Summer of Year 1 - Autumn of Year 2

A list of some of the things we've done over the last few months... No time for proper updates! SubhanAllah, my youngest brother was diagnosed with stage 4b lymphoma and things were a bit busy and a lot of going back and forth between Bristol, Birmingham and Ipswich. Alhamdulillah, he's finished his chemo course and seems to be doing well (and MashaAllah, the work we've done in Science recently on infection and the human body was really useful in the girls being able to understand pretty quickly why I was upset to hear the news and why we need to make lots of dua that Mamu gets better soon). Next time we visit will be next month, inshaAllah. 😄

So aside from the usual Literacy and Numeracy, guided by the Year 2 NC (going through the list and filling in all the gaps), we did the following:

1) Definition of habitats: research in non-fiction books, identify from fiction books, create a poster of a habitat of choice (including marking locations on a world map) which contained examples of plants and animals found in that habitat. Rehearse and give a presentation of their poster to each other, giving feedback on how to improve, then give an improved presentation to Papa. Convert their posters to PowerPoints (skills: typing, text boxes, inserting images, animations) and show this as a presentation to Papa.

2) Art trail around Ipswich, looking for Elmer statues. Map reading, walking, exploring, checking off a list, art appreciation & discussion... The girls then designed and named their own Elmers on pieces of scrap paper and compiled these into a booklet each. They tried to copy the art trail Elmers and came up with puns where they could!

3) Visit to a working water mill, where they grind their own flour and make their own bread - Tide Mill in Woodbridge. We took the train there with Nani, which was an experience in itself! The mill itself was really educational and child friendly. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area! The girls got to help start the water wheel by turning a handle and follow all the ropes and pulleys to the top of the mill. They were able to identify where the old pulleys should have been connected in the roof for the bags of flour to be lifted through the hatch, and also understood the mechanism behind the cogs turning and affecting each other. While there we also did some bird spotting from the lookout area and talked about how the mill was connected to the river. This led onto discussions to do with water sources and the sea, which inspired some more visits whilst in Ipswich...

4) We went to Felixstowe beach twice - once on the train with Nani during the daytime and another at sunset by car with Papa. Both experiences felt completely different despite being to the same place, which led to some good discussions. On our first trip they had fish & chips and ice-cream on the pier, played in the sand and F was brave enough to paddle in the sea. On the second trip we went for a short stroll on the beach and they played in the sand by the light of some coloured string lanterns hung across the promenade. It was interesting to watch the sunset on the horizon and see how the sky changed colour and then how the sea faded to black so it was impossible to tell where the sea ended and the sky began - the only clues the sea was there at all were a few lights from ships far in the distance. This led to talks about lighthouses and on how vast the sea is.

5) We walked down to Ipswich docks (only 5-10min from my parents' house!) and compared how the water was flowing to the river we saw at Woodbridge. Why? M had the idea that maybe both the water in the docks and the water from Tide Mill would end up in Felixstowe to meet the sea, so we checked on Google maps by zooming out and saw she was right! We didn't have time this visit to see, but I'd like to take them to Orwell Bridge so they can compare how the river looks there to how it was after the docks (and also to the little streams we saw in Holywells Park).

6) Which is the most popular car colour in Ipswich? The twins came up with a method of answering this question (watch the cars on the main road outside Nani's house) and keep a tally chart. We repeated this on two different days and compared the results (the same top three colours but not the same most popular colour on each day!) then turned these results into a bar chart (column addition practise to collate their results from both days). I helped them with this through prompts and questions and then wrote some simple questions about their data for them to answer.

7) We went to a free pizza making workshop at Pizza Express, organised by another home ed mum. The 3 eldest girls learnt a little about Italy and why a margarita has that name (the colours of the Italian flag represented by the toppings), tasted some pizza toppings then made their own margaritas on a pre-made base. The next week they wanted to make pizza at home from scratch, so I found a simple dough using Greek yoghurt and flour they could do independently. They made the dough themselves while I helped with the oven parts and making the sauce (tomato puree, oil & herbs). They put all the toppings on themselves and decided to make tuna, sweetcorn, mozzarella and cheddar.

