Thursday 29 September 2011

Kindergarten Curriculum Summary - Week 3

Islaamic Studies
  • Tawheed Al Asmaa Was Sifaat - This is the last part of the first Topic on our SK Islaamic Curriculum. We learnt the definition of Tawheed Al Asmaa was Sifaat and the important things to know about it like we know the Names and Attributes of Allaah only as mentioned in the Qur'aan and Sunnaah and none of the Names and Attributes of Allaah are like His creations. She completed the worksheet on Tawheed Al Asmaa was Sifaat and we revised Asmaaul Husnah as well!

We learnt that knowing Allaah's Names and Atrributes make us know Allaah more and love Him more and make us worship Him better and we need to learn His Names so that we can call upon Him using His beautiful Names.


These worksheets are available for download and please check the Week 3 curriculum Lesson plan post to get the links Insha Allaah. Maimoonah loves these worksheets and all of the questions she reads independently and answers them. She is really interested on multiple choice questions and loves to find out what are the wrong things I have written so that she can spot them : ) and this gives her a good comprehension of the topic itself. Apart from the worksheets I also write certain activities like draw and match on her book. Masha Allaah so far she enjoys Islaamic Studies. I feel she likes this mostly because it is of an advanced standard for her as she has now passed the age of answering questions like, "Who created you, who created the angels and etc etc which makes it boring for her. But finding out which Tawheed is it and what examples are wrong and write is fun for her. If I ask her "Allaah gives life and death", which Tawheed is this she will tell "It is Ruboobiyyah". So this is fun for her thus she is interested and loves to continue to do the activities.

We also reviewed the whole 3 weeks work on Tawheed and its categories. You got to keep it going or as usual kids forget, so best is you have to make it relevant in your daily life very frequently and as you know that should be our approach in teaching kids Islaamic Studies. So I am very satisfied with this Curriculum so far Alhamdulillaah.


English Language
  • Jolly Phonics - We did these letters and sounds
  • Grammar - We learnt about Opposites this week and masha Allaah it went well. We did not have the Little Grammar Book on this and had only the work book so I used this little book instead for understanding and reading.
 
 






  • Spelling and Vocabulary - This Week for spelling she wanted to learn how to spell my name and how to spell Qatar. So we learnt both and along with that asked her to write the words we did last week on the board. Also I asked her to write small sentences using the words she knew to spell. So she wrote "I am Maimoonah and the surname", "I live in Qatar", etc etc. For vocabulary we used this Dictionary and I taught her to look up a word and its meaning in a Dictionary. I am glad I chose this one as it is very colourful and the letters are pretty big and interests the child.


 

 We learnt the meanings of the words Disaster, evidence and innovations. I am purposely including words that are commonly used to understand Islaam as I feel this would benefit her Insha Allaah. So when I give examples for these I make sure I include the shariah examples like what is the evidence for saying Allaah is above the heavens and Bid'ah is an innovation made something new by people and it will never be accepted as Ibaadah by Allaah. We also review the previously learnt vocabulary words.


Mathematics
We did MEP the other two chapters. But she has still not got the concept of how many more to make 10 or 8 etc etc. Any way after speaking to sis Umm Sara I knew this book is meant for 5 and 6 year olds and as time goes by she will catch it Insha Allaah!


 

Another concern I am having is that I am finding it difficult to teach Maimoonah the concept of additions with equations. She can tell me a small problem solution like 3 girls were playing another girl came and joined now how many girls are there she would tell the answer, but if I ask her 3+1 is how much she would not tell instead she will guess. So this concerns me a lot as I feel she is a fast visual learner if I had done Glenn Domans method for maths just like I did with her for reading she would have done well Qadarallaah Masha Allaah. Now that she is 4 years sometimes Glenn Doman's method will not work so effectively. Any way I thought I will try something. So I gave her some beads and some equations to find the answer.


I would not say it worked well but as time goes on it will Insha Allaah. Meanwhile I also tried the Glenn Doman's method of writing small equations on the board. Instead of flashing I write as it works just as flashing for Maimoonah. This writing and flashing is fun for her and I think she is liking it. So any way I will continue all methods and see how it goes Insha Allaah! 
One thing she caught well is that she knows anything plus zero is that number!

Social Studies/Science
  • Long and Short - We did the Smart Science workbook and measured some things using the ruler. She learnt how to mesure using the ruler this time. We recorded the measurements of few items and identified which item is longer. She also showed me things that are long and short. 
 

