DIY - word family house.

This year our main lessons have revolved around writing and reading year (not reading and writing).  We approached literacy this way because  this is how AR liked and enjoyed it. Plus that is how language evolved, through storytelling, writing and then reading. Alhumdulillah, AR has gotten good at writing (still learning) and now reading... He has written many of his own small books and really enjoys reading them. 

Recently  I introduced word families in an interactive way to see if he would be interested in them.  He totally loved them. I just leave them out in a bin on the table and he just picks them up randomly and tries to play and read the words.

Here is the link to these great interactive word family houses. And the second picture is from a book I just had to cut and color them.

How and when did you introduce literacy to your little ones? Please share in comments.

Why we love everything coconut

Coconut is a staple in our home, we love it "in" and "on" our bodies.  Hope this inspires you to include this wholesome superfood in your lives too.

Prioritizing & Reconnecting at deeper level with the Quran

Starting  each day with the recitation of the Quran puts ones heart at peace and in a state of calmness. This helps one to take on the challenges of the day and stay focused on the important things. The most beautiful part is every time one opens the Quran there are lessons and reminders for one to hold on to and work on for the day. 

The goal should be quality not quantity. Reading half a page, a page or two, but reading with understanding is important. If one doesn't understand Arabic then reading a translation can be useful. Trying and testing different amounts and seeing what works best can be helpful. 

As Muslims parents everyday we strive to instill in our kids the love of Quran and the Sunnah. What we forget is... If they don't see us loving Quran - by spending "one on one time" with it (I am sure we as parents are very familiar with this phrase) how exactly  do we expect them to love it.  If they don't see us turning to the Quran when we are overcome by negative emotions so we can return to our normal states. How will they learn to channel their emotions in a positive manner, or control them. To function at our optimal level we have to first and foremost connect ourselves with Allah and Quran. Having this spiritual connection can help us see this world and the people around us from a whole new lens.

I just have too much on my plate and that is the case of most moms. So I have set a goal to read one double  sided  page a day no matter where I am and how busy the day ahead might seem. I feel so dependent on it that if I miss it I feel out of place in all my roles as a woman, Or more like everything feels out of place. 

Every time before sitting with the Quran I just remind the kids that it Mama's time for what Allah created us for, if they need something I will listen to them after I am done. Of course, it took them some practice but now Alhumdulillah it so amazing,  while iI recite they quietly listen Mashaa-Allah. Before I use to explain in simple words to them that "Allah SWT created us only to worship Him, pray to Him and to read understand and implement the Quran. There are other important  things that we have to do but before all that comes Allah. And when pleasing Allah is our goal then Allah SWT helps us with everything " 

Here is a glimpse of the reminder I got from my time with Quran today. 

He said, "I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah , and I know from Allah that which you do not know. {Yusuf:86}

How is that you spend time with the Quran and make it an important of your day?

Life with a baby

Alhumdulillah  for older siblings and their tiny helpful hands.  Mashaa-Allah every  morning AR volunteers to feed baby S while I do some kitchen work.  And for some odd reason S is always more excited to eat with bhiya then Mama anyways.

I wanted to share some nutritious quick and easy baby food recipes ideas and tips. I puree fruits and veggies weekly and freeze them in ice cubes trays. I don't freeze any grains or seeds. Baby food is a great way to involve kids, they love blenders and pouring.

Every morning first thing I do is in a small pot I put 2 tablespoons of either organic brown rice, hulled millet (I use hulled because it's a lot quick and easier to cook), quinoa or brown rice flakes. While I prepare breakfast for the rest of the family the seeds are fully cooked. I just add a cube from the freezer of the puree while it's still warm, and it's ready to be served to our little man.

As he is getting older he is not interested in puree foods, he wants more texture and boiling fresh grains  and seeds adds that.  Sometimes I toss fresh fruit or veggies while the seeds still boiling and just mashed it slightly with a potato  masher.

I have done this all three of my kids and all of them have different reactions and tastes. So it important  to change things around depending  on individual  child's needs. These are no just easy to make but frugal too.

Here's our fresh pear and organic millet breakfast with a dash of organic cinnamon powder from this morning.