8) Bake Off inspired baking: taking it in turns to bake cupcakes with me, one person each week. They designed their cupcake on paper first (sponge flavour & decorations) then baked with my guidance (they did measuring themselves for once!). After we all had a turn, we discussed which bake was our favourite and why. Mine was mint chocolate and my favourite lol - will need to post recipe soon inshaAllah!

9) First piece of extended writing in a while... We're currently reading the Famous Five series together and they're really enjoying them, so I used this as a basis for their writing. After a particularly eventful chapter, we did some hotseating on the characters' thoughts/feelings then I modelled writing a simple diary entry on A3 paper. Together, we discussed what the features of a diary entry might be and annotated them on the paper. Then the twins wrote their own diary entries as different characters from the book. When they thought they were finished, they referred to the poster and added to their work.

10) Bouncing ball investigation (as M asked why did the ball bounce higher in the kitchen compared to the sitting room?). Discussed in terms of energy (potential, kinetic) and energy being absorbed. Twins came up with ideas on how to test these factors (i.e. strength of throw, height dropped, floor surface) and how to measure - describe in words or use tape measure? Both ways difficult but tape measure was preferred option! One of the results didn't match our predictions, so we did some further investigations explore why. M came up with hypothesis 1 and F with hypothesis 2, with them both working together to think of how we could test each one. We put both ideas together to come up with a reason to explain why that one result didn't match.

Simple Spring/Summer Plant Projects

As I mentioned in my earlier post, we're taking a break from formal academic studies over Ramadaan so we can concentrate on our Arabic and Quran. But I don't mean we're going to stop learning altogether - that's impossible anyway! Just that we'll discuss things as they come up rather than do planned lessons (they'll still cover plenty of Literacy/Numeracy targets naturally through reading/everyday experiences/etc.), but I thought it made sense to keep a loose Science focus by getting all the books (both fiction and non) out for their book box for the month, since it's the season for growing things anyway!

So we've got a few projects on the go at the moment...

1) Tulips from Amsterdam

The ones my parents gifted us a few months ago have begun to bloom - some seem to have died! The second pot weren't buried deep enough, as when it rained the soil was compacted and so exposed them again, so I asked my husband to help the twins replant them while I was out one day... Still no success compared to the others, so I had a look myself and realised they'd been planted upside down! Replanted (so for the 3rd time lol) in an attempt to save them but it looks like it was unsuccessful... But still a good teaching point into why they didn't grow so nothing lost there!

The ones which have blossomed look beautiful though. 👍

2) Chinese beans

My sister brought some beans back from China (wish I'd remembered to take a photo of them before planting as they had Chinese characters written on them!) though she's not sure what species they are exactly. 😂 So we decorated some old glass honey jars with the girls' names and planted the beans in there. I'm hoping the glass means we'll be able to get a peek at some of the roots! These are on our kitchen windowsill so it's easy to remember to water them and easy to keep an eye on the different stages of growth. 😁

3) Sunflower investigation

A few years ago we grew some sunflowers in the back garden which grew to an impressive height, taller than the fence! When we grew them, I decided where to plant them based on where I thought would get the most sunlight... So this year, I suggested an investigation to see if the amount of sunlight really makes that much of a difference to how plants grow. So we planted a few on the side of the garden the original sunflowers went and a few on the opposite side of the garden, in the shade of the fence. No mention of soil quality at this age - we're making sure to water them both the same amount and assuming that the only factor being changed is amount of sunlight!

Unfortunately, our poor sunflower seedlings have had a rough start... One week, my husband forgot they were there and we lost a few to the lawnmower. 😑 But rather than give up, we replanted the ones which seemed mostly intact and Alhamdulillah a few survived! But then the next weekend it was incredibly windy (Storm Hannah I think it was called?) and from our survivors, there were a couple more casualties blown over or away completely! So now we have two strongish looking ones on each side, and maybe a couple of late sprouters which may end up growing to flower... Who knows! But again, some more interesting learning opportunities so no great loss. 😊

So for these, the girls need to remember to water them (usually when I'm putting out/taking in the laundry!) and also weed them when they look like they need it (why do they need weeding? So the other plants don't take their water and nutrients from the soil, so the sunflowers can grow bigger!). Maybe next year we can do another investigation where we only weed some sunflowers and leave the others to get overrun. 😀

4) Nature walks

The HE friend we went on the Clent Hills walk with is organising regular meet ups at similar locations for more long walks. We went to Clent Hills again on Sunday with my husband, to see how far Z could manage since some of the routes aren't pushchair accessible, and mashaAllah we were out for just over 2 hours (with stops!) and she was able to walk to the top and take the steeper route down again. The walks which are planned with our friend should be around 45min max, so inshaAllah we plan on joining them as they come up over the next few months.