She went around the house and collected some long and short items.

  • Hard/Soft and Rough/Smooth - Along with the work book activities, I gave her a bag full of things and asked her to pick and describe if that was hard or soft or rough or smooth. She really liked this even though we have done this in our Pre school.
 


Then I gave her certain things and she used crayons and made this small Rough and Smooth Book. This was an interesting activity for her.

 

 


She also used clay and made rough surfaces. 


  • Light and Heavy - We did the work book and I explained to her one activity that has with the see- saw to find out who is light and heavy. This was nice and she also had this book about a baby elephant wanted to go up on the see saw but finds it hard to do it even though many animals are on the otherside. So we read that book also and understood the concept.
 

And then with the same concept we made a small scale with cardboard, string and pencil and learnt how to weigh. 

 

We also read the book of Shuaib alaihissalaam as it was very much relevant to the scale. I explained how the people of Madyan cheated.

 

  • Wet and Dry - After completing the work book we did few activities.
 

 I gave her a cup of water and asked her to mark the water level, then asked her to soak the sponge and take it out and check the water level again.


Then asked her to wear the rubber gloves and put the hand in the water and she said she felt wet even though there was no water in her hands after removing the gloves.


Then we did some bubble painting to give it a little art effect lol!

 

We have completed Smart Start Science Book 1 now.

Arabic
  • Gateway to Arabic - We learnt the different forms of letters and she wrote ا. 

 

  • Book of Opposites - Since we did Opposites for English Grammar we also went through the Arabic First Book on Book of Opposites.

  • Madeenah Reader - We did not do any new chapter on Madeenah book but revised the last week lessons.

17 comments:

Umm Sayang said...

Assalamualaikum Umm Maimoonah.
Masha-Allah week three already. I am still struggling with week one. We've had some stumbling blocks . . . rather huge boulders! Pls make dua for our progress.

UmmSara said...

assalamu alaikum,

MashaAllah, so for kindergarten you need different workbooks which makes mom's work easier : )
Do they usually teach grammar in kindergarten sis Umm Maimoonah? Are there many books/workbooks to use just like phonics or math books?
I'm planning to include phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension in English, but not so sure about grammar at this point.

Ibrahim learned adding 0 to any number gives that numbers rule with his grandpa back in our old place, mashaAllah it was an interesting for him and he does not forget that rule alhamdulillah. As I said he always solves equations using his fingers or different objects for higher numbers. He does not do them mentally and I don't think it is easy for them to do that at this age. As far as I know in kindergarten they also start off by counting smaller number equations using different objects, then toward the end of the year they start doing them without any objects or pictures. At least this was how it was explained and organized in one of the kindergarten math workbooks I got for Ibrahim back in spring. He did not have any problem doing them at that time alhamdulillah.
So, I think as long as Maimoonah is able to do the equations with the help of her fingers or objects she should be fine inshaAllah.
And MashaAllah she is such a sweet girl doing a lot.

Umm Sayang, how old are your kids? are your kids using the same books and workbooks that Maimoonah is using?
InshaAllah hope to see your summaries as well, maybe we could be a help to each other biiznillah.

Keep up the good work sisters.

Umm Tafari said...

As salaam alaikum,

I was just logging in to suggest the same thing as Umm Sara concerning the math. At four she isn't ready for abstract reasoning, so using manipulative would be helpful in order to make it more concrete.

I also agree with Umm Sara concerning the grammar. Grammar usually isn't taught until first grade (around ages 6-7). Although, I think it would be fine to informally and casually bring up grammar concepts during read alouds and that type of thing.

Monika said...

Assalaamu alaikum uhktee,

Masha Allah, you did a lot this week! I love the way you implement islam in everything you teach Maimoonah! Indeed to worship and please our Lord is our reason for living and that and how to do it is the most important of everything for us and our kids to learn! Its so inspiring to see her learning islamic studies at this level with enjoyment, tabarak Allah! May Allah make her the coolness of your eyes, jazak Allah khair

Umm Maimoonah said...

Alaikum salaam warahmathullaahi wa barakaathuhu Ya Akhawaat and Jazzakumullaah Khayr for the love and concern and much needed advise that all of you are every ready to give me! This is indeed a great Ni'mah from My Lord!

Umm Sayang, May Allaah make it easy for you and will keep you in my duas Insha Allaah! I remember you saying you are following the Islamic Studies Curriculum, and Insha Allaah awaiting to see your approach!


