than mummy and daddy, is something that even very young children will understand. This art activity is a great one for small kids too!

We drew the outline of a heart onto a piece of paper. The children then scrunched up lots of small piece of tissue paper and glued them all over the heart!

They looked so pretty, and were a wonderful visual reminder that Allah loves them!

Ar-Rahman

Most recently, we have been looking at the name Ar-Rahman, which can be translated as "The Most Compassionate."

I'm still thinking about what hands-on activity we can use to help the children to better understand this concept.

My initial idea was to ask the children to take care of our cats for a week. I hope that this will teach them that just as they are taking care of their cats, Allah is taking care of them, and their family, and all the people in the whole world, and all of creation!

What do you think? If you have a better idea I'd really appreciate it if you would share it with us all in the comments section below!!!

Have you been teaching the 99 Names of Allah to your children?

How did you approach it?

If you have any useful resources, I'd love to hear about them.

Please let us all know by leaving a comment down below!

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

Homeschool Favourites | August 2016

2016-08-16T22:35:00.000+01:00

We have officially started school again and we're having a great time!

Although having a break is so important, we really missed the routine and structure that our homeschooling brings to our day!

I'm so happy to be sharing some exciting new books and educational resources that we've been enjoying this month in Our Muslim Homeschool.

Homeschool Favourites | August 2016

For an overview of all the products mentioned, and to see them in more detail

WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Eastcolight Human Torso Set

This model of the human body has been such a hit with the children!

They love seeing where all the organs and bones go... taking it apart, and putting it back together again.

It's a fantastic hands-on way of teaching anatomy, and it has really got them excited to learn more about the human body.

It also comes with fact cards, a poster, a manual and a calorie-counting wheel. To be honest, the kids haven't used any of these extra bits yet. They're too interested in the model itself!

Pocketful of Pinecones

This book continues to inspire me every time I read from it!

This is a book for homeschool mums, or anyone who is interested in knowing more about the Charlotte Mason method of home-education.

It is a fictitious journal of a homeschooling mother based in the U.S.A. around 100 years ago. She decides to take her children out of school and, with the help of only one of Charlotte Mason's books, she begin homeschooling her children.

There is a lot of focus on nature study and on "mother culture" in this book.
For more information on "Mother Culture" CLICK HERE.

The chapters are short and perfect for busy mums who don't have time to read as much as they would like.

This has to be one of the most inspiring books I have ever read, and I can see myself re-reading over and over again!

I enjoyed it so much, I have already purchased two more from the same author:

Lessons at Blackberry Inn

Charlotte Mason Companion

iPray Salah Pad

My eldest son has really enjoyed using this interactive toy to learn how to pray. Although he used to enjoy praying with me, he seems to have entered in new "phase" where he wants to learn independently...and this even includes the Salah (prayer)!

He has benefited immensely from this toy. The illustrations show him what to do, and when you press on them, he hears what he is supposed to say. He loves it!

In addition to the prayer, it also teaches the wudu, the athaan, and many more duaas.

You can buy it in PINK or BLUE and is available to purchase from Ibraheem Toyhouse

Aishah Learns To Bake

This is an endearing story about a little girl called Aishah who wants to bake! Her mother uses this opportunity to teach Aishah about where all the ingredients come from.

It's a lovely way to show children how blessed they are to have food, and to be grateful for it. It also introduces children to the foods mentioned in the Quran and the name of Allah "ar-Razzaq," (the Provider).

The illustrations are clever and cute (much like Aishah), and my boys were laughing the whole way through the story!

We enjoyed the story so much, we decided to make the same honey and date cupcakes that Aishah and her mum made. There is a recipe in the back of the book. They turned really good mash'Allah!

Nature Study

Finally, although it's not a "tangible" thing, I really wanted to share how much we've been enjoying our nature walks this month.

The weather has been a little unpredictable, but it hasn't stopped us! We've really been making the most the woodlands and parks around us.

Not only do my children benefit from our time outdoors, but I find that I personally need that time away from the home to unwind and reflect.

If you don't already, I would highly recommend that you schedule some outdoor time into your homeschool routine. It has brought so much balance and peace to our family. Subhanullah!

GIVEAWAY!

It's Giveaway time!

This August I am excited to share TWO of my favorites with one of you!!!

I will be giving away:
- One copy of Aishah Learns To Bake (RRP: £5.57)- One iPray Salah Pad in Pink (RRP: £17.00)
The August 2016 Favourites Giveaway will run until Wednesday 24th August 2016 at 12AM GMT.

The giveaway is open Internationally.

All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (click HERE is you would like to know more about Rafflecopter).

I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email.

The winner has 24 hours to respond, otherwise I will have to select another winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you enjoyed seeing what we've been enjoying in our homeschool this month.

I'd love to hear about what your family has been using this August :)
Please let us all know in the comments below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

See you next month insha'Allah!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

You Might Also Like:

CLICK HERE

Looking ahead: Algebra, SAT Prep and University!

2016-08-07T23:48:00.002+01:00

This blog-post was written in partnership with Mr. D Math. Although I was compensated for my time, and given free access to the online material, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

Before I even began home-schooling my children, I was planning ahead!

How will I teach Algebra, Geometry and higher level Math when it’s been almost 15 years since I was at school?

How will they get into University, and how do they prepare for standardized tests like the SATs?

I was worried about all this before my son even knew the alphabet!

Maybe it’s my Type A personality, but finding out this information gave me the reassurance and confidence I needed to start homeschooling!

Although we live in the U.K., we have always used Math curriculum from U.S.A., as the choices of Homeschool Math curriculum in the U.K. are limited.

We have also considered that the children may choose to apply to Colleges and Universities in the “States”, as home-education is more widely accepted there.

So now I was on a mission to find out, how will my homeschooled children get into University in America?

How will I prepare them for all the SATs, ACTs or FCATs?

What resources are there available for a homeschooling mum like me from England?

I was delighted in my quest for answers, to come across Mr. D Math.

Mr. D Math

Mr. D Math is the creation of an ex-secondary teacher Dennis DiNoia. He left the school system ten years ago and has since created an innovative online curriculum of his own, that teaches Math as a language, with great success, helping hundreds of students improve their SAT, ACT and FCAT scores.

His online curriculum is taught primarily through recorded videos, with the addition of accompanying homework to reinforce what has been learnt.

Exploring Mr. D Math

I really liked his energy in the videos and the dynamic way he presents the material.

He also hand-writes the questions and answers, rather than using “computer-text.” Handwritten text has been proven to be more effective in keeping the student’s attention and helping them to retain what was taught.

