Muslim Eduplaygroup: The Water Cycle

It was summer and we did something on the sun.
Then it was windy.. so we learnt about the wind...
Now..its autumn and its rainy.. so this time..we discussed about the rain and the water cycle.
What i call making use of the atmosphere in teaching.

In fact, this is one of the method used by our beloved Prophet SAW in teaching his companions RadiyAllahu'anhum. Maulana Muhammad Haneef Abdul Majeed in his book, Ideal Father gave the following incidents in the life of the Prophet SAW:

Once a few prisoners were brought before Rasulullah SAW. Amongst them was a woman as well. When her glance fell onto her infant who was amongst another group of prisoners, she, out of unbridled emotion and uninhibited love dashed towards him, picked him up, showered him with hugs and kisses and started feeding him. Rasulullah SAW asked the sahabah RadiAllahu'anhum: If the lady had the option, do you think she will hurl her child into the fire?" "By Allah!"they replied, "she will never do such a thing." Upon this Rasulullah SAW remarked; "Allah is many times more affectionate towards His servants than this woman is towards her child."
(Sahih Muslim vol.2 pg356)

See how our Prophet SAW when he perceived a touching atmosphere he availed himself of this ideal opportunity to draw the Sahabahs attention towards the love and affection of Allah.

Another good example, also in Sahih Muslim it is reported that Jabir RA narrates: On returning from a village, Rasulullah SAW was passing thru the market place of Madinah. He was surrounded on both sides by a number of people. A dead small-eared kid was lying nearby. Rasulullah SAW grasped one of its ears and asked: "which one of you is prepared to purchase this dead kid for 1 dirham?" The sahabah RA replied; "we won't purchase it at any cost. Of what value is it to us?" Rasulullah SAW then enquired; Do any of you want this?" The sahabah RA reacted by submitting: '"O Rasul of Allah SAW! If it was alive, it was defective due to its stunted ears and now it is lifeless. Obviously there is now no question about us not wanting it." Upon this Rasulullah SAW remarked: "By Allah, just as this is valueless in your eyes, this world is many times more valueless in the eyes of Allah."
(Miskat vol.2 p.439 & Sahih Muslim)

This 'art' of finding the ideal opportunities in educating kids especially, i think, requires wisdom on the parents side and a constantly conscious iman-rich-heart to enable the parents to relate whats happening around them to the unseen spiritual values. May Allah give us all the wisdom, inshaAllah, Ameen!

So back to our topic, inshaAllah for our Muslim eduplaygroup this time, we talked about the rain and the water cycle in many different ways.

We started with my favourite 'settling down' activity; colouring the different benefits or uses of water in our daily life.
For this session, I found a book entitled A drop of Mercy which explains about the water cycle in an islamic way emphasizing the fact that the whole system submit to the commandment of Allah..

Then, the group was divided into 2 groups, the smaller under 5 kids and the bigger kids.

For a bit of a change, this time I got the bigger kids to conduct their very own puppet show. They have to paint in the backdrop for the puppet theater and be the puppeteer.With me as the 'director', i got the kids to do just 1 rehearsal before the show, and Subhanallah, i was amazed at how they picked up so fast and put up a very 'entertaining' show.

PUPPET SHOW: THE RAIN

B= bear, E=Emu, T=Tiger

W1= Water droplet 1

W2=Water droplet 2

B: Oh.. its very hot today!! I am so thirsty!!

E: Yes, you’re right polar bear; it’s been hot for days now. The water in the rivers is drying up too.

If it doesn’t rain soon, we might not have any water left for us to drink and all our trees will start to die too!!

B: Are you serious emu?! Without water and food, how can we survive?!

E: I don’t know polar bear!!

Both emu and bear started crying…

Then tiger came…

T: Assalamu’alaykum emu and polar bear… what’s happening here? Why are both of you crying like this?

B: It hasn’t been raining for a long time now tiger, the rivers are drying, the plants are dying and soon we won’t have enough water and food for us to survive!! We need water and food to stay alive!!

T: Astaghfirullah!! Polar bear, remember, we don’t need water and food to stay alive, we only need Allah, Allah is The Sustainer of all things.  Remember last winter, when you were hibernating,  you could stand for months without food and drinks. Who kept you alive then??

B: Allah!! You are right tiger.. Jazakallah khayr for reminding me. It is not the food that makes me feel full and energetic, it is not the water that quenches my thirst.. it is Allah!

