Comrades, To Con

The peaceful night that round me flows,
Breaks through your iron prison doors,
Free through the world your spirit goes,
Forbidden hands are clasping yours.
The wind is our confederate
The night has left the doors ajar;
We meet beyond earth’s barred gate,
Where all the world’s wild rebels are.

~ Eva Gore-Booth

Alice, you asked about our daily routine so here’s a post just for you :)

When we started out homeschooling, we didn’t have much of a routine. Mars was just an itty-bitty thing then so all I did was read to her a lot. We read just about EVERYTHING we could get our hands on if it was good literature. We would go out a lot and generally talk a lot too :) Since Mars did not attend preschool or kindergarten and since I did not have a helper or babysitter, she would accompany me wherever I went. (She still does only now it is with her sister in tow as well.) I think that this was a positive thing for her as she had contact with people of diverse ages and backgrounds. We did not have a fixed routine until she was about 7 – when she officially fell under the Compulsory Education Act.

Here’s our average day (Monday to Saturday):

5.30 a.m. : Fajr (dawn) prayers
7.00 a.m. : Clean up, change and tidy up the room.
7.30 a.m. : The girls tend to Rocket, their newly-adopted pet kitten. They have to feed and water him and give him some attention and play time.
8.00 a.m. : Breakfast

8.30 a.m. Islamic Studies
9.15 a.m. Arabic homework & Qur’an revision (While Mars does this, Bear and I work on reading and Math)
11.15 a.m. – 2.15 p.m. Study other subjects – English / Math / Science / Geography / History. It varies depending on what day it is. We take a short break for Dhuhr/afternoon prayer in between. They are also expected to spend time with Rocket during any other breaks they take.

2.15 p.m. Lunch (and feed Rocket)

3.00 p.m. Arabic Class at the Institute of Arabic Language
4.30 p.m. `Asr (late afternoon) prayer & Karate class

6.00 p.m. Maghrib (dusk) prayer & Free time (check on Rocket again!)
7.15 p.m. Qur’an class at a neighbou’s home

7.45 p.m. – 10.00 p.m. `Isha (night) prayer and reading, play and bed (make sure Rocket is fed, watered and safe)

As to resources we use for Mars, you can check my page here. We don’t use each and every resource on that page or link listed on the blog each day or week. I don’t feel the pressure to incorporate each and every gem I find into our main curriculum – I’d go mental honestly because there is so much out there :P Our coursebooks form the spines and we use those bonuses as much as we can, but there is no stressing it really.

For Bear, we use the following:

• Reading A to Z and Calvert’s reading programme – I downloaded Reading A to Z’s material when they had an ‘open house’ and Calvert’s is what Bear inherited from her sister
• Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt
• Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching – Mathematics Enrichment Programme
• Living books – we use good literature for Science, Geography and whatever else she is interested in learning :)

Our mission is to provide children around the world with an absolutely free educational resource. A way to learn, while also having fun. We believe that the best resources should not be reserved for those who can afford them, but should be made available to everyone, everywhere, without cost. Using the power of the Internet, this goal is possible.

Kids Know It is seriously busting at the seams with articles, games, movies, podcasts and on Astronomy, Biology, Geography, Geology, History, Math and more! You have to check out that zany Nanna Know It All and her podcasts from Nanna’s Mad Lab – you gotta love a boa-wearing granny, no?

My kids don’t really use the computer or internet to be honest – yes I am quite the dictator *S* and I still prefer good old books – but sites like Kids Know It can be so helpful when I am busy or when they need a breather.

Our vision is to be the source for childhood learning on the Internet – available from anywhere and without charge. Established in late 2004, e-Learning for Kids is a global, nonprofit foundation dedicated to fun and free learning on the Internet for children ages 5 – 12. We offer free, best-in-class courseware in math, science, reading and keyboarding; and we’re building a community for parents and educators to share innovations and insights in childhood education.

E-Learning for Kids covers Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, Computers, Environmental Skills, Health, Life Skills and English Language.

Sounds nice? Absolutely. Free? You bet.

If you have a kid who is allergic to Math, you would understand why I am always on the lookout for creative Math resources. I’ve thrown out all the books that have made Mars cry (oh, I kid you not…) and have embarked on The Smarty Pants Math Club :P It’s really just a funny name for our Math lessons (got the idea from Marilyn Burns’ Math for Smarty Pants). We are using CIMT’s Mathematics Enhancement Programme (free! ahem!), living Math resources and worksheets we’ve downloaded online.

Dad’s Worksheets is one of the sites we are using for additional exercises. This dad has reviews of Math books and resources he has used, downloadable handwriting and graph paper, Spaceship Math (oh, my kids love them catchy names :P) and tonnes of worksheets (5,137 and counting!!)… all FREE!

So pay the site a visit… it is really all that and a bag of chips :)