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Homeschool Journaling

My Midori Mornings

December 13, 2016 by Imaan 6 Comments

My first traveler’s notebook, a Raydori… love it to pieces!

Those of you who know me in person would know that I have a penchant for pen and paper. OK, HUGE understatement!! I am a full-fledged, card carrying, unapologetic stationery addict. You know, a dream of mine is to sell stationery? I think my business would be in the red though, because I would probably want to keep everything for myself. ;)

Initially, I tried going the whole hog with scrapbooking and smashbooking and what have you… it was fun at first – I’d once considered a publishing job and still love looking at good layouts and presentations. The problem was that this hobby consumed my every being to the extent that I was close to making the Dad Man and the kids forage for their meals. It didn’t help that my latent OCD tendencies slowly but surely kicked in – I kept wanting to rip out pages because they didn’t look right. I kept analyzing the handwriting, the alignments, the colours… it all became very very overwhelming, self-defeating and a complete waste of time. That foolishness clearly had to go and alhamdulillah I kicked it to the kerb.

Me and my insane attempts at scrapbooking… the dreaded blank page when no inspiration kicks in!

I have since taken a step back from scrapbooking and gone into journaling – I write about my days and whatever inspires me and I try a bit of craftiness without getting obsessive about it. Since the words take centre stage, I no longer worry about embellishment and decoration… once I focused more on the process than the end product, I found planner peace and my family, thankfully, stay nourished ;)

I use a leather notebook. For the uninitiated (and you folks simply MUST join us on the dark side!), this is a leather cover with 2 to 4 (or more if you are crazy that way!) elastic bands inside it to hold notebooks. The original/most popular was made by the Midori Company and simply referred to as the “Midori”. It now has its own brand name and is called the “Traveler’s Notebook”. (I think “Midori” is a much prettier name, don’t you? The kids and I still call our notebooks “dories”.) The TNs gave birth to numerous DIY versions by other leather craftsmen – these are affectionately called “fauxdoris” or are named by their makers. My first dori, purchased a few years ago, was made by Ray Blake and it is called a “Raydori”.

The TN can hold several notebooks, so each insert can be used for different purposes. I have one insert for a weekly planner, one for a diary/journal, one for my Islamic learning, one for a commonplace book and one for my homeschooling ideas/notes. Once a notebook is full, I can store it and put another in its place. It’s all wonderfully portable so I can use it anytime and anywhere – I love looking through my journals when I am out and about. The best bit about these babies though? The leather. There is something simply intoxicating about well made leather goods… they are just WICKED!

My blue Traveler’s Notebook… ain’t he a beauty?

I’ve grown to depend on my notebooks for my homeschooling days – Marz is now preparing for her IGCSEs, so a few notebooks have gone into English Literature notes and lesson plans. I am also moving into Islamic Journaling – I have been copying words of remembrance/adhkaar and trying to memorise them. (I really must work harder on this!) I am also going into Quran journaling, for the simple reason that it is high time – I need to organize all my notes and random scribbles into something more ‘coherent’ and systematic!

Studying and journaling at the park while Peep has football practice.

Mornings are special times with my dori – I get ready a nice mug of chai, settle down with my pens and my books and journal away. This daily fix keeps me cheerfully sane :)

In shaa Allah, I’ll share more about my dori days and resources I have found. Is anyone out there into this analogue culture? Give me a shout out because Midori loves company. :)

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Homeschool

Knowledge

December 12, 2016 by Imaan No Comments

Mu’adh ibn Jabal said:
“Knowledge is a comforting friend in times of loneliness, it is the best companion during travels, and it is the inner friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is the discerning proof of what is right and what is wrong, and it is the positive force that will help you surmount the trials of comfort, as well as those of hardships. Knowledge is your most powerful sword against your enemy, and finally, it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close companions.

“Through knowledge, Allah, blessed be His Name, raises some people in rank, and He makes them leaders in righteousness and models in morality. The vestige of their faith is avidly sought, their deeds are emulated perceptively, and people will seek and sanction their opinions solicitously and unequivocally. The heavenly angels seek their company and anoint them with their wings, every fresh or withered life they pass by implore Almighty Allah to forgive them their sins, even the fish in the oceans, the beasts of the lands and every bird of prey and migratory bird pray and solicit the mercy of Almighty Allah on their behalf. This is because knowledge revives the dead hearts and drives them out of darkness into light, and because knowledge is the light of the inner eyes that cures one’s blindness and restores his inner sight.”

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Homeschool

Early Math

June 3, 2016 by Imaan 3 Comments

Years ago, when I started homeschooling, I fretted over how expensive everything was and felt wretched when I could not afford this or that programme. Now that I’m starting over with Peep, I see that I was being completely ridiculous. Ah… hindsight! ;)

There are lots of free Math resources online and some may lack the bells and whistles that we may often look for or be used to. Still, now that I’m in a back-to-basics mode, I see how these are good, solid materials that have stood the test of time.

