Homeschool Wrap-Up July 2014

We started some really great, fun things this month that I’m really excited to share with you all! With Ramadan taking most of July, there was a lot of opportunity to do some great reading and learning with Aamina. Kira basically took the month off from catching up on school related items. With the fasting days being so long, she switched her nights and days to make sure she’d get up for suhoor at her dad’s house. Anyway, that’s why you see next to nothing in reference to her.

Library story time

I love our library system! During the summer there are always fun activities for kids of all ages, and we made sure to go to the storytime for all ages nearly every week. I love that Aamina loves going to the library, and I’m sure meeting Pete the Cat was a huge highlight!

Ramadan

We read great books like Ilyas and Duck search for Allah, put up decorations in the house, and talked a lot about how Allah loves when we do good things in Ramadan so much that He gives us extra credit! Since I’m nursing and pregnant, I didn’t fast, but we talked about how Daddy and Kira are fasting, and what that means. Pregnancy normally wipes me out, so I didn’t get to as many crafts as I had hoped, but we did get to make a prayer rug from felt, learning over and under, and making a pattern with the colors.

Nature Study

We keep our nature study Eye Spy cards on hand for almost any time we go to the park, and it’s been great! Aamina even asks for her cards if she sees something she knows is in the deck! I love that it teaches her to look up animals, a future skill that is starting with such humble beginnings.

We’ve spent some time in our back yard blowing bubbles and watching how the bubbles react different on grass than leaves, talking about the different types of leaves, feeling them, and describing them (long, skinny, smooth, rough, etc.). It’s amazing how such a simple activity can be a learning experience if you just discuss what’s going on around you!

Before Five in a Row and Notebooking

This is what I’m most excited about! Previously, I’d try to build up how fun worksheets can be, and while Kira loved worksheets, Aamina doesn’t like them as much. Now that we’ve been working through a Before Five in a Row book with many of the suggestion from the manual, plus a notebook from HomeschoolShare.com, she says she loves school! Now when I ask Aamina if she wants to do school, and even if that includes a worksheet or two, she’s excited! She brings her little chair over to her little desk and can’t wait to get started. What’s even cuter? The desk she’s using used to be Hubby’s when he was homeschooling as a little kid!

We started with We’re Going on a Bear Hunt because it’s just a super fun book, then Aamina asked for Ask Mr. Bear. In sha Allah I’ll get some posts up about both projects, but we’ll see what time allows.

Kiwicrate

I’ve been itching to press the Buy button for Kiwicrate for a long time, but you know how it is, you want to make sure you’re not signing up for something just because it looks all new and shiny. Right? Next month I’ll have a full review on Kiwicrate, too, but I got my first subscription box in July and it was perfect! We were planning our first family camping trip since Aamina’s been born, and the box included camping stuff! Each month you get two projects, and one was a pretend campfire, and the other was a backpack you paint and use sun stencils to set in nature shapes.

The best part? Kira did the projects with Kira and it was obviously a fabulous bonding time for the two of them. I can’t rave about Kiwicrate enough. Truly. If you’re still not convinced, I’ll tell you more details in September, too!

Camping

We’ve gone camping with Kira a few times, and they are extremely fond memories. Take away all the electronics, sit around a campfire, and share s’mores, and you can’t help but feel just a bit closer to the ones around you. Aamina had some challenges as a baby since we didn’t know she wasn’t able to have nuts or bananas, so this is the first time we’ve gone camping since was born. Oh, it was fabulous. We all pitched in to help with dishes, cooking, and taking care of the kids. We were a well oiled machine, mashaAllah. Aamina would listen to the birds and try to identify owls and woodpeckers. Amatullah got a kick out of the bunny that hung out in our campsite, and everyone got some dirt under their nails just exploring nature around them. We even let Kira drive our (leased!!) van on the dirt road a couple times! You can’t help but be in awe of Allah’s creation when you can see the stars, watch the fireflies come out, and observe families of deer finding food. Camping is a rich experience for homeschoolers and traditional schoolers alike as long as you open your eyes to what surrounds you.