Homeschoolers Block

As Salaamu alaykum,

Lately i have had have what you may call Homeschoolers Block. Sorta like a writer's block if you will have.

I think that may be its due to me not having a set curriculum to go by and I only know this because I never went through this when I was with K12. Every thing with K12 was laid out for me I didn't have to think of what to do next. And well now I am trying my hardest to pull this all together by my self. With out having a clue as to what i am suppose to do. Yes, I do research a lot and apart of one of my many problems is my location ok so i am aware of that. But the sad thing is this is not the first time. it comes and goes and its very difficult to keep going this way so I must at once put a stop to this soon but until them here I go lol.

What can I or someone in my shoes do to help solve this problem in enough time with out missing on education with your children.

Here are a few list of things that I have come up with in order to keep things going for us to the best of my abilities. And I hope they would work for you as well if you are in my shoes.

1) Make Much Duaa Duaa Duaa Duaa.....I cannot stress that enough it is very much so needed.

2) no matter how slow the day/wk is going and you have no glue of what to do or offer next, never let your child(ren) know. Get a printer and print of extra work until you can fill it it.

3) Plan field trips ahead this is easy to do even if its a nature trip to the woods or zoo. You could never go wrong with learning about life and that will fill up a wholes days worth of work.

4) If planning trips is out of the Qts then rent some Video's or DVDs or get online and loads something up quick for the kids to lean about (Discovery Channel is a hit with homeschoolers) trust me I know.

5) This is a perfect time to practice writing skills. No matter how old the child is have them sit with you and write what ever is on there mind even if it is scribble scrabble lol really its all mental and they are getting something out of it even if you do not see it.

6) do more arts and crafts (offer to the kids)

7) do a science project (offer to the kids)

8) use the Internet ( The Internet is your best friend for homeschoolers and educators themselves as well) with out it wed be totally lost lol) so make sure every thing is on the up and up with it since that will be your back up plan for the days when you have nothing planned.

If you have anymore suggestions to add to this list just send them my way and ill add them this is a good beneficial help for those who are new to homeschooling inshaallah.

Ma Salaams

Science Fun You Can Eat -Parts of a Plant Salad

As Salaamu alaykum

Wondering where weve been all week, Take a look and see what we did this week.. Try and have fun enjoy salaams

Science Fun You Can Eat -Parts of a Plant Salad

Plants are made up of several parts. They start at the bottom with the ROOTS. The roots hold the plant in the ground. Food also travels from the roots into the plant. The STEM is the next part. Food and water travel up the stem into the rest of the plant. Plants have LEAVES. Some plants have FLOWERS. Plants start out as SEEDS. They grow FRUIT to make more seeds.

Make a salad with all the parts of a flower.

Here’s what you do:

Put in some ROOTS – shredded carrots, chopped onions

Put in some LEAVES – lettuce, cabbage, spinach,

Put in some SEEDS –sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, peas, chick peas

Put in some FRUIT – tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers slices, orange segments

Put in some STEMS – celery, asparagus

Put in some FLOWERS – broccoli, cauliflower- you can also put in some PETALS - pansy petals are edible.

Mix your salad all together. Put on your favorite dressing and enjoy eating a plant!

TIPS FOR TEACHERS & PARENTS:

As you add the various items into the salad have the children explain which part of the plant it is from and what that part does.

Print out our science worksheet that goes with the lesson and label the parts of the plant as further reinforcement.

Parts of a Plant Worksheet

Great Plant Resources:Fairy Triad Dome TerrariumThe Young Scientist Club: Set 10 - Seeds, Fruits and Other Plant PartsGrow Your Own Carnivorous Creations Terrarium

~Belinda Mooney
Belinda J. Mooney is a veteran homeschool mom of 7. She loves incorporating all types of learning from cooking to crafts into her children's learning. Her kids, ages 25 down to 7, can often be seen wearing togas (or other strange clothing) to dinner, doing school outside or leaping fences to get a picture of a strange bug. Her husband has threatened to eat the science projects

The Wheels on the Bus (PreK-K)

As Salaamu alayki

Every day Ibraheem and Yasmin wants me to read to them a book called "The Wheels on the Bus" each day and night I would read this book to them. A few days ago since we use this book often I noticed one of the pages was missing.. This is a hard book so when we got to the page that is missing They both of them began to get upset and beg me to find the missing page. Today I decided that I was not going to go looking for the messing page in fact let us make up our own version of the book and mashallah it went something like this.

for those of you who are in Cairo Egypt or surrounding areas you should totally understand if not then inshallah ill explain later lol mashallah:

This is inspired by my lil man Ibraheem...

The Ahkee in the taxi goes

come along please, come along please.
come along please, come along please.

