Huffaz hopefuls…

Prophet Muhammad said

“The best among you is the one who learns about the Quran and teaches it”

We are trying to get our Maryam (4), Musa (6) and Muhammad (7) to memorize the whole Quran. As a start, we train them memorize Surah Lazim i.e. from Ad-Dhuha till An-Nas.

We started with the famous Iqra’ series and the kumpulan Aliff VCD (great sing-along but some huruf were mispronounced eg. Shin..they sang Shim). Then we tried the old-school Muqaddam. Here’s what we discovered along the way:

1. Practicality: Muqaddam works better for our kids because it has Juz ‘Amma surahs in it. They prefer Muqaddam because they can see the surah that they listen to and use a lot during solat. They can use it. It’s practical. It works even faster when we take them to the mosque or surau and the imam recites the surah that they know. This would make their day. (Sometimes they can be louder and faster than the Imam.. out of excitement of course)

2. Repetition is the key to mastery. First, we get them to memorize. How? Let them listen to the same surah over and over again. Sometimes Umi and Abi would recite out loud. Other times Syeikh Masyari Rashid Al-Afasi would help them. (They have their own MP3 players) Try to perform solat Maghrib and Isyak in jama’ah so that they can hear the targeted surah again. Normally, after a few days they could memorize the surah completely. It gets trickier once it reaches Surah Al-Baiyinah.

3. Inspire: We would listen to Juz ‘Amma while on the road. Abi and Ummi enjoys reciting them, so kiddos love reciting them too. Always a happy face whenever we recite together. And sometimes we tell them the stories that we know from the Quran. Kids love animals, so guess which surah in surah lazim that they like? Bingo! Al-Fiil..the elephant story. The first surah that they memorized.

4. Accessibility: Make the Muqaddam accessible. Three muqaddam each. One in the study area (upstairs). One in front of the TV (downstairs) and another one in the van. It’s always there, within reach. Not hidden in the bag or stacked among the books on the book shelf but seen and within grasp…

HomeSchooling outdoor Exposure

One of the perks of our homeschooling is that we get to travel all over the country. Most of the things that kids know from textbooks or TV, our kids get to see them ‘live’, touch them (if possible), experience them and feel them.

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” ;

Confucius, Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC – 479 BC)

Exposure. Many kids do not get enough exposure. Some other kids got the wrong exposure. Our experience chatting with students nationwide has revealed that no matter where they are, proper exposure produces intelligent kids. Kids with sufficient exposure, behave differently. They can be slightly matured, experienced, can hold a decent conversation and can definitely know how to choose between good and bad, InshaAllah.

Why are adults/ grown-ups wiser than kids? Exposure. They got plenty throughout the years.

“The best thing about becoming old is that, old people have had the experience of being young. Young people…there’s no certainty for them reaching old age. Old is GOLD”

Wall climbing experience. (test of confidence)

Taste of Cricket. ( Sunglasses are a must)

This is where our rice came from. (Sekinchan)

“Chocolates came from this?”

“Palm Oil…they make soaps, cooking oil, margarine and even car fuel”

Normally they would fight for this experience.

Plucking tea leaves. “It tastes weird lah Abi”

Spoken English Playshop for Preschool Educators

Salam & Howdy to Casa Escuela visitors!

InshaAllah, English Sure Boleh! Team (me and Coach Ridz) will be conducting a mini-seminar + playshop for kindy & preschool teachers this school holiday.  So, if you know anyone who’d benefit from this program, spread the word please.  Muchas gracias, amigas!

Date:  22/08/08 (Friday)
Time:  9am – 1pm
Venue:  Akademi Irsyadiah, Sek. 7 , Shah Alam
Special Rate (2008 only):  RM50 per person

LIMITED TO 20 PARTICIPANTS ONLY!

sms me at 012 201 7353 or drop me a line at coachsha@englishguru.com.my

More info on program content and free gift here.

What’s new @ Casa-Escuela

Salam to my dear readers..

IQ blocks, a set of wooden blocks to test your IQ and attitude, just landed in Malaysia a few weeks ago.  Very limited stock (hand-carried from oversea).  So, for those who ‘missed’ the chance last time to own this superddidupper blocks-of-fun, now is your opportunity.

(excerpt from an old entry)

What’s so cool about this block-of -fun?

• It challenges your IQ.

There is a cute little booklet with 100 figures. Your task is to make each figure using the blocks (4 blocks with different shapes) under the time given. You must use ALL blocks. Sounds easy? Hehehh.. give it a try.

Of course, the challenge starts from simple to complex – from a 5-minute time limit to 15 minutes (per figure).  For example, if you can complete the first page, then your IQ level is 100. The highest? 150. Mine? Getting there…

• It’s an ATTITUDE test

Playing with HiQu blocks teaches your kids and you to keep on trying. My bet is, you won’t be satisfied until you can complete the challenge. “Eii..tak puasnye bila tak boleh buat! Nak cuba jugak!!!” -kinda attitude. So, instead of preaching to your offspring “WE MUST PERSEVERE”, “NEVER GIVE UP”, “USAHA TANGGA KEJAYAAN” (zzzzzz), giving them these blocks does the job.

SMS me (Coach Sha) – 012 2017353 or e-mail me  coachsha@englishguru.com.my to place your order.                         (Buy 4 sets for RM 50 only; or get ONE set for RM 15.  Excluding delivery charges).

Written by Mu-Mu

Oh!!! After watching Disney-after Disney-after Disney movies (PIXAR to be exact), we asked our kids to write a review/summary of their favourites. (Mine will always be Monsters Inc. “Chalooby, baby”)

They ‘handwrote’ in their exercise book, then typed on the laptop, published in their own blog. Here’s a copy (in case tak larat nak blog hopping). If you do visit their blogs, please drop a comment -itsy bitsy tiny weenie pun takpa – it’d make their day. *grin*

p/s: notice how their sentence structures are different. One goes for long and complex sentences, the other says it short and simple. Abie and Ummie helped with spelling and did not proofread (make corrections). Just to let the ‘water flow’..

from Muhammad’s Silver Boy Blog

Once upon a time there was a hard working ant.

It is Flik who like’s to invent things.

Princess Atta and her sister Dot and then there was their mother too.

The grasshoppers came to find food but there’s no food.

Flik is scared because Flik accidentally made the food fell down into the river.

The grasshoppers ask the princess, ‘where’s my food?’

‘Out there sir’ said the princess.

‘There’s no food out there. You think i’m stupid? let me see.. go.. go.. had oh my god what did you do ants?’

‘Come bring the wild hopper’

“Roar! Roar!’ said Thumper the wild hopper.

‘Aaaaaa’ said Dot. ‘Its okay, it is just a wild hopper’ said Hopper.

‘What are you hoppers waiting let’s ride’

After that the hoppers went back to their colony.

Now, taken from Musa’s 10,000 BC:

Yesterday i watched ant bully.

The ants said the jellybean is a sweet rock.

They called the street flat rock.

There was a boy named Lucas Nickle.

But everybody calls him Lucas.

His nickname is Peanut.

The potion changed Lucas into small like an ant.

Their enemy is a hornet.

Lucas just attacked one hornet.

When they fight, the ants won.

The boss hornet said “its bath time”.

Lucas has to train to become an ant.

But he doesnt want to train.

He wants to be big again.

When he burbs at the colony every ants hear.

They have one more enemy named Cloudbreather

They fight with the Cloudbreather using the hornet.