Lessons from life

I always find such simple yet profound wisdom and truth in these words of Ronald Russell. It's something I want to reproduce and hang in our home as a constant reminder.

Product review: Substance - Nappy Rash Onitment

Bismillah

This post is mainly inspired by my life revolving around a baby these days. Its about a product I have been using for about 4 years now, and really feel I need to share its immense benefits we have had. Its like the only baby skin care  product I carry in my diaper bag. 

It works great for almost everything! I have used it for the kids on cuts, diaper rashes, sunburns, burns, mosquito bites, dry skin, irritation my daughter gets in her private because of swimming and for her . It is the only product we used on our son when he got circumcised . If you are like me and love good smelling things, you will simply love the way it smells.

It is however a bit on the expensive end but the way it works is a little goes a looong way. I have only bought it 2 times in over 4 years and still have enough to inshaa Allah last this whole year or more.

- We ask You O Allaah to protect our families for any evil in this World and the Hereafter, and to make them great thinkers and make us of those who fear You due to knowledge. Ameen.

Organic versus conventional food

A few weeks ago AR asked me "Mama what is the difference between organic and not-organic?" before going to bed. So I told him we learn about it tomorrow inshaa-Allah. So At night I looked up some simplified information that a 6 years old can understand. I knew and had a lot of resources and information but but not at a child's level. I didn't want to give him unnecessary information that he doesn't  need to know at his age. Of course some things are necessary and need to be known.a


Here is what we found for kids to learn about their food, where its coming from and what are our alternatives.

We read these 2 books Meet Pauly and Organic Farming. Alhumdulillah since it is getting slightly warmer here now we prepared our organic seeds for planting in our good soil. We also watched the following Youtube videos.

What is Organic?

Epipheo TV - What is organic? Fresh versus Processed

(I love Epipheo TV videos)

Organic in Ontario Canada

11 year old organic food activist 

Jamie Oliver

What Farmers can use instead of Chemical sprays

A day in the life of a farmer

 Potato Experiment 

We watched these two documentaries Home and Food inc. There are many more but for his age these were enough, even these I supervised and skipped some parts. Inshaa-Allah as the weather gets warmer we will be visiting and doing some hands on learning in the local organic farms.

If you know of any other resources please share with us.

Learning through real life

  "...‘How will they learn to read?’ you ask, and my answer is ‘Remember the lessons of Massachusetts.’ When children are given whole lives instead of age-graded ones in cellblocks, they learn to read, write, and do arithmetic with ease, if those things make sense in the kind of life that unfolds around them."

 – John Taylor Gatto

This has proven to be totally true for us. Mashaa Allaah on his on time and pace AR learned to write and read, and is still learning. He took his time to let things sink in and make sense to him. On the other hand H is already writing/copying letters and words wherever she sees them. Early learning is not our thing so I am just leaving it at that, not planning on pushing her into it.

Children learn on their on pace if they are provided the right environment to promote imagination, be creative and explore. They need boundaries to feel secure, they need us adults to show them how and what to do, they love to imitate. They look up to us to see how we deal with challenges of life and take on a positive role in our homes and communities. They need to see us turning again and again to Allah SWT and not to people when a difficulty arises. They need to see us following the sunnah, worshiping our Lord and reading the Quran, to know that this is what is most important in our lives... THIS is the purpose of our creation.

                     And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.

Every  child should be given the freedom to learn on their on pace.... learning and gaining knowledge is like the vast oceans, the deeper one goes the more amazing things one finds and learns. Learning should not be restricted to books, and classrooms (although these are great and beneficial)... we can learn a lot without them too.

- We ask You O Allaah to protect our families for any evil in this World and the Hereafter, and to make them great thinkers and make us of those who fear You due to knowledge. Ameen.

Long time no seee

Bissmillah (In the name of Allah)

Its been a loooong time. I really feel a part of me missed blogging, and a part had not time to think. Alhumdulillah we are well settled with our new addition and managing home, fun and learning.

Inshaa Allah (God willing) hoping to be back in the blogging world and to inspire and get inspired (by the Permission of Allah).

Until next post...

- We ask You O Allaah to protect our families for any evil in this World and the Hereafter, and to make them great thinkers and make us of those who fear You due to knowledge. Ameen.

