Ramadan Journal for kids

We have been doing Journaling this year here and there. I thought Ramadan would be a good time to dive a little deeper into it InshaAllah. I found this wonderful Journal on aMuslimHomeschool. Its wonderful fun and simple enough for kids to use.

 

Ramadan with children - part 1

I will be starting of with the following three activities. 

1. Recording the phases of the moon with a  simple chart and using these worksheets to learn more about phases of the moon. This one we started at the beginning of the month of Shabaan (2 days ago)
   
2. We will be doing is "Let's find a word in the Quran" project. This activity in particular really amazed me, love it because it is connecting children to the Quran. And as we know Ramadan is the month of Quran, this is a perfect activity to help children connect with the Quran InshaAllah.  It can be easily customized for older children.
   
3. The Prophets of Islam 29 part series by Mufti Menk. This one is for me and the kids. Alhumdulillah last year I got to go over the Quran with Taimmiyah Zubair's Fahmul-Quran Live, which was a very uplifting experiencing, this year I really want to listen to this series, and as usual kids will tag along, especially AR.

This begins our Ramadan Prep.

Are you prepared for Ramadan???

Assalamu Aalikum Everyone, A special Dua for all Allahuma Balighna Ramadan {O Allah Allow us to Reach Ramadan}

Are You Prepared????

Let's do it together inshaAllah. Alhumdullillah, the blessed month of mercy, Ramadan is approaching us very soon once again this year, inshaAllah. Just like when we have special guest coming over we makes lists of things to make, to clean and to do with them, the same way, we have to prepare ourselves (bodies and souls), our families and our homes for this month of mercy. InshaAllah in the next few posts I'll be sharing some ideas on how to Ramadan ready

Last year I had the opportunity to organize a Ramadan workshop for children 7 and up with a dear friend Aasiya's Homeschool in Toronto, Canada. This year since we have moved to a new place, we are planning things according to where we are inshaAllah.

This was the layout of workshop from last year, for those who may be interested.

• Virtues of the month of Ramadan
• Caring about our food, body and environment
• Mindfulness in Ramadan
• Spirituality and Connecting with the Quran, (since this is the month of The Quran)
• A small take home project, goal sheet, and acts of kindness sheet

This year the group of children I am working with are all under 9, but an extraordinary bunch mashaAllah. We also have a very unique situation, so we are trying to get our minds around how we can make the most out what we have and where we are inshsaAllah. 

So with a peak inside what we did last year (which I wasn't able to blog about) and touch of what we plan to do this year Be'eznillahi Tala... I will end.

Stay tuned...

Book Review: Learning to Listen, Learning to care - A workbook to Help Kids learn Self-Control & Empathy

We have been using this book "Learning to Listen, Learning to care" by Lawrence E. Shapiro, as a family to help better ourselves. It is a great Character building book. Initially, I purchased it for the kids, interesting now we have a family session where kids and I sit together and go over one question or one whole activity, then together right our responses. 

It ends up being a great writing and literacy session. This author has a series of similar books that covers many different topics on character building and helping children be better human beings. I highly recommend this book, especially for boys who are not too keen about discuss their emotions. We don't write in the book we answer the question in our personal diaries.

Here is a sample Activity lesson to give you an idea. 

Activity 7 - page 1

Activity 7 - page 2

Actvity 7 - page 3

Richard Hammond - Engineering Connections

This is an amazing documentary series to compliment related topic. My son really enjoys them and finds them fascinating.

Episode List

Burj Al Arab

Formula 1

Super Tanker

The Earthquake Proof Bridge

The Space Shuttle 

Bullet Train

Airbus A380

Taipei Tower

Deep Space Observer

Super Rig

Wembley Stadium

Sydney Opera House 

HMS Illustrations

Guggenheim Bilbao

Millau Sky Bridge

Hong Kong International Airport

Autoshow Doha Qatar 2016

Kids and I had a fun field trip to the Doha Autoshow 2016 and we really enjoyed. I am not a car crazy person, and nor do I  know much about them. So I handed the group leadership to AR, who gave us an awesome tour of the Autoshow and was a phenomenally patient guide.