Just being in nature sparked up lots of casual conversations and learning, e.g. what are pine cones for? How do trees breathe if they don't have lungs? Identifying different species of plants (daisies, dandelions, bluebells, buttercups, nettles, blackberry bushes, etc.), comparing the shapes and textures of leaves and petals, etc. etc.

The walks have also been great for building confidence (e.g. keeping balance when going down steeper, gravelly sections of path - thinking they can't do it then proving themselves wrong!), problem solving (looking for the sensible places to climb hills, i.e. less steep, not as muddy, good footholds, etc.) pushing past their comfort zones (they wanted to try climbing a bigger tree on Sunday and, with a little encouragement, managed to get higher than they have before!) and of course, building stamina and endurance. 💪

Spring Rainbows

So after the extended writing task we did previously, I decided to take inspiration from the Big Write initiative and continue giving the girls the opportunity to write a longer uninterrupted piece every fortnight.

As Spring has just begun, I decided to use it as the next prompt - as it was easy to get some firsthand experience and so start some good discussions encouraging rich vocabulary before sitting down to do the writing task.

You can download the writing prompt here.

Before showing the girls the task, I took them to Martineau Gardens so they could actually do the colour hunting challenge mentioned in the prompt. We took photos of the things they found and when we got home I turned these into a collage:

You can download our picture collage here. (the bird pictures I took from Google, since I wasn't able to get a good photo of the robin and magpie we spotted!)

On a different day, before writing, we used their photos as inspiration for a spring time rainbow painting. First, they drew the outline of a rainbow onto white card. Then, they used their photos as reference for drawing pictures in the corresponding stripe of each colour of the rainbow. Finally, they coloured it in using both wax crayons and watercolours - which was their choice! Z did her own version too, mashaAllah. I was really impressed with her patience, which I think is better when she's together with her big sisters as she wants to copy them!

When it came to the actual writing, I think I picked a day when they weren't in the mood for it... We recapped their current target of writing in past tense (and staying in the same tense!) then set the timer for 30min, put a video on YouTube for background Spring sounds, wrote in silence - just as in last time with the desert prompt - but they weren't that motivated this time. Rather than force them to continue or force the issue, I sat with them individually afterwards so they could give themselves feedback: a mark out of 5 for how well they kept in past tense (they both thought they did well at this), a mark out of 5 for how good their descriptions were and a target for next time. M especially was disappointed with herself ("I didn't write enough though!") so insha'Allah they might be more focused next time? I think going to the gardens, which I thought was good for inspiration, might actually have made it more difficult since they were trying to write from memory rather than their imagination? Will try something completely different next time, insha'Allah!

Good hygiene

To finish our topic on the body, following on from healthy eating and exercise, I decided to focus a little on the importance of good hygiene.

We found this amazing book at the local charity shop: I Know How We Fight Germs. It explains the processes in really simple language via a conversation between a little boy and his mum. I really like how it's done - especially as it differentiates between bacterial and viral infections by explaining the different mechanisms different white blood cells use, but without going into too much detail. I wish I'd read it during my Biochemistry degree actually! 😂 Can't recommend it enough if you have an interest in this area. 👍

We watched a couple of videos on YouTube of white blood cells eating bacteria and talked a bit about it...

The timing worked out that this was shared on one of the HE Facebook groups just as we started this topic. 😀 So we signed up to it and went along... It was a great introduction to clinical trials and drug testing! And the girls each received a certificate for taking part:

While at Thinktank, we visited the area dedicated to medicine. A lot of it was too difficult for them, but this game was really good! They had to stop the bacteria or viruses from invading the body by choosing the appropriate defender (e.g. cytokine, T-cell, etc.)

