Everyday Arabic Book 7 - Spices

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is the review of Book 7 in the Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources.

This simple sentence book has images of common spices along with their English & Arabic names, and the colors of the different spices in both languages in color coded sentences.

The first page has the chart with all words used in the book.

The book has the names of some spices such as dill, mustard, mint, fennel, white pepper, cloves and cardamom etc. Additionally it gives information of the colours and types of spices as to whether it is whole, crushed, ground or flakes. Isn't it so wonderful to learn all of this in Arabic? 

I like the idea of introducing spices for the kids as this can lead to lot of discussions and findings. We as Asians use a lot of spices in our food and each of my family member like my mom, mother in law and different aunties are well known for cooking food with their favourite different spices. Talking about spices with Maimoonah also helps me to talk about extended family members especially because we do not see them that often due to living away from home. Knowing the spices in Arabic just extends the conversation Maashaa Allaah!

At the end of the book you get few interesting activities such as identifying the spices as to whether they are ground or flakes or whole or crushed.

This book could be purchased here for a reasonable price.

To make the learning more productive you can actually do many nice things with spices. With small kids you can integrated it to learning about the senses. You can make smell jars with different spices and get the kids to identify each spice after blind folding them. Same would be great with older kids too. 

The next best thing would be cooking a Biryani or Majboosh with your kids as most of the spices mentioned in the book are used for these dishes. Have some quality and yummy time with your kids while revising the vocabulary.

You can also take your kids to a spice market where they can experience seeing the spices and how they are stored, displayed and sold. If you are in Doha, Souq Waqif would be a nice place to take your kids especially with this cool weather Alhamdulillaah!

What other ways you could think of using this book? Comment and share! Watch out for the Giveaway on Monday Inshaa Allaah and it will last for only three days. So make sure you come over here and check the Giveaway post to enter it and win the whole set of Everyday Arabic Books Inshaa Allaah!

Everyday Arabic Book 6 - In the Garden

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is the review of Book 6 in the  Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources.

This question & answer sentence book has images of common garden items along with their English & Arabic names, and what they are normally used for in both language.

The First page has the chart with words used in the books. This will help you remember the words and can be used as a checklist to make sure the kids are familiar with all words.

As in previous books this book becomes handy as it introduces garden items and talks about what each item is used for, 

Some of the items included in this book are Cultivator, outdoor faucet, Pitchfork, pruning shears. 

At the end of the book you get few activities for the kids to do.

Wonderful book to learn some rare vocabulary and kids would really enjoy using them in the day to day conversation when they have mastered the words well. Of course you need to practice and need to keep reading over and over again for the kids to get familiar with the words. 

This book could be purchased here for a reasonable price.

Gardening, planting and germination is something all kids love to do especially outdoors! And this book could be put to use with many activities.  

Maimoonah loves her grandmother's Garden and still remembers gardening with her. My mom maintains a beautiful little garden back at home Maimoonah really misses it and she learnt quite a bit of gardening while she was there and it really does help kids with enhancing some nice skills.  These are few recent pictures of the garden my mom sent. 

So if you have a garden then using this books becomes more interesting and helps the children to come up with sentences while having some quality time with you or grand parents.

If you do not have garden then you can still get some indoor plants and enjoy gardening. You can also get the kids to maintain records with regard to the growth of the plants and combine with a science lesson. 

You can also visit the park or a Green house or even a shop that sells garden tools and items as an out door activity of course with reminding the kids to use the words they have learnt in this book in Arabic.

If you are in Doha, the Doha Flower and Garden expo is going on this weekend at the Museum of Islamic Art Park (MIA Park) and they have some beautiful flowers and garden tools, and many other landscapes exhibited with other educational information with regard to flowers and gardens.

Share your ideas as to how you would use this book and watch out for the giveaway of these books soon Inshaa Allaah.

Everyday Arabic Book 5 - Tools

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Apologies for the break in posting the reviews. Got held up with many things. Alhamdulillaah today we will review the 5th book of the  Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources.

This question & answer sentence book has images of common tools along with their English & Arabic names, and what they are normally used for in both languages in color coded sentences. It has 48 full colour pages making it attractive for the kids.

The first page has the chart with the list of words used in the book making it easy for revision and to remember the vocabulary.

The vocabulary is a bit a high in this book, but nevertheless worth learning, Alhamdulillaah. Maimoonah still struggles but has completely memorized the first page and says the whole thing in a very conversational form. She keeps repeating it more than few times a day!

What really makes this book unique is that the kids get to know the tools as well as why each one of the tools are used for. This is something that makes things easy for the teacher as well, especially to know the use of each tool in Arabic. Some of the tools mentioned in the book are tape measure, paint roller, axe, work gloves etc.

At the end of the book there are few colouring and other critical thinking activities to test the comprehension. 

This book could be purchased for a reasonable price here

So what activities can you do with this wonderful book? I do not have all these tools with me since they all got shifted with relocation. But if I had them then the best thing to do is teach the kids how to use each tool mentioned in the book, where the child learns how exactly each tool is used and when they should be used. Kids love experimenting and tools and this is a  great way to do that, and they learning how to use them is going to be handy for us as well.