A short update of our life...

Assalamualikum wa rahmatullahe wa barakatuhu

It's been a loooong time since I last blogged. Things have been very busy and adventurous in our family. InshaAllah (with the permission of God) we will soon be having a new addition to our growing family tree. This has slowed us down a bit and in our unschooling, yes, that's what we have been doing for the past few months. The journey of past few months has been very unique in many ways...its has helped us bond in a unique way as a family.

Alhumdulillah both our children are very excited about the new addition. We have encouraged bonding between the baby and the kids from the very beginning so they feel connected to the baby ones it comes into the world inshaAllah. We have daily ritual of saying 'Salam' (His and Byes) in the morning and at night. They like to share random things and incidents with the baby. AR like reciting to the baby... and SubhanaAllah its amazing how the baby calms down while he recites. We pray to Allah SWT to increase them in love for each other and make their bonds stronger and based on trust. I pray that they hold firmly to each other on the straight path. Ameen.

Me and the kids are temporarily living in Canada. Since we were here we enrolled the kids in some Homeschooling  programs in our community. MashaAllah the kids are enjoying the change of weather and the snow. For H it was her first snow and we were very excited to see her reaction to it. She's loving the snow. We went to play in snow and tobogganing a few times. Despite all the fun we miss Baba a lot, he came for a one week visit recently and it was the best week we had since we've been here.

Our life in last few months has been about real life-skills and making memories. We as a family have gone through some big decision making processes and some tests that we with Allah SWT's help passed and the rest we ask Him the Exalted to help us through as well. It has made us all stronger and closer to each other and Allah SWT. It made us value how temporary this life is. We learned and experienced things that NO school can teach one.

InshaAllah I am hoping to update the blog a bit before the baby arrives. So stay tuned to see what are some things that have kept us busy.

Till then...stay warm <3

Hajj Activties # 7, 8, 9 and 10

And for the last round of activities!

7. Educating ourselves before we educating our little ones: I listened to a couple of lectures to re-remind myself about the details and and virtues of Hajj and these 10 days. Here's one that I really benefited from when talking to the kids about the rituals of Hajj.

HAJJ WORKSHOP

8. Hajj ritual setup: By using the kids blocks, making a few things and printing Day 1 to 5 cards from Islamic Bulletin Board, we setup our Hajj table. This was by far the best teaching tool we had about Hajj. It was very hands on for them. So many people did Hajj on our table, AR took almost everyone he knows to Hajj. 

Make a Kabbah and learn the hitory though story telling. You can use cardboard box, construction paper. I played safe and painted a wood box black and added some gold to represent the kabah. it. Its very sturdy. Make some hujajj in ihram we added  their wives. 

Using the kids wooden blocks we made Mina and Jamarat. You will be able to find many things to represent these if you look around the house.

We used 2 big rocks from our rock collection to represent Safa and Marwa mountains 

The empty area is where Arafah is, the Hujjaj stand there and make dua. Muzdalifah is where the people are sleeping.

Felt sacrificial animals, the camel is missing.

This project is very easy, frugal and green. We try to keep things around our home as pure and simple as they can be, the goes for play, learning, cooking and cleaning.

9. Hajj Felt story board: Using our felt story board we did some hajj related stories and a life time journey of Hajj in our imagination. Unfortunately I was not able to take pictures and now we are out of town. It was a time consuming project for prepare for me, because I had to cut out each part separately.

10. Memorize and Chant the Talbiyah, Tahleel, Tahmeed and Takbeer : The Prophet SAW said: "There are no days on which righteous deeds are greater in the sight of Allaah and dearer to Him 

than on these ten days. So, intensify Tahleel and Tahmeed."

  

• Tahleel - La IlaahaIllaAllaah "there is no one worthy of being worshiped but Allaah"
• Takbeer -   Allaahu Akbar "Allaah is The Greatest"
• Thameed -  Alhamdu lillaah "praise be to Allaah"

I pray and hope that you all find these activities a good idea and helpful teaching tools for you families inshaAllah

I pray that Allah SWT gives us all to the taweeq (ability) to benefit from these best 10 days. And also accept  all our acts of worship in these day. Ameen 

Hajj Mabroor to ALL the Hujjaj inshaAllah. 

