Islamic New Year, 1439

With a renewed intention this Islamic New Year 1439 Hijri, I want to begin sharing some of our completed curriculum. Starting with Noor Janan's Islamic Months Copywork. May this new year be full of blessings. Enjoy ♥

My Place in the Universe- Michigan

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeny is a wonderful book that we have used to understand our place in the Universe. The activities that follow is still one of our favorite ways to visualize it. When we lived in Maryland we made and shared a circular form, however we went with a simple square display to learn our new Michigan address.

Ramadan Notebook- {updated 2015}

Originally Published July 1, 2014 has now been updated with Ramadan 2015/1436 covers.

I have been color coding my children for a long time before Lil A was even born. My oldest son's color was orange, Big A is still pink, S Man is blue, Z Man is green, and Lil A is purple.

The Name and the Named- 3rd 12

Jummah Mubarak, Happy Friday!

I am happy to release the 3rd set of the 99 Names Allah. I didn't quite finish the complete set with worksheets, however the cards are finished and I wanted to release them before the Day 25. Are you counting down the days to Ramadan with us? Today is Day 24: al-Muizz, the Bestower of Honors, which means we have about 75 days until the first of Ramadan. Are you ready, have you made up all your days fasting, have you looked through our old Ramadan post for ideas to do with your children?

Counting the Days to Ramadan with the 99 Names of Allah

We are very excited that the month of Ramadan will be here in less than 100 days! So we are counting down the days of Ramadan while learning the 99 Names of Allah. Are you doing this also? It is not too late to join us. We are only on day 6- al-Mumin: The Inspirer of Faith.

I wanted my Beloveds to have a way to track down the days, so I created this little printable with all the 99 Names of Allah.

World Geography 1 * 1st 16 Countries * Afghanistan-Belarus

This beautiful world we live on has so much to teach us, God placed signs for us throughout this vast planet. From the vegetation to the animals, from the history of the people . . to their culture . . to their foods, there is just so much to learn. Learning about the Geography and History of our World can keep us from making the same mistakes over and over again, so that we don't have to recreate the wheel, but more than that. . . .  it can also teach us how to live in peace and harmony with others and with our environment. 

And of His signs is the creation of the heaven and the earth and the diversity of your languages and colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge.    ~Quran 30:22

The Name and The Named- 2nd 12

Jummah Mubarak! Happy Friday! ♥

We are excited to release the second set of the Name and the Named today. This set has many new items to help your child review the first 24 beautiful names of our Creator, the one God- Allah.

The Du'a (Prayer) that Saved my Marriage ♥

It was the Spring of 2009, the year I started this blog under a different title "Our Life". Many changes were happening: we had just moved to Tyler, TX , my oldest son had moved out, and I had a block, well no .... block sounds too light, I had a head on collision in my spiritual life which consequently affected my marriage. Many Religious people understand that when you are disconnected from God everything in your life will eventually fall apart and I was of no exception: it was all falling apart.

I wanted to leave my marriage with Humble Dad, we had been married 10 years since 1998 and I felt I had tried long enough to keep it together. My mother and father divorced when I was two, both sets of grandparents were divorced and remarried. I really wanted to end this cycle of divorce in my family and I came into the marriage believing strongly in "for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part." But I was being tested in my words and in my beliefs....

I remember the day vividly when I drove off, eastward towards my grandma's house in Maryland. I made it as far as Arkansas before I turned around. I couldn't go through with it, but I knew something had to change  . . . and like many people who consider divorce, I was under the delusion that the other spouse: Humble Dad in my situation, was the person who needed changing.

Cream of Remembrance- Our Morning Prayer Routine

This has truly been a labor of love.  .  .  I have been working on the audio/video/pdf of the Cream of Remembrance for two months since the end of the al-Maqasid summer retreat. It was important for me to finish this project because words can not adequately describe how much I loved my mornings at the retreat. The Cream of Remembrance along with Shaykha Nagheba's class & the sister's remembrance gathering was the absolutely best part of the retreat. Most nights I would go to sleep at 2:00 am, sometimes 3:00 am . . . just to wake back up at 4:00 am to make it to the Pre-Fajr/Post Tahajjud Adhkar (Remembrance). My cabin was one of the furthest from the prayer room/classroom and I would walk alone each day in the peace of the dark night to the prayer room (except for the night that I slept in the prayer room.)

From the wudu . . . 

Children's Islamic Calendar

Just in time for the Islamic New Year, Muharram & Safar Copywork pages are now available for download.

Muwasala has shared a beautiful message for the end of the year and a du'a (prayer) to recite.

Ramadan Banner

I love all the Ramadan Banners that are available for download. Ramadan decorations have come along way since I became Muslim 15 years ago. So many wonderful ideas and creative people, mashaAllah.

Ramadan Calendar Inserts

Do you have a Ramadan Tradition? Ramadan Calendars were our main tradition that we held for many years.