With small kids you can play by asking them to pick up the right tool and match the tools with its use. If you or anyone in the family is good with crafting and making things you can try making a mailbox or anything else that would be useful and fun. If you are not sure of how to make things there are many Carpentry Kits available for kids with instructions and tools in them. You can use one of them to enhance the skills Inshaa Allaah.

You can go on a field trip with a group of kids to a workshop where all these tools are used, kids would love to see people using tools and making some wonderful things and the outing itself will energize them and a stressless way to remember the Arabic Vocabulary too!

What other interesting activities can we do? Share your ideas and comments and watch out for the Giveaway of all 8 books soon Inshaa Allaah!

Everyday Arabic Book 4 - Kitchen Items

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is the review of Book 4 of the Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources.

This question & answer sentence book has images of common items found in a kitchen along with their English and Arabic names and what they are often used for in both languages in color coded sentences.

The first page has the chart of Kitchen Items and their meanings making it easy for revision and vocabulary practice.

Now that we have come to book 4, the level of the book is also high as the words used are higher than the previous 3 books. Also you will find the method used from now is Questions and Answers. This makes it fun and opens up room for more activities.  For the kids who are finding it a bit difficult to read this book, you can read aloud to them and they will pick up fast. Maimoonah did struggle a bit but with practice she was able to read this book smoothly. 

Maimoonah loves to just keep on repeating "li maadhaa yusthakhtimu?" What is it used for? Somehow from day one of reading this she got attracted to this question and answer using the words.

The Kitchen items chosen to be displayed in this book are really fabulous and makes it different from all the other ordinary Kitchen item books. Here children even get to learn new English words, Maashaa Allaah. Usually even small toddlers love to master big new words, and in this book you will see words like spatula, ladle, slotted spoon, measuring cup and so on.

At the end of the book there are few activities for kids to enjoy!

This book could be purchased here for a reasonable price.

Again another nice topic to make the kids engage in some Kitchen fun. Since they have enjoyed cutting and cooking, nice way to introduce some kitchen items for the kids and talk about their uses. May be you can demonstrate each item's use. Example show them how to use a grater. When do you use a spatula, All this can be done while asking them to repeat the Kitchen items in English and Arabic. 

Older kids can play a game. Shouting out one Kitchen Item in Arabic and who can fetch it first for you. Or who can tell first what is each item used for, Each day you can rotate activities to make the kids familiar with vocabulary and sentences, as of course repetitions and practice makes it easier for them to remember. And most importantly start using the Arabic vocabulary learnt in daily life so that they do not get forgotten Inshaa Allaah.

You can have a baking day and try to use most of the items mentioned in the book and have a yummy revision session. 

What went off well for us is a traditional soup I make with vegetables and lamb chops or beef bones. Most of the items get used for this soup and everyone enjoys this at home too. You need to use the pot, peeler, grater, knife, measuring cup, colander, ladle, spatula, cutting board, slotted spoon, bowls, etc.

As an extension you can try this tot book  by our dear sister Umm An Nu'man which I remember using with Maimoonah when she was 3 years old. She uses it even now, so serves the purpose really for older kids as well.

What other activities can you do using this beneficial book? Share your thoughts and comments and watch out for the Giveaway of all 8 books soon Inshaa Allaah!

Everyday Arabic Book 3 - Vegetables

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is the review of Book 3 of the Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources. 

This simple sentence book has images of common vegetables along with their English and Arabic names, characteristics, and the colors of the different vegetables in both languages in color coded sentences. The full colour 52 pages book emphasises what the children have read in the previous 2 books where Colours, Inside, outside vocabulary are repeated.

By the time the child comes to this level, you will find confidence in her or him as the children would have already mastered reading the colours and much of the vocabulary. This is something I really like with any book, continuity, reinforcement and repetitions really help children as well as adults to master any concept or vocabulary.

The first page gives you chart with the names of all the vegetables in Arabic and the meaning in English. This makes it easier for you to remember the names and for vocabulary revision.

At the end of the book you get couple of colouring activities for the kids to do.

Maimoonah and I enjoy reading this book and we together make this book come live by looking at the vegetables and talking about it in Arabic using the sentences of the book. Again you can have a cooking lesson, especially with girls but I am sure the boys would love this too! Maimoonah is kind of dreaming of having a cooking school these days and always into being a cooking teacher. So am trying to make her do her cooking classes in Arabic using this book. 