It was a fun day Alhumdulillah and we really enjoyed and learned a lot. Really, we did! AR didn't just help us increase our knowledge about cars but I was amazed at how patiently he was explaining all the details to me and his sister. He taught me the real meaning of patience when teaching, MashaAllah. Oh and he literally interviewed every representer of each company/brand.

I feel children have much to offer and teach us if they are given the chance too and if we observe mindfully. Sadly though very so often we fail to do that.

Let's try to be more mindful parents!

Alhumdullilah had a wonderful time.

Interviewing the representer!

Homestudy: Calligraphy

I have always enjoyed calligraphy, both arabic and english. I have this vision / passion /wish / desire  to have my kids enjoy the beauty of this art.

I first did calligraphy at Alhuda Canada as a student and completely fell in love with it and from there I explored it more and took a few in-person courses and online course by Omar Uddin.

The good thing about the online course is I will always have access to it so inshallah in the future my kids can also benefit from it.

Recently though I had the opportunity to take in person Calligraphy classes from an expert an Arabic Calligrapher here in Doha Qatar.

Purpose of sharing this is my hope and desire to inspire and help other moms who want to learn a new skills and tell them you  can do it! 

"Share the Khair" as a dear friend put it. Usually, I don't like talking about what I have studied/studying or what courses I have done/doing, but recently I have been feeling a need to do so to help other mothers see and reach their highest potential. If we put our minds to something and work hard with it, we can do more than we think we can. We gave birth! didn't we? So we can move mountains as well. As a matter of fact most of you already are! You are raising wonderful children interested by The All Mighty especially chosen to be under your tender and loving care. I often say the above as affirmation to myself, and yes, positive self talk has great benefit and we can keep that discussion for another time inshaAllah. I encourage you to do that the same, because sometimes we are not surrounded by the most encouraging people. And many times we are blessed with such company.

Book Review: The Content of Character Copybook Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad

Sandala.org just came out with their new edition

"The Content of the Character" is a Hadeeth (sayings of Muhammad peace and blessing be upon him) compilation which is translated by Shaykh Hamza. It is phenomenal in many ways, its a book children can use to memorize, read and write Hadeeth in arabic and english that will help shape thier character, inshaAllah. The best part is that not just the kids but even I have benefitted very much  from the book by using it as calligraphy practice. This book is also a part of Kinza Academy Curriculum (now known as Education Revisited) by Elizabeth Hanson. 

The only thing I would like different in their future editions would be, if they could use a different and more child friendly binding, to make the book easier to use.

Sample from inside the book

We don't write inside the book we use separate paper to write on, so we can use the book in the future. I love this because we can sit together and take one hadeeth per week or two and actually focus on memorizing, sing it, writing it and most of all encourage each other to put the knowledge into action.

Homemade Beauty: Lip Balm making with kids

AR has always had chipped lips issue, many underlying issues for that. However, I also wanted something topical to use. We tried many different brands, both organic and non-organic but nothing seem to help really. Then I started making our own at home after the eczema salve we made for H. I have made many different variation until (I think) I mastered the ingredients blends to get the best results and here is my recipe.

Ingredients laid out for kids

Ingredients:

1. 5 tbsp Beeswax
2. 6 tbsp Coconut oil
3. 4 tbsp Olive oil / Almond oil
4. 4 tbsp Coco Butter 
5. 2 tbsp Shea Butter
6. Containers to pour into, you can find many options, we recycled these mini honey jars and previously used EOS old containers.

