One batch of homemade play dough transformed the moods and actions of my four children this weekend! I intended to make it for my four year old, but as soon as the ingredients were out, the older kids were calling what color they wanted their portion to be. Haha!
In a big bowl I stir:
5 cups of flour
1 cup salt
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 Tbsp alum (I was out of alum and used cream of tartar)
To this dry mixture (well, expect the oil) you pour 4 cups of boiling water. Stir it up and it will come together nicely once it cools off after a few minutes.
At that point I divide up the dough into however many different colors we want to make. Add the food coloring and knead well. Presto, all done! We store ours in Ziploc bags to keep them fresh.
I tell you, all weekend they were rolling, making, building, and pretending with this stuff, and they played together a lot. Their favorite accessories this time were the rolling pin, plastic knife, toy cars, and Tinker Toys wooden sticks.
The homemade play dough doesn't crumble like the store bought kind, so it's not as big of a hassle, but I admit, there are random pieces of colored play dough here and there around the kitchen floor. It's ok, this one was worth it.
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Ideas for improving Quran Classses
There has to be a way to reform the way we teach people (children) to read and memorize Quran. Over the past ten years, we have tried at least half a dozen ways. And each time we run into similar problems and complaints:
* teachers have a heavy foreign accent and the kids have a hard time understanding them.
* they sit around a table left to themselves for the majority of the hour (or hour and a half).
* they aren't given any tools to memorize except to read to themselves over and over.
* they get yelled at.
* they get compared to other kids in the class or to one of their siblings.
* other kids in the class are rude to my kids or just goof off because they don't want to be there either.
* my kids come back with headaches and whine for at least an hour before and after.
* the teacher takes phone calls or texts a lot during the lesson.
These are just a few complaints I have with the experiences we've had. I'm so fed up with it. I've tried incorporating memorizing Quran into our schedule, but it is much harder to follow through with it than you might think. Talking to an experienced Quran teacher once, she told me that she sends her teen son to someone else to learn because it just doesn't happen at home.
So I was thinking that maybe I could form some kind of format or suggested guide to improve Quran classes. Since the teachers are usually volunteers with little experience in education or childhood development, they don't have the tools or resources to structure their class time with. I'm no expert, but I have taken an early childhood development class, I've been homeschooling for over 3 years, and I read up about education as a hobby.
Off the top of my head I would divide up the hour and a half into 25 minute clusters (or less) and do different things instead of expecting the child to sit for that long supposedly reading and memorizing on his own. Other things I would suggest (and I might just think more on this subject and come up with a formal packet and present it)
* have a cheerful attitude.
* respect the child.
* take the age of the child into consideration including what skills he likely has and doesn't have.
* realize they are coming to you at the end of their school day and are likely a little tired.
* take advantage of multiple teaching methods: in pairs, have one student read along while another recites that sura from memory, then switch.
* spend a few minutes actually showing them how to memorize and giving them tips and methods to memorize.
* realize that because they are young, you will want to repeat tips and instruction each time to drill it into them.
* set realistic goals. or just set some type of goal instead of just showing up each time with no clear direction.
* show up 5 minutes before class starts so that you are there before the students. set the tone and get them busy as soon as they walk in with some type of warm up.
These are just a few of my thoughts. I've been a little fired up about this topic (again) for a couple of days, and I really want to organize my thoughts so that I might present it to our Quran school. I don't personally want to teach the classes, and I don't want it to depend on me; rather, I want a successful model to be used by all the teachers so that the students and families can have a better experience.
* teachers have a heavy foreign accent and the kids have a hard time understanding them.
* they sit around a table left to themselves for the majority of the hour (or hour and a half).
* they aren't given any tools to memorize except to read to themselves over and over.
* they get yelled at.
* they get compared to other kids in the class or to one of their siblings.
* other kids in the class are rude to my kids or just goof off because they don't want to be there either.
* my kids come back with headaches and whine for at least an hour before and after.
* the teacher takes phone calls or texts a lot during the lesson.
These are just a few complaints I have with the experiences we've had. I'm so fed up with it. I've tried incorporating memorizing Quran into our schedule, but it is much harder to follow through with it than you might think. Talking to an experienced Quran teacher once, she told me that she sends her teen son to someone else to learn because it just doesn't happen at home.