Students then have to grade their own work, which again acts to reinforce the lesson.

The package includes two exams, online access to Mr D Math teachers (if you have a question), and you can attend a LIVE online Math class once a week. Here is an example of what the LIVE class would be like:

Mr D. Math offers courses in:

- Pre-Algebra

- Algebra I

- Geometry

- Algebra II

- Pre-Calculus

- SAT Math Bootcamp

- ACT Math Bootcamp

- Life Skills 4 Teens

If you want more details about the different courses and packages available, visit Mr. D. Math.

They also have a Facebook, Twitter and Youtube channel you can check out!

It didn't take long to for him to fin the Math Games!

The Benefits of Online Classes

For my family, I think online classes will probably be the way we go as the children get older. There are so many benefits to them, including:

- Great for parents who lack confidence in teaching Math themselves.

- Good for Independent learners who was more control over when and how they study.

- Great for Gifted Students, giving them the flexibility to begin the programme at whichever grade level they are studying.

- Good for large families or families with small kids, where parents struggle to find quiet time to study with their children.

- It adds variety into the homeschool day, when most of the student’s curriculum is paper-based.

- The weekly class teaches kids to meet deadline and have gives some structure to their week.

- Great alternative to Private Tuition for families who are on a budget.

I really believe that online Homeschool curriculum have so much to offer the homeschooling communities.

I just wish Dennis DiNoia would make something similar for French…I’m terrible at French!

Are you also from the U.K., looking to apply to American Universities?

What resources have you used to prepare for the standardized tests over there?

Have you ever used any other online Homeschool curriculum?

How did it compare to other paper-based curriculum?

Please share with us all and leave me a comment down below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

See you next month insha'Allah!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

Homeschool Favourites | July 2016

2016-07-14T23:58:00.000+01:00

It's summer! Although the weather might seem more like October here, our Muslim homeschool is in serious summer holiday mode! School is out for summer!

However, just because our formal schooling is taking a break, it does not mean that the learning stops.

This month, we have been using some fantastic educational toys and picture books during our 'down-time.' and I'm so excited to share these with you!

I'm also running another GIVEAWAY this month, so scroll down to the bottom of this blog post to enter :)

For an overview of all the products mentioned, please WATCH THIS video:

Homeschool Favourites | July 2016

Drill and Design Activity Centre

We have had toy for years but recently rediscovered it at the back of my boys closet! Don't you love when that happens?!?!

The Design and Drill Activity Centre encourages children to make patterns on the design board using screws. It comes with a spanner, screw-driver and working drill!

My boys absolutely love it! It can be used to teach colour recognition, develop fine motor skills, and encourages creativity...all whilst playing with tools!

It's such a clever concept!

Our Design and Drill set has lasted us for years; nothing has broken and it shows no signs of all the hours of play it has received! Recommended for children aged 3+.

Rocket Science Kit

This Rocket Science Kit by Thames and Kosmos was my son's favourite birthday present!

It is filled with fun experiments about space and rockets. It comes with an instruction manual that describes the 18 experiments very clearly.

This Science Kit kept my son entertained for hours!

There are some really cool experiments involving a "stomp-on rocket" and using balloons to propel various vehicles around. It's a must-have for any child who is interested in space!

However, after a few uses, this Science Kit has started to break and come apart. Honestly though, for less than £10, I think it is totally worth it! I am hoping to purchase some of the other Science kits by Thames and Kosmos soon.

The Story of the Elephant Pop-Up Book

This month we have been enjoying this Pop-up book about the Story of the Elephant.

It is filled with loads of interactive flaps and tabs, and is beautifully illustrated.

In the back there is a pocket with a map, and figurines of the elephant army and Ka'ba to colour in.

It is not just a book, but a whole educational experience!

The Story of the Elephant is probably one of my families favourite books ever! And that is saying something because we have A LOT of books!!!

I have written a Book Review on this wonderful book. If you are interested in reading it, and watching the Youtube video, HERE is the link.

The Story of the Elephant is available to purchase from Ibraheem ToyHouse .

Little Muslimah Picture Book

The Little Muslimah is the latest addition to our collection of Islamic picture books.

This book is a 'true story' and was written as a surprise gift for the author's daughter.

Umm Sumayyah told me,
"It was priceless seeing the look on my daughter's face as she read this book about a little Muslim girl and then suddenly realised in the middle of the book that the book was about her and featured all her belongings! It took 1 year to secretly make the book as I got her to pose for hundreds of photos for the illustrator without letting her know why. I'm so happy that I can now share the with the rest of the world and InshaAllaah some other families can enjoy it too."

It is a charming story about a little girl who can't get to sleep unless her mummy tells her why she loves her so much. It is so sweet and the perfect bedtime read.

You'll also notice that they have been very careful to show no faces in the illustrations.

If you are looking for a new picture book for your children,

I would recommend this one for children under 5.

Tajweed Nasheeds

This is CD of Nasheeds is such a great discovery! It teaches children the rules of Tajweed through songs.

The songs are easy to memorise and fun, and they are sure to have your children singing along. Honestly, I find myself singing them long after the kids have gone to sleep!

These songs make the rules of Tajweed easy to remember and I hope they will make my children excited to learn the Quran insha'Allah.

I have written a blog post about this CD. If you like to know more about the Tajweed Nasheed CD then CLICK HERE!

To purchase your own copy, visit Olive Tree Study Support.

Mini Muslimah Doll

These dolls are absolutely adorable! They are hand-made in the U.K.They are just so pretty!

For Eid, we gave the smaller dolls out in gift bags at the end of the party.

They are so cute, and I can't wait to see what other designs she will come up with!

I hear there will be a boy version and a niqabi version coming soon!

You can visit the Mini Muslimah shop HERE

GIVEAWAY!

It's Giveaway time!

This July I am thrilled to share FOUR of my favorites with one of you!!!

I will be giving away:

- One copy of The Story of the Elephant Pop-up and Play book

(RRP: £19.99)
- One copy of Little Muslimah picture book (RRP: £10.99)

- One Large Mini Muslimah Doll (RRP: £20)

- One Tajweed Nasheeds CD (RRP: £14.99)

The July 2016 Favourites Giveaway will run until Friday 22nd July 2016 at 12AM GMT.
The giveaway is open Internationally.
All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you enjoyed seeing what products we've been using in our homeschool this month.

I'd love to hear about the things your family has been loving this July :)

Please let us all know in the comments below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

See you next month insha'Allah!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love xx

Homeschool Planning: Part 1

2016-07-09T17:52:00.000+01:00

Reflecting and Evaluating Last Year

It is that wonderful time of the year! Surrounded by a mountain of home-education books and homeschool curriculum, I get to plan next year's homeschool... and I love it!