Instructions:

• Melt ingredients 1, 2, 3 and 4 in a microwave (15 seconds intervals, because can get really hot) or a double broiler. 
• Add shea butter at the end to the hot liquid to avoid it from turning into beads.
• Add essential oils (keeping in mind what oils are safe for children) and vitamin E at the end because heat destroys their properties.
• Pour into containers, let it cool and they are ready to use.

I  usually add a little shimmer for H using broken eye shades (which I save for this)

Final product. Notice the messy edges... I love the beauty of kids hands.

If I make Homemade body products for gifting or selling, I prefer not letting the kids help much to keep things clean. Beeswax can get quite messy when mixed with greasy ingredients, so be prepared for the mess when kids taking part.

Learning points

• We also talked about, smiling is sunnah Hadeeth
• Purifying intention to have beautiful smiles when making to please Allah SWT
• Instill the idea of making your own things so you know what you are using. 
• Be producers not consumers
• For older children great math lesson on how much you save by this and how much one lip balm container cost.

For beautiful smiles!

Horse Championship

The Racing & Equestrian club of Doha, held a Horse Racing Championship. Alhumdullilah we got to go watch. Kids really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot about a new sport. Our youngest S loves horses but was scared to ride one and mashaAllah (by the will of Allah) his Baba helped and guided him through his fear...and he got over it Alhumdulillah. So by the end of it, he didn't want to get off of the horse.

Empowering and inspiring moment for H when she saw a female participant, who came 6th

Best part, boys got to pray Isha salah behind the 2nd place winner from Qatar.

Book Reveiw: I Think, I Am!

Louise Hay is the author of the international bestseller "You can heal yourself" and also New York Times bestseller for "Heal your body". She also has a work book that goes with "You can heal yourself" called  "Love yourself and heal yourself" which has proven to help many people. She is known for her work on encouraging people to change their thoughts to positive and more affirming thoughts, despite of what they have heard about themselves.

"I think, I am" is a kids version book of her other works. It teaches children the power of Affirmation. With the help of fun illustrations and simple words children can learn how to change negative thoughts to positive affirmations. If children learn this skill of positive self talk, they can live a more fulfilling life inshaAllah.

We paired this book up with her "The Affirmation coloring book" and "Inspirational". I have always felt art to be very therapeutic just like writing. Coloring books like these have very soothing and calming affects on a person. Zentangle is a form of art that has been used to help people focus and relive stress.

Some of our completed works

This is one of those book we should have in our home libraries. Also be shore to check out Louise Hay's website.

Homemade Beauty: Lip Scrub with kids

Kids made Lip scrub today with 3 ingredients that we already had in our Kitchen. It was a simple and fun project that they really enjoyed, especially the kids. I try to teach kids to make whatever they can at home and from scratch and whenever they can instead of always buying it as the first option. Instilling the idea of being producers rather than consumers is crucial at a young age. AR always has chapped lips so we made these lip scrubs for all of us. These have always helped his chapped lips. H of course love making it since it's a beauty product. Also teaching them that our beloved used to do things himself (Peace and blessing be upon him).

Kid's lip scrub

Here is what we used in the kids version of the scrub:

• 1 tsp - organic coconut oil
• 2 tsp - organic cane sugar
• dash - organic cinnamon 

Adult's lip scrub

Here is what I used for the adults scrub:

• 1 tsp - organic coconut oil
• 2 tsp White sugar 
• 2 drops lavender essential oil
• 1 drop Eucalyptus
• Dash of grated lemon 

Optional additions when making it for adults or giving as a gift:

• Food coloring (gives it a LUSH touch)
• Coffee
• Brown sugar instead of cane sugar and white sugar
• Olive oil
• Honey

Enjoy the recipe and polish those beautiful smiles!

Stay tuned for more of our Homemade recipes for the whole family.

Yoga with kids

Every morning as I do my yoga after dawn prayer time my kids start to creep out of bed one at a time. Sometimes after I am have completed my yoga regimen I put one episode of Cosmic kids on for them for their yoga time. The kids have been doing Cosmic kids yoga for quite a few years, recently she has been adding plenty of new videos.