So I was thinking that maybe I could form some kind of format or suggested guide to improve Quran classes. Since the teachers are usually volunteers with little experience in education or childhood development, they don't have the tools or resources to structure their class time with. I'm no expert, but I have taken an early childhood development class, I've been homeschooling for over 3 years, and I read up about education as a hobby.
Off the top of my head I would divide up the hour and a half into 25 minute clusters (or less) and do different things instead of expecting the child to sit for that long supposedly reading and memorizing on his own. Other things I would suggest (and I might just think more on this subject and come up with a formal packet and present it)
* have a cheerful attitude.
* respect the child.
* take the age of the child into consideration including what skills he likely has and doesn't have.
* realize they are coming to you at the end of their school day and are likely a little tired.
* take advantage of multiple teaching methods: in pairs, have one student read along while another recites that sura from memory, then switch.
* spend a few minutes actually showing them how to memorize and giving them tips and methods to memorize.
* realize that because they are young, you will want to repeat tips and instruction each time to drill it into them.
* set realistic goals. or just set some type of goal instead of just showing up each time with no clear direction.
* show up 5 minutes before class starts so that you are there before the students. set the tone and get them busy as soon as they walk in with some type of warm up.
These are just a few of my thoughts. I've been a little fired up about this topic (again) for a couple of days, and I really want to organize my thoughts so that I might present it to our Quran school. I don't personally want to teach the classes, and I don't want it to depend on me; rather, I want a successful model to be used by all the teachers so that the students and families can have a better experience.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
and she reads!!!
It was an unexpected moment. Randomly this evening my not-yet-5-year old daughter came to me while I was preparing dinner in the kitchen. She was enthusiastically waving a little reader book from a box I keep in the school room saying "I know, Mom, let's read this one!" I glanced at it and saw that it was Book 7. We are still on Book 2 and going through phonics lessons very slowly and casually, so I told her we could look at it but that I wasn't sure she knew how to make all the sounds. Well, it felt like the right thing to do to leave the kitchen and go sit with her on the couch. After stumbling over some of those words I asked her to try Book 2. She nailed it! She sounded out and read a book all on her own. It was a surreal moment. She's the only child I actually taught how to read. My older three were in preschools and kindergartens, and I wasn't really paying attention. But now I am.
It felt like when your baby takes his first steps. You drop everything and keep doing it over and over and you're laughing and smiling and clapping. I couldn't believe she just floated into the kitchen like that out of the blue and BAM read a book. She's been putting many words together for a while now, but this was an official 'sit down and read a book'. She hasn't shown any interest in doing that yet. I am so proud and thankful for this little bonus that came to me at the end of today. I'd had a rough day, so this really, REALLY cheered me up.
This successes make me realize that all the little steps I take along the way are worthwhile. All the book reading, letter recognition, finger activities, and other games we play were so worth it. I love how natural and easy it is for her to become familiar with letter, words, and finally with reading.
She was so happy that she said she could read any book from the bookshelf! Well... ok, we're not quite there yet. Had to stick to our little readers.
It felt like when your baby takes his first steps. You drop everything and keep doing it over and over and you're laughing and smiling and clapping. I couldn't believe she just floated into the kitchen like that out of the blue and BAM read a book. She's been putting many words together for a while now, but this was an official 'sit down and read a book'. She hasn't shown any interest in doing that yet. I am so proud and thankful for this little bonus that came to me at the end of today. I'd had a rough day, so this really, REALLY cheered me up.
This successes make me realize that all the little steps I take along the way are worthwhile. All the book reading, letter recognition, finger activities, and other games we play were so worth it. I love how natural and easy it is for her to become familiar with letter, words, and finally with reading.