I think all homeschool mums out there can understand the excitement of new curriculum and new plans with "This year is going to be different," ringing in our ears.

However before I jump in and get too excited, I realised it was important to really reflect on last year before I make the same mistakes again.

To reflect on what went well....and what did not!

I would advise every homeschool mum to do this.

Don't get carried away and start planning next year, no matter how tempting, until you have evaluated last year.

I would recommend you get the kids involved too. Ask them what did they enjoyed learning about, and what did they dislike.

I have learnt so much from this little exercise; not just about my homeschool, but also about the way my children learn and about the way I function too. What is important to me and my happiness?

Here is my reflection and evaluation of last year:

Evaluation of our Homeschool 2015/2016

In 2015/2016 I was homeschooling two boys: a 5-6year old (K5 in U.S. or Year 1 in the U.K.) and a 3-4years-old (Preschool). This blog-post will focus on my elder son, as the youngest did very little structured schooling this year.

Child's Learning Style

Self-Directed Learner

I realised that my eldest son is highly self-motivated and my interference in his learning can actually hinder his progress! He only needs to be given the resources and gentle prompts , and he will learn on his own. He learns and retains the most from his own reading.The best thing about this self-directed approach is that it encourages his love of learning and allows him to take control of his own education.

However...he is only 6! So I have to find a balance next year, allowing him more time and control in his education, whilst at the same time making sure he has a firm foundation in the basics.

Facts, facts, facts

He LOVES facts and figures, and has recently developed an interest in science. So this coming year I need to encourage this interest and develop a really engaging sciecne curriculum for him, that will cover things he is interested in, as well as introduce him to new concepts.

As we are starting history this year, I need to find a way to utilise his love of facts, in our history lessons.

Need for structure

Although he enjoys learning independantly, he also benefits from having routine and structure in the day. It is important to him to know what to expect that day, and what is coming the next. This coming year, I have bought him his own academic diary, in which I will write out the lesson plans briefly, so he knows what is coming.

I struggled this year in establishing consistent routines. This is something that I NEED to address this year for his sake. insha'Allah.

Needs fun and silly too!

Because of his personality, it is easy for me to forget that he is only 6 years-old and enjoys doing silly things too! This coming year, I want to incorporate more fun activities and experiments into his curriculum.

It is also important for him to blow off steam! He needs to run, jump, do 'kung-fu' moves, just like any little boy! So this year, I have to schedule in outdoor/free time every day....without fail!

Short Lessons

My recent discovery of the Charlotte-Mason approach to homeschooling had me trying shorter lessons with my son.

These worked very effectively as he knew that he had only a short amount of time to learn/do the material and he really focused during this time. In my head, because of my experience at mainstream schools, I thought that a lesson 'needed' to be around 40 minutes long....but why should it be! Who says it has to be!

When you are working one-on-one, shorter lessons are actually very effective. This coming year, I will be shortening lesson times in all areas.

My Needs

This last year has been massive for me, in terms of self-knowledge and feelings of self-worth! One of the things that I realised about myself, is the need to be creative!

This coming year, I hope to utilise my creativity to create an awesome science curriculum for my son, and well as doing some great crafts to go along with out history and Islamic studies.

I've also realised that I am a control-freak! I need to relinquish this control over my son's learning, and allow him to dictate the pace and content of at least some areas of study. It's going to be hard!

Stop Worrying

He's doing ok! Alhumdulillah! Socially, academically, emotionally...he's fine! mashAllah.

Part of being a homeschool mum...nay....part of being a mother period, is that we worry and we fill our thoughts with guilt. "What if I hadn't done that..." or "Maybe I should have done it like so-and-so". I realised that I shouldn't compare my child, my home or my homeschooling to anyone else. It does nothing but fill you with guilt or helplessness.

Allah does not judge you by other people's standards. He only asks you to do your best with the tools he has given you.

Alhumdulillah we are doing well, and I pray it continues.

External Teachers

There is often a feeling amongst some home-educators that if you are using a tutor or sending your child to classes, your not really homeschooling "properly"! Of course, this is nonsense. There is no "proper" way to homeschool.

My son seems to really enjoy the variety that external teachers brings to his education. He attends a number of co-op classes, which he seems to be doing very well in. I have also found private tutors to help with languages (not my strength), and he loves those classes. So my feelings are that perhaps I should continue with these classes, and perhaps even find classes outside the home.

So you see, this short exercise in reflection, that took only 10 minutes to think through, has brought me so much clarity for next year's plan, and stopping me from repeating the same mistakes. If you are homeschooling your children, I would highly recommend that you do this too!

Are you starting to plan your next year of home-education?
How do you start the planning process?
What worked well for you last year, and what changes will you be making this coming year?

Id love to hear from you!
Please share with me in the comments below :)

In Part 2 (COMING SOON), I will go into details about how I plan out our school year, and the books and resources I use, as well as my planner and all that 'good stuff'!!!

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love

You Might Also Like:

CLICK HERE

Teach TAJWEED To Your Children with Nursery Rhymes!

2016-06-30T08:26:00.003+01:00

This post was written in partnership with Olive Tree Study Support.

Teaching our children to recite the Quran correctly is so important as Muslim parents. Tajweed, the rules of Quranic recitation, should be done in young children, so that mistakes do not need to be corrected in later years.

However, we all know that trying to teach Tajweed to young children can be challenging. Young children do not want to sit in formal lessons for too long. The rules can seem complicated and the terminology over-whelming.

So how can we teach young Muslim children the rules of Quranic recitation? Through Nursery Rhymes or Nasheeds!!!

We all recognise how quickly our children retain the songs they hear. Whether it’s from school, or from the TV, songs have a way of sticking in the memory of children. Even now, I can remember the words to songs I sang as a child.

Tahera Akther, the founder of Olive Tree Study Support, has created a collection of rhyming songs to help teach your children the rules of tajweed.

They are so much fun! Honestly, your kids are going to love them!

The tracks are named Mysterious Makharij, Stretchy Madd Tabeei, Best friend meem & noon (my personal favourite!), Jumpy Qalqalah and Friendly Meem Saakina!

Despite having no music, only drums with child vocals, the songs are ridiculously catchy! They are so easy to repeat and easy for children to memorise. In fact, they’re a little difficult to get out of your head!

I love the idea of using rhyme to help young kids remember their Tajweed rules. They introduce your children to some of the basic rules of Tajweed and, insha’Allah, spark a passion for the study of Quran in later years.

