Changing Tense

Yesterday we did a random introduction to changing Tense! How it came about, was the other day I printed out THESE WORKSHEETS about Tense from TES Connect. (you will have to sign in, in order to view the sheets - TES connect is a teacher resource sharing site - it only takes a minute to register and you can find some beneficial lesson plans, activities, and worksheets shared by teachers).

Anyway, I thought yesterday we would fill them in - basically the worksheet is just simple sentences asking you to fill in the blank - for example the first sentence would be:

"Yesterday Jack went to the park"
and the second sentence would be "Tomorrow Jack ________to the park".

So the child just fills in the missing word  to show how it changes according to what tense you use.

It may sound silly, but I thought K would be able to just fill this in without much direction - she speaks using Tense naturally so its something automatically she knows how to do (as any child does when they learn to speak!) - however before I gave her the sheet I realised that she doesn't have a clue what "Tense" means in regards to the past, present and future (I've never explained it before), so I thought it would be silly not to give an introduction to this first (obviously!).

So anyway, I drew a table up on the white board, and explained what the Past, the Present and the Future means. It took a bit of time before she understood that "present" in this context, does not mean a gift! I started with "the Past" and wrote a simple explanation as to what that means, before asking K to copy into her exercise book.
Then I moved onto "the future" with its simple explanation and asking K to copy. So in this way, I wrote out and discussed each section so that K could copy in small manageable chunks. (If I asked her to copy the whole table out at the end, it would have been too overwhelming for her).

I didn't give K the worksheets to complete yet - I think I need to do another lesson on this topic first to ensure she has fully comprehended how the tense changes. As I was doing the washing up I kept asking her to explain each tense and mashAllah she seems to have grasped it alhamdulillah - I just want to ensure that it really stays in her memory and understanding though inshallah. (so that when she does the worksheet......there will be no tears inshallah!.....no seriously, I want her to be able to do the worksheet by herself without my help inshallah, so I want to make sure she is fully understands first inshallah.)

During this lesson, I showed K how to use the dictionary. I first introduced the dictionary a couple of weeks ago, and although I explained what it is I looked up the word with her.
This time, I helped K to look up the word with a bit of help. Anyone who reads the comments at the end of some postings will see my spelling is terrible, as there is no spell check!
 So as we were writing on the white board, I wasn't sure of the spelling "tomorrow" so thought best to look up and it was a good opportunity to do this with K using the dictionary.
I explained again how we find a word and once found, I asked K to read out the spelling for me and I copied it onto the board.....she found this quite amusing telling me how to spell! lol.

The dictionary we have is the Collins First School Dictionary for kids. I think I bought it from ebay alhamdulillah in very good condition mashAllah.

K likes looking at this book of words, we have another rhyming dictionary which she looks at and has helped her understanding of rhyming words. (again bought 2nd hand on ebay alhamdulillah).

Alphabet picture wheels

Last night I was exhausted, not too well, with a sore throat and achy....but knew I would not be able to sleep! Alhamdulillah. So I was up late searching google images for activity ideas to do with Z today. MashAllah I came across some great ideas which I plan to use in the near future inshallah.

Amongst searching I came up with my own idea (although I am pretty sure hundreds of people have probably done this)

I decided to quickly prepare some alphabet wheels, as I haven't done alot with Z on her alphabet since we started, we've still only covered s,a and t alhamdulillah.

All I did was print off 4 clip arts from google images starting with each letter. And then today Z and I put together the wheels.

First I cut out the images ready for Z to stick.

 For the wheels I just used a bowl to draw around, and cut out a quarter section of the top piece.

I then laminated each of the pieces and put together using a brass fastener. Now Z can use it to spin around and see different images which start with each letter sound inshallah.

Inshallah, each new letter I introduce, we will make a new letter wheel. I'm trying to make more resources rather than buying them, and I think if a child helps make it, they will get a greater benefit from them inshallah.

As I was typing this up, Z was sat behind me with the little instruction booklet for one of the learning roots snap cards we have......because it is written in both Arabic as well as English, she thought it was a Qur'an and sat there "reciting" (you know what I mean....mumble jumble made up words with a Qur'anic rhythm) - was cute, reminded me of what K used to do (how quickly it is to forget those days!)

K was using the galt picture shapes and nails - she followed the instructions to produce this, as she was pleased with herself she instructed me to take a pic to put on the computer! (little madam mashAllah!)

All about me lapbook

K completed her "all about me" lapbook today alhamdulillah - she started it last Friday and had a couple of bits to finish off today....she wanted to get it finished asap because she knows I have prepared 2 more lapbooks she is interested in, one about the body, and another about dolphins!

I printed selected pages from the all about me lapbook on Home School share.

