Sea Life Project - Part 2

A Project is never complete without a visit and so I arranged for the girls to go to the sea life centre with some other home-schooling families we know.

The girls were so excited and they had so much fun.  They participated in the quiz which they had to find answers to as they went along really eagerly and they knew a lot of the answers.

They loved the rock pool and getting up and close to the sea creatures and being able to handle them.  They touched a starfish and saw how squidgy it was, stroked a crab's shell and also dipped their hands in to feel an anemone.

They were amazed at all the creatures they were surrounded by, all different colours, shapes and sizes and how beautiful they were.  All created by Allah (swt).

We were particularly fascinated by the Turtles.  If turtle eggs are kept above 29C they hatch as female and if below this they hatch as male.  Subhanallah, how amazing is the creation of Allah (swt) and the order he gives it.

It was really busy as we went around in the morning as there were also around 3 school groups visiting on the day.  Lunch-time was also hectic in the eating and play area but things calmed down after lunch and so we went around to look at everything a second time just before we left.

If I was to go again it would be better to arrive at around 11am, play in the ball pool area, have lunch and then look around as most of the school groups leave after lunch.

The girls couldn't wait to tell their Dad all about it and they can't wait to go again!!

Sea Life Project - Part 1

Although we no longer have TV, Octonauts is one programme the girls still continue to watch on You tube and it is pretty safe for them in terms of content.  They have all been mad about it for ages now and I always hear them reeling off new facts about sea creatures I've never heard of.

I was getting a little concerned as they were hooked on it, but then I decided to get more involved!

Up until now, Nur had not been interested in sitting down to do any formal kind of learning and everytime we've tried she's never managed to concentrate for more than 10mins.  I thought this project would be right up her street, enable me to bond with her and share her interest and also show her that learning can be great fun!

We decided we'd make another poster (we're hooked on making posters).

We started by sitting down and making a list of all the sea creature they wanted to focus on.  Then we got out the Arts and Crafts materials and made the different creatures using a variety of techniques and materials.  We decided to keep with the Octonauts theme and use similar colours to the creatures on the programme.

We made a Sea-horse using pasta and cous cous

We made an Octopus using a paper plate and bubble wrap

The Puffer fish was made using a paper plate and some paper spikes

We made a Parrot fish using some coloured sand and glitter

The Slime Eel (Hagfish) was made by twisting the outer ring of a paper plate

My favourite was the Jelly fish which we made with another paper plate and some wool for its tentacles

The cookie cutter shark was also made from coloured sand

We also added some Quranic ayahs to our display as we had talked a lot about Allah's mercy and blessed we are that Allah (swt) has made the sea and all the creatures within it for us to use and how we should be grateful to Allah (swt) and obey his commands.

It would have a bit deep if I had gone into a full blown study of the layers of ocean but we briefly talked about the different types of sea water.  The lowest level of the ocean is full of darkness (The Midnight Zone) as no light gets to it, so we discussed how this is like having no belief in Allah and how blessed we are to have the light of Iman and be Muslims. Alhumdulillah!

  

The girls told me everything they already knew about each creature and we found out more info through the interenet and videos.   Rahmah took on the role of Professor Inkling and Shellington and compiled the creature reports for each sea creature.

The sea water was 2 blue plastic bags and the coral was made out of some tissue paper and coloured pom poms.  We scattered some shiny stars onto our display as well as some of the shells we collected in Tunisa.

The completed display was then hung in our hallway for us to learn from and share with our guests.

Nur was absolutely delighted when she saw the octonauts worksheets I had printed for her. She loved matching up the names of the Octonauts to their pictures and reading the 'I like Octonauts' book I printed and made for her.

We completed some other activities about oceans and sea life from here.  I noticed how Nur was really beginning to look at the letters and words in the books carefully.

Then we planned for our big trip to the Sea life centre with some of our home-schooling friends!