She was so happy that she said she could read any book from the bookshelf! Well... ok, we're not quite there yet. Had to stick to our little readers.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
A huge boost to morale
As many of my readers know, I am a 'regular' on the Well Trained Mind forums. It is there I've learned about new curriculum, new tricks, how to better manage my time, energy, and meals, and how to be a better homeschooler. It's the book of the same name that gave me the confidence I needed to commit to homeschooling, and the forums have provided tremendous support. The other day I opened up a topic that quickly caught my attention and brought tears to my eyes. It was just exactly what I needed to hear at that moment in time subhanAllah. I asked the poster if I could quote her, so here are her words... and she prefaced this all by talking about how 'not-perfect' she is, the normalness of her daily life. She goes by Valerie. Here is what she said:
"So now that we've established the "don't think I'm a supermom" context, here's my point: the "grunt work," the mind-numbing repetition of the essential skills, the patient and kind persistence in correcting until a skill is mastered, the effort put forth to ensure that their mental banks are well-stocked with needed facts, dates, and contextual data--all that effort is worth it for the eventual pay-off.
Please, oh please, do whatever you need to do to get through that part and move on with your day.
If you need to, set a timer and agree to book (i.e., run, sprint) through that skill-building work, and then when the timer is done, you're done: JUST DO IT. It will be enough if you do it consistently and with enough of a good attitude to enable learning. Take small steps day after day after day, month by month, year by year, and you'll get the job done.
Make time, too, for joy in your day: 30 minutes of a read aloud, 15 minutes of a tickle fight, making a habit of drawing a quick "I love you" on a small palm, a popsicle together, falling asleep with the toddler's sweaty head in the crook of your arm--find your joy with your children each day. Do that for yourself and for them. You'll be teaching them the essence of love: we're in this together, the good and the bad, the hard and the fun, the work and the play.
When you get to have big kids, even teens, you will reap the reward. Yes, some will have to "go their own way", whether it is related to academics or not, and they'll cause us to develop callouses on our knees.
But if you are still homeschooling, you may get the reward of studying George Herbert poetry together and watching your strapping 17 year-old man-cub get a bit misty at the mystery of Christ's righteousness enfolding us. The reward might be watching the lightbulb moment when that same teen studies Clarence Carson on economics and exclaims, "Mom, have guys really been talking about the free market since the 1600s?" He's beginning to understand in a visceral way--not just head knowledge--what it means to join The Great Conversation. And, if you have an early bloomer, you might have three or four years of that kind of mind-to-mind engagement, watching a beautiful, inquisitive young mind unfold and mature into something unique and delightful. Just as young parents can't bear the thought of having someone else be there for their baby's precious firsts, I can't imagine missing out on the joy of this journey with my teens. I'm privileged beyond measure.
Dear moms engaged in the trenches with little ones: I wish you peace and strength for today. I know you will need it. But I'm going to go all Stephen Covey on you: please reserve one ounce of strength for yourself to remember your dreams for your journey with each child. Or do it in your dreams after you've collapsed into bed. : )"
"So now that we've established the "don't think I'm a supermom" context, here's my point: the "grunt work," the mind-numbing repetition of the essential skills, the patient and kind persistence in correcting until a skill is mastered, the effort put forth to ensure that their mental banks are well-stocked with needed facts, dates, and contextual data--all that effort is worth it for the eventual pay-off.
Please, oh please, do whatever you need to do to get through that part and move on with your day.
If you need to, set a timer and agree to book (i.e., run, sprint) through that skill-building work, and then when the timer is done, you're done: JUST DO IT. It will be enough if you do it consistently and with enough of a good attitude to enable learning. Take small steps day after day after day, month by month, year by year, and you'll get the job done.
Make time, too, for joy in your day: 30 minutes of a read aloud, 15 minutes of a tickle fight, making a habit of drawing a quick "I love you" on a small palm, a popsicle together, falling asleep with the toddler's sweaty head in the crook of your arm--find your joy with your children each day. Do that for yourself and for them. You'll be teaching them the essence of love: we're in this together, the good and the bad, the hard and the fun, the work and the play.
When you get to have big kids, even teens, you will reap the reward. Yes, some will have to "go their own way", whether it is related to academics or not, and they'll cause us to develop callouses on our knees.