E: Yes, of course! Allah has the power to do everything!  If we put our trust in Him, He, The Most Merciful will surely help us!

T: You’re right emu. Do you know that our Prophet SAW and his companions RA used to pray a special prayer at times like this. It is called salatul istisqa’.

B: Ok then tiger, what are we waiting for?! Allah will surely help us if we follow the way of the Prophet SAW!!

E: Yes!! Let’s do it!

Tiger, bear and emu then prayed together.

T: Ya Allah, please send us rain, ya Allah..

Everyone said Ameen!

In another place; where the trees were green and rivers flowing… a group of water droplets were having fun swimming. The sun was rising up.. and before long,by the will of Allah,  it started to become hot.

W1: Come friends! It’s really hot here now, it’s time to evaporate, inshaallah!!

W2: Alhamdulillah!! Allah is going to use us again to help those in need elsewhere! Let’s go!

The water droplets turn to water vapour and rise up into the sky, where it is cooler.

W1: OOOOOhhh… it’s getting cold now. Come friends! Let’s get together closely and form clouds.

W2: You mean… let’s do condensation?

W1: Yes, you know what I am talking about, we have been doing this for billions or maybe trillions of years.. only Allah knows!

The 2 water droplets in action...

Then the wind started to blow so strongly.

A girl was walking and her hijab was blown by the wind.

She read the dua when strong wind blows.

The clouds then arrived at the place where Tiger and his 2 friends were still busy asking from Allah.

Allah then commanded the rain to fall down upon the three friends.

The three friends then make shukr to Allah for granting their dua.

End with the modified rain, rain go away song..

Allah sends us rain,

brings the earth to life again.

Plants grow, animals graze.

O Allah… to You we praise…

For the smaller kids, we made the rain mobile with our very own rain song.

As a homework, the bigger kids were also given the following sheet to be done at home, to reinforce their understanding on the topic.

MUSLIM EDUPLAYGROUP: THE WIND

While the presence of the sun is significantly obvious to everyone, given its brightness, beauty and enormous size, this time, the theme deals with something that we cannot see, but the effect of its presence is very significant to the world, the wind.

1.       Colouring pictures related to the wind

Colouring is also another great way to start off a playgroup because it gets the excited kids calm down and focus on the task being given to them. It also helps develop the child’s fine motor skills, by the will of Allah, of course.

Colouring sheets containing pictures related to almost any topic could easily be found on the internet. Examples of things related to the wind include the windmill, wind farm, kites, windsurfing, and many more.

Get the kids to finish their colouring and make them put up their colourings on the whiteboard so we can use them for our discussion. Indirectly, this gives the kid a sense of being appreciated and also helps them to focus more on the discussion knowing that their work is involved in the process. Having their work piece side by side with their friends’ is also a good way to motivate the children to accomplish their task properly so as to be at par with their peers.

2.       Discussing the Wind

We started our discussion with my hand-written home-made ‘book’. Most books about the wind are too complicated for these kids level anyway. In making this book, I tried to give simple, easily understood answers to the same basic questions used when discussing about the sun (with a bit of addition);

                -What is the wind

                -Other terms used to describe the wind, including what we call wind in Arabic

                -Why did Allah make the wind

                -The wind in the Quran

                -The benefits brought by the wind.

                                At this point, instead of just reading out to them the list of benefits, I made them look at their coloring on the board and discuss about it.

                -The dangerous wind and how to keep safe in strong wind

3.       Du’a in strong wind

Emphasize to them that despite all the safety measures we might take when strong wind blew, only Allah can save us from any harm brought by the wind. Make the kids realize that the wind comes from Allah and the only One who can stop it is Allah. Therefore, we have to ask from Allah. This is a simple du’a that can be memorized very easily by the kids.

Get the kids to read out the du’a and understand the meaning.

4.       Blow Art

This art is to be the frame of our du’a.

We get the kids to put a few drops of very diluted paints on a thick piece of paper and then, using a drinking straw, blow on to the drops of paint to create the blow art effect.

Then paste the du’a in the middle.

5.       Sail boat race

This was made an open ended craft, whereby kids were just left with recycled items and some craft stuffs to come up with their very own sail boat that will be used for a sail boat race at the end of the session. In the race, get the kids to put their sailboats in one of those kids inflatable pool and get them make their own wind to get the sailboats reach the finishing line.