Umm Sara and Umm Tafari,

well I really don't know if work books are required but I find that intersts Maimoonah with minimum writing or no writing at all. Also these little work books I have got are fun and saves time for me as I do not have to search for worksheets on the net and Maimoonah enjoys it too.

As for Grammar, then the books I have are not drilling grammar rules
they are basic and very basic and helps for reading as well as mostly like Umm Tafari says Grammar is included in reading and no stress. And that is one reason I chose these books to do now and I feel if I do these later it will be boring for her as it would be easy. And it just gives the basic understanding of Grammar. Umm Sarah no by no means you are required to do this for Kindergarten as far as I know and Umm Tafari is correct on this. And even if she does not understand I am not bothered too much but she likes the activities so far and seems like she does understand.

As for maths Jazzakumullaah Khayr for both of you for making me feel releived. I was just worried as to if I was doing anything wrong and so nice to have you all to guide me through out and ease my worries. Insha Allaah will take it like that and continue. Barakallaah Feekum

Umm Tafari, I wanted to ask you many times, what do you use for Islaamic Studies with your girls? I have not posts relating to Islaamic studies and I would like to know your approach Insha Allaah, will greatly benefit all of us I guess. Also I understand Yahya is not doing Islaamic Studies in school, so how do you teach him and what resources you use and what is the approach you take on this Insha Allaah?

Jazzakillaah Khayr Umm Adam for your encouraging words. Incorprtaing Islaam in my kids life was my main goal before even I got married and I was mentally preparing myslef even when I started teaching Islaamic Studies at a weekend Islamic school from the age of 16 : ) And I saw how much kids love to get engaged with Islaam when you have this approach and I am just loving it doing for my own daughter now with a better understanding of the dheen than I had many years ago, Alhamdulillaah! Aameen for your dua! Barakallaah Feekum!

Umm Tafari said...

As salaam alaikum,

We just started using Islamic copywork with the girls. In the past we have used the I Love Islam series and the Islamic Education series. They enjoy the stories. We do a lot of discussion based on the Islamic books for children as well as incorporating Islam into real life learning. We use the Emaan Made Easy series as well. Truly, though I haven't found any curriculum for children - am very impressed with, thus haven't been too inspired to write about.

Umm Suhailah said...

Bismillaah

As Salaamu Alaikum

Baraka'Allaahu'Feekum for sharing first!

I love what Umm Adam said...I think incorporating Islaam into every subject, in every aspect of life is great!

Maimoonah's love for the deen is Subhana'Allaah!............what can I say! May Allaah make her pious and grant her Umm and Abi success in this life and the next Ameen

I think that you are doing a good job, even if certain subjects may perhaps be considered too early for her to learn........she seems to take it well- so why not keep going :)

Here in the states...it's normal to teach children how to read at 5, it's my personal opinion that I just do not follow what society considers normal. *shrugs*- if i did my girls would not be reading or doing a lot of things....

I hope you keep teaching the way you have been- and only change to get better :)

As far as math go...it's like you said Maimoonah will catch it eventually Inshaa'Allaah. Anyways love the post and find it very inspiring......and I love your curriculums both pre k and k.

I really wanted to incorporate more Islaam in my curriculum- i wasn't really pushing on it until the Ramadhaan challenge- all my themes so far come from the Qur'aan.....now if I can get this Islaamic studies fix..I would be oh so happy lol :)

Ok...my comment is about to be a novel. hehe *hugs*

Umm Maimoonah said...

Alaikum salaam warahmathullaah Umm Suhailah

Jazzakillaah Khayr for you kind words as usual and Aameen!

Yes changes are for the best always while encouraging all of you to share your experience : ) I know what you mean if they are able to then why no. But what most fear is that sometimes we do not know if they are really able to or they are doing things becuase there is pushing which is unhealthy. As for without any pushing and stress free if the child is willing to do certain things then I feel it pretty ok to try things out, Insha Allaah! Like Umm Tafari and Umm Sara says Maimoonah is still not ready for certain things, and my fear was that may be am not doing things correctly and that is why she cannot understand, so when I voice my concerns I know what is happening all around and I also very well know how Maimoonah's learning style is, so I got to weigh and see what is the right thing and act. Indeed it is a struggle for all of us and all this is only to please Allaah alone! So Insha Allaah we carry on for the best as you say! : )

Thanks for being there always and for all your encouragement. Barakallaah Feekum!

