WELCOME TO OUR HOMESCHOOL!
~* Bismillahir Rahmaniir Rahiim *~
~* In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Kind *~

Our international school strives to meet the standards of entering Jannah by following the Laws given to us by Allah. We ensure our students will reach and exceed international standards with emphasis on an Islamic knowledge foundation.
Come have a look around and enjoy meeting the students and faculty of JSIH.
We will update the site weekly of the current topic.

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7:27 AM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Pet Care is what we started out February doing. It's part of our Farm Unit on learning what animals need to live and be happy. This project is very easy to do. We did one or two every day.

Supplies Needed:
Sturdy White Paper
Markers (esp. a good Black one)
Crayons
Scissors
Glue
Glitter (optional)
Printed Items from Internet (if you're not artistically inclined)

First with the White Paper make a bowl shape and draw on the water. This represents two needs: Home and Water, Then Make a Fish, Cave, Rocks, Plants, and Fish Food.
I drew each of these things and explained what they are used for by the fish as Rajaa was coloring them with crayons. I did the boring coloring (of water and large areas).
Then we placed the things where they would go naturally. I let her choose which side of the rocks she wanted the cave and plants to be on and where the food goes. I put glue on the pieces and let her stick them on. After gluing I added a touch of glitter to make it special allowing her to put pinches of glitter on the fish. Then proudly display it!

Next came dog. I made the DogHouse, then a Bone, Ball, Water and Food Dish. I explained that animals need things that make them happy. They will get bored without toys. Also dogs eat meat a lot but since they are pets we give them specially made dog pet food from the store. To help them be strong.
When finished coloring we glued, glittered, and displayed it.









Next came the cat! I made a (tricky to draw) Cat Scratching Post with a Home, a Cat (who I colored to look like our stray cat Summer), a Food and Water Bowl, Cat Balls, Yarn, and a Squeaky Mouse Toy. While I colored the Cat and Home she colored the accessories we talked about what cats love to do to keep happy. I explained that animal make us happy and in return we make them happy which is why they love to live with us.
After cutting, gluing, we of course displayed it.


Next came the bird. I drew a Bird on a Perch/Swing, String Toy, Seed Holder, Water Bottle, Cage with Wooden Perch. I let her color everything while I did the Bird. Then she glued it all on and we put it up.














Last came Hamster and Mice, I didn't feel like making two cages so I just put them together. Drew a Water Bottle, Hamster, Food Bowl with Seeds, Tube with Mouse1 and Mouse2, Woodchips for Cage, and of course the Cage.
I let her place them where she wanted them. After I carefully measured the woodchips and glued them in. Then we added some glitter for fun. It was the last to go on the display board. It was a nice group all together!
We had a hamster that died, birds that have died, and two stray cats that come around now and then so this Unit was easy for Rajaa to relate to. Mustapha loved seeing the finished animals and calls them by the sounds they make.
After we made all of these we went to the Pet Store at Al-Ain mall to check out each real animal. They really loved the fish the best. I was soo tempted to buy one but all the accessories were expensive so I figured out fake fish at home was good enough.

9:05 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Part of our Daily Routine and our Lifelong Unit of Islam is reciting the following verses of Qur'an. The Holy Book given to us from Prophet Muhammad who received it straight from the Arch-Angel Gabriel who received it by God's Command. And when God says Be, it is.


The Opening Verse called Al-Fatiha:



Next we go to the shorter verses for easier Memorization.
Here is Surah 112 -Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity)



Then Surah 113 - Al-Falaq (The Daybreak)
The last Verse of the Qur'an is Surah 114 - An-Nas (Mankind)
I try to review them in the morning when they wake up and sometime during the day then again at night when they are going to sleep. Keeping it fresh in the memory is key to keeping it in the heart.
Rajaa can say all of Al-Fatiha now. She enjoys reciting with me when I pray too.
She then learned Al-Ikhlas. Finally she has it with no mistakes Alhamdulillah.
Now we are working on Al-Falaq and An-Nas. The rhyming verses encourage memorization so she manages the endings but she needs to learn the inner parts of each verse. Insha'Allah it will become more easy for her.
Mustapha enjoys listening to them and usually will sit on my lap during day recitations.
Allahu Akbar