Muslim Eduplaygroup: The sun

This is a great eduplaygroup theme for summer. Something that the child is more familiar with, the sun. Not just that, it is also something that plays a very important role in our lives and most importantly, it is mentioned so many times in the Holy Quran, in fact there is even a surah named after it. So it makes up a great topic to get the kids learn some science, at the same time, get them connected to the Quran and thus The Greatness of Allah.

1.       Discussing about the sun.

Using the whiteboard

Instead of spending time at the library or bookshops to find the right book on the topic to be shared with the kids, the easiest way to convey to the kids what you want to convey to them is by using the whiteboard, and some colourful markers, of course. The only preparation you have to do is to have in mind or on a piece of paper, what you want to talk about. Make the discussion interactive by asking the kids questions or letting them guess what you have in mind by drawing pictures on the board. Also, at times, let the kids hold the marker and do something on the board.

Home-made book

Another great, easy way of stimulating a discussion with the kids is by making your own book especially for them, keeping in mind their level of language understanding and personal interest. 

The aim is basically to get the kids to know the following points by the end of the discussion:

-What the sun is

-Who made the sun

-Why Allah made the sun

-The benefits and dangers of the sun

-Keeping safe in the sun

-Solat in a severe drought

-The sun in the Quran

2.       Sunshine song.

It is always fun to have a song in the session. Of course, a halaal song, no musical instruments and that reminds us of Allah. Our sunshine song goes like this:

You are my Allah…

My only Allah…

You bring the sunshine,

When skies are grey…

You make it shine bright,

And make me feel right…

Allah You brighten up my day…

3.       Art: Hand-print sun.

The children’s handprints are used as the sun rays before pasting a yellow coloured sheet in the middle to make a sun. Then use this art as the background for our sunshine song.

4.       Craft: Sun Visor.

Cut out the sun visor template from a piece of paper. Then paste it on a cereal box. Cut the sun visor out of the cereal box. The back strap of the sun visor can be made by cutting a long rectangle strap of cereal box according to the size of the child’s head.

Homeschooling: Learning about Hajj

It was the hajj season so we decided to make a special eduplay group on hajj.
We started off by reminding the kids about the 5 pillars of Islam and hajj being the 5th pillar.
Then i got my dear homeschooling mate to do a story telling about the life of Prophet Abraham 'Alayhissalam and how hajj came about.

After that, I shared a few pictures i found on an islamic encyclopedia showing the kaabah, Arafah, the jamaraat etc.. basically pictures related to hajj to give the kids some ideas about the rituals. We had an interactive discussion with question and answer in between.

Then, the fun part... for the smaller kids, we got them to do handprint wooly sheep for slaughtering.
For the bigger kids, we got them to make a diorama of the hajj journey.

Then get them to use the pilgrims to perform their hajj. To make it more interesting, I used a double-sided tape to paste the hair of the male pilgrims so the kids could 'shave' the pilgrims hair as a part of the ritual ;)

Then show the kids.. using the cardboard pilgrims, how to perform hajj.. step by step..
Alhamdulillah, the kids enjoyed making and then playing with the model, most importantly they also got to learn another important pillar of Islam.. Hajj.

Homeschooling: Kids Personal Details

I remember ever since I was a child, or maybe ever since i was born... I was told to be a doctor.. and as i grew up with that idea fed into my mind.. i found that yes.. i do want to be a doctor. That is like success for me. And really... it is my own desire.. no one force me into it (at least, consciously).. I really wanted to be a doctor cause its my passion.. you know what I mean?! In fact, if you ask me now, would you be a doctor again if given a chance, and a long list of conditions fulfilled... I would definitely say yes! Inshaallah..

So that shows how important to put ideas into your kids mind.. while you still can.. its never too early!

I remembered when mus'ab was just 2, i used to train him to tell whats his name, age and what he wants to be when he grows up.. he would say.. a da'ie, inshaallah!

Recently, a friend came and told him that he should be an 'aalim one day.. in reply, he said, "No, i want to be a Mufti!"

Inshaallah, ameen.. May Allah keep you in the straight path, son.. the path of the righteous and pious in the eyes of Allah...the journey is still long for you inshaallah and its not gonna get easier.. Allah give you the guidance.. Ameen!

So what i got the kids do, as a part of our social studies as well,  was to fill in the following form and explain to them how they should fill them in and why, what it means and why its important etc..

A simple activity but kids found it quite exciting..