They also had a little display on immunisations, which we've discussed every time before they've needed one (i.e. some germs can make us really seriously ill - remember last time you had a cold or a fever? They can make you feel even worse than that! 100x worse! - so we have injections to put a tiny tiny bit of that germ in our body. Just enough for our body to know it's there and fight it away. So if a real big one of those germs ever gets into our body in the future, our body will remember, "I've fought this germ before!" and will be able to kill the big germ really quickly, so we don't get really ill from it. If we don't have an injection and the big germ gets in, our body won't know what to do and won't be that good at fighting it, so we'd get seriously ill. That's why injections are important. Would you rather have a small injection and be safe or get very very ill? ...The girls always chose the injection. 😂) so we had a quick recap on that too.

When home, we read through the corresponding Science books on hygiene from the ones we have and linked this all to our earlier work on Al-Qudduus.

No worksheets this time round, just lots of practical activities, reading and discussions. 😄

99 Names of Allah - 09 - Al-'Azeez - The Mighty

[09] اَلْعَزِيزُ (Al-'Azeez): The Mighty

[Download resources here]

Sing 99 Names (5min)

Play PowerPoint of the first 33 names, 2-3 times. Sing together and do the actions so far plus:

Action for Al-Azeez: Fist pump the air with both hands and then pose with both arms bent to mime being a strong winner.

Today’s focus is on the name Al-'Azeez which means The Mighty.

Story relating to today's name (7min)

Read the following short story to the children (printable copy in the resources file):

Mighty Brown Bear & the Tug-of-War

In a certain forest, a long time ago, there once lived a group of animals with a strange rule between them. Every month, on the night of the full moon, all the animals would gather together for a grand tug-of-war tournament. The winning animal - the strongest animal - would earn the prize of becoming the next king or queen of the forest. As the mightiest animal in the forest, they had the difficult responsibility to make sure everything was in order and running smoothly; but as ruler, they also had the luxury of eating any food in the forest, whenever they wanted, and no one could refuse them.

The forest animals lived happily this way, with kingship passing regularly between the strongest five: Golden Eagle, Silver Stag, Black Badger, Copper Beaver and Red Fox. They took turns to rule the forest with might and justice.

...All until one day. The day Brown Bear came. 

Brown Bear was large. Brown Bear was strong. Brown Bear arrived in the forest on the night of the full moon. He saw the animals' tournament. "Are you playing tug-of-war?" he asked. "I want to join in, too!"

Yes, Brown Bear was very strong indeed. So strong, that on the very first night he came to the forest, he won their tournament with ease and went to sleep as their new king! 

Brown Bear, however, was not a very good king. He was a glutton, irresponsible, and he was forgetful... So instead of helping sort out the animals' problems, and keeping the forest running smoothly, he chose to spend his days eating instead. No matter how much the animals complained, they could not win against him in a tug-of-war match, and so each month he stayed as king and each month the other animals became more and more upset. Brown Bear didn't mean to cause problems, he was just too greedy and he was just too lazy! 

Every month, at the tug-of-war tournament, the same thing happened. Golden Eagle beat his wings with all his might, but he could not win. Silver Stag heaved his giant antlers with all his might, but he could not win. Black Badger dug her sharp claws firm into the soil with all her might, but she could not win. Copper Beaver used his great tail to beat the ground with all his might, but he could not win. And Red Fox gnashed her teeth with all her might... But she could not win.

"If the strongest five cannot beat Brown Bear," the forest animals despaired, "then none of us can! He will stay our king and we will stay miserable forever!"

But one day, clever Red Fox thought of a plan. She called Golden Eagle, Silver Stag, Black Badger and Copper Beaver to a meeting - for over the many months of Brown Bear's reign, the strongest five animals had become good friends. 

The next night of the full moon, Brown Bear was going to get a surprise...

It was time for the tournament to begin. The moon shone high above the forest, bathing everything below in its gentle, white light.

Brown Bear came out yawning, holding one end of the rope. "Who's first?" he asked the crowd. "Let's end this quickly so we can go to bed and I can wake up early tomorrow as king again - the bees have been busy today and I can't wait to take the honey from their hive!" He licked his lips dreamily. 

"I'm first!" called a voice, and Red Fox stepped forward to pick up the other end of the rope. 

"I'm first!" shouted Copper Beaver, holding onto the rope behind Red Fox. 

"I'm first!" announced Black Badger, taking her place behind Copper Beaver.

"I'm first!" bellowed Silver Stag, wrapping his antlers in the rope behind Black Badger. 