Al-Ain Airshow: January 28th, 2009

1:21 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
When Rajaa was a baby and toddler she loved this book "Planes" by Byron Barton

It shows different types of planes and people getting off the plane and other fun things. It was her favorite on airplane trips to USA and Lebanon. But Mustapha has never been on a plane nor has he seen one live before. So when reading the book to him I make lots of sound effects and emphasize things. The chance to go to the yearly Al-Ain Airshow on January 28th came. I almost forgot about it but my close fellow Homeschooling friend reminded me! I was quick to load up the kids and some snacks (I had just made a dense coconut cake so I sliced that up for snacks and peanut butter sandwiches) and I off we went~!

We couldn't afford the fee to enter the main viewing area so we parked in the parking lot behind with many other families and could see a lot of plane action there. We had forgotten chairs so I just popped open the back of the minivan and we sat on the bumper (with the open door above us shading us alhamdulillah) we saw some smaller planes doing loop-de-loops and one made a heart with it's trail. I explained these terms to Rajaa and Mustapha was just thrilled to see actual airplanes. Naturally I brought the book with us to solidify the correlation.

We could only stay for an hour til my husband had to go to work so we missed out on the ladies dancing on top of the planes and the jet planes. But it was still worth it.
When we got home I pulled some craft supplies together for a craft.

You need:
White Paper
Black Marker
Glue
Scissors
Cotton Balls
Crayons or Markers
Optional Glitter (if it strikes your young artists' fancy)
And a blue colored paper (to show "sky")

On the white paper draw an airplane for each of your students. Or print from the Internet if you're not artistically inclined.
Let them color it with crayons or markers (we used crayons). Rajaa wanted an all pink plane and Mustapha did an awesome multi-colored one.
Then I cut out Mustapha's and let Rajaa try to do hers mostly by herself.
I then let them glue it to the Blue Paper in whatever position they want.
Then I asked Rajaa what shape of the airplane trail she wanted. She liked the heart so she made one and we connected it to the airplane's tail. Mustapha just held my hand and dragged it back and forth across the paper and amazingly came out with a nice swirl that I then connected to the airplane tail.
Then they had an absolute blast as I tore of small tuffs (since they were tearing off half the ball at first) from the cotton balls, and gave it to them to stick on the glue to form a great trail to the airplane. I was excited that even Mo could do this one. He didn't like the glue and cotton on his fingers so Rajaa helped him finish his.
Finally we reached the final product and I wrote the event and date and Names on the paper.
TA-DA! We stuck it on Bulletin Board 2.

Mustapha loves to read this book even more now! A great field trip!

January -Zoo: Monthly Test

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After we finished our January Unit of the Zoo we had a test to see how much Rajaa actually remembered.


I started out by drawing what natural things animals eat like: Fruits, Leaves, Trees, Grass, Plants, Bugs. Then I drew the animals we reviewed that eat these things. Then I made the animals that eat these smaller animals. I had her father administer the test (to be fair). She had to sit at the dining table so she couldn't see her bulletin board. She had to draw a line to match the animal to what it eats. I thought about making geography of where the animals live too but that got too complicated so I scratched it out (and edited it out of the picture).
She did pretty well. She started out fast and then after a while got sidetracked and started being goofy (test pressures) but she finally finished after her last goofy hippo to leaf line. I honestly felt a little discouraged at the end because she was goofing and not really thinking but I suppose that's normal with tests and for her first ever test she did well. There were 12 possible connections and she only missed 3 so that's a B basically. I was very proud of her for starting in on the test with enthusiasm though. We re-discussed the ones she got wrong. Then I stuck it on the bulletin board to close out the Unit.