Lately our Ramadan Calendars have not been used as much because of our travels during Ramadan. However, this year we decided that if we are to travel, we are going to bring our Ramadan Calendars with us. Hey, Traditions are important!

The Perfect Name

When I created the first 12, I was concerned about filling two pages with cards and out of my imperfection did not add the most perfect name: Allah. 

As I was working on the next 5 names of Allah, an image of five attributes/colors encircling the Name of Allah came to me:
*Pink ~ Allah is the Loving One~ Al- Wadud
*Blue ~ Allah is the All Powerful ~ Al- Qadir
*Green ~ Allah is the All Compassionate, All Merciful ~ Ar-Rahman/Ar-Rahim
*Yellow ~ Allah is the Perfectly Wise ~ Al-Hakim

I doodled down the idea, then reread the chapter on Allah. Under the Aqidah term: Takwin it reads:

"All existence and actions depend upon (Allah) Him. He is the only creator. . . He created the creation, not because He needed it, but to manifest His love, His will, His wisdom, His power, and His compassion."

Behavior Chart

Our Behavior Chart took alot from this Chart.

When I first learned about this Behavior Chart a couple of months ago, I wanted to implement it but didn't have the time to create one to suit our family's need. So it was on the back burner... however, after having another bout of nerve pain and extreme fatigue that usually comes during the Winter (I need HOT weather!) that has had me spending many days in bed, I felt it was a good time to tackle this project. Not to mention that a Behavior Chart is needed even more when the mother is sick in bed . . .

Prophet Muhammad's Lineage

We listened to a wonderful talk this morning by Amjad Tarsin titled Embodied Light. I couldn't think of a better way to spend this blessed Monday, than learning more about our Noble Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasallam. The great thing about Amjad is he really knows how to captivate his audience, so my Big Beloveds sat their attentive and experienced every emotion described. May Allah reward him with all that is good.

We saw Amjad Tarsin for the first time recently during our trip to Toronto, Canada which made listening and learning from him that more appealing. In this talk, Amjad expressed how important it is to know the Noble Lineage of Prophet Muhammad. We set out to complete the task and MashaAllah, the Big two Beloveds memorized the whole list. The younger two Beloveds progressed through the list well also.

I thought of making a way to make it easy. Because my Montessori thought process is on auto-pilot, I quickly knew I wanted to make a self-correcting material. This stacking lineage was the result.

The Name and The Named- 1st 12

I have taken another book "The Name and the Named" and made it kid-friendly. I love the applications in this book, and I wanted us to not just learn the beautiful Names of Allah, but to reflect on them. MashaAllah, this Fons Vitae Book gives practical application on how to do just that.

Grateful Tree ♥

I am grateful for so many things in my life. My Beloved family is one of the most important. However, it was funny that most of the things on my list surrounded food and the BEACH... Am I that linear? All I need is my family, good food, and the Ocean to be happy. . . God, of course, is número Uno in my life, but Alhumdulilah He is everywhere and is beyond everything.

What are the things you are grateful for and do those things make happy? Beautiful Free Printable to write it down with two versions: either a verse from the Quran or the Bible. ♥

  

We used these wonderful watercolor pencils to create our art.

 BIGGER HEARTS for Little Hands

♥  Download the Free Printable
The Grateful Tree

♥  More Character Development
The Goodie Jar

I am Grateful
Learning Character Through Stories

♥  Amazon Store: Art/School Supplies

♥  Pinterest: Practical Life

♥  Check our Progress: Curriculum Checklist

Ibadah & Khitmah Checklist

This Ibadah& Khitmah Checklist was inspired by one of my wonderful teachers Anse Tamara at www.rabata.org .

I just completed her game Pilgrims at Home during the first 10 days of Dhu- l- Hijjah , it changed my perspective on what it means to be a Muslim in America and the nearness to Allah we can realize anywhere. We do not have to travel overseas to gain this nearness, but we do need to travel beyond our nafs towards our inward strength. The workout I went through, flexing my Ibadah muscles is not easy and can be harder than entering a gym for the first time to flex physical muscles. But the gain is better than any toned up abs, as one’s physical body is temporary and our spiritual body is everlasting.
Read more about our experience with Pilgrims at Home in: The Hajj- 2013

The Life Cycle is Complete- part 1

We have eggs. A dozen eggs in a basket that was laid by the chickens living in our yard. 

Although we have seen a complete life cycle- from egg to chick to chicken to egg. . . it was not perfect, we had some mishaps along the way. Which should be expected for our first time. InshaAllah, God Willing, we will do better our next time around. This was our journey.

Homeschool Planning 2013-2014

I am excited about life in general, wherever God leads us, and this excitement pours over into our homeschool, especially our homeschool planning. It never goes exactly as I plan, God is always the Best of Planners. So here is my very planned out new school year~ based off my excitement, understanding that only a half of it may get done and knowing that We Will Learn 10 times more than I could of imagine planning.