Hajj Activities # 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

Since we normally travel during the hajj break, I have to do Hajj based activities and learning before we leave. So we started last week and break starts in two days. I thought I would share some things we have been doing before we head out inshaAllah.

Its really important for us to make children feel a change in the home environment as we approach these important occasion, marked in our religion/life, i.e, Ramadan, Hajj, both Eid, the fast of Ashura and so on. It should be a special festival like feeling in the home.

I thought it would be best to start of from the foundation, which are the pillars of Islam and some other activities.

2.  Make a pillars of Islam model: We used cardboard rolls same as toilet paper rolls but a bit hard and sturdy, to make this. Our focus was Hajj, and inshaAllah I plan on covering others one topic at a time giving it its time to be absorbed into the kids.

3. Read a book about the pillars of Islam: We read over our "The Pillars of Islam" book. I recommend to every Muslim family. Its beautifully illustrated and written in very simple words. It comes with a partner book "The Pillars of Iman".

4. Learning Roots Pyramid Pillars: We made the Pyramid Pillars and talked about them a bit, again the main focus was Hajj.

5. Watch this video.  

Part 1

Part 2

6. Listening and singing these Nasheeds everyday. 

this

this 

And this our favorite <3! 

InshaAllah stay tuned for the last few.

Hajj Activity #1: DIY Hajj Banner

Last week we made this Hajj banner to welcome the ten best days of the year. The theme of course is Hajj but I also added the Hajj Rituals. Every morning we talk about each place and see some pictures we have from our trips to Arafah, Mina and Muzdalifah. When we did Hajj last year we took AR with us to do Jamarat, so he remembers a lot of the things very clearly.

To make the banner I used felt, needle embroidery floss, a stiring and some templates. Then I cut out the Hajj route (Arafah, Mina, Muzdhalifah and Jamarat) and the sacrificial animals using templates I had printed. You can draw yours if you are good at it. I found the templates easier and faster! I used assorted sizes and colors for the base and glued the sacrificial animals and the Hajj route on them.

AR suggested to write the names of everything on it, of course Mama loved his suggestion and thought of embroiding the names on the base. H is in love with the little felt kaba we had to represent haram.

Banners can be made from any medium, paper, fabric, foam sheets in any design, I chose Grey, yellow, white, black and blue to match our living room colors. Banners can be fun, beautiful decor and educational, H has learned so much about the Hajj with us in the last few days mashaAllah through just being part of the morning Hajj discussion.

Nurturing children: Why "early learning" doesn't help

Great Article. 

Nurturing children: Why "early learning" doesn't help 

5 Powerful ways to connect more deeply with you children

5 Powerful Ways to Connect More Deeply with Your Children

Take a 2 minutes and read these 5 beautiful points of great reminder. We tend to forget these little things in the daily hassle and bassel of life whether we want to accept this fact or not! It is the truth. 

I like point 5, its a very different prospective.

Homemade Eczema and Winter Salve

With winter around the corner I thought it would be nice to share a recipe for this Homemade Salve we make to help H with her dry skin/eczema she gets here in Tabuk's dry weather. The best part is you ONLY need three  ingredients!! H has been using it for 3 years now. One badge lasts us a bit over 6 months, because its applied to her whole body almost.

This time we added one more ingredient to it and found even better results. After consulting with my homeopathic doctor and sharing with her H's positive experience with the homeopathic calendula ointment, I added  Calendula Mother-tincture too the salve to the original recipe.

MashaAllah!! In less then three days her skin got smooth again. The only place she's having an issue with is her little bum, every time she uses the toilet, the water makes it dry. Its not at all as bad as it was before we made the salve.

So, what is this recipe you all must be wondering?? Well, here  it is, its shared Sonoma Garden Blog,. We have tried a lot of her wonderful easy and simple homemade recipes she shares, from food to personal care products. The Lip balm is really nice too and works great with my and AR's dry lips.