January -Zoo: Zoo Animal Habitats

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In January we had fun learning about different Zoo Animals and how they live and what they eat. I started off the Month with this project:


I wanted Rajaa to understand that not every animal lives in Zoos. So I made an empty Farm (environment only no animals) and an empty Zoo. I then hand-drew all the basic animals that are located in each group and cut them to small squares. Then I stuck the 2 separate pages on the bulletin board and grabbed my glue. I handed her each animal one at a time and asked her where does it belong? In the Zoo or the Farm? For the most part she was able to do this easily. I put glue on the back and she got to stick it into it's right place on the paper. Sometimes she tried to stick something in the wrong place on the paper but I'd ask her "Do Monkey's live in grassfields at the Zoo or in wire cages with ropes?" She's answer cages and ropes and then stick it on that picture.

After this we had our desert trip (link later). We collected desert habitat things like plants and sand and flowers. Then we made a picture at the desert and took the rest of our collection home.


To make all of these Zoo Crafts you will need the following supplies:
Regular Paper Plates
Heavy White Paper (like index card thickness)
Markers or Crayons (though I chose markers to make it brighter)
Stapler
Toothpicks (to hold tall paper steady)
Glue (any kind)
A place to display the finished product
*optional natural products from nature like grass, sticks, sand, flowers, anything relating to the themed habitat. If not you can color them in ;)



First we made the Camel Habitat since we had just finished the desert trip.
I drew a few camels, sand dunes, leafy plants with flowers, palm trees, and water.
We discussed the habitat as we went along while drawing.
"Where does the camel live? Yes, in the desert. They like to walk in the sand on these sand hills. What do they eat? Yes, they eat these green plants and grass. Yes, the flowers too. And what do they drink? Good, they do drink water. But water is hard to find in the desert they have to walk very far! They find an Oasis with palm trees and a big pool of water to rest and drink."
Then we both cut everything out and leave enough room under the drawing for a "tab". I bend the drawing so it's standing on the tab then I position the stapler on the tabs and let her staple the items onto the paper plate. You can make the water look more realistic by bending it and stapling it curved. Then I got some white glue and mixed it with water to thicken it a bit and a brush and let both students paint all over the camels and sand dunes and paper plate. Then they got to throw pinches of sand (like a sand storm) ALL over the pictures. *or color everything brown if you don't want to use sand* Then I let Rajaa glue on the extra plants we had taken from the desert and applied glue heavily to make them stick. Leave a day or two to dry and then display!



Next is the Tiger: I colored the tiger while she colored the water and I showed her how to make grass lands and she colored the trees I drew. I colored the deer. We had a very important talk about how some animals eat other animals which at first made her nervous but after a while she understood.
"You know Rajaa sometimes big animals can't eat only plants. They need lots of vitamins and so they have to get meat. They eat other animals that are smaller than them. I know it sounds strange huh? But look at this tiger. He needs to be strong. Allah gave him some sharp teeth and claws. Do you need sharp teeth to eat grass? Nope, you're right we don't. We need sharp teeth to bite meat. So this Tiger likes to wait hiding in the grass where his stripes hide him. He sees the deer coming to the water for a drink and then he very carefully comes up behind it when it's not looking and JUMPS on it and chases it until he grabs it and quickly kills it then he just eats it. Then the Tiger is very happy and all full. Allah created lots of deer and small animals so that the Tiger and other big animals will have something tasty to eat. If they didn't eat these deer he would die. So help me staple the tiger hiding in the grass. Good, why is the tiger hiding? Yes, very smart! He is hiding so the deer doesn't see him so he can eat him. You're doing a great job today Rajaa!"
Then we stapled them in place and glued on a few pieces of grass and put it on the bulletin board.
We did these plate habitats every two or three days depending on life schedules. Sometimes we made parts of them everyday and saved them for another day to put together.


Next came Alligator. I explained they live in dark swampy waters and hide in the water and behind water grasses to wait for their food the deer who is drinking water.
We stapled first the "water" to the plate then the other objects on top. Discussion much like the tiger one above.