"I'm first!" screeched Golden Eagle, clutching the end of the rope in his talons behind Silver Stag.

"You can't all be first!" blinked Brown Bear, not sure what to make of the five animals before him. "I thought the winner became king and you can't all be king at the same time!"

"Yes, we can!" the five replied and they all started pulling: teeth, tail, claws, antlers and wings against the mighty Brown Bear. And no matter how tough Brown Bear was, of course he couldn't win against the five strongest animals at once!

"We win!" Red Fox called out to the forest, "So we will share king and queenship between us! Golden Eagle will look after the trees. Silver Stag is in charge of the meadows. Black Badger will watch the underground, Copper Beaver the rivers, and I will take the bushes and undergrowth. Does anyone have any problems?"

The forest animals cheered with delight. Only Brown Bear looked sad.

Red Fox continued, "Brown Bear, you may think it unfair of us to have worked together, but you are simply too strong and we could not win against you otherwise. You are still the mightiest animal in the forest. So what do you say, as your special privilege, you can carry on helping yourself to any food from the forest - but the job of keeping everything is in order is left to us?"

Of course, Brown Bear agreed! All the food he could want without any pressures of work! And he was very happy about it, too. In fact, all the animals were so happy with the new arrangement that when the next full moon came round, they voted to stop the tournaments altogether and to leave things how they were.

And so they all lived happily ever after. 

...Especially Brown Bear, who could eat as much honey from the trees, grass from the meadows, fruit from the bushes, roots from underground and salmon from the river as he wanted.

Brown Bear was the mightiest animal in the forest – and he was mighty happy about it, too! 

Discuss meaning, apply to children's lives (15min)

Al-'Azeez means The Mighty.

What do you think the word "mighty" means? Really, really strong and powerful - usually because of size... Just as Brown Bear was the mightiest animal in the forest.

Allah is the most powerful and the strongest - if Allah wants something then nothing can stop it. Allah can never be defeated.

Play tug-of-war game with the children, one at a time (or something else you know you're better at e.g. Snap). Win on purpose and ask who is mightier, you or them? But does that mean they could never win against you? No, as they get older and bigger or if they practise more or if you aren't paying attention (make a mistake and drop the rope!) then they could win! But if anyone or anything tries to go against Allah, it doesn't matter how much they struggle, Allah always wins. And of course, Allah would never make a mistake and lose (remember, He is As-Salaam, The Flawless!).

If there is more than one child, play tug-of-war again with them all against you - or just talk about it. If you add more people, like in the story where the five animals went against Brown Bear, what could happen? Could more people win by working together? But even if all the people in the world wanted to do something against Allah’s will, and all the people in the world worked together... Could they ever win? No!

Discuss: When you lost, did that make you not like me? Maybe a little bit? But this name of Allah doesn't just mean the most mighty and impossible to win against, it also means the most cherished. Do you know what cherish means? It means to love something and want to keep it close to you. So even though Allah is the most powerful, we never feel like we don't like it when what we want is different to what Allah wants, we still always love Him. Because remember, Allah plans things and knows things we don't know - things always happen for a reason even if we don't understand Allah’s reason. (Remind of 6 articles of faith and the qadr of Allah, if appropriate)

Craft activity (20min)

Complete the page for the book.

Imagine trying to play tug-of-war with a mountain - wouldn't that be ridiculous! You could never pull a mountain hard enough to make the whole thing move. And Allah is even stronger than the strongest thing you can imagine. There's nothing in the whole universe which could go against what Allah wants to happen. 

Let the children colour and cut out the name, meaning and picture of a mountain. Tie a knot in a piece of string and stick it down as if it's been tied around the mountain - to remind the children of the tug-of-war analogy. 

When to use this name (8min)
Allah is the source of all strength.

Can you think of a time you might need strength?

What about a time when you don't need physical strength, but emotional strength? e.g. standing up to someone being mean to you, having the strength not to give up on something difficult...

Al-Azeez is the All Mighty. Trust that He will always win and the way of Islam is correct. Always hold strong onto your faith.

On the back of their page, help the children write a few thoughts about the name Al-Azeez and their feelings.

Sticker chart (5min)

Ask individually: Which of Allah’s names did we learn today? What does it mean? Give children a sticker each for their chart.