Here are some Mathy links you might enjoy checking out:

  • First Lessons in Arithmetic
  • Samuel L. Blumenfeld’s Arithmetic Program
  • First Lessons in Numbers
  • SW Baird’s Graded Work in Arithmetic:
    • Year 1
    • Year 2
    • Year 3
    • Year 4
    • Year 5
    • Year 6
    • Year 7
    • Year 8
  • CIMT’s Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Reception to Secondary level)
  • Comprehensive School Mathematics Program Preservation Project (K to 6)
  • Dad’s Worksheets
  • Khan Academy
  • Eureka Math by Great Minds
  • Ray’s Arithmetic – AN ABSOLUTE GEM!!
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Homeschool

Early Reading Resources

May 31, 2016 by Imaan No Comments

I am a curriculum junkie. There’s no shame to my game ;)

I wrote a post about homeschooling for free a long while ago. Some links are now outdated so I’ll be revisiting and reposting these resources over the next few days.

Today, early reading… because my youngest, Peep, has turned 4 and has officially joined the student body.

EARLY READING

  • Starfall – the first level of this programme was good for letter recognition and sounds, but oh my goodness… the crazy and corny songs! Peep sang “Va-va-va-va-VAN… Va-va-va-va- VAN…” for DAYS. You best be warned.
  • Progressive Phonics – very simple, straight forward programme… and very effective too! There are also free writing worksheets.
  • Word Mastery – a course in phonics for the first three grades
  • Reading Bear
  • Blend Phonics:
    • Alphabet Flash Cards
    • Blend Phonics Pre-Primer
    • Reading Made Easy With Blend Phonics
    • Blend Phonics Reader – to be used after a unit is taught in Reading Made Easy With Blend Phonics
    • Blend Phonics Decodable Storybooks
  • Stairway to Reading
  • Teach the World to Read – Not free now but at $49 for some 60 booklets + guides, it’s a steal. The site offers the programme for free to children in under-privileged communities.
  • Reading A to Z – They had an open house and made their books free once upon a time. I don’t think I will be welcome at any other open houses they will have in future.
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Homeschool

Lift Off!

by Imaan No Comments

Donovan Livingston, Ed.M.’16, student speaker at HGSE’s 2016 Convocation exercises.

Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin,
Is a great equalizer of the conditions of men.” – Horace Mann, 1848.
At the time of his remarks I couldn’t read — couldn’t write.
Any attempt to do so, punishable by death.
For generations we have known of knowledge’s infinite power.
Yet somehow, we’ve never questioned the keeper of the keys —
The guardians of information.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen more dividing and conquering
In this order of operations — a heinous miscalculation of reality.
For some, the only difference between a classroom and a plantation is time.
How many times must we be made to feel like quotas —
Like tokens in coined phrases? —
“Diversity. Inclusion”
There are days I feel like one, like only —
A lonely blossom in a briar patch of broken promises.
But I’ve always been a thorn in the side of injustice.

Disruptive. Talkative. A distraction.
With a passion that transcends the confines of my consciousness —
Beyond your curriculum, beyond your standards.
I stand here, a manifestation of love and pain,
With veins pumping revolution.
I am the strange fruit that grew too ripe for the poplar tree.
I am a DREAM Act, Dream Deferred incarnate.
I am a movement – an amalgam of memories America would care to forget
My past, alone won’t allow me to sit still.
So my body, like the mind
Cannot be contained.

As educators, rather than raising your voices
Over the rustling of our chains,
Take them off. Un-cuff us.
Unencumbered by the lumbering weight
Of poverty and privilege,
Policy and ignorance.

I was in the 7th grade, when Ms. Parker told me,
“Donovan, we can put your excess energy to good use!”
And she introduced me to the sound of my own voice.
She gave me a stage. A platform.
She told me that our stories are ladders
That make it easier for us to touch the stars.
So climb and grab them.
Keep climbing. Grab them.
Spill your emotions in the big dipper and pour out your soul.
Light up the world with your luminous allure.

To educate requires Galileo-like patience.
Today, when I look my students in the eyes, all I see are constellations.
If you take the time to connect the dots,
You can plot the true shape of their genius —
Shining in their darkest hour.

I look each of my students in the eyes,
And see the same light that aligned Orion’s Belt
And the pyramids of Giza.
I see the same twinkle
That guided Harriet to freedom.
I see them. Beneath their masks and mischief,
Exists an authentic frustration;
An enslavement to your standardized assessments.

At the core, none of us were meant to be common.
We were born to be comets,
Darting across space and time —
Leaving our mark as we crash into everything.
A crater is a reminder that something amazing happened here —
An indelible impact that shook up the world.
Are we not astronomers — looking for the next shooting star?
I teach in hopes of turning content, into rocket ships —
Tribulations into telescopes,
So a child can see their potential from right where they stand.
An injustice is telling them they are stars
Without acknowledging night that surrounds them.
Injustice is telling them education is the key
While you continue to change the locks.

Education is no equalizer —
Rather, it is the sleep that precedes the American Dream.
So wake up — wake up! Lift your voices
Until you’ve patched every hole in a child’s broken sky.
Wake up every child so they know of their celestial potential.
I’ve been a Black hole in the classroom for far too long;
Absorbing everything, without allowing my light escape.
But those days are done. I belong among the stars.
And so do you. And so do they.
Together, we can inspire galaxies of greatness
For generations to come.
No, sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning.
Lift off.

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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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