Visual Reminders

"And remind for verily a reminder benefits the believer"

(Surat Adh-Dhāriyāt :ayah 55)

We have really got into making posters at the moment and this has helped in many ways:

1.  It engages all the girls regardless of their level.
2.  My girls like most kids love colouring, cutting and sticking.
3.  It is a nice way of storing their work.
4.  It keeps the focus off writing lots of notes which gets tiring for Rahmah.
5.  The children are more likely to remember what they have learnt if they have creatively put it together.
6.  Displayed in a prominent place, rather than hidden in a text book somewhere the children see it around them, engage with it and hence are more likely to retain the lessons learnt.

This poster of 'Manners of Eating'  is displayed in our dining area, just above our dining table.  We made it at a time when I felt the girls were getting a bit hyper and this was continued into mealtimes.  The girls really enjoyed making it and I could notice some changes straight away.  Alhamdulillah now they have almost memorised it and even account each other using it!!

I used information from Quran and hadith - but I wanted to keep it simple so I did not put any references just simple rules that the girls would easily understand.

I used 2 sheets of strong wallpaper and pics from the net to illustrate each point.

There is some good information and children's resources on the topic of Manners of Eating on this page

There are lots of ideas for posters and downloadable resources on this page 

My 3 Little Muslimahs....

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said

“Whoever has three daughters and is patient towards them, and feeds them, gives them to drink and clothes them from his riches, they will be a shield for him from the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.”

I remember the time when I first became pregnant, how excited I was and how blessed I felt to be given the chance of motherhood.


Both my husband and I really wanted a girl and alhamdulillah here we are today to be blessed with not 1, not 2 but 3 beautiful daughters!

Muslimah no 1 is Rahmah:

6 years old. She is amazing!! I don’t want to be accused of favouritism and I’m putting it down to being a firstborn thing. I felt so special holding her in my arms during those early days. I often wondered if I was dreaming and if it was really happening to me. Then I would feel an overwhelming sense of awe and gratefulness to Allah for blessing us with her.


Now she is growing into more like a best friend and helper to me. She loves Chocolate, Butterflies, Flowers, Cooking (well licking the bowl) and Reading. She loves learning.


Every day she blows me away with something she says or does. And I mean blow me away in the sense that you just wouldn’t expect a 6 year old to do so.

Muslimah no 2 is Nur:

4 years old. Like her name suggests she really does light up any gathering. I remember looking up at her whilst her father held her in his arms, moments after she was born and commenting on the radiance on her face and the sparkle in her eyes. This sparkle has stayed with her till now and I hope that it will remain with her forever. 


A day with her is never boring, tiring yes, but never boring. I love the way she thinks outside the box, the way her eyes light up when she comes up with a solution for things no matter how daft the suggestion may be!!


She has a lovely sense of humour and is very active. She loves changing her clothes, food, and getting messy! She is my dishwasher and my kitchen aid. She gives the best cuddles and I love to snuggle up to her!!

Muslimah no 3 is my Fifi, my Firdous:

Just when I thought being a mother to 2 was something, she came along to take it to the next level, hence the name Firdous!


She’s not even turned 2 yet but already I feel she’s growing up so quickly, learning new words and new tricks. Everytime I turn around these days she’s sitting or standing on the dining table instead of sitting on her chair.


She loves to wear hijaab, she loves to pray and is eager to learn to read. She melts us away with the little words she says, the way she smiles through her teeth and the way she parades through the house. I’m so looking forward to watching her develop and teaching her.


When I went for my last check up after giving birth to Fifi and before being signed off by the midwives, I remember the midwife saying to me ‘So is this your family complete?’ and I just looked at her and thought to myself ‘not quite’.


Only Allah knows whether or not this completes my family. For now Alhamdulillah I have been blessed with an opportunity to raise and nurture 3 beautiful daughters. 

Living in the times we do, it's definitely  not easy raising children to be strong Muslims and Muslimahs.  Each day brings with it new challenges.    Home schooling, preparing materials, teaching, assessing and making it fun and relevant adds to the many challenges that I need to rise up to. The way I see it, my children will form a large part of the legacy I leave behind and they are my 3 paths to Jannah, insha'allah.


I hope insha’allah Allah (swt) gives me the ability to raise them well, in a manner that is pleasing to him and that my rank in the akhirah is raised due to the good actions they do and inspire others to do.