My personal detail

First name:__________________________

Last name:__________________________

Date of Birth:

·      Islamic:__________________________

·      Gregorian:________________________

Place of Birth:________________________

Race:________________

Religion:____________________

Ambition:_____________________________

House address:__________________________

______________________________________

Phone number:

·      Abah:___________________________

·      Mama:__________________________

My thumbprint:

Dear Atheist..

Firstly I have to tell you that I am not an Islamic scholar, or an expert preacher or a trained missionary or anything of that sort. I know people don’t spend much time on this issue of faith these days, so I decided to lay it down in the simplest way..

Creator?

-yes! Because even the simplest of things has a creator.

-how can a complex being like man or even a mosquitoe came out by chance. Look around for things that was produced by chance, usually its a piece of junk..if it came out as one piece that is..

-we accept the big bang theory, but it doesn’t answer as to where the primordial gas comes from? The only explanation is there has to be a creator.. a Being, that is not confined to our dimension, space and time. A being with no beginning or end, His Being is beyond human comprehension. And One Being that fit all this description is Allah, the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad peace be upon them all.

-if you said no to this, then ..

you’re saying that the complex world suddenly came out.. as in hocus pocus! Difference is.. there is not even a hocus pocus.. it just came out suddenly?! Out of nothing?!

You cant prove that the believers are wrong either

You are putting yourself at risk… that if God truly exist, you are going to be answerable to Him on the Day of Judgement.  As much as Allah promises rewards and forgiveness, there are also warnings and punishments for the disbelievers..

Why rituals..

-how we would agree for a surgery recommended by a doctor treating us. We know its gonna be painful but we believe that the doctor knows what we don’t. we do rituals because we believe that our creator knows whats best for us, it might not make sense at first, but if we believe that its gonna bring goodness,  it will!.. eventually, if not in this world, then definitely in the HereAfter..

You are a good person, you have your good values…

But you don’t believe in your creator….then where is your good values?

Its like a child who are good to everyone except his or her own mother..

A wife, who receives everything from her husband ie wealth and love, but choose to ignore him

A citizen who obeys everyones rule except the governments.

But Its difficult..

Of course! Even being a born-Muslim myself, I am still struggling to be a good muslim… so I cant imagine being at your shoes, to change your lifestyle after 50 years of living it .. it is difficult, I know, but you know what, it is possible..  with a strong will and believe!

And in this religion.. just a good intention, without even doing or achieving it yet..

Allah will reward you.. Allah looks at your effort and sincere heart..

Give yourself a chance.. and some time..

Homeschooling: 5 Pillars of Islam

Our guide is the Qur'an

Our Religion is Islam

Five Noble Pillars upholding what is virtuous

To make the Testimony is the base of the Faith, and the Fast, and the Prayer, the Pilgrimage and Charity.

Dusturuna-al Qur'anu

Wa Deenuna-al Islamu

Arkanuhu Jaleelah da'aimun Fadheelah

Wa hiya ash-Shahadatani, qa'aidatul Iman, wa-as Sawmu, Wa-as Salatu, Wa-al Hajju, Wa-az Zakatu

So we started our eduplay group this time, with this song entitled the 5 noble pillars. A very simple song yet the kids get to memorize the 5 pillars and learn some arabic too!

Next, I used the whiteboard to have an interactive discussion on the 5 pillars with the kids.

And to make my job easier,and the session more colourful, i get the other mums of the group to present each pillars in their own way. 

An interesting way they presented them was in a form of storytelling.. where they made their own personalized story book with simple pictures, using the names of kids in the group as the characters in the story.. a very creative and effective way to attract the kids attention, inshaallah...

Lastly, for the craft session, we divided our group into 2 groups because of the age gap. I got the smaller kids to do handprinting. Their 5 fingers represents the 5 pillars. Get the mums to write in the 5 pillars on each finger tip.

And for the bigger kids, we got them to make a mosque with the 5 pillars being its pillars.

One difference that we made in our model, compared to other models I came across on the net is the fact that we made the shahadah, the 1st pillar, as the middle and thus, most important pillar of all... Just to highlight to the kids that while all the other pillars are also important, 1 thing that we can and we need to have in us all the time, is the believe in the Oneness of Allah and the Prophet Sallahu'alayhiwasallam being the Messenger of Allah.A person might not be able to pray, fast, pay zakah or perform hajj for different acceptable reasons but as muslims we can't afford to take even a breath without a firm believe in the kalimah... Allah give us the taufeeq inshaallah, Ameen!

The idea is to fill in the pillars with notes about each pillar.