Umm Suhailah said...

Bismillaah

n/p about the encouragement your my friend and my sister. :)

Hey I tried to reach you on skype- it's acting out :/

Are you going to change some things in your curriculum now?

it sounds like it when you stated: "Like Umm Tafari and Umm Sara says Maimoonah is still not ready for certain things, and my fear was that may be am not doing things correctly and that is why she cannot understand,..."

does that mean your changing something?

Awwww I hope it all works out :) like you said in my comment section....trial and error right? The joys of learning :) *big hugs*

Making dua that all goes well for you guys and thanks for being supportive :)

Umm Maimoonah said...

Alaikum salaam warahmathullaah!

Yes Umm Tafari, I saw your post about using copyrighting for Islaam, nice idea masha Allaah!. Yes you are right about not having proper Islaamic Studies curriculum! But please do check out http://tjislamicstudies.blogspot.com/
You get loads of unit studies and lot more on many topics and I am sure it will make things easy for you at this time and your kids might enjoy Insha Allaah!

Umm Suhailah, I have left you skype messages I am not sure if you got them. Any way no I am not going to change anything lol, Just continuing knowing that what she is, is normal and not to worry too much and eventually she would learn additions and all the maths stuff Insha Allaah. Yes I will see if Glenn Doman's method would help now, as she is a bit old now for flashing dots and stuff, but lets see how it goes. Thanks for everything, big hugs!!!

Busy mama and five busy bees said...

Assalamu alaykum.
I may not comment often but I hardly let your posts go unread. Alhamdulillah we are enjoying your kindergarten curriculum summary very much. It’s nice to see maimoonah is growing up and learning so many things, Alhamdulillah. We are also being benefited by others’ comments. Jazakallahu khair for letting us have that chance. I pray that Allah (SWT) rewards your efforts immensely in this life and the next life inshaAllah. Ameen
Btw I don’t know why I can’t see sister Umm Tafari’s blog anymore. Every time I want to see it shows a “marked private by its owner” message.

Umm Maimoonah said...

Alaikum salaam busy mama and two busy bees, No problems sis I know there are many like you and I am glad it is benefiting all of you and I do understand that you cannot leave comments as much as you like as all this takes time and attending to your family should be the first priroity Insha Allaah!.

Barakallaah Feekum for taking the time to comment and encourage.

As for Umm Tafri's blog she has made it private. If you want to access she has to invite you, Insha Allaah she would see this post and may be she will send an invitation, if she does not then please do let me know I will pass the message on her blog Insha Allaah!

Umm Mus"ab said...

As salamu alaikum, sis.

I have been using MEP with my 5 and half year old son. So far, Alhamdulillah he is in recep level and is doing fine. Its very easy, but i thought i will do it anyway so that he will be more confident and enjoy Maths. But what is the Glenn doman method for Maths? We have not come across 3+1 yet!

Another question is i know that Maimoonah knows how to read. Is there any particular reason why you are doing the jolly phonics with her?

Jazaakillahu khairan.

Umm Maimoonah said...

Alaikum salaam Umm Mus'ab,

Masha Allaah nice to know your son is enjoying MEP.

Glenn Doman Maths is the same methodology of teaching young children maths through flash cards just as teaching reading. please find more info here http://www.childandme.com/how-teach-your-child-math-glenn-domans-dot-method/

Yes, sis Maimoonah knows to read Alhamdulillaah, I am using Jolly Phonics because I had the book with me : ) also I felt it is helping her with writing, meaning spellings. And even though I do not teach her Jolly phonics as such she enjoys colouring those big pics and writing letters and trying to spell and write. So I am just using it Insha Allaah! : )

UmmS said...

Assalamu alaikum sister,

Can you provide a link to the Smart Science workbooks? I can't seem to find what you have online, and I'd like to consider getting it :)

jazaki Allahu khairan
Asma

Umm Maimoonah said...

Alaikum salaam sister Asma

here is the link http://www.pelangibooks.com/v2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=5903&category_id=124&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=108

Also for more details please se my posts
http://ummmaimoonahrecords.blogspot.com/2011/07/kindergarten-curriculum-outline.html

and

http://ummmaimoonahrecords.blogspot.com/2011/07/kindergarten-curriculum-20112012-weekly.html

Hope this helps!

Umm Maimoonah said...

Sis Asma, the link is not working any more, I do not know the reason. But the Book store is this http://www.pelangibooks.com

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