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.

Homeschooling: The solar system

Learning about the solar system is a great way to make the kids as well as us, of course..as the 'teachers' realize how insignificant we are.. in the physical world.. How Great Allah is.

 How weak we are and how Strong Allah is... How much we don't know and the vastness of Allah's knowledge... Allahu Akbar!.. truly.. science is a great sign of the existence of Allah...
In covering this topic.. i got the kids to relate the creation of the solar system and a few of the names of Allah by using flash cards with the names written in Arabic on one side and the meaning on the other side.

Allah give us the eyes of imaan ... that can see beyond the creations.. Ameen!

So here i wanna share what we did when learning about the solar system.. inshaallah, hope it will benefit someone somewhere on this planet ;)

I actually conducted a playgroup session with this theme, and our activities were as follows:

1. Giant floor puzzle of the solar system.

A good activity to start off a playgroup with.. while waiting for late-comers..;)

2. Brief through a giant chart of the solar system and a simple book on the solar system.

3.Coloring the solar system.

I intentionally gave the kids coloring templates with plain circles so they can color in the planets according to their knowledge about how the planets look like.

4. Creating an imaginary scene on an unknown planet using home made play dough and recycled items.

And let the kids do a show and tell on their creation.

5. Make a spaceman costume using recycled items and use them for imaginary play..

Also.. just to help the kids with memorizing the names of the planets..the fun way.. i came up with my very own solar system song.. 

Happy homeschooling!

Homeschool Eduplaygroup: Creative Creations

Islam is truly a great gift from Allah. It is a way of life as we always say it..thus, it encompasses all aspects of life.. including... the Australian Curriculum ;)
Be it science, history, geography, etc.. inshaallah, there will, or should i say, as a true mu'min, there SHOULD always be some thing in those fields that will remind us of Allah..
of course to be able to recognize Allah through all of these creations of His, we have to sincerely ask from Allah to give us clean hearts that can govern our senses to recognize the Greatness of Allah..
As mothers, especially, who are trying to train the senses of our still, inshaallah, clean-hearted young muslims, we have to take care of our connection with Allah..and the state of our hearts..
A friend once told me that one big thing that is missing in the western education system is in shaping the heart.. the main aim of mainstream education nowadays has always been on the mind or brain, but not the most important thing that actually differentiates us from animals.. the heart..
We all know that for one to become a doctor, he or she needs to learn from experienced doctors... to become a good engineer you have to learn from experienced engineers, thus to have a good heart, you have to sit and learn from good-hearted people..Unfortunately,(or should i say fortunately, cause otherwise everyone would rather live alone,huh?! seeing all the people around them with black hearts, Astaghfirullah..) Alhamdulillah 'ala kulli haal.. Allah knows best!
 as humans we dont have the ability to scan other peoples heart, the best we can do is to judge based on what we see from the outside.. which can sometimes be misleading..
Alhamdulillah, at least we know the state of our own heart.. it might not be the best but we know that its safe for our children, inshaallah...

The first chapter in year 1 science of the Australian Curriculum is to learn about human needs...
So as usual, we need food, water, air.. bla, bla, bla...
but one BIG thing is missing... ALLAH!!!
We need Allah!!
So at first, those young eyes could not see how we need Allah..
This is when our input as believing mothers are very important..
So one of the benefits of using the curriculum as your guideline is that you get to expose your kids with what most kids their age are learning at school, and on top of that you get to give your own input and strong reasoning, that inshaallah will prepare them to stand up firm on their beliefs in a community that was taught otherwise..

The next chapter is the animal needs and variations..
Variety in the creations of Allah just show us how Great Allah is.
How Allah is al-Khaliq, al-Musowwir, al-Hafiiz, al-Bari'.
Which brings us to our first playgroup session of the term.. Creative Creations..
Activities we had in the session include:

1. Passing parcel. A parcel with names of different kinds of animals was passed around while the nasheed was on. The last person with the box when the nasheed stopped had to act out like an animal on the paper so other kids could guess.

2. Book sharing. I brought some animal books with pictures showing animals of different colours coming from different habitats throughout the world.

3. Introducing the names of Allah using flash cards.

Then I raised up a BIG question to the children on why did Allah create all these variety of animals? and alhamdulillah, i was soo happy that one of the kids answered an answer that i would expect from a child who grew up in a house with a deeni environment... to praise Allah!
To recognize how great Allah is..

4.For art, we made our very own patterned sheets using paints then the blunt end of the paint brush to 'carve' patterns in the wet paint..

5. For craft, the children was asked to use the patterned sheets as the skin of their very own creature..

6. For some paperworks, they had to answer a few questions about their creations.

7. Finally, show and tell their creations.