But if you are still homeschooling, you may get the reward of studying George Herbert poetry together and watching your strapping 17 year-old man-cub get a bit misty at the mystery of Christ's righteousness enfolding us. The reward might be watching the lightbulb moment when that same teen studies Clarence Carson on economics and exclaims, "Mom, have guys really been talking about the free market since the 1600s?" He's beginning to understand in a visceral way--not just head knowledge--what it means to join The Great Conversation. And, if you have an early bloomer, you might have three or four years of that kind of mind-to-mind engagement, watching a beautiful, inquisitive young mind unfold and mature into something unique and delightful. Just as young parents can't bear the thought of having someone else be there for their baby's precious firsts, I can't imagine missing out on the joy of this journey with my teens. I'm privileged beyond measure.
Dear moms engaged in the trenches with little ones: I wish you peace and strength for today. I know you will need it. But I'm going to go all Stephen Covey on you: please reserve one ounce of strength for yourself to remember your dreams for your journey with each child. Or do it in your dreams after you've collapsed into bed. : )"
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Home activites for your kids
Does the thought of having your kids home for two weeks without school give you a little stress? Do you wonder what you'll do with them, or more specifically, what they'll do with you?? Just kidding, hopefully they'll do nothing with you but fill your heart with love :D
My philosophy is that you as a parent don't need to resort to song and dance to entertain your children, rather you just want to provide a few things to jump start their imaginations and love for play that is already there. They're kids after all! (and by song and dance I'm talking about going to places where you have to pay and pay and pay out the nose for a few hours of 'entertainment')
Here are a few ideas that have worked for me that I hope might be useful for you or might give you an idea for something else you have handy.
1. Have some art supplies handy and structure the time they can use it if the mess stresses you out. There are washable finger paints that are easy to wipe off of any table surface. I've bought some inexpensive newsprint tablets of paper that the little ones can use as much as they want. No fancy thick art paper, just a thinner type called newsprint. There is a little plastic tub (with lid) hidden in one of my kitchen cabinets full of paint brushes, washable finger paints, a couple of trays of watercolors, and reused cans that I've saved from cooking to act as water cans. Older kids know that they have to leave NO TRACE of their activity if I'm going to let them do it again, so they make sure to clean up really well.
2. Homemade Playdo (or the store bought type) We set up at the kitchen table and use rolling pins, wooden utensils (like salad mixers, wooden fork), plastic characters from other toys (we some old Dora and Diego figures), and plastic toys like trees, animals, and other things you might have already. You could make a jungle theme or any theme you want and set out the accessories that will give them a spark to work with.
Recipe for Homemade Playdo
5 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 T Alum (white spice you can find in grocery store)
1/4 cup oil
4 cups boiling water
Stir all together in a large mixing bowl. You can separate the dough into smaller bowl and add food coloring. Store in sealed plastic bags to keep fresh and moist.
3. Have a sensory box. The idea is to fill a container with dry materials that the little ones can sink their hands into and play in. At preschools I've seen them at the kids' waist level so that they can walk up to the long table that is filled with sand or pebbles, rice, or soapy water at times. Kids love to touch and move these things between their fingers. At home, I found a tub that I could reuse and filled it with dry rice and green lentils. Just yesterday I switched it out and filled it with different types of dry beans. I used large white beans, black beans, red beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas. Again, the big kids know to clean up completely, but for the toddler, well, I just brace myself and have the vacuum cleaner handy for when she's done. I have used a beach blanket before for them so play on so that I could more easily shake out or throw away what got scattered out of the box.
4. Make fruit popsicles. Ok, I know it's cold enough outside, but this is a quick and easy kitchen activity if you have anyone who is itching to make his/her own treat. We poured our blend into these little containers that Nana gave us, but you can use ice cube trays if you want, too.
Recipe for fruit popsicles
1 cup frozen sliced bananas (it's ok if they're not frozen)
1 cup frozen strawberries, raspberries, sliced peaches or other fruit (we used the frozen tropical mix from Costco)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (i'd use a little less)
¼ to ½ cup milk (dairy, soy, rice, almond, or coconut)
In a food processor, pulse fruit until coarsely chopped. I used my blender, not food processor.
Add milk a little at a time through top of processor, and puree until creamy.
Serve immediately, or freeze in individual-size containers for later.