We’ve been listening to these songs whenever there’s a quiet moment in our homeschool day; whilst the kids are colouring or playing, or whilst they’re having a snack. It’s a great way for parents to teach their children the rules of Quranic recitation, without them realising its happening!

They can listen and learn whilst....

Cooking,

Playing,

And eating lunch!

After listening to these songs, I would recommend them to children aged 4- 9. To get the most from the CD, they should have had some exposure to the rules of tajweed previously, so they can understand some of the terminology used.

They were perfect for my 4 and 6 year-old boys, and my little baby girl seemed to enjoy dancing around to them too! …We all did!

This collection of Tajweed Nursery Rhyme songs is available to buy as a CD or MP3 download. If you’d like to listen to the songs, you can hear a sample of the nasheeds on their website. Click HERE to listen!

It is such an honour to share these Tajweed nursery rhymes with you. I genuinely love them! They're fun, upbeat and so catchy! I often find myself singing them when the kids are asleep!

These great quality children’s songs are a fantastic way to introduce Tajweed to, and inculcate a love of the Quran in, young Muslim children.

I would recommend this CD to all madrasas, as well as any parent eager to encourage their children to recite correctly from an early age.

You can purchase your CD or MP3 Download HERE

How do you teach your chlidren tajweed?

Do you have any resources you love?

Do you use nasheeds to teach anything else?

Please let us all know in the comments below.

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Ramadan Favourites

2016-06-27T00:00:00.000+01:00

It's Ramadan! During this month almost everything changes in our homeschool. We stop our normal homeschool curriculum and turn our focus to learning more about Islam.

The great thing about home-education, is that we can catch up with all the things we've missed later in the summer. For now, I felt it was important for the children to partake in the month, and a major part of that is changing the focus of their school work.

Here are some of the products we have been using and enjoying in Ramadan. I'm so excited to share these with you all!

I'm also running another GIVEAWAY this month, so scroll down to the bottom of this blog post to enter :)

For an overview of all the products mentioned, please WATCH THIS video:

Ramadan Favourites

Ramadan Cookie Cutters

These cookie cutters are made by With A Spin . If you are in the U.K. like me, you can purchase them online from Silver Lining.

My kids and I have two sets:

- Islamic Shape Cookie Cutters: which includes a mosque, minaret, star and crescent moon.

- Interfaith Harmony Cookie Cutters: which includes a Christmas Tree, Hannukah Dreidel, Diwali Diya and Eid Lantern.

The idea behind this particular set is:

"We hope to bring people together across divides of religion, culture and nationality with Love, Unity and Respect; one cookie at a time."

I love the concept!

The cookie cutters are really well made and come out cleanly from the dough, leaving a clear imprint of the shape.

We've used them to make some delicous Ramadan cookies,to cut out water-melon for iftar, as well as other art-and-craft activities.

Quran Memorization Cards

These cards are a fantastic way to encourage your children to memorise Quran!

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you'll know that my son has just memorised the last ten Surahs of the Quran mashAllah! I believe that these Quran cards were a huge help to him whilst he was learning.

The cards contain the last ten surahs of the Quran; from Surah Al-Feel (105) to Surah An-Nas (114). Each cards contains the Arabic, a transliteration, a translation. The Tashkeel (vowel markings) are colour-coded to help with correct recitiation.

One feature that I really liked was that on the bottom of each card there is a hadith or brief explanation (tafseer) to encourage deeper understanding of that Surah.

These cards are laminated, making them incredibly sturdy, and are mounted on a steel ring. This was a great feature! It meant I didn't worry about my son leaving them on the floor or mistreating them. He knew that after he read from them, they were to be hung up above his desk.

At the beginning of the set there is also a section on the virtues of memorising Quran and some of the etiquettes one should have when reciting.

I purchased my set of Quran Memorization Cards from Ibraheem Toyhouse .

They've been an invaluable asset to our homeschool, and I'm looking forward to my younger son using them too.

I Love Islam Curriculum

This has to be the BEST Islamic curriculum for children that I have come across.

We have been using it throughout the Academic year, but wanted to finish it off during Ramadan.

It approaches teaching in a fun and interactive way, that my children have really enjoyed. Book 1 introduces children aged 5-7, to the fundamental principles in Islam.

I loved how the book uses fun characters to teach Tawheed in simple language, drawing on the Quran and Hadith of the Prophet (s.a.w.). Seerah, the five pillars, Islamic manners and etiquette are covered, as well as the Holy mosques and Islam around the world.

At the end of every chapter then are questions that can be answered and fun activities for your child to do.

This book also comes with a CD of nasheeds and Quranic stories to go along with the book.

If you were to read one chapter a week, this book would last you the entire academic year insha'Allah!

In fact, I'm so passionate about this series of books that I've started selling them myself!

If you'd like more information about this curriculum, or would like to purchase it, please visit my SHOP.

SHOP AT: Homeschool Shop UK

If you'd prefer to purchase it from AmazonUK, HERE is the link.
Or if your are in the U.S.A. HERE is the link for Amazon.com.

MiniTafseer Series For Children

This series of books by Ad-Duha Institute teaches tafseer (Explanation of the Quran) to children.

They are worded very simply, so even young children will understand; and if your child is able to read themselves, they could do so independently.

There is one book for each Surah.

Inside they include facts about each Surah, inspiring stories of the Prophets, Arabic vocabulary and colouring pages/worksheets.

The tafseer is based on that of Ibn-Kathir and everything is referenced with Quran or ahadith.

To be honest, they're not only for kids! I've learnt so much reading these to the children. Alhumdulillah!

We've been looking through most of the Tafseer books pictured above, and will be studying Surah al-Qadr during these last ten days.

Learning tafseer is a fantastic way for children, and adults, to attach their hearts to the book of Allah (swt). I highly recommend these books.

Quran Translation

This English translation of the Quran was recommended to me by my teachers, and so I wanted to pass that information on.

It is published by Oxford University Press and is translated by M.A.S. Abdeel Haleem.

I have been told that this is the best English translation of the Quran available at the moment.

Modest Clothing for Nursing Mummies

I was recently introduced to the shop The Boutique Liverpool on Instagram.

They specialise in modest, stylish and practical clothing for the mummies! The best thing part is that you can breast-feed in most of their clothing!

I love this piece called "The Drapes." It's lightweight, flattering, and has a concealed opening for nursing!

I also have an abaya from this shop which is suitable for breastfeeding too. I'll be sharing the photo of this piece on Instagram in the next few weeks insha'Allah!

If you're nursing mum looking for something comfortable and practical, that is still flattering and stylish, check out The Boutique Liverpool.

