Using copywork to develop penmanship, grammar & punctuation...and having fun whilst doing it!

I was introduced to the practice of copywork maybe three or four years ago when I stumbled upon the World of Bravewriter, and I've been hooked ever since. 

It really is such a simple activity which packs a powerful learning punch, yet is often so undervalued or misunderstood.

Copywork is so much more than just the art of copying text....it offers a multitude of important writing skills, helping budding writers work on not only their penmanship, but also gives opportunity to analyse some one else's writing, work on spelling, punctuation and go through the inner-mechanics of grammar.

The 5 Pillars of Islam activity with guided instructions for kids

We've started chapter 2 of the book "The Correct Creed for Children" which covers the 5 Pillars of Islam, the 6 Pillars of Iman and Ihsan.

The first part of the new chapter lists the 5 Pillars of Islam, and so last week we came up with this craft activity to show what they are before copying the text into our Islamic Studies books (see video below)

Creating a Morning Basket routine in a Muslim homeschool

We've added a new practice to our homeschool this week: a Morning Time Basket ...our interpretation of one anyway.

I wanted to find something that would bring new energy to our new homeschool year, which typically begins after Ramadan.
However this season has been a little slow to get started. More than slow actually, Ramadan ended more than 2 months ago.

Perhaps we needed that time to help us make things different.

I've seen our homeschool efforts have been a little stale for some time, and I knew we needed to make quite a few changes to bring back a sense of excitement and zeal we've lost.

One of our changes, is the introduction of a "Morning Time Basket".

As I contemplated starting this, I wasn't sure if my children would be a little old. When I've seen other home-schooling families online who implement something like this, they seem to be younger, so I thought perhaps I'd missed the boat on this little home-school practice.

However, I decided to give it a try with my version of one, and I'm so glad that I did alhamdulillah.

My child is behind

As the summer holidays begin to draw to a close, many of us are getting ready for the start of a new school year.

Whether that means buying new school uniforms or new pyjamas homeschool books, we're looking ahead with anticipation of a fresh start in mind. 

We're standing on a new day, and have another year in front of us, if Allah permits us to live. 

Whatever has happened in the past, whatever we feel our children have missed or we have neglected to teach, let it go; we can't change what has been and gone. 

Helping our children develop a positive growth mindset

As cliché as they may be, inspirational quotes can go a long way in helping to change mind set when heard often enough. 

They are the little reminders which cheer you on to keep going, when everything else inside of yourself is trying to tear you down and make you stop.

Right now, the internet is flooded with a wave of information set to help children develop a positive growth mind set. And I can see the value in this.

How our children see their own capabilities can have a huge impact on what they actually go out and achieve. And so it is important to help them develop an inner self belief, which tells them that they can reach sucess, if they don't give up inshaAllah.

So many kids write themselves off as failures, because they don't understand something straight away, or they made mistakes, or something they are working on isn't perfect. 

They see the mountainous challenge in front of them, and don't believe they can ever climb over it.  

Its that little niggling inner voice of self sabotage that we want to silence inshaAllah. 

They need to know, sucess doesn't occur by random chance to some people. Rather, those who are successful in their game have worked hard, made mistakes, and kept going to get to the top.

Tawheed project for kids...with parents lesson guide!

Calling all home schoolers, parents and teachers....here is an easy mini project you can work on this summer with the kids.....learning all about the three categories of Tawheed (and did I tell you, it includes a suggested lesson guide).

30 days of Ramadan ahadith to read aloud with your family!

I wanted something simple to use through-out Ramadan, that will help my family to pay attention to some of the benefits and practices of this month, whilst spending time together. 

...And so from that thought, I've put together some simple little cards; one for each day of the month.
Each card shares a hadith relating to Ramadan that can be read as a family, pondered and discussed together, providing a nice short 5 minute daily activity inshaAllah.

Home schooling during Ramadan: what is a Mum to do?

Ramadan is weeks away, and for many of us, we start to wonder what shall we do about home schooling during this special month.

To give you my two cents, I think this will be something individual to each family, just as the general home school goings-on, day to day through out the year will differ from one house-hold to the next.

However, with that being said, this seems to be a hot topic of conversation at this time of year and so I thought I'd put a few pointers together to try to some-what answer this question.

Join the sisterhood; Muslim home schoolers

It's hard to believe this blog is over 7 years old...almost as old as my youngest child and I probably treat it like my youngest baby truth be told!

I try my best to nurture it; feeding it with articles and resources to keep it alive...perhaps at times allowing it to get a little too hungry; but I'm sure that just helps develop the appetite.

This has been my project, and over the years since its birth, I've seen the numbers of Muslim home schoolers rise as more and more of us jump on this rocky, wobbly road of home education Alhamdulillah.

And that's awesome for all of us, because as our community grows we gain more and more support; learning from one another's experiences and benefiting from the wisdom of those who have treaded upon this path before us.

For quite some time I've been wanting to take this project to the next level; to be more than just a blog to share information, to somehow actually help make a difference inshaAllah.

Building the Muslim home school of your dreams inshaAllah!

Alhamdulillah home education is growing, and within our Muslim community, it's gaining popularity fast!
With so many of us turning to educate our family our selves, we jump in head-first; trying to find our way through a misty fog as we figure out through trial and error how to do this inshaAllah.

Even when we do find our feet, it is easy to be left scratching our heads as the demands of being a home school mother and all it involves takes its toll.

For those of you in need of a sprinkle of inspiration; whether you are new to home schooling or have been deep in the trenches for some time, I have an exciting announcement to share....