Sorry We’ve Been So Quiet!

Asalaam ‘Alaikum Everyone:

I hope this post reaches everyone in the best of health and iman. I know that things have been so quiet over here (which is really irregular for me – if you know me, you will agree!) We’re still adjusting to our new addition – Ayah. She’s now 4 months old and rushing to grow up already, masha’Allah.

Through all the adjustements we have been making lately – we are still trying to find a rythm and method to all that we do. It’s harder with younger ones to take care of. The baby is usually okay – but lately she wants our full attention and also rolls over and over and over until she gets tired and then screams to be held. You put her down, she screams. Lately I’ve been calling her my high-maintenance baby, masha’Allah but she is really a gem.

My oldest is doing well – we’ve been working on our homeschooling and things are starting to smooth out again, alhumdulilah. The hardest part about homeschooling now is that the middle one “wants” to do work, but gets exhausted easily and constantly tries to interrupt us when we are working. It is quite a task to try to keep her busy long enough. Some days, masha’Allah, I give her something to do and before I get a sentence out to my other daughter, she announces “I’m done, Mommy – now what should I do?” If I give her something too fun to keep her busy, then her sister doesn’t want to work anymore, but wants to play. Alhumdulilah, though, now that she is getting older, she is starting to really show an interest in learning and actually asks for more work than she is given.

I guess it’s just a matter of time – when things will calm down and we will settle into a routine again, insha’Allah. Anyway, while all of this excitement has been going on, we have been enjoying (not sure if that is the right word) an extremely strange winter – it practically snows every week and we don’t get to go out much (our streets are never plowed). We have, however, enjoyed going sledding together (see picture above – our favorite spot!) and the girls absolutely loved it. Also, along with our regular studies (which focus mostly on Qur’an memorization, Islamic studies, writing skills, reading skills and math), we have also started working on unit studies. These are based on topics of interest and also things they need to learn. The first unit study we completed was on apples. We made recipes with apples, read lots of books about apples, and also found some great videos about apple picking, making homemade apple cider (with a cider press) and about the apple industry. Of course, we also made several crafts regarding apples and the girls had lots of fun. In the end, we complied a lap book, although I guess it may be more appropriate to call it a notebook with all the information we gathered and pictures of our projects and great recipes. This way, later on we can look back and see what we have done. I will provide more information about our book, complete with pictures (insha’Allah) at a later date. Our next unit study, insha’Allah, is about bees and honey.

Although many people may think it strange that people homeschool, I find it is the best way to really allow your child to see the world through their own eyes and to look at every opportunity as a chance to learn something. I have really found this to be true. One day my daughters and I were going to a doctor appointment when the oldest questioned, “How do they make glass?” I told her I really didn’t know the process, but I believed it was made of sand. A few days later, I found a nice video online from a glass manufacturer that provided an online tour that explained the process. I let her watch the video and for the most part I didn’t have to explain to her what was going on. However, there were a few things that I did help explain. After watching the video, she exclaimed, “That’s cool. Now I want to know how heating and air conditioning work in our house.” No, I’m not kidding – still have to show her that video (yes, I actually found one!) Then, yesterday we were at the doctor for an ultrasound for the middle child (looking at her kidneys). Oldest pipes up, “hey, what are kidneys anyway?” Guess I’m on the lookout now for that information. Masha’Allah, she keeps me busy!

One other thing I’d like to mention is our recent trip to a local school supply store. While looking for supplies, I found that they sold a stethascope for $4.00 – I was shocked as I was certain they were more expensive than that. After we got home, we spent the rest of the day listening to each others hearts, listen to our body digest our food, and listening to breathing (not only in our lungs but in the airway). The kids absolutely love it! Sometimes you can really find an inexpensive and easy opportunity to make learning fun.

Insha’Allah I will write more, but just wanted you to know that we have been so busy learning and trying to develop some kind of routine that we haven’t been able to write anything. Trust me that I’m not exaggerating when I say that I hardly read my email anymore and I still have many phone calls to return because we have been so busy. However, I want you to know that you are all in our thoughts and we hope to share more of our journey with you when we get the opporunity. Hopefully soon, insha’Allah.

Asalaam ‘Alaikum,

Sumayyah Umm SAA