K decorated the "mirror" and then I helped her to cut out and stick the foil....she was disappointed it did work as a real mirror though! ....then lift up the mirror to draw a faceless picture of herself.

To list her favorate things, K wrote what they were, and then we went onto google images, to save, and insert into word, reduce image size and then print (all done by K mashAllah)...so got some basic IT skills in there too!

I tried to get K to cut a small piece of hair to stick in....but she was horrified at the thought...so she just drew a few strands of hair instead!

When K filled in the "my names and Alias" section both she and Z were horrified to discover they have their father's name as their middle name because its a "boys name"....they only calmed down and accepted it once I explained I also have my father's middle name Mahmood!

Story of Hud

Once a week, we have a few families who get together each Monday for a Qur'an and Islamic Studies lesson - this week was the story of Prophet Hud alais salaam (we are going through the prophets stories each week inshallah) and was taught by one of the other sisters mashAllah.

This is what she did - she recapped the story of Prophet Nuh alais salaam before reading the story of Hud, followed by an activity in which she had asked the children to make a tree to bring to the class so that they could make a city using blocks and the trees.

The sister then used a desk top fan to use as wind to show the city being blown down and destroyed (with a little help from excited children's hands!)

I might print out the pictures and ask K to do a small write-up of the Story....we'll see!

What about socialization (from another angle)

I read this on the yahoo home educating group - liked it, so thought would share....

Its not at all intended to suggest that home schooling is superior to traditional schooling - rather just to serve as a myth buster I guess you could say, for those who have pre-conceived ideas that home education equals isolation from the rest of humanity!

Two women meet at the park, they start talking........
W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red shirts --helps me keep track of them.
W2: (Smiles) I'm Terri. Mine are in the pink and yellow shirts. Do you come here a lot?
W1: Usually two or three times a week, after we go to the library.
W2: Wow. Where do you find the time?
W1: We home school, so we do it during the day most of the time.
W2: Some of my neighbours home school, but I send my kids to publicschool.
W1: How do you do it?
W2: It's not easy. I go to all the PTO meetings and work with thekids every day after school and stay real involved.
W1: But what about socialization? Aren't you worried about thembeing cooped up all day with kids their own ages, never getting theopportunity for natural relationships?
W2: Well, yes. But I work hard to balance that. They have some friends who're home schooled, and we visit their grandparents almost every month.
W1: Sounds like you're a very dedicated mom. But don't you worryabout all the opportunities they're missing out on? I mean they'reso isolated from real life -- how will they know what the world islike -- what people do to make a living -- how to get along with alldifferent kinds of people?
W2: Oh, we discussed that at PTO, and we started a fund to bringreal people into the classrooms. Last month, we had a policeman anda doctor come in to talk to every class. And next month, we'rehaving a woman from Japan and a man from Kenya come to speak.
W1: Oh, we met a man from Japan in the grocery store the other week,and he got to talking about his childhood in Tokyo . My kids wereabsolutely fascinated. We invited him to dinner and got to meet hiswife and their three children.
W2: That's nice. Hmm. Maybe we should plan some Japanese food for the lunchroom on Multicultural Day
.W1: Maybe your Japanese guest could eat with the children.
W2: Oh, no. She's on a very tight schedule. She has two otherschools to visit that day. It's a system-wide thing we're doing.
W1: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, maybe you'll meet someone interesting inthe grocery store sometime and you'll end up having them over for dinner.
W2: I don't think so. I never talk to people in the store --certainly not people who might not even speak my language. What if that Japanese man hadn't spoken English?
W1: To tell you the truth, I never had time to think about it.Before I even saw him, my six-year-old had asked him what he wasgoing to do with all the oranges he was buying.
W2: Your child talks to strangers?
W1: I was right there with him. He knows that as long as he's withme, he can talk to anyone he wishes.
W2: But you're developing dangerous habits in him. My children nevertalk to strangers.
W1: Not even when they're with you?
W2: They're never with me, except at home after school. So you see why it's so important for them to understand that talking tostrangers is a big no-no.
W1: Yes, I do. But if they were with you, they could get to meetinteresting people and still be safe. They'd get a taste of the realworld, in real settings. They'd also get a real feel for how to tellwhen a situation is dangerous or suspicious.
W2: They'll get that in the third and fifth grades in their healthcourses.
W1: Well, I can tell you're a very caring mom. Let me give you mynumber--if you ever want to talk, give me call. It was good to meetyou.--

Author unknown

Montessori grammar symbols

Following on from Jolly Phonics, we  have been using Jolly grammar since September. Last week we begun work on proper and common nouns.
However, to help understand the different grammar rules, I have decided to also use Montessori techniques inshallah, as it allows a more visual and tactile representation of all the rules.



My grammar knowledge is quite shocking!