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe is courtesy of: http://www.mothering.com/recipes/better-ice-cream
5. Free up the garage. Ours has tools and toys around the perimeter b/c my husband parks his car inside. When it's too cold or wet to play outside we just move his car out and play in there. Sure, it's not huge, but for most kids it is plenty of room to play ball, ride scooters/trikes, jump on a small trampoline, or just to run and play. I've even taken one of the space heaters to warm it up a little more in there on the really cold days.
6. Have some quiet activities on hand.
a) The most obvious one is books from the library. Why don't all of you sit on the couch with a few piles of books and just sit down and relax for an hour? Make some hot tea or hot chocolate and enjoy reading together.
b) Remember playing Mad Libs as a kid? I just ordered two books and they're a HIT!!
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Silly-Mad-Libs-Junior/dp/0843107588/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1324133457&sr=8-4
c) Latch hook kits. Definitely for ages 8 and up. Maybe even 9 or 10 and up. Don't tell anyone, but my son is really into the one I got him. It's a picture of a pirate ship. He's loving it. What a great quiet, focusing, and productive activity!
http://www.amazon.com/Caron-Wonderart-Latch-Hook-Kit/dp/B0017WEDA8/ref=sr_1_10?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1324133546&sr=1-10
I left out some big things like arts and crafts (glue, construction paper, etc..), scrapbooking, and bead activites b/c I figured those were obvious enough if you already have them at home.
Alrighty, that's about all I have for now!
My philosophy is that you as a parent don't need to resort to song and dance to entertain your children, rather you just want to provide a few things to jump start their imaginations and love for play that is already there. They're kids after all! (and by song and dance I'm talking about going to places where you have to pay and pay and pay out the nose for a few hours of 'entertainment')
Here are a few ideas that have worked for me that I hope might be useful for you or might give you an idea for something else you have handy.
1. Have some art supplies handy and structure the time they can use it if the mess stresses you out. There are washable finger paints that are easy to wipe off of any table surface. I've bought some inexpensive newsprint tablets of paper that the little ones can use as much as they want. No fancy thick art paper, just a thinner type called newsprint. There is a little plastic tub (with lid) hidden in one of my kitchen cabinets full of paint brushes, washable finger paints, a couple of trays of watercolors, and reused cans that I've saved from cooking to act as water cans. Older kids know that they have to leave NO TRACE of their activity if I'm going to let them do it again, so they make sure to clean up really well.
2. Homemade Playdo (or the store bought type) We set up at the kitchen table and use rolling pins, wooden utensils (like salad mixers, wooden fork), plastic characters from other toys (we some old Dora and Diego figures), and plastic toys like trees, animals, and other things you might have already. You could make a jungle theme or any theme you want and set out the accessories that will give them a spark to work with.
Recipe for Homemade Playdo
5 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 T Alum (white spice you can find in grocery store)
1/4 cup oil
4 cups boiling water
Stir all together in a large mixing bowl. You can separate the dough into smaller bowl and add food coloring. Store in sealed plastic bags to keep fresh and moist.
3. Have a sensory box. The idea is to fill a container with dry materials that the little ones can sink their hands into and play in. At preschools I've seen them at the kids' waist level so that they can walk up to the long table that is filled with sand or pebbles, rice, or soapy water at times. Kids love to touch and move these things between their fingers. At home, I found a tub that I could reuse and filled it with dry rice and green lentils. Just yesterday I switched it out and filled it with different types of dry beans. I used large white beans, black beans, red beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas. Again, the big kids know to clean up completely, but for the toddler, well, I just brace myself and have the vacuum cleaner handy for when she's done. I have used a beach blanket before for them so play on so that I could more easily shake out or throw away what got scattered out of the box.
Here is the updated box I just set up today and like more:
1 cup frozen sliced bananas (it's ok if they're not frozen)
1 cup frozen strawberries, raspberries, sliced peaches or other fruit (we used the frozen tropical mix from Costco)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (i'd use a little less)
¼ to ½ cup milk (dairy, soy, rice, almond, or coconut)
In a food processor, pulse fruit until coarsely chopped. I used my blender, not food processor.
Add milk a little at a time through top of processor, and puree until creamy.