Happy Yoga Mommies and kiddies!

Nature Nurtures Learning

The last few months we have been living out of hotel rooms, Alhumdulillah. It is awesome to have room service, and I feel like I am getting too spoiled by it. However, it can sometimes get quite cramped for the 5 of us in a tiny space, especially for the children. So we try to keep as many outdoor activities as possible, and not burdensome for any of us. One of the things we have been taking outdoors are our books!

We have a nice park by our hotel, we take our books there and stay put a good 2 to 3 hours. The kids play and learn at the same time. They have grown in their cognitive abilities, behavior, in learning and understanding new concepts, each other and the world around them. How things around them are constantly changing naturally and so are we. They're not just doing their daily lessons but also observing and learning from their surroundings and the beauty in what He has created with astonishing perfection.

We have always enjoyed the nature, being in the wild, forests and falls of Canada and United States to the desserts and beaches of Arabia. We love it all! Kids and adults both benefit and flourish in nature. It connects us in a unique way to The Creator, and puts one in a state of Awe in His Signs, as one reflects. All this love for nature was taken to another level when I read "I love Dirt" By Jennifer Ward. And just recently "Last child in the woods"

I leave you with poster and the above quote from the book "Last child in the woods"

Positive Discipline - Online Course

Positive Discipline is offering an online course in January called - Discipline with influence. Ruth Baffin is the founder of Positive Discipline, she is a woman full of wisdom and great advice. Don't miss this opportunity.

Studying online at home is a good way to learn in you own comfort zone and at your own pace in some cases. However, it comes with its own challenges, for some people it is the issue self motivation and consistence because "no one is watching". One simple solution for that is, try taking the course with other mom(s) or husband, split the cost and meet once a week for 7 weeks (or other duration) and benefit from it together inshaAllah. Doing it together in a group also opens up new topics of discussion and ideas.

Do benefit from the opportunity!

Enjoy Peaceful Parenting!

Book Review - Have you filled a bucket today?

I simply love this book!  It is one of those classic books every family should have in their home library.

It encourages positive behaviour,  passion and empathy in a very child friendly manner. Even our 2 year old talks about his "bucket".  The language is very simple for children to comprehend and remember.

I feel we tend to neglect building emotional intelligence our children. Often a subject easily ignored. This is a wonderful  book to start of with.

It has a few other sister books you can also look into.

Time to fill your bucket! 

A New Beginning...

Doha, Qatar - downtown

We recently moved to Doha, Qatar, (Alhumdulillah - all praise is for God), a lot of settling in to do and adjustment for all of us. Its not too hot right now so we get a lot of chance to go out and explore.

When we got here we only had 4 suitcases each which mainly had clothes and hygiene products and some books. Since I didn't have much to be very crafty with them, I decided to use the resources we have around us and the books we had with us. I made a quick draft of how I wanted to establish rhythm in our day once again, and got at it! Alhumdulillah so far its going well. We have our spontaneous days too where we drop the books and go outside. We have also taken our books out and studied on grass under the blue sky in fresh air.

Doha has been a nice place so far Alhumdullilah. We continue to ask Allah SWT to bless this place for us and bring khair and only khair for us from this part of the world. And unite us with righteous company. Ameen

Many beautiful views and a very diverse and welcoming community, they say Doha is only 20% Qatari's and 80% foreigners. It will be a very different experience then living in Canada and Saudi, We are looking forward to it.

Missing friends, family sisterhood, TMH and fall in the Canada immensely though.

Souq Waqif, opposite to Fanar Masjid

3D painting, kids saw the painters work on it over a span of a week.

Sheridan Hotel, known to be the first major hotel, been around for over 30 years.

Night time boat glamour!

Fanar Masjid

Abdul Wahaab Masjid - Main Masjid of Doha

Doha Skyline :)