Ummisra's home ed.

2004-04-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
LENGTH
We have been doing the following about length.
We drew pictures to illustrate the concept behind measuring vocab.
Draw, a tall tree/ a short tree
a long worm/ a short worm
a thick tree / a thin tree
We talked about ways of measuring and chose to start off by using unsharpened pencils. (Do they ask why it can't be just any sharpened pencils?)
We estimated how many pencils we would need and then lined up pencils end to end to measure the width of the door, the radiator etc.
The next day we used pennies and red rods to measure various items, (a book, a straw, a pencil, a brick etc.) Where more than one person measured the same item we checked to see if they had found the same result. We wrote down our results.
We also measured the same item using different measuring units. What is the length of the book in pennies, and what is the length in building bricks?

We also made a height chart. Next we plan to draw round our hands and feet and measure them in pennies and other units.

2004-03-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
TYING IN A STORY
Recently we have been reading a lot of library books about animals. We have talked about the animals lives and drawn pictures to show what we have been finding out.
We have also talked about living and non-living things, looking at examples of both and using our new knowledge about animals to help us recognise the attributes of living things. We have drawn pictures of groups of living things and non-living things.
"Flora's Flowers" by Debi Gliori is about a little rabbit who watches her older brothers and sisters plant seeds and then decides that she will grow a house by planting a brick. The story shows how, as time passes, the seeds grow, whereas the brick doesn't. The story was an excellent way of bringing together our earlier discussions and of remembering plants in the discussion of living things.
Having read the story we drew pictures and wrote sentences to remember what had been read. Then we planted some herb seeds of our own. Insh Allah the seeds will grow as successfully as the seeds in the story!

2004-02-18T01:19:00.000-08:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
PATTERNS
Cut out patterns from folded paper (snowflake style). You can use these as stencils afterwards.
Look for a patterns colouring book.
Make patterns using Cuisenaire rods. Let the children copy your pattern as well as devising their own. Map the pattern they make onto squared paper.
Colour patterns onto squared paper. Start by using only two colours (red, green, red green.....) in a line and work up once they get the hang of it.
Play verbal patterns around a circle. Again start with only two words. The first person says "yes" the next person "no" and so on. Once the idea is established this could be a way to learn the order of days of the week, seasons and so on.

MATHS BOOKS
I recently borrowed the following books from the library and found them both very interesting.
"Helping Young Children With Maths" by Sara Williams and Susan Goodman. This is especially good for anyone who feels that they may not be able to teach maths.
"Mathematics With Reason" edited by Sue Atkinson. This book is all about the importance of real life application of maths, the importance of children developing their own ways of thinking about and using maths and the importance of hands on experience with apparatus. It seems to me that all of this can be more easily achieved in the home education environment than in school.
What sort of apparatus can the home educator use for maths? Here are some suggestions,
Megabloks, Lego, other construction toys, (try car boot sales)
sand and water play using old plastic bottles and containers etc from the kitchen,
balance scale, kitchen scales,
Cuisenaire rods,
Play clocks, old clocks with the batteries taken out,
all kinds of puzzles and games. I have found useful things in pound shops and charity shops.
Junk for junk modelling,
egg boxes and small bits and pieces for sorting,
cut shapes out of felt and let the children rearrange them into pictures
marble runs, buy one or make your own out of cut up cardboard tubes.
Look at www.tarquin-books.demon.co.uk for lots of interesting stuff for maths experiences.

2004-02-04T12:22:00.000-08:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
CRAFT IDEA
Children can produce a lot of paintings! How about recycling some? Bubble paintings can be cut out into lovely flowers which can then be stuck into collage. (Bubble paintings are made by mixing paint, a little water and washing up liquid into a pot, blowing into the mix and pressing paper over the resulting bubbles. Try pressing the paper over two or more colours for interesting colour effects.)

OPPOSITES
Focus on opposites. Try to find them everywhere!
Start by talking about the weather. Today it is cold and wet, can you imagine a day completely different from that? Once they are thinking about it can the children find some examples of opposites around the home? Hot and cold water from the taps, a full cup and an empty cup etc.
Get the children to show opposites with their bodies. Can they show big by stretching themselves out in all directions and small by rolling up tightly? How about fast and slow, noisy and quiet, happy and sad etc.
Get the children to draw or paint opposites pictures. A big car and a small car, a tall building and a small building, a heavy rock and a light leaf. What else will they think of?
Do you have an opposites puzzle? If not, can you make one? Draw pictures on card and cut them out as a jigsaw.
How about an opposites storybook? We enjoyed "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" by Trivizas and Oxenbury.