Serve immediately, or freeze in individual-size containers for later.
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe is courtesy of: http://www.mothering.com/recipes/better-ice-cream
5. Free up the garage. Ours has tools and toys around the perimeter b/c my husband parks his car inside. When it's too cold or wet to play outside we just move his car out and play in there. Sure, it's not huge, but for most kids it is plenty of room to play ball, ride scooters/trikes, jump on a small trampoline, or just to run and play. I've even taken one of the space heaters to warm it up a little more in there on the really cold days.
6. Have some quiet activities on hand.
a) The most obvious one is books from the library. Why don't all of you sit on the couch with a few piles of books and just sit down and relax for an hour? Make some hot tea or hot chocolate and enjoy reading together.
b) Remember playing Mad Libs as a kid? I just ordered two books and they're a HIT!!
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Silly-Mad-Libs-Junior/dp/0843107588/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1324133457&sr=8-4
c) Latch hook kits. Definitely for ages 8 and up. Maybe even 9 or 10 and up. Don't tell anyone, but my son is really into the one I got him. It's a picture of a pirate ship. He's loving it. What a great quiet, focusing, and productive activity!
http://www.amazon.com/Caron-Wonderart-Latch-Hook-Kit/dp/B0017WEDA8/ref=sr_1_10?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1324133546&sr=1-10
I left out some big things like arts and crafts (glue, construction paper, etc..), scrapbooking, and bead activites b/c I figured those were obvious enough if you already have them at home.
Alrighty, that's about all I have for now!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Boy do Sundays stink
Assalamu alaikom and peace to you all,
As far back as I can remember, I hated Sundays. Mom and I concluded it was the lack of structure to the day. Other theories come and go, but they all include feelings of sadness, boredom, disappointment, and blah-dom. So here I am, pushing 35, and I still don't do well on Sundays. Having children keeps me busy, busier than I ever was in the past, so I don't get as down on Sundays as before. Still, it's like something great should happen, and then it just doesn't. It's ok, I will deal with it. I just hope I don't pass it along to my kids!
On this particular Sunday, some negative feelings I've been pushing to the back of my head really made their way to the front. So I'm trying to learn how and when to just accept people for who they are and not let parts of their personality bother me. Once I accept that they are like this no matter what, then I realize, sadly, that we're not as close I wished we could have been. It's like this; I have to say 'ok, you are this way, and I cannot change you, but... because of this I cannot be close to you'. Does this make sense? Kind of dark for any day, much less a Sunday. So, ya, that's part of my stinky sunday. I feel this is a side effect of getting old. You are not so close with people. We get to where we just cannot just roll with it when people do things against our ideals and beliefs. That might be a good thing, a type of self preservation, but it doesn't do much for the social calendar!
For now, my kids are sitting on the floor playing a board game. I thank God for all my blessings, and pray for guidance and patience. Here's to a better Monday.
As far back as I can remember, I hated Sundays. Mom and I concluded it was the lack of structure to the day. Other theories come and go, but they all include feelings of sadness, boredom, disappointment, and blah-dom. So here I am, pushing 35, and I still don't do well on Sundays. Having children keeps me busy, busier than I ever was in the past, so I don't get as down on Sundays as before. Still, it's like something great should happen, and then it just doesn't. It's ok, I will deal with it. I just hope I don't pass it along to my kids!
On this particular Sunday, some negative feelings I've been pushing to the back of my head really made their way to the front. So I'm trying to learn how and when to just accept people for who they are and not let parts of their personality bother me. Once I accept that they are like this no matter what, then I realize, sadly, that we're not as close I wished we could have been. It's like this; I have to say 'ok, you are this way, and I cannot change you, but... because of this I cannot be close to you'. Does this make sense? Kind of dark for any day, much less a Sunday. So, ya, that's part of my stinky sunday. I feel this is a side effect of getting old. You are not so close with people. We get to where we just cannot just roll with it when people do things against our ideals and beliefs. That might be a good thing, a type of self preservation, but it doesn't do much for the social calendar!
For now, my kids are sitting on the floor playing a board game. I thank God for all my blessings, and pray for guidance and patience. Here's to a better Monday.
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