DIY: Felt Bean Bags

I made these bean bags for us to play different games. They are great for outdoors and indoors. They are super simple and fun to make. It's a great feeling to see your child play with something that's especially handmade  for them. The kids love the way they feel and the little sound it makes when its moved. We used felt, but they can be made with other fabrics as well. Hope you enjoy making them for your little ones.

Here's what you'll need:

Felt in assorted colors
Scissors
Strong thread or embroidery floss
Needle
(Optional: Sewing machine if you don't want to hand stitch the pieces together.)

Once you have all the supplies cut 2 pieces of felt in the shape you would like your bean bags to be. Then start stitching the side using the blanket stitch (I really like the way it looks on the finished bean bag). Before closing the bag fill it with rice/beans/ lentils and then stitch it close.

Here are some fun things that can be done with bean bags.

1. Balancing game - walking with the bean bag on the head, we count, say our letters, Haroof and recite while playing our balancing game.
2. Bean Bag toss - in baskets or in a scoring bean bag toss we made from a cardboard box.
3. Pass the bean bag in a circle - we made up a few fun ways to do the passes
4. Played catch the bean bag
5. We passed them saying colors in English and Arabic. Its a great for color recognition.
6. Counting by 2s, 5s, 10s can be made fun too with bean bags.

We're back!

Bismillah,

Assalamualikum wa rahmatullahe wa barakatuhu

It's been a looooong time! The last few months have been very busy and full of Summer fun. We were on summer vacation in Toronto, Canada, and now back home and settled and in a rhythm Alhumdulillah. As most of our time was spent outdoors, running errands and meeting friends and families, I had no time to blog. As much as I missed it at times but everything kept me so busy. I am happy to be back and blogging.

Alhudmulilalh, after all the unpacking, we a back in our daily rhythm. The beauty of having a rhythm in life is, it can travel with you where ever you go (at least some parts). This was one thing that really helped me in on our vacation too. Although it was not always easy, but if we did some of our main activities, like the morning circle, our bedtime ritual even if they were a  condensed version. the kids were much more collected, calm and content on those days. The days we would miss them it would be totally apparent in there behavior.

Lakeshore! Miss it!

A small herb garden in Royal Botanical Gardens

Another wonder of Allah SWT's nature, Webster falls. no matter how many times you go there, it still  refreshing

Our road trip to Orlando in Pictures.

The Swan family we met while canoeing in a river in Ann Arbor,  Michigan

Peach Honey sticks we bought at a farmers market in Atlanta Georgia for a healthy sweet treat!

Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The falls were a sign of Allah SWT Qudrah. SubhanaAllah  they are a beautiful. You have to walk in a cave for a mile and then the Fall comes. It was beautiful!

Gem and stone search at the Falls.

Children's Museum in Tampa, Florida

Animal Kingdom, this was the kids favorite place.

Animal Kingdom, we didn't want to take the kids to Disney, so we found other places.   Although Animal Kingdom is part of Disney, its still has a touch of nature.

This tree is 2000 years old 

Sea World

Fascinated by Dolphins as usual!

On the way back we drove through Washington and we stopped to see the Native Indian museum which had a really nice children's area where they had there own personal passports, they really enjoyed stamping there passports. We also went to the Natural History Museum and the Space Museum.

Natural History Museum

So this was a little picture summary of our summer trip. Of course there a lot of other things we did and places we went and people we met, it hard to remember and go through every thing. These were some main highlight of this Summer.

Ramadan prep, decor and family Eid gift exchange night is a huge part of our annual rhythm.

Until next post please remember us in your duas

Summer Nature Table

Our summer nature table. Felt Garland AR insists on putting around the table.

We have a table set in the Rawdah as our nature table. Mostly, we use it for seasons but since we don't have all season here we also use it as a general nature table where the kids put things on it from our nature walks, or anything that reminds them of Allah SWT and His creation.

Nature table's are a great way to let kids explore Allah SWT's creation and the beauty He has add in everything thing He has created. 

Some yummy sweet and juicy hand picked apricots by the kids from a farm field trip we had with a some families a few days ago.

Extra large figs, also hand picked from a farm. Felt strawberries I had made as a their Jummah special for food play.

We also have sea shells and corals that the kids have collected on their beach trips. MashaAllah we have a HUGE colletion of some amazing looking shells.