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Other activities:

-     Create a collage of things the children cherish, using pictures they draw themselves or pictures from the internet/magazines/etc.  to help remind them this name is linked to not just the most mighty, but also the most beloved.

-     Let children design their own superhero with super strength – age, gender, costume, etc. – and draw a picture of them. They can then use this character in a role play or write a short story/scene where their hero saves the day with their super strength.

-     Play tug-of-war with all their family members, one-on-one including parents! Work out who the mightiest family member is, or for an extra challenge design a tournament to find out the order of all the family members.

Please leave a comment if you have any other ideas to add!

Juz 28 / Qad Sami'a - Poster

Continuing with our Quran journey, another motivational poster to keep track of where we are:

The pictures this time correspond to the following translations:

Al-Mujaadilah: She that disputes - speech bubble
Al-Hashr: Exile - empty desert
Al-Mumtahinah: She that is to be examined - magnifying glass
As-Saf: The ranks - rows of people
Al-Jumu'ah: Friday - masjid to signify Friday prayer
Al-Munaafiqoon: The hypocrites - person saying one thing but thinking the opposite
At-Taghaabun: Mutual disillusion - set of scales
At-Talaaq: Divorce - man and woman walking away from each other with a broken heart between
At-Tahreem: Banning - stop sign

As usual, we read through all the surah names and meanings, looked at the pictures and the girls had a go at matching them up. Then they coloured (with glitter gel pens this time!), cut and stuck them down onto an A3 sheet along with random stickers of their choice for decoration. As we complete each surah, they can then choose a coloured pencil to colour the corresponding line in.

You can download our list and pictures here.

You can find our previous posters here: Juz 29, Juz 30.

99 Names of Allah - 08 - Al-Muhaymin - The Guardian

[08] اَلْمُهَيْمِنْ (Al-Muhaymin): The Guardian

[Download resources here]

Sing 99 Names (5min)

Play PowerPoint of the first 33 names, 2-3 times. Sing together and do the actions so far plus:

Action for Al-Muhaymin: Cup your hands together in front of you and bring them in closed towards your chest.

Today’s focus is on the name Al-Muhaymin which means The Guardian.

Story relating to today's name (7min)

Read a short story to the children: story of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Abu Bakr (AS) hiding in the cave before hijrah to Madinah (e.g. from a book such as Goodnight Stories From The Life Of The Prophet Muhammad).

Talk about why they were hiding in the cave and how Abu Bakr (AS) felt when they heard the footsteps outside. What did the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) say to him? Why wasn't the prophet (SAW) worried? Why didn't the Quraysh look inside the cave? Because Allah (SWT) protected Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Abu Bakr (AS) and kept them safe from harm.

(Since the versions involving a spider [and bird's nest] aren't 100% confirmed as authentic, we've chosen not to mention them at this stage)

Discuss meaning, apply to children's lives (15min)

Al-Muhaymin means The Guardian.

What is a guardian? Someone who protects you. Your parents are your guardians; they look after you and only want what's best for you. Guardians keep things safe - can you hear how it has the word "guard" in it?

Allah is Al-Muhaymin: he protects us and guides us towards what's good for us. We can trust Him to want what's best for us and that He has the power to keep us safe from anything!

A goalkeeper is a bit like a guardian: they make sure the goal is protected from the other team scoring. Play a quick game of indoor football e.g. using a soft ball and the width of the sofa as a goal.

But this name of Allah doesn't just mean guardian as in He protects us from bad things coming towards us - like the goalkeeper blocks the ball from going in the goal - Al-Muhaymin is more like Allah is overseeing everything; He's even watching for something which could harm us from faraway. Before we even know we might be in trouble, Allah has kept us safe from it. So before the ball is anywhere near the goal, it's already been moved away so it doesn't even get the chance to try and go in! Allah guards us in such a way sometimes we don't even realise we're being protected. SubhanAllah.

Craft activity (20min)

Complete the page for the book.

Allah is Al-Muhaymin, The Guardian, and protects us from harm like a mother bird her chicks - shelters them from e.g. the rain and also looks ahead to keep them away from danger in the first place.

Let the children colour and decorate their picture as they wish - use feathers for the birds or scrunched strips of paper for the nest, etc.