I'm already planning what else I want to buy from them!

GIVEAWAY

It's Giveaway time!

This Ramadan I wanted to share two of my favorites with one of you!!!

I will be giving away:

- One copy of the I Love Islam Book 1 Curriculum with CD (RRP £23.99)
- Three books from the Ad-Duha Mini Tafseer series: Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq, and An-Naas (RRP £9.69)

The Ramadan 2016 Favourites Giveaway will run until Monday 3rd July 2016 at 12AM GMT.
The giveaway is open Internationally.
All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (click HERE is you would like to know more about Rafflecopter).

I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email. The winner has 24 hours to respond, otherwise I will have to select another winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you enjoyed seeing what products we've been using in our homeschool this month.

I'd love to hear activities and products you have been using in your family this Ramadan.

Ramadan Children's Books

2016-06-21T00:25:00.002+01:00

It is Ramadan! This month in Our Muslim Homeschool we have been enjoying a wide variety of Muslim children's books, to teach the children about Ramadan and Eid.

Muslim children's literature is an easy and fun way to introduce important concepts in Islam; such as fasting, tawheed, sincerity, amongst others, to children from a young age.

I strongly believe that the stories we tell our children leave an imprint on their hearts and memories, impacting them in later years. What can be better than to read books to them with beautiful meanings and strong morals.

Here are some of the Ramadan books for children that we have been reading aloud in our homeschool!

For a quick look at which books we have been reading in Ramadan, WATCH THIS Video:

Five Prayers Each Day by Elizabeth Lymer

This charming rhyming story teaches toddlers to count up to five using the Five Daily Prayers (Salaah). It's short but very sweet!
" One, two, three, four, five prayers each day that we're alive..."
Suitable for ages 1-3

Angels and Rainbows by Elizabeth Lymer and Brooke Alam

This is a touching story about a girl who loves to pray Fajr with her father, but is scared of the dark. Her dad teaches her some words (dhikr) that she can say to invite the Angels and their light (Noor) into her home.

The illustrations in this book are stunning. It is also worth noting that the depictions of people do not have facial features.

I would recommend this book for children ages 4-9.

Under the Ramadan Moon by Sylvia Whitman

This lyrical story introduces children to the excitment of Ramadan by focusing on the family rituals and events that take place.
This book is suitable for children aged 3-5.

The Amazing Calendar Quilt by Sheikh Zubia Imami

This book teaches children about months of the Islamic calendar, teaching the names and of their significance Islamically.
Unfortunately this book is out of print, but you can find it second-hand if you're willing to hunt around!
I would recommend it for children aged 5+.

Ramadan Moon by Na'ima B. Robert

By far, this is the most well-known of all the books I have mentioned. It introduces Ramadan beautifully, in all its wonder and awe, to children. The story follows a family through Ramadan, from one moon to the next, capturing their excitement and feelings.
The illustrations in this book are stunning.
This book is suitable for children aged 4-9.

Night of the Moon by Hena Khan

Night of the Moon is the story of a Pakistani-American girl who watches the moon's phases, and talks about all her different experiences during Ramadan.
The illustrations are spectacular and remind me of traditional Islamic art, with lots of geometric patterns and vibrant colours.
I would recommend this book for children aged 3-9.

Sweet Dates to Eat by Jonny Zucker

This short and simple story introduces young children to Ramadan and Eid. It shows the family in the mosque, eating iftar, and celebrating Eid.
The illustrations are very cute and colourful!
Suitable for children aged 2-4 years-old.

An Eid for Everyone by Hina Islam

This is a story about several children from different families, and their experiences on Eid day. The book focuses on remembering the poor on that day, and shows the children giving out Eid gifts to poorer families in their community.

This book is suitable for children aged 3-5.

I hope you got some new ideas and inspiration from this blog post. Perhaps you found some new books for your children here.

What books do your children enjoy reading in Ramadan?

Do they have a favourite?

Please share with us in the comments below. I'd love to hear about other Ramadan books!

Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Please remember us in your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Homeschool Favourites | May 2016 |

2016-05-15T23:56:00.000+01:00

This month I have some really exciting things to share with you. We have been using and enjoying all of these products in our homeschool this month and I am thrilled to be able to share them with you!

I'm even doing a GIVEAWAY of one of my favourites, so scroll down to the bottom of this post to enter!

Please note:

You do NOT need to buy any of these products to be a good mum, or give your child a good education!!!
The chances are you're already doing a great job with our without these products!
However, if you are looking for something new and want to see what we've been using, please read on!

May Homeschool Favourites

WATCH THIS YouTube video to see all the products mentioned:

Butterfly Garden

This has to be my absolute favourite thing we did this month! We raised five caterpillars and watched them transform into butterflies...in our kitchen!

We had raised butterflies before, when my eldest son was three years-old, so we already had our Butterfly Garden. All I needed to do was just order the Caterpillar Refill separately online. This seems to be becoming a bit of a tradition!

The caterpillars came in their own little tub that contained all the 'food' the would need. We watched them grow...and grow ...and GROW! They got really big!

I'll be honest, they gave me the creeps a little bit! Thankfully, at no point do you have to touch them!

Once they had all made their cocoons, we opened up the plastic tub and carefully removed the paper-like insert from the lid, which had all the cocoons stuck to it. Then we pinned this to the inside of the Butterfly Garden (essentially just a big mesh enclosure).

After a week or two, the butterflies suddenly emerged! We kept them in the house for two days, and gave them fruit, wild flowers and 'homemade-nectar.' (Otherwise known as sugar in water!)

Releasing them into the garden was truly special! It's memories like this that I will treasure forever insha'Allah.

Usborne Beginners Book Series

We have really enjoyed using these books in our homeschool. This collection of reference books, is aimed at children aged 4-8 years-old.

From this series, we have:
Caterpillars and Butterflies
Rubbish and Recycling
Weather

The reason I really like this series of books is that the language in them is accessible for young children, without being too childish.

They are fun, informative and a young reader could comfortably read one independently. The illustrations are beautiful and it is very visually appealing.

I'm hoping to get a few more for next year when we start to study Ancient History insha'Allah.

Nakd Fruit & Nut Bits

I love the whole Nakd range! Their snack bars and fruit and nut bits are so delicious!

They are Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Sugar-Free.

The primary ingredient of the range appears to be dates and cashew nuts. There are loads of different varieties, but my favourite is the cocoa delight. It really tastes like chocolate, but it's completely healthy!

These snacks are very handy to take out with us in the car or when we are out and about on field trips. It's nice to know that the kids are snacking on something wholesome :)

The best thing about these snack bits are that they make NO Crumbs and NO Sticky Fingers and NO Stains!