2003-12-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
WORLD
The aim of this activity is to introduce some basic geographical vocabulary and to understand that the world was created by Allah.
Collect some travel brochures that show pictures of mountains, glaciers, forests and so on. Look through the brochures with the children, talking about what you see. Cut out lots of pictures. Sort the pictures into types, ie. all the mountains in one pile, all the beaches and cliffs in another etc.
Using poster sized paper or a scrapbook write headings such as "Allah made mountains"
"Allah made icy glaciers" then stick the relevant pictures under the headings. When you have made your posters or scrapbook pages talk about how it might feel to be in those locations. You might say things like, "The forest looks very hot and wet" "That lake looks very cold and deep" You could talk about the kinds of animals you might see in the various locations. Later the children could do art work to produce their own pictures of mountains etc.

2003-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
ENGLISH
1. Autumn poem. This is part of the leaves topic as well.
Now that autumn is well under way talk again about the experience of walking in the fallen leaves. Think of words to describe this, such as crunching, spinning,swishing. Through movements and actions let the children show how the words make them feel. (Obviously the spinning could easily get out of control here!) Let them imagine they are walking through deep leaves. Maybe they suddenly find something! What is it? An acorn or conker?
Read an autumn poem. I used "Beech Leaves" by James Reeves. How do the words make you feel? Read a story connected to the same theme. Draw pictures to go with what has been read.
2. For other text related ideas go to
www.schoolsnet.com
Go to the primary literacy section. I have found the book related planning for "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and "Handa's Surprise" by Eileen Browne useful.

2003-10-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
WRITING
Before children can actually write text they can picture write. In other words they can draw a series of pictures and talk about what they represent. Picture writing establishes the basis for narrative and the concept of communication through visual representation.
1. Children can keep a diary, updated as often as they like. Use a book in which they can draw pictures relating to what they have been doing. Initially you can add the date and a few words to describe the picture. Later on help the child to write a word or two. Eventually this could lead into longer pieces of independent writing.
2.Letter writing. As with the diary letters can start off as mostly pictures. You just need to find a willing friend or relative to write back. Letter writing is a good motivator as it is "real" writing, and children love getting post!
3.Stories. Encourage children to picture write stories which they can then tell back to you. For this children could use props as well as pictures. Let children audio record their stories.

For handwriting practice I have found the following workbooks useful
Letterland, My First Handwriting Activity Book and New Oxford Workbooks, At Home with Letter Forms.

2003-10-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
COUNTING
Children need lots of counting practice! Count everything! Count how many feet, noses etc in the room. How many buttons are you wearing?
- When using building blocks, make a tower with five blocks, now with six. Which is the tallest? How many shall you build with next?
- Hide objects around the room then ask, "Can you find five toy cars?" Hide more than you need so that the children have to count and stop at five.
- Play Action Simon Says. Simon says do four hops, pat your head six times etc.
-Use a number of identical items, such as eight pasta shapes or equal length strings and make as many patterns as you can with them. Keep counting them to show that the number remains the same however they are arranged.
-Counting rhymes. Make the rhymes more amusing. For example for five little speckled frogs use five rolled up pairs of socks "sitting" on a rolled up towel. Let the "frogs" really jump into the pool! For "Five Currant Buns in a Bakers Shop" have some "buns" (conkers?) and some real pennies. Assign the roles of shopkeeper and customer so that when you say the rhyme you can exchange the penny for the bun. Later shop for the buns, making sure that the children do all the counting and the correct numbers of pennies and buns are exchanged.
- Have a teddy bears picnic. Arrange the "guests" then count out how many cups, plates, apples etc are needed.
- Make a scrapbook, sticking in it a collection of counted items.eg. four bus tickets, ten stamps. Label the page.

2003-09-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
GENDER
Some of these ideas overlap with or lead on from the NC science unit 1A 'Ourselves' (Yr 1).
When my children were younger they thought that a baby girl might grow up into a boy and vice versa. To talk to them about gender I would begin by talking about how they were babies and grew up into boys and I would mention other children they know in a similar way. Then I would ask them about what they expect to become in future, insh Allah.
Talk about what they might look like in future, (eg. I will have a beard, or, I will have long hair) Talk about growing from a baby to a child to an adult. Show some photos to go with this, maybe of grandparents if you have photos of them as children.

Talk about family members. Describe their appearance and the clothes they wear. Draw pictures of clothing worn by men and women. Mention the clothing worn by the Prophet Muhammed (saw). Mention the different names for clothing used in Islamic countries (for example different styles of men's headwear).Try to find photos to go with this. Make a poster to illustrate the clothing. Cut out clothing shapes from appropriate materials and label them. Play at dressing up in clothing they might like to wear as adults.

Talk about what mother does, father, auntie, big brother etc does every day (for example Papa goes to work and then to the supermarket to do the shopping, auntie is a teacher in an Islamic school, Mum does the cooking) How does this illustrate Islamic gender roles? If children from more than one family discuss this together it helps to establish the gender roles as not just being particular to one's own family! Make picture stories to represent the daily lives of different people. Talk about what the children might do everyday when they grow up, insh Allah.