Monkeys came next. They eat fruits and they drink water, which Rajaa colored, and they live in families and live in the trees. We glued some sticks and leaves onto the pictures. The tree was drooping so I had to re-enforce the back with standing toothpicks. I let her decide where she wanted the monkey family to sit, next to the food or the water or in the tree. She said she wanted them to eat the strawberries and bananas. So she had fun doing that and coloring the monkeys of course.


Next came the Meercats (one of her favorite zoo animals to visit). I made the meercats able to pop up and down (lay flat). And a large log to hide under and bugs to eat.
"The meercats are afraid! What are they afraid of? Yes Eagles and Hawks! When the eagle comes by they run to their homes under ground (lay flat, we had fun playing this a few times). Then the eagle might catch one if it is too slow and take it back home to it's nest. It kills the meercat and then feeds it to it's babies so it's babies can grow strong! The Eagle likes to make it's nest way up high in big trees (more toothpicks for support). They build a big nest and have their eggs, later the eggs hatch and the babies come out and want food from their mommies. Allah makes lots of Meercats for the Eagles to catch some and there is still more so they don't get lonely when one gets taken away."
We stapled it all and put it up!

The final one is the African Habitat. I didn't want to make LOTS more plates because she understood the concept and I wanted to shoe they are related so I made a big one. First I made a large Elephant. Then a Hippo. And a large pool for those two to be at. Then I made the giraffe and Zebra eating together at the tree (which I folded corner style so it would stand up without toothpicks). Then the Lion hiding behind the grass waiting to catch the Zebra and Giraffe. I explained they all live near each other and that they try to keep their own spaces. The Hippo scares the Lion yet the Lion scares the Zebras. Nobody messes with the elephants unless they are very hungry and the elephant is old. I put the water, elephant, and Hippo on one plate then attached another plate and set up the lion and the giraffe/zebra and cut off the excess plate. Rajaa helped with all the stapling (stock up on staples for this month ha ha).
We had much fun and at the end we reviewed each animal and it's habitat and what it eats before the end of the month test.

Our Homeschool Room Set-up

7:17 AM Posted In Edit This 1 Comment »
Well you might be wondering jsut how I manage to have a Schoolroom in my house. I live in a; 2 bedroom, 1 partial living room, 1 bathroom, 1 small kitchen, House. One bedroom is of course for the beds and the other room is for a PlayRoom/ComputerRoom/SchoolRoom/WorkRoom. I've re-arranged it again and again to suit my purposes but now I've changed it into a SchoolRoom for the Homeschooling.

here are pictures to elaborate:

Here is the entrance. A happy look of informative posters and bright carpet (that I saved up for a year to buy! YAY! It was worth it!). I also added a store bought Ocean Border to the top with Fish, Starfish,and Seashells on it. The other side features a handmade Disney Princess Border.

As we step inside we see the rest of the far wall where I store my foldable laundry drying rack (did I mention this is the LaundryRoom too LOL), Folding Bus, Vacuum, Hubby's Tools, Rajaa's Bike, and the Sports things like Balls and Bowling Pins and such in that giant Blue Bucket. Formally the bucket was for laundry but it cracked and is now re-assigned. Attatched to the light I rigged up Bulletin Board No.2 (see post how later). Aha! and for the immensly curious yes this chair is where I sit for Blogging Central.


This is my desk where I stash things like Cds, paperwork, a all sorts of Doo-dads, I really need to organize it YIKES! The turned over bookcase above it helps me emensly with organizing. ERmmm yes it's a work in progress...


The bookcase was overturned to help me fit my large notebooks in it. The top shelf used to hold my glassware and tea set collection but since has been used to keep things out of reach of small climbing hands. Also things I need to fix or work on I stacked there on the upper right. See those papers on top of the green box, yeah that's my story I'm working on lol. The spiral notebook above that is a different story.. ok ok back to Homeschooling.... So the first box on the left is holding my Misc papers that I need to sort. The second box is holding all the puzzles for the kids. The third box is holding the kid's notebooks and Reems of Paper for crafts and any crafts currently under construction. The fourth box holds special crafting materials (for now until I get them into the Red Box) and a box for things like stapler,scissors and such, another basket for pens and markers. Also our Family Mailbox is stored there (post about that later).


