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Ramadan Freebie – 2

September 2, 2009 by Imaan 5 Comments

Two years ago, in Shawwal, my friend Raihanah organised a Ramadan Outing for the homeschoolers’ group in Singapore. She delivered a short talk on Islam and fasting to the non-Muslim homeschooling families. They then moved on to various stations set up by the Muslim homeschoolers where they sampled different types of dates, learnt how to make a paper fanoos (lantern), tried their hand at weaving paper ketupat (Malay rice cakes cooked in woven leaves) and experimented with mosaic art. Two dads conducted a tour of Sultan Mosque as well. The day ended off with lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant.

My kids had lots of fun that day – they are always so excited to meet with other homeschoolers. They loved that they were able to talk about their deen. The day was all the more meaningful because their dad was able to join in – he travels a lot and isn’t always able to participate in any homeschool events.

We made a few printables that day and I thought I’d share one with you… It is a petal book in PDF format about “A Day In Ramadan”. Nothing too fancy – just a summary of what one does in a typical day in Ramadan. I hope you like it. *S*

DOWNLOAD “A DAY IN RAMADAN” PETAL BOOK

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Homeschool

Ramadan Freebie – 1

August 28, 2009 by Imaan 4 Comments

Here is a little something for fans of lapbooks, notebooks, mini-books and what not *S*

It is a fan book about “Why Ramadan Is Special”. There are blank fan templates provided for those who want to add in more information or who want to encourage their children to write their own reflections. It is in PDF format so if you don’t have Adobe Acrobat, GO GET IT! I’m not putting this up in MS WORD because you would lose the nifty fonts *S*

OK so without further ado, here is the file!

DOWNLOAD “WHY RAMADAN IS SPECIAL” FAN BOOK

* I said to print on coloured paper but only because lapbooks look more attractive that way. You can of course use white paper – the book itself has clipart which are in colour. If you do use coloured paper, use light pastels.

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Homeschool

Rainforests … and more!

August 18, 2009 by Imaan No Comments

My elder daughter loves Science and Geography even though these subjects are not taught in Singapore schools for kids aged 7 to 8. Good thing we home-ed eh? *S*

We have been reading about rainforests and highly recommend Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree. Lynne Cherry is a highly acclaimed author whose award-winning books promote love and respect for the earth. We love all her books and her signature illustrations with detailed borders.

Younger readers might like The Umbrella by Jan Brett. We’ve read also The Magic Tree House’s Afternoon on the Amazon – to be honest, I don’t really like The Magic Tree House series (they are twaddle-ish, no?) but I like the study guides. I am looking into getting The Vanishing Rainforest by Richard Platt – my children love his Diary books.

Here are a few free curriculum downloads/lesson plan ideas on rainforests:

  • Homeschool Share’s The Great Kapok Tree Unit Study
  • Homeschool Share’s The Umbrella Unit Study
  • Jan Brett’s Colouring Pages – look under The Umbrella for colouring sheets of animals and pages for a rainforest mural
  • Kathi Mitchell’s Page on Rainforests for Kids
  • Kiddy House – All About Rainforests for kids and teachers
  • Liza’s Reef – Hope for the Rainforests teacher resources
  • Lynne Cherry’s page on The Great Kapok Tree and rainsforests
  • Mayan Rainforest Curriculum
  • Part of Something Big
  • Rainforest Action Network – there is a teacher’s lounge from where you can download lesson ideas and a kit.
  • Rainforest Alliance’s Learning Site
  • Rainforest Challenge Curriculum
  • Rainforest Foundation’s Teacher Resources
  • The Prince’s Rainforests Project for Schools – check out the teachers’, parents’ and kids’ sections

Here are some other interesting links I found about environmental/global issues :

  • For All Kids – free ant lesson plan
  • Friends of the Earth
  • Global Cool Foundation’s Project Genie – with free book!
  • Global Dimension – guide to lots of lesson plans
  • Globe Programme
  • Heifer International
  • Mr Greeny
  • One World’s Kids’ Channel with Tiki the Penguin
  • Oxfam’s list of lesson plans – includes bullying, world trade, poverty and climate change
  • Phoenix Zoo
  • Roots & Shoots: Project Blue – water resources
  • Water Aid – more water resources
  • We Are What We Do – school resources
  • WWF’s School Resources
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Homeschool

All About Birds

August 17, 2009 by Imaan No Comments

From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a comprehensive resource for North American birds, bird watching, and bird conservation:

All About Birds: Free Bird Guide and More

Other projects by them:

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Homeschool

Oh for crying out loud!