Talk about what the children might want to be when they grow up, insh Allah.Discuss what this would involve and why it would be suitable (or not!) for them. Draw pictures to represent what they would like to be. Play at being those things with dressing up, making models, making the equipment you might need etc. A child might want to dress up as a doctor and could junk model some equipment before trying it out on other children! Islamic gender roles can be taught through this, for example the boy 'doctor' will only see boy 'patients'.

2003-09-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
2D SHAPES
Nothing original, but a list of things to do.
-Cut out lots of shapes from card. Draw round the cut outs to make pictures.
-sort the shapes into those with four sides, three corners etc, so that the properties of the shape are described.
-get the children to lie on the floor and make shapes with their bodies.
-use felt tip pens, or other same length items, to make shapes.
-paint shapes by finger painting, printing and stencils.
-cut shapes from thick card and decorate them.
-find shapes around the room or house.Can you draw round them, print with them or use them to make pictures on the table?
-describe a shape you are holding.
-draw and cut out your own new shape. This can be an irregular shape, but it should be a whole shape. Describe the shape you have made.(eg It has two straight sides.a curve and a side which is a wiggly line.)
-make jigsaws from postcards, photos etc
-look at how shapes fit together to cover another shape. For example, how tiles cover a wall, how you can use blocks, cuisenaire rods, matchsticks etc to cover a book or other object. Look at how this works if we try using jam jar lids to cover the book.

More ideas to come if I find them!

2003-09-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
TOPIC IDEA (I am writing with 4-5 year olds in mind.)
Leaves
Collect and press a variety of leaves. (You can press them by putting them between sheets of newspaper and then putting a pile of heavy books on top.) Look at the leaves. Ask the children to describe them, their size, shape, texture and colour. Try to have found some leaves with curvy edges and some with pointy edges. Talk about the trees and plants that the leaves came from, describe them and where they grow. Very simply, talk about the function of the leaves.
Use the leaves to make leaf rubbings. (Use wax crayons and thinnish paper.)
Draw round the leaves, then draw in the veins.
Make spatter prints. Fix the leaves to the paper then splatter paint around them so that the leaf shape remains white.
Make leaf prints by painting one side of the leaf and then pressing it onto paper.

All the different leaves and prints you make from this can be used to make a poster for the wall.

Leaves in the seasons.If possible look at and compare a green leaf and brown leaf. Talk about their differences and why this is. Choose a tree, such as oak, (so as not to get into confusion with evergreens), divide a page into four and draw the tree as it looks in the different seasons. Use collage. If you have a blossoming tree your children are familiar with that would be a nice choice.

When children think about leaves they usually think about the ones on trees, but how about the leaves we eat? Get them thinking about and identifying the leaves we eat, not forgetting herbs and drinks from tea leaves. What about other uses for leaves? Foods can be wrapped and steamed in leaves in Chinese cooking.
The findings of these investigations could be recorded in labelled drawings.

After thinking about how people use leaves, how about animals? Talk about examples of animals which eat leaves from snails to giraffes. This can also link to talking about the lifecycle of a butterfly and a revisiting of "The Hungry Caterpillar".

When out and about notice the leaves, how they look on the ground, how they sound when you walk on them! Maash'Allah, the leaves are so beautiful in the autumn.

2003-08-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Two good places to visit in north London.
1. Freightliners Farm. This is in a corner of Paradise Park, Sheringham Road, Highbury.Lots to see for a small city farm.
2. Gillespie Nature Reserve. This is a few minutes walk from Finsbury Park Station along St. Thomas's Road, or next to Arsenal Station. The nature reserve is a lovely space for children to run around and is a good place to see lots of different types of trees. We took crayons and thinnish paper and did bark and leaf rubbings. It was interesting to see the different patterns we got from the different trees. There are also ponds, an ecology centre and a grassland area. The grassland area is at the top. We picked lots of blackberries there and the boys enjoyed the view of the passing trains!

2003-08-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
The ideas I hope to express, Insh Allah, on this blog are based on the Islamic principle of "play until seven". I understand this to mean that children should be allowed to learn through playful activities and have plenty of opportunities for free play as well. According to this Islamic principle children do not need to be reading and producing pages of written sums by age seven. If they love reading and want to read then by all means help them, but there is no need to push. Traditional pen and paper schoolwork can be kept to a minimum in these early years. Instead, the child's imagination and creativity can be allowed to develop.
How many times have you heard someone complain that they don't know what to write and how to express themselves? Surely learning how to manipulate a pen is relatively simple compared with learning how to think, generate ideas and solve problems creatively? If a child learns how to use language effectively through oral communication, if he can express his ideas gramatically and through the use of a good vocabulary, then surely he will be able to transfer those ideas onto paper after age seven? What is the use of being able to write if you have nothing to say?
Anyway if the children are happy and stimulated then Insh' Allah we home educators are doing something right!

2003-08-18T03:43:00.000-07:00

As-salamu Alaykum,
Welcome to this home education blog.Insha Allah you'll find something interesting here as this blog grows. As I'm just starting the home education journey myself I'll be writing about ideas to educate young children, places to visit and whatever else I think of.