For these reasons, they are an absolute essential in my homeschool.

Yusuf the Talking Doll

Yusuf is a soft plush doll from DesiDoll Company and he is so cute!

He speaks in English and Arabic when you push his hands and feet. I love how says, "Atchoo...Alhumdulillah," when you push his little nose!

There is also a girl version available called Aamina.

Yusuf teaches young children essential Quranic words, phrases and Surahs including:

As-Salamu’Alaikum
Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem
Al-hamdu lillah
SubhanAllah
Insha’Allah
JazakAllah Khair
Masha’Allah
La ilaha illallah Muhammad dur Rasul’lallah
Surah Ikhlas + translation
Surah Fatiha + translation
Fun Nasheeds

Young children learn best through play. It is toys like this that can really help to make a child confident in his Muslim identity, and also teach him more about Islam.

He is a beautiful doll and is treasured in our home.

GIVEAWAY

It’s Giveaway time!

I wanted to share one of my favorites with one of you...well actually TWO... one Yusuf and one Aamina!!!

The May 2016 Favourites Giveaway will run until Monday 23rd May 2016 at 12AM GMT.

The giveaway is open internationally.

All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter.

Please aware that if entering overseas, you may be liable to pay customs tax (or the equivalent), so please check beforehand.

ONE winner will receive my favourite TWO talking Muslim dolls (Aamina and Yusuf). RRP £56.

You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (click HERE is you would like to know more about Rafflecopter). I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you enjoyed seeing what products we've been using in our homeschool this month. I'd love to hear what some of your favourite products are.

Please let me know in the comments below.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Make sure you don’t miss the next blog post by Subscribing to my mailing list.

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Awesome Volcano Experiment for Kids

2016-05-08T23:17:00.001+01:00

Kaboom! Bang! Whooooooah!

I can't begin to tell you how excited I was to do this experiment with my boys this week in our homeschool. Making a volcano is one of those science projects that I have always wanted to do with the kids and it was so much fun!

This volcano experiment is so simple and you with probably have everything you need already in your home.

If you are interested in how we made our Erupting Volcano, please keep reading!

Since a young age, my boys have been obsessed with dinosaurs. So much so, that it had taken over my house. Dinosaur toys, stickers, books, bed sheets....it was driving me CRAZY!

Thankfully, this interest has now evolved into an interest in fossils, geology and volcanoes.

As I try to encourage the kids to explore their interests, we decided to make this a part of our homeschool, doing an experiment/project on this topic, once a week.

We have been using the book Rock & Fossil Hunter for our experiments, It's full of different activities that kids can do, using materials that you can easily find in the house.

This blog post will look at the first two experiments:

- The Erupting Volcano
- On the Lava Trail

Check out this VIDEO we made of our experiments:

As you can tell, they had so much fun doing these activities! I'm sure your kids will too!

Awesome Volcano Experiment

Materials Needed:

Small plastic water bottle
Water
Measuring jug
Tray
Sand
Dessertspoon
Bicarbonate of soda
Red Food Colouring
Washing-up liquid
Vinegar

Place the bottle in the middle of the tray, and pile up the sand around it, to look like a volcano. If the sand is not sticking, dampen it a bit to help it hold in place. The decorate the outside of the volcano however you like...obviously in my home that meant with dinosaurs!
Pour enough warm water into the jug to fill the bottle 2/3 full. Then add 2 dessert spoons of bicarb, 1 dessert spoon of food colouring, 1 dessert spoon of washing-up liquid to the jug.
Pour this mixture into the bottle.
Then get ready for the eruption.....it will happen quickly!!!

Pour 100ml of vinegar into the bottle and jump back!

Don't worry, it's not explosive....just very foamy! Perfectly safe for little kids!

This could also work for a chemistry experiment if you have older kids. It's a simple acid-base reaction.

Why are volcanoes different shapes?

This is the second experiment from the book Rock & Fossil Hunter.

It aims to illustrate how the temperature of lava affects its flow and the ultimate shape of the volcano.

The cooler the lava, the slower it flows, resulting in conical volcanoes.

The hotter the lava, the faster it flows, leading to flatter (shield) volcanoes.

Materials Needed:

2 tins of treacle

2 plates

Heat-proof pan

Boiling water

Put once tin of treacle in the fridge overnight.
Put the other tin into the heat-proof pan, and surround it in boiling water. Leave it to warm up the treacle for thirty minutes.
Open both tins, and pour onto separate plates.

Cold Lava

Hot Lava

You should find the cold treacle piles up on the plate, like viscous cool lava would.

The hotter treacle will spread out to form a wider puddle, like runny lava.

Both of these experiments should be done under the supervision of an adult and are suitable for child aged 4+.

Are your children interested in volcanoes?
What volcano activities have you done with them?
If you have any great resources on the subject, or if you have written a blog post on the topic, please share it in the comments below.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and reading this blog post.

To make sure you don't miss the next one, just Subscribe to my mailing list and you'll be sent an email to let you know it's out!

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Nature Study in the City - April 2016

2016-04-30T23:16:00.000+01:00

Spring is here!!! ...Hurray!

In our homeschool we have been making the most of the glorious weather and observing the changes in nature.

Nature study is an integral part of our homeschool curriculum. We make an effort to try to spend at least two hours every day outdoors. Sometimes this is at the park, or nature reserves, sometimes we go for country walks...and when the weather is not great we just do a bit of gardening and play in our back garden!

Being outdoors is so important for children. It encourages creativity, concentration, and even improves academic performance! If you'd like to know more about this, please check out last months Nature Study in the City blog post.

But there's more than just the physical and academic benefits...

I find that being in nature reaffirms my faith! I know it sounds crazy, but witnessing creation in all its beautiful complexity, makes me certain there is a creator, and I want my children to experience this too.

Nature study is not only for those who live in the picturesque countryside. If you, like our family, live in a city there are many ways you can teach your child about nature too.

Here is what we did for Nature Study this April:

Observing the Seasonal Changes

Change is all around us! We've spent a lot of time taking note of the new flowers that are appearing and teaching the children their names.

We've paid particular focus to the primose and bluebell, looking at its petal and leaves, and where they grow.

Another focus of our nature study has been bird-spotting! We recently purchased a pair of Children's Binoculars . They have been so useful and a sure-fire way to get the kids involved in our bird-watching.

They spotted two jays up there!

It's been a lot of fun looking for bird's nests in the trees and trying to listen out for baby chicks! The kids love creeping up on the nests, and looking for 'clues' on the ground that there might be babies in the nest.