When to use this name (8min)

We can also be guardians of our own hearts, keeping them safe from evil. How can we keep our hearts safe from evil? By staying away from bad deeds or things which might lead to bad deeds, e.g. by only saying kind words (staying away from bad deeds, i.e. bad language) and by not listening to others when they use bad language (staying away from things which can lead to bad deeds, i.e. making us copy them). Can you think of any other examples?

Thinking of Allah as Al-Muhaymin can help us to stay on the right path by bettering our characters, remembering He always wants what's best for us as Muslims.

On the back of their page, help the children write a few thoughts about the name Al-Muhaymin and their feelings.

Sticker chart (5min)

Ask individually: Which of Allah’s names did we learn today? What does it mean? Give children a sticker each for their chart.

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Other activities:

- Explain that people sometimes use shields to protect themselves from harm, e.g. knights in medieval times, Roman soldiers, police during riots, etc. A shield is something you can hold in front of you to stop things from hitting you - if the idea is new to the children, play a quick game with cushions as shields and soft balls: gently throw the soft balls at the children for them to block with the cushion shield; compare what it's like with and without the shield!

- Make a play shield out of a large piece of cardboard and paints.

- Do something nature inspired to help look after wildlife, e.g. build a shelter for bugs/birds, put out food/water, etc. - link to being a guardian for Allah's creations.

- Where do you find guards? E.g. around something precious, such as jewellery. Allah is our guardian because we've been given the gift of Islam. Our faith is something we must protect. Draw/make a simple piece of jewellery e.g. a necklace or bracelet and write a message of affirmation on it e.g. "I am a Muslim". Talk about guarding it and keeping it safe.


P.S. To keep our 3 year old occupied whilst the twins worked on their pages, I did this simple bird picture with her:

Around the house in Arabic

We started this activity off at Arabic club then finished it at home - the girls filled in a template of a house with things found in that room and a family member in each room too. When they were done, they had to describe what they'd drawn in Arabic. MashaAllah, using their knowledge from Arabic club and the Madinah book, they're now able to say sentences such as "My dad is in the bedroom. My sister and I are in the sitting room. My mum is standing in the kitchen with my sister. I am sad on my bed. Z is sitting on the toilet. My sofa is brown. The kitchen is big." etc.

(F is sad in her pic because it's showing the time Z pushed her and took F's car - I think it happened the day before? So obviously still on her mind! Which was a good eye opener for me that things might need following up on a little more for her to get over them... But alhamdulillah she's able to express herself like this and could talk about it easily with me when asked.)

Maths Update: Adding/Subtracting 2-digit numbers

After revising partitioning, we recapped how to add 2-digit numbers mentally, i.e. partition into Tens and Units, add the Tens, add the Units, add both parts together. They also had the option of adding the Tens from one number to the other, then counting up the remaining Units, e.g.

28 + 43 =

20 + 40 = 60
8 + 3 = 11

60 + 11 =

60 + 10 = 70
0 + 1 = 1

70 + 1 = 71 so 28 + 43 = 71

OR

28 + 40 = 68
68 + 3 = 71 so 28 + 43 = 71

We concentrated on the first method first, to get them used to partitioning the numbers. Then we moved onto the second method as something more efficient.

After the mental practise, I introduced the column method to them as an efficient way of writing their working out down. It's the same principle, partitioning and adding each place value one at a time, but written in a compact way, e.g.

16 + 43 = 

   16
+ 43
   59

We started with numbers which didn't carry over into the next column, then once they were comfortable with the method I explained how to write the extra Tens underneath the Tens column - and to make sure they included them in their answer! e.g.

45 + 36 =

    45
 + 36
    81
    1

We also spoke about using a quick mental method to check their answers.

We did all the above through explanation and examples on the whiteboard first, then answering questions from a photocopied worksheet using the method we were focusing on at the time.

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Next, we recapped subtraction of 2-digit numbers via partitioning and counting down, e.g.

38 - 14 =

38 - 10 = 28
28 - 4 = 24 so 38 - 14 = 24

Where the numbers stayed within the Tens, then using numbers in the Unit column which meant counting down across Tens, e.g.

52 - 26 = 

52 - 20 = 32
32 - 6 = 26 so 52 - 26 = 26

After some practise doing this mentally, I then introduced the column method to them - but for numbers which wouldn't require carrying, e.g.