Here are more ideas as to what activities you can do

• Grow Vegetables if you are able to and discuss the wonderful signs of Allaah in it
• Take your kids to the farmers market or vegetable market or even the supermarket and ask them to pick the vegetables that you tell them in Arabic, they would really love this,
• Make a vegetable basket with all the vegetables mentioned in the book and send as a gift to someone you know. Older kids can write a small note in Arabic with the vegetables in the basket.
• Get the kids to write the grocery list this time in Arabic (if they are unable to write yet they still can write in English and tell you the arabic words) including the vegetables mentioned in the book 

• Make a chart of the vegetables mentioned and their nutrients, the blessings Allaah has provided His slaves in them.
• Sort the vegetables mentioned as to which part of the plant they are. Example roots - ginger, carrot, Leaves - lettuce
• Cut vegetables and show the inside and outside. Enhance the cutting techniques with the older kids

• Include your kids in making a steamed mixed vegetable dish or a vegetable stew and have a healthy meal.

Feel free to comment below and tell us what more you can do to get the best out of this wonderful book. This book can be purchased for a reasonable price here

Watch out for the GIveaway post after we finish reviewing all 8 books Inshaa Allaah!

Everyday Arabic Book 2 - Fruits

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is the review of Book 2 of the Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources. 

This is yet another simple yummy book which has 52 full colour pages of pictures of some fruits and talks about what colour is the fruit inside and outside, 

This books is a good revision for the previous book of colours too as it talks about the colours of each fruit. What is really interesting is the concept of inside and outside the fruit plus the pictures show the inside of the fruit as well.

One page of the book has a chart with all the names of the Fruits in Arabic, English and the meaning for vocabulary practice. This is the same with all 8 books.

We enjoy reading this book and now have learnt how to say inside and outside. Khaariji w daakhili is what will be echoing around your house once you get into reading this book.

At the end of the book you get a couple of colouring activities and the next page shows the coloured picture as well.

Other than reading and understanding, there are so many activities you can do with Fruits. Simple one is just get all the fruits mentioned there and cut them and show the kids what is outside and what is inside using the Arabic Vocabulary. You can also teach your kids to use a knife and cut the fruits. We did cutting lessons at our Tarbiyah class last week and you may get some ideas from that post soon Inshaa Allaah. Basically you can teach them different methods to cut, 

Added to this will be a yummy fruit salad day emphasising all the fruits and their names learnt and a yummy bowl of healthy food and of course the messy experience of making it with the kids as well.

We simply love the fruit salad as it brings about a lot of discussion and can be repeated over and over again. As kids grow you can talk about the healthy nutrients of each fruit and how Allaah has created His blessings in each one of them as benefit for us. You can also go through the life cycle of the plant by showing the seed and the fruit and how it happens. When cutting the fruits make sure you keep telling your kids or ask your kids to repeat what colour is it inside and outside in Arabic! It will be fun for any age!

If you are able to get to a place where you can pick fruits that would be a great outing to again practice the vocabulary in Arabic plus an outside adventure for the kids.

What else can you do!? Share with us below your ideas too. 

This book can be purchased here for a reasonable price. 

Watch out for the GIveaway post after we finish reviewing all 8 books Inshaa Allaah!

Everyday Arabic Book 1 - Colors

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This is the review of Book 1 of the Everyday Arabic Series by Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources. 

According to Taalib Al-Ilm Educational Resources, here is a brief description of this book.

"This simple words book has images of children’s toys along with their colors in both English and Arabic in color coded sentences.

It also includes activity pages to test  what you have learned with black and white coloring book pages"

The cover of this book is simple and attractive and the touch of it is smooth too. Level of the book is basic still makes the kids learn important vocabulary. The sentences and words repeats through all 46 full colour pages, making it fun for kids who are learning to read arabic. And keeps the little one attentive when you are reading it aloud to them and eventually they would pick up the sentences as they keep hearing you read aloud!

And Alhamdulillaah in the new prints the fonts have been changed to one more readable font and that actually matches that used for reading the Qur’aan and books of knowledge.

It is colour coded for both Arabic and English and the older kids will quickly pick up the meaning of each word by themselves.

We have been enjoying reading this book. Maimoonah reads this book by herself and sometimes asks me to read it aloud to her. It really helps you to pick up sentences to be used in Arabic like "I see" What colours do we see? Point to them and show me, other than just learning the words for different colours. This is what is really benefitting us Alhamdulillaah! 

Kids can get into groups and ask each other questions in Arabic using some real things with different colours as the sentences rhyme and the kids usually like rhyming sentences.

The end of the book has a couple of colouring activities for the kids to do with instructions.

This book could be purchased here for a very reasonable price Inshaa Allaah

Other than the above you can use your own creativity and come up with different activities for the kids to do along with reading this book. Colours are just awesome to  do just about any activity. You can paint, simply colour, or even make colourful play dough. Older kids can do some science experiments with colours. There are plenty of activities with instruction on the net that you can do for Colours. I have listed few links below. (please avoid any unislamic materials from the sites below)

Colour Activity Links to explore

• Arabic Colour Poster
• Arabic Colours Go Fishing
• Learning for Kids Colour Activities
• Rainbow Colour Activities
• Colour mixing Experiment
• Get messy with Play dough Colours
• Suncatchers 

What other ways can you think of using this simple yet beneficial book of Colours! Share your comments below and watch out for the GIveaway post after we finish reviewing all 8 books Inshaa Allaah!