Birds's Nests

We've been using this book the Usborne Spotter's Guide: Birds to help identify the birds we've seen. I'm pretty good at the larger birds, but I need help when it comes to the small finches and tits.

Pet Caterpillars

It's a bit of a spring-time tradition of ours to raise Caterpillars and watch them turn into butterflies. The boys were over-the-moon and decided to make them a card to welcome them to the family! They've been named Roy, Joy, Poi, Moi and....Jibreel! Oh I hope none of them die!

They arrived in this small tub, that contained all the food they would need. We have watched them grow bigger and bigger, and we are now waiting anxiously for them to make their cocoons. When they do, we will carefully move them into our butterfly habitat, and watch them emerge. It's all so exciting!

We have set up a small 'invitation to play' in the corner of our kitchen. Along with the caterpillars, I have set up a Magnifying Glass and a Usborne Book of Caterpillars and Butterflies to encourage independent learning.

Children's Garden

The children began planting their garden last month. Their sunflowers are growing well...too well! I have no idea what we're are going to do with them all! They also have runner beans growing and we just planted some nasturtium seeds too.

Planting nasturtium seeds

Watering his runner beans

Sunflowers galore!

Nature Collection

Whenever we go out, my 3-year-old son always insists on bringing a few 'finds' home with him.

We had accumulated so many leaves, twigs and stones that, instead of throwing out when he wasn't looking!... I decided to respect his interest and give him a corner of our home to store them. He stores flowers, leaves and twigs in one tub, stones in another, and anything else in the other one.

His grownig collection!

It's so wonderful to watch his love of nature grow and to see the pride he takes in his collection.

We have been using this diagram from a Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth picture book to help us identify the stones he has collected. I'm learning so much myself!

I hope this will encourage you to get outside with your children, wherever you live and enjoy the wonders of Spring!

Do you have any spring traditions in your family? Do your children 'collect' everything they find outside too? I would love to hear about your outdoor experiences with you children. Please leave me a comment below :)

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Make sure you don’t miss the next in this series!

I'm hoping to get it out the same time next month insha'Allah.

To make sure to don't miss it, just Subscribe to my mailing list and you'll be sent an email to let you know it's out!

For a daily look into our homeschooling day follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

You Might Also Like:

CLICK HERE

Linked Up to Homeschool Creations

Do We Really Need Online Islamic Toy Stores?

2016-04-28T11:32:00.000+01:00

This blog post was sponsored by IbraheemToyhouse.com

With Ramadan approaching, Muslim mums across the world are starting think about what gifts they will be giving their children.

The online market place for Muslims is booming! Never before have parents been able to purchase so many products specifically for Muslim children.

Ibraheem Toy House has been featured Worldwide in the Press, TV shows and in influential Mummy blogs; but what’s the big deal!

Why is everyone getting so excited about Ibraheem Toy house?

Why do we, as Muslim parents, even need an online Islamic toy store?

This blog post will explain why online Islamic Toy stores are so important, and why your children need them too!

Why should I shop at an online Islamic Toy Store?

Run by Muslims

These shops are owned and primarily run by Muslims.

As such, they better understand what the Muslim consumer wants and what our Muslim children need.

As Muslims, these businesses care about your children and about the future of our Ummah. In fact, many of these companies were started because they felt the needs of the Muslims was not being met by larger corporations.

As they share the same moral standards as you, you can be confident that your money is going to support a halal business, and none of the money will be used to support anything haraam. We hope there will be more Barakah insha'Allah.

Learning about Islam through play

It is widely accepted that young children learn best through play. It is through play that they learn their own abilities, and develop confidence and self-worth; and because it’s fun, they will play for long periods of time, helping them to develop the ability to concentrate.

Filling our home with Islamic toys will encourage our children to develop confidence in their religious identity. Instead of Barbie, fill your daughter’s toy box with Muslimah dolls. This will help her view modesty and piety as normal, and encourage her to wear her hijab with pride!

Furthermore, Islamic toys can teach everything from Quran, Salah, Tajweed, to Prophetic etiquettes and Arabic; and all this is done by playing as they naturally would.

A very important aspect of play is its ability to bond; to bond mother to her child, or to build a bond between siblings. What better way to develop these relationships, than through Islamically orientated play.

Everything Under One Roof

Before Ibraheem Toy House, shopping for gifts for Muslim children was so hard, especially if you wanted toys specifically for Muslim kids.

Thankfully, Ibraheem Toy House has brought all the best products under one roof. I no longer have to scour through 10 different websites, search Ebay and pay for extortionate international shipping! Instead, everything I need for my children is available from one shop. It’s like the Muslim’s version of Toys R’Us!

Ibraheem Toy House, was founded with the aim to serve our children by providing toys and resources that will encourage a love of Islam.

They say,

“Our mission is to instil the love of faith in young Muslims.

We are passionate about educating children about the teachings of Islam and help parents connect children to their faith.

We believe children should be proud of their religious belief and religious learning should be FUN and interactive.”

Today, Ibraheem Toy House stocks over 200 different products from 25 suppliers around the world including dolls, books, games, DVDs, prayer mats and more.

Nazia Nasreen founded Ibraheem Toy House from her kitchen table whilst her two children were still very young. She is an inspiration to all Muslim women who dream of starting their own business, and is a testimony to the power of determination, hard work and self-belief.

Since starting her online toy store only two years ago, Nazia has received Awards and international recognition for the worthwhile service she is providing to the Muslim Ummah, as the first online Islamic toy store in the U.K.

So if you are a Muslim woman thinking about starting your own business, I would urge to look for inspiration from Nazia, and take the first step to making your dream a reality.

Ibraheem ToyHouse is constantly on the lookout for new toys and products to serve the Muslim community.

What would you like to see more of in the toy store? Are there any particular products you are looking for?

Please let us know us know in the comments and maybe Nazia can find them for you!

We’d love to hear what toys your children would enjoy. Please leave us a comment down below.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Homeschool Favourites | April 2016 |

2016-04-19T12:43:00.000+01:00

As homeschoolers, we are always on the look out for new products to enhance our children's learning experience.

I thought it would be fun to share some of our homeschool discoveries; things that we've enjoyed using this month in our homeschool.

Please note: You do NOT need to buy any of these products to be a good mum, or give your child a good education!!! The chances are you're already doing a great job with our without these products! However, if you are looking for something new and want to see what we've been using, please read on!

April's Homeschool Favourites

Watch This Video for an overview of all these products:

Rush Hour Logic Game

This game has provided hours of entertainment for our family. It is a classic logic game, where the aim is to get the red car out of the traffic jam by moving the sliding blocks/cars out of the way.