The Ahkee in the taxi goes
come along please, come along please.

All thru Cairo Egypt.

The Ummis says to the kids

Hurry up and get in, Hurry up and get in.
Hurry up and get in, Hurry up and get in.

The Ummis says to the kids the kids
Hurry up and get in, Hurry up and get in.

All thru Cairo Egypt.

The Taxi man says,
where would you like to go?, where would you like to go?
where would you like to go?, where would you like to go?

The Taxi man says,
where would you like to go?, where would you like to go?

All thru Cairo Egypt.

The Ummis in the back set says

To the harram, To the harram
To the harram, To the harram

The Ummis in the back set says
To the harramTo the harram

All thru Cairo Egypt.

Allllllll thru Cairo Egypt.


Ok so its a bit corney but I thought it was just the cutest thing really because I now know why this was his favorite store/song.. It reminded him of how we use the taxi to get around verse a bus lol and this was his way of telling his store of how he gets around. Mashallah he is so bright and when they the lil ones do that its so amazing to watch because it helps you understand them so well. Ok just wanted share that

until next time
salaams

"Portfolio's" Do we need them?

Many of us do not think that it is necessary to have or make portfolios for our children. And really I can not stress to you how it really is important to start one as soon as you can.

Here are the main reason why it is so very important.

One I have started looking at a Portfolio as a means to help my children in the future. I cannot make there decisions in life but may be just maybe they want to go to college Or may need the information just to prove that they did in fact receive education.. Being homeschooled is not in the public eye so they can be denied lots of things with out proof of it. Having a portfolio proves to their employers or college professors that they did receive proper education. Below are a few steps you can take to start your portfolio for your homeschool..

Preparing a Homeschool Portfolio taken from: http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/teens/default.asp?id=7


A portfolio is a viable method to assess, both continually and annually, a student's academic progress.

This approach helps both parent and student compare work objectively during the school year. The following suggestions will help parents prepare the portfolio.
Start by using a journal to keep track of what your child does each school day. I find it works best to have one journal per student, so that you can easily separate each child's work at the end of the year.

There are many good journals on the market, but you can use a simple notebook. Put the child's name and school year on the cover, and on the inside of the cover, write the names of the main textbooks and their respective publishers.

Use the first page to record the name of the homeschool support group and the contact person's name and phone number, as well as any other important numbers you will need throughout the year. It is also a good place to write down those two or three goals you have for the school year.

For each school day, date the page and record specifics, such as "Math: pp 12-13, ex 1-15" and "Read and discussed Chapter 2 of To Kill a Mockingbird." Be diligent in filling in this journal regularly, if you are required to keep accurate records. It is also easier to write down while it is still fresh in your mind versus having to reconstruct at the end of the year. Be sure to add field trips as they occur, along with the reason for the trip.

The site, address, phone number, contact person, and fee should be included for future reference.

I also recommend that one photo album be kept each year. This should include photos and brochures from the field trips the family takes, as well as to show projects in the process of construction and the final presentations.

A picture showing the proud student beside her science project is a great reminder during the portfolio review time.

Keeping a good representative sample of papers from throughout the year can be an overwhelming task if a storage plan is not implemented early in the year. Two possibilities are a file box and a notebook. The first involves having one file box per child, hanging folders, and tabs for each subject. The student dates each paper as it is completed, thus relieving the parent of one task. Simply file each paper in the correct folder, always placing the most recent paper in the front. At the end of the year, either take the whole file box to the reviewer or choose samples from each folder to present.

The second option is to use a large three-ring binder and store samples of the student's work from the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. Be sure to use dividers that are labeled by academic area so that storage can be accomplished quickly.

At the end of the year, a summary for each child should be written that includes the student's full name, address, phone number, birth date and grade. Parents' names are also necessary. A list of academic courses, including what was covered and the main textbooks and their respective grade levels, and special projects should also be added. Write down areas of growth seen in your child as well.

Remember, an organized and complete portfolio presentation helps when you discuss the school year with the reviewer. As we say to our clients, "Relax and enjoy this time of reflection and joy. You have all worked hard this year. We want to enjoy discussing the year with you."


Shirley Minster, Director

Home Education & Family Services and Royal Academy, Inc.
http://www.homeeducator.com/HEFS/abouthefs.htm


(c) Shirley M. R. Minster 1999

More on portfolios here
Ask Pauline
http://home.comcast.net/~askpauline/hs/homeschoolportfolios.html

http://www.home-schooling-and-homeschool.info/Homeschool_Portfolio_Evaluation.html

http://members.aol.com/cmslhomeschool/portfolio.html

more on this topic later until next time and happy new year (kullu sana wa taibeen)