August 12, 2009 by Imaan No Comments

A couple of very stupid comments from the officials in France who actually think they sound believable! Or maybe they don’t really care to convince. *shrug*

“These clothes are used in public, so they can contain molecules, viruses, et cetera, which will go in the water and could be transmitted to other bathers.”

Emerainville Mayor Alan Kelyor said he could not understand why the woman would want to swim in head-to-toe clothes. “We are going back in civilization,” he said by telephone. Women have fought for decades for equal rights with men, he said. “Now we are putting them back in burqas and veils.”

So… who’s discriminating whom?

French pool bars Muslim woman for ‘burquini’ suit
By Maria Danilova, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 12, 7:05 pm ET

PARIS – A Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit – dubbed a “burquini” – may have opened a new chapter in France’s tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code.

Officials insisted Wednesday they banned the woman’s use of the Islam-friendly suit at a local pool because of France’s pool hygiene standards – not out of hostility to overtly Muslim garb.

Under the policy, swimmers are not allowed in pools with baggy clothing, including surfer-style shorts. Only figure-hugging suits are permitted.

Nonetheless the woman, a 35-year-old convert to Islam identified only as Carole, complained of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in a “burquini,” a full-body swimsuit, in the town of Emerainville, southeast of Paris.

She was quoted as telling the daily Le Parisien newspaper that she had bought the burquini after deciding “it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing too much of myself, as Islam recommends.”

“For me this is nothing but segregation,” she said.

The issue of religious attire is a hot topic in France, where head-to-toe burqas or other full-body coverings worn by some Muslim fundamentalists are in official disfavor.

France is home to western Europe’s largest Muslim population, estimated at 5 million, and Islam is the nation’s second religion after Roman Catholicism.

A 2004 law banning the wearing of Muslim head scarves at public schools sparked fierce debate. That legislation also banned Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in public classrooms.

French lawmakers recently revived the issue of Muslim dress with a proposal that the burqa and other voluminous Muslim attire be banned.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative, backs the move, saying such garb makes women prisoners.

The “burquini” covers the arms to the wrists and the legs to the ankle and has a hood to cover neck and hair.

An official in charge of swimming pools for the Emerainville region, Daniel Guillaume, said the refusal to allow the local woman to swim in her “burquini” had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with public health standards.

“These clothes are used in public, so they can contain molecules, viruses, et cetera, which will go in the water and could be transmitted to other bathers,” Guillaume said in a telephone interview.

“We reminded this woman that one should not bathe all dressed, just as we would tell someone who is a nudist not to bathe all naked,” he said.

Guillaume said France’s public health standards require all pool-goers to don swimsuits for women and tight, swimming briefs for men and caps to cover their hair. Bathers also must shower before entering the water.

Guillaume said Carole had tried to file a complaint at a local police station, but her request was turned down as groundless.

Carole told the daily Le Parisien she would protest with the help of anti-discrimination groups.

Emerainville Mayor Alan Kelyor said he could not understand why the woman would want to swim in head-to-toe clothes.

“We are going back in civilization,” he said by telephone. Women have fought for decades for equal rights with men, he said. “Now we are putting them back in burqas and veils.”

The suits have a clear market.

Women “jump on the occasion so they can swim with their families. Otherwise, they end up staying on the beach and watching,” said Leila Mouhoubia, who runs an online site from France that specializes in the sale of Islamic swimsuits. Sales, she said, are strong.

“I think it’s forbidden (in France) because it presents an image of the Muslim woman (and) they have prejudices against Muslims,” she said by telephone. “They want women to be undressed.”

Mouloud Aounit, head of the anti-racism group known as MRAP, said the decision to ban Carole from the pool appeared fair, since pool authorities were observing regulations. But Aounit lamented that the incident was likely to fuel religious tensions.

“The rules must be the same for everybody, regardless of the color of their skin or their religion,” Aounit said. “The concern I have is that this case will again lead to stigmatization of the Muslim population in France.”

The all-body suits, worn regularly by some women in Muslim countries, are growing popular in the West. They can be seen on female Muslim lifeguards on Australian beaches, in the United States and various European countries, from the Netherlands to Sweden, which OKed them after two women won discrimination cases last year.

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Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend wh Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend who is a member of a minority group here. (I am keeping things vague for her safety and mine.) She has a relative who is also a friend of mine. 

In both my early encounters with them, I’d always sensed an air of reserve and secrecy. I understood that we had different beliefs, but I could not understand what I perceived as fear. Not being a native here in Pakistan, I’d had my share of bewildering and unfathomable encounters, so I’d left things at that. Maybe I’d understand in time to come, I thought.