There are different levels of difficulty, and it come with a handy draw-string bay to keep the pieces together.

What I loved most about this game is that even though it's fun, it felt like it was making my son think! I mean REALLY think!

It's a great way to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills, and exercise little (and not so little) minds.

Fun Dough Arabic Letters

This play dough set contains cutters for all the Arabic letters, various shapes, as well as a rolling pin, various molds and tools.

Everything inside is good quality, it's easy to use and the play dough even smells like bubble gum!

We have used this set in our homeschool to teach our children Arabic. If you are interested in seeing what activities we did with this play dough set, CLICK HERE

5 Ways To Teach Arabic With Play Dough

Bresser Children Binoculars

Now that spring is upon us, we are spending more time outdoors. In particular, an important part of our homeschool curriculum is the study of nature.

We've been using these binocularsto identify birds, trees, and also to look at the stars. It has added a wonderful new dimension to our homeschool.

A Drawing a Day

This colourful book by Usborne is filled with instructions on how to draw 366 different things; animals, vehicles, buildings, food...Plenty to keep your children interested.

It give simple step-by-step directions that make it easy for children to follow along and work independently.

There is plenty of space to draw in the book itself, and the pages tear out easily. It is very child friendly and lots of fun! I would recommend it for children over 5 years-old.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what products we've been using in our homeschool this month. I'd love to hear what some of your favourite products are.

Please let me know in the comments below.

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Nature Study in the City - March 2016

2016-03-22T13:38:00.000+00:00

We all want our children to spend more time outdoors. However when you live in a city, connecting our children to nature can be difficult.

In this series of blog posts, I hope to inspire you with some ways you can teach your children about the natural world, and give you some creative activities to do indoors or in a city garden.

Spending time outdoors in a natural environment has been proven scientifically to benefit children.

Since the release of the book Last Child in the Woods, which brought attention to the developmental effects of nature on our children, there have been multiple studies that prove likewise.

Some of the benefits of outdoor play include:

Supports development intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually and physically (Kellert, 2005).

Encourages creativity: Studies show that children engage in more creative forms of play in the green areas. (Bell and Dyment, 2006).

Improves Concrentration: Exposure to natural settings increases children’s ability to focus and enhances cognitive abilities (Wells, 2000).

Improves Academic Performance: Children who partook in outdoor science programs had an improvement in their science results by 27% (American Institutes for Research, 2005).

Reduces ADD symptoms (Kuo and Taylor, 2004).

Improves eyesight (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2011)

Encourages healthy eating (Bell & Dyment, 2008)

Reduces stress (Wells and Evans, 2003)

Book Recommendation

Before we start, I want to let you know that we have been using this vintage nature book, Looking At Nature, by Elsie Proctor, as our primary text.

It is fantastic. Unlike most nature books, it is not just pages of facts, but it also poses lots of questions for the children to answer and gives great ideas for outdoor activities and experiments.

This is what we have been doing this March:

Observing Germination

We began this month with a trip to the supermarket to by some compost and plant seeds. I read in the book Looking at nature , that Sunflowers , Nasturtiums and Runner Beans are easy to grow...we'll soon see!

I decided to begin with an activity I remember doing at school. We filled jars with kitchen roll, and then carefully pushed two Runner Bean seeds in the gap between the glass and the tissue. Then we added enough water the to jars to make the tissue damp, and left them on a sunny window-sill.

Within 5 days this is what we saw:

The children drew what they saw for their Nature Notebooks, and we discussed all the parts of the plant and what plants need to grow. They learnt the words germination, shoot and tap root.

This is something you can do indoors, in a small space, and at very little expense!

Began Planting Our Children's Garden

This year I am giving a part of our small garden to the children. They will be responsible for growing the plants in that patch, weeding, watering etc. If it works...it's going to be a fantastic source of learning opportunities.

The boys planted their Sunflower Seeds , and left them in our cold-frame to grow.

Looking for catkins

Thankfully we have a number on trees on our road that have catkins. We collected what we could find, and brought them home to identify.

Visited our City Parks

At this time of year, there is so much to see in the park. The daffodils are blooming, the birds are back and building nests, and everything is stirring back to life!

We spent several hours looking for the first signs of spring. The boys drew some daffodils for their nature notebooks, and I just allowed them to explore. The only rule we have in the park is ....You Are Not Allowed To Walk On The Path!

Drawing daffodils

Playing hide-and-seek! He's counting...

He's hiding!

They found this muddy pond and were in there wading through the murky water...They loved it!

I hope this will encourage you to get out into nature with your children, wherever you live.

What activities have you done outdoors with your kids? Do any of you have any recommendations for other plants we can put in the children's garden? Please let me know in the comments below :)

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Make sure you don’t miss the next in this series!

In need of your duaas.

Peace and Love.

Linked up to Homeschool Creations and The Hip Homeschool Hop

My Five Favourite Homeschoolers on Youtube

2016-03-18T22:12:00.002+00:00

Watching other homeschool mums on Youtube has been such a fantastic source of information and inspiration.

Many of these homeschooling families share their schedule, curriculum choices, and give you a glimpse into their daily lives.

I often will watch these amazing ladies whilst I'm folding laundry or washing dishes.

For busy mums Youtube can be a great way to find information and new ideas.

If I'm having a tough day with the children, I like to watch other home educators to lift my spirits: a little 'pick-me-up' when things are getting rough!!!

Here are my Five Favourite Homeschoolers on Youtube:

Full Time Wife Life

Abby, from Full Time Wife Life, has some lovely day-in-the-life videos, as well as awesome planning and scheduling tips for the homeschool day.

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MsBasimah24

A recent discovery of mine, MsBasimah24 is full of energy, positivity and totally real! I love her videos, and can't wait to see more from her:

A FarmHouse Full

Nicci, from A Farmhouse Full, is a mum of seven (soon to be eight mashAllah). As well as homeschooling, she makes videos about pregnancy, her garden, and frugal living.

Erica Arndt

Of all the Youtube homeschoolers, Erica Arndt is probably the most famous. Her blog is packed full of incredible resources, and is well worth checking out! On Youtube, she talks about homeschool curriculum, organisation, amongst many other things.

Habeebee Homeschooling

From the inspirational Ameera Rahim, the Youtube channel Habeebee Homeschooling talks about home education from an Islamic perspective. There are only a few videos, but they are full of insight mashAllah.

Those were my favourite Youtube homeschool channels.

And finally...

Don't forget to check out MY Youtube channel too!