The Montessori grammar symbols are fantastic as they make learning all these rules much easier alhamdulillah....I'm going to introduce them later today inshallah, so we will see if K responds as enthusiastically as me inshallah!

Search online, and alhamdulillah you will find a wealth of Montessori websites and blogs explaining all the concepts clearly...I won't do injustice to the lessons trying to explain them myself, but if you don't know much about the Montessori grammar symbols, this blog has a nice simple explanation (you need to read all 4 parts) Montessori for everyone.

So, after deciding yesterday that I will use the grammar symbols, I decided rather than buying the set (which is quite expensive!) I would make it! I'd read somewhere online during my research that a training teacher made herself a set using craft foam...so that's what I did.

The total cost for making the symbols is probably about 5p mashAllah when you look at how little foam you actually use! (although cutting them all out is abit fiddly!)

If I had decided I would make these before I went into the city centre on Saturday, I'd have picked up another packet of craft foam, but since I didn't, I made do with the open packet I already had (each symbol should have a specific colour). (I bought it for abut 99p from The Works - ten coloured sheets and included a child's size pair of scissors...I have 3 pairs of these now alhamdulillah!!!)

I used the black and white grammar symbols on wikisori to use as a template (so all my shapes would be the same size!) and cut out 11 of each symbol.

I took one of each symbol to stick on the grammar description sheet (also printed off wikisori) so that i can learn and remember inshallah, what symbol means what!

The lessons to go along with the symbols are easily found online, including on youtube. You can also find plenty of sites where you can simply print out the symbols in their correct colours and just laminate to use. I prefer the craft foam as I think it makes it a bit more tactile.

Montessori Print shop is a site I found where you can download and print loads of Montessori materials free (they also have a shop to purchase some files)

and of course wikisori which has loads of print outs, and lessons to follow.

More than / less than hungrey Crocodile!

Alhamdulillah, JazakAllahu Khayran to sister Umm Khalil who commented on the previous post, sharing a Blog find detailing a fantastic child-friendly lesson on the more than / less than signs!

The more than / less than sign is turned into a crocodile! I made ours using green and white craft foam.

The lesson goes something like this.....

The hungry crocodile always likes to eat the biggest number!

Khadeeja enjoyed this and totally understood alhamdulillah, giving the correct sign for each sum without hesitation!
After she placed the hungry croc, she then had to draw in the correct sign.

Alhamdulillah.....easy!

....although completing the MEP workbook questions using the signs required alot of brain power....even for me! lol

More than & Less than

Continuing the MEP programme, today was working with the more than and less than signs.

I went into the lesson in the same manner as the previous lesson about odds and evens ....completely spontaneously without a pre-prepared teaching plan.
The reason being, as again this is a whole new concept for Khadeeja, and I felt that making a plan wouldn't really work, as I need to bounce off whether I can see if she is understanding or not.....meaning I need to improvise in the moment to simplify things if it is going over her head, or no need to waste time if she gets it straight away.

The whole lesson from start to end probably took only around 20 minutes.

The sign flash cards below were DOWNLOADED  from the MEP site. I used these together with the small hand-held white board, and unifix cubes.

 

I explained the signs mean more than, and less than when we are doing maths. I explained that it is a quicker way of writing "more than" or "less than" and showed her on the board the time difference to write as words or sign.

She wasn't understanding which sign meant what, her face was completely puzzled, and so I needed to think quickly how to present the information in a way she would understand and remember inshallah....and so alhamdulillah, I devised a little rhyme!!!

To help Khadeeja (and also myself!!!!!) remember which sign meant what, I explained that the sign which points to the Left means less than, and the sign which points to the right, means more than. To help remember this I came up with "L" is for Left, and Left is Less!
So by being able to identify which sign means less, the remaining symbol has to mean more!

As a quick game, I then asked her to raise her right hand if I said more than, and raise her left hand if I said Less than.

I wrote the small rhyme on the board to refer to if she forgot, and placed the unifix cubes on the board, which she then had to put the correct flash card sign in the middle, before writing the sum beneath.
(she was getting confused as to which way the sign was pointing to - she kept muddling the direction thinking the open end was the way it was pointing, so I just scribbled a dot with a whiteboard pen (as they are laminated) on the point of each sign to show this is the direction it is pointing.

We did a few more of these examples, and then I asked Khadeeja to choose her own numbers to work with, before finally I wrote 3 sets of numbers, which she had to simply draw in the correct symbol. (I drew the symbols for her to refer to).



Alhamdulillah she understood the lesson - however I think throughout this week I will probably need to do alot of revision work to ensure she does not forget....I think this is definitely something which can be easily forgotten!!!!! (I know with out realising "Left is Less" I wouldn't be able to remember this myself!)