They had always been very kind to me and I tried to reciprocate as best I could. For all our (acknowledged) differences in opinion and belief, we found some common ground and focused on doing some good. My friend’s relative donated science kits as well as books for my homeschooling gang and I’ll always be grateful for that. 

I read news yesterday about how my friend and her people do in fact live in danger. She told me how she fears for her husband’s life every single time he leaves home. She jumps every single time her doorbell rings. She worries about sending her daughter to school for fear of bullying or worse… Target killings of her people are a reality.

It made me feel so ashamed because this is tragic and downright disgraceful for any country, but even more so for a Muslim one. 

It’s OK to disagree. It’s OK to debate. It is NOT OK to terrorize and it is NOT OK resort to violence. It is wrong and it is unjust and it is EVIL to do so. When dealing with people of different beliefs, can we not be civilised? Can we not be HUMAN? Can we not behave the way our deen taught us? 

We need to find a way to make things better. It is not right to allow people who know precious little about Islam to desecrate it. 

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#islam #minorityrights #knowyourreligion #pakistan
Journalists say this time it is different. Rushdi Journalists say this time it is different.

Rushdi as-Sarraj, Yasser Murtaja’s friend, told Al-Jazeera, “This task is difficult under normal circumstances, so you can imagine working under a fierce offensive that does not distinguish between a journalist, a civilian or a military leader.” Israel is working hard “to silence the image and voice, and to ban any news or information that exposes its crimes”.

He also says, “My family doesn’t stop calling me, fearing that I could be harmed. It is an endless circle of fear and exhaustion. But we must continue sharing our message.”

Praying for Muna El-Kurd @muna.kurd15 , her brother @mohammedelkurd and all the journalists putting out the truth. 

#palestine #freepalestine #freemunakurd #freemunaelkurd #savesheikhjarrah #savesilwan #savelifta #savemohammedelkurd
«THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019» «We returned «THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019»

«We returned to the park after the lockdown earlier this year… sadly our tree for all seasons is no more 😢»

FOREIGN LANDS by Robert Louis Stevenson
Up into the cherry tree
Who should climb but little me?
I held the trunk with both my hands
And looked abroad on foreign lands.
I saw the next door garden lie,
Adorned with flowers, before my eye,
And many pleasant places more
That I had never seen before.
If I could find a higher tree
Farther and farther I should see,
To where the grown-up river slips
Into the sea among the ships.
To where the roads on either hand
Lead onward into fairy land,
Where all the children dine at five,
And all the playthings come alive.
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#throwback #pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
A couple of you asked me to make a post of my stor A couple of you asked me to make a post of my story in response to LV’s despicable use of the keffiyeh design. Pictures in this post are from hirbawi.ps and @palestine.pixel … 

EDIT: yes, my second slide should have been edited and it is bugging me. I repeated 1930s… sorry! If you want a more polished version, DM me. You get my meaning anyway, right? 
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#palestine #freepalestine #keffiyeh #gaza #jerusalem #savesheikhjarrah
«YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020» I was feelin «YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020»

I was feeling a little out of sorts (again) – I’d left the house a mess (again) and the boy and I were in a rush to get to the Art Co-op. Habiba @ourlivinghomeschool was doing a session on Wassily Kandinsky that day. 

We were delayed by a massive traffic jam and our stress levels rocketed when an obnoxious motorist kept sounding his horn repeatedly as if to shoo other cars out of the way. What was everyone else to do but wait for the jam to ease? 

We made it just in time though…barely! As we ran towards the gathering, it was as if a huge weight was lifted away. This gorgeous view greeted the boy and me, alhamdulillah. When we got down to studying Kandinsky, we felt more than fine.

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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #desidiaries #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers #artcoop #artoutdoors
«THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» Once upon a time before «THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» 
Once upon a time before Covid.

The calm before…

We had our Monday meet up again at Fatima Jinnah Park. The air was cool and crisp and the skies sunny when the nature gang got together. Then, it was on to a jolly game of Simon Says – Katelynn’s @_k8erpotater clever way of teaching the kids about body parts and how they move.

The kids did their usual tree climbing and exploring. Then, the dark clouds started rolling in. We took a while to decide whether or not to leave – the park literally looked dark and ominous on one side and cheery and bright on the other. We only started rushing for home when lightning split the sky. The kids were not to be hurried, however. They felt little pellets hitting them and stopped to investigate… hailstones!

Our ramble was cut short and I got cold and wet, but I think it was a gorgeous day. We got to learn about nature in a very real way.
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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
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