88 - 43 =

    88
  - 43
    45

I decided that was enough for now, so they could get used to the method, and we would look at carrying from the Tens column at a later point inshaAllah!

The above was all done, one method at a time on separate days, first on the whiteboard and then in the context of numbers by working through practise pages from one of the workbooks we have.

Finally, I gave them some word problems to work through so they could use these skills in the context of money. They had the choice to use either a mental or a written method, whichever they found easier.

A Healthy Diet & Pie Charts

This week, we're looking at food and diet in more detail. I was surprised to find out the girls didn't know what the word diet meant! I assumed they already did from our work on herbivores, omnivores and carnivores - but looking back, I guess I didn't use it?? At least it was simple enough to explain in that context now. 😂

We talked about foods being made up of different things and how our bodies use those things for different things, e.g. carbohydrates are mainly for energy so we can move about, proteins are for growing and healing, calcium for strong bones and teeth, vitamins and minerals for keeping us healthy/not get ill, fats for storing energy and keeping warm (they remembered about calcium and fats from previous weeks 👍).

We pointed out which kinds of food we were eating at mealtimes over a couple of days and talked about whether we were being healthy or not.

We also talked about the importance of water and the things our bodies need it for, e.g. blood, urine, sweat, healthy skin - and why we should replace all the water lost by drinking more (why do you think you feel thirstier during exercise? M said because it makes the heart pump faster so your blood needs to be able to move around easier, which I thought was interesting! I linked it to maybe because your blood is moving around more it's picking up more waste so you're making more urine... Maybe, I don't know! Then I asked them what happens when they exercise, wiping my brow as a clue, and F shouted "sweat!", so I then explained how sweat cools your body down by taking heat with it when it evaporates, i.e. dries up).

We then read the relevant pages in the book "Keeping Me Healthy" and stopped on the double page spread of the food groups:

I gave the girls an A3 piece of coloured paper each and explained they were going to make their own diagram by drawing around a plate and using a ruler for the straight lines (I marked the centre of their circle with a dot to help them). This was a good task for estimation, since they were copying the segment sizes from the diagram in the book, and also fine motor skills in lining up the ruler correctly! They then labelled each segment and coloured it in (with wax crayons) before drawing examples of foods on a separate piece of white paper, cutting and sticking in the right place. I chose for them to do it this way to further practise their estimation and spatial awareness skills, making sure the drawing they did would fit into the segment!

We labelled the smallest segment as "fats" instead of "butters and spreads" and talked a bit more about how too many fatty foods aren't good for you (the sugar in sweet foods like biscuits and cakes is turned into energy like carbohydrates, but some of it is also stored in the body as fat which is why these foods also belong in this section). It's ok to eat them now and again, but compared to the other foods we eat they should be a lot less! Then I wrote the purposes of each food group on the whiteboard and they needed to copy the correct caption under the correct label - they colour coded their labels to match the segment to make their diagrams clearer. 👌

Finally, I explained to them that this kind of diagram can also be called a "pie chart" and is used for showing proportions of something. We linked this to their work on fractions and drew some simple fractions as pie charts on the whiteboard. Then I asked them to estimate what each segment of their healthy diet diagrams was as a fraction. Finally, I gave them a maths worksheet on pie charts to complete.

The Importance of Exercise

Continuing with our Science theme of the human body, I decided to move on to how and why we should keep healthy. This week we'll focus on exercise (which ties in well with our Literacy topic since we're looking at East Asia so martial arts!) as a way of both strengthening our muscles (including our hearts! And increasing stamina) and for reducing fat (why it's unhealthy to have too much fat as well as why we need some!) as well as how exercise can make us feel happier and improve our mood.

Some other home edding friends had planned a trip to Clent Hills this week, so I thought it'd be good to tag along. The drive was just over half an hour and it only took us around 20min to climb to the top - going at a steady pace (I was wearing A in the sling and pushing Z in the pram!). Once at the top the kids played around together admiring the views and we enjoyed a nice picnic. Alhamdulillah the weather was really good for a walk outdoors. The girls enjoyed themselves and said we should do the walk again with Papa next time - and Z could probably manage walking too inshaAllah. 💪

We had lots of discussions about the importance of exercise throughout the week (with examples!) then we made a simple spider diagram on the whiteboard together to summarise the ideas and left it on display for a few days - until we needed that whiteboard again.