Here is the Kid's Toys Storage. I'd disolve into a pile of mush if I didn't have a way to organize these toys. They are the bane of my existance. Up at the top (where a built in ledge is) is a 9 basket toy sorter. Then for the bulky toys I bought an open shelves to just toss the big stuff in. (Thanks again Mom for putting it together XOXOX) Then those clear pink lided boxes hold Dress-up Costumes (most homemade) and the other some smaller toys I bring out occassionaly when the kids have forgoten about them. That cute Red Box is what I'll use to store all the craft supplies for School in the future instead of stacking them up in the corner behind the large shelving. Above is the handmade Disney Princess Border. I cut (uneven) strips of pink posterboard and stuck on princess stickers stuck on whiteposterboard shapes. Then covered them with clear tape to laminate. The big wheely toys just rest on the floor next to the spongey green 4 piece puzzle mat. Good for jumping on.

The desks are used to house more of my misc papers (I really gotta get down to sorting those!) and the other cleaned off desk is for Rajaa to do her book work on and for her to store her workbooks and coloring books in. Above it is Bulletin Board No.1 attatched to the shelf. On the shelf I store the DVDs, old hamster cage, and anything that the kids can't mess with like barbell weights.

Back over to the first wall though is this fun little comfy place to sit and do work or read stories or just lay on. It is a baby crib matress that I just wrapped in a sheet and added some throw pillows and stuffed toys. It is normally where we do our learning at and art projects at.


Naturally the kids -err i mean students... also use it for wrestling training, manditory school photos, and jumping for P.E.

Mustapha made his escape from the wrestling ring and ditched the school picture day while Rajaa poses as if she never hurt a fly. Gotta love my students!
Hope you enjoyed the tour of Our Schoolroom. If you have any questions or comments feel free to click and fill out the form below. *puts on Principal smile* Thank you and have a lovely day, come again soon!

Schoolroom Posters

12:39 AM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »
I bought a lot of inexpensive posters to decorate the walls of the Schoolroom. I felt if they're going to be looking at something all day they might as well learn something in the process.
The Arabic ones I got at "The Bookshop" were at or less than 5dhs ($1.36). The English ones I got at "Mega Mart" were at 10-12dhs ($2.72-3.26).

Here is what I have so far:

On the door to the room I have Qur'an Surah An-Nas (114) the Last Surah. To remind myself what I'm hoping to attain and for the kids of course to learn it.

I found this awesome family chart labeling Grandfather Jiddo, Grandmother Jiddah, Father Abu, Mother Umm, Boy Walad, and Girl Bint, in Arabic. I love how they are covered and I can use it to teach them the names of family members.
In English I grabbed this Good Manners Chart which talks about many ways to be kind to people and I try to go over it daily with them.

These three will be used with special units I'm planning. The Human Body Internal for "My Body" Unit. The Instruments for Music time and also to explain in Islam we don't play some of these instruments. The Arabic Traffic Signs (which I could find one in American Signs) to teach them about Symbolism and "Transportation" Unit. Makes nice Decor until I get to the units though.



These of course I use daily. The Number 1-100 for all kinds of fun counting. The Shapes for both kids to learn different ways of seeing shapes. Arabic and English Alphabets for Rajaa to learn them easier.



And these last four I got to do with the World. A Solar System for of course Unit work and cause it's just beautiful SubhanAllah. Then a poster in Arabic with different weather. Rajaa really loves this one. Then we have the Flags of the World which we use as a game. Rajaa picks a flag and I help her find the matching country on the World Map. We also play different games on the Map itself like "Find Grandma's house in America or Tayta's house in Lebanon"
I really love how the posters brighten up the room and make it look fun and exciting!

update

2:14 PM Posted In Edit This 0 Comments »
(We will update soon insha'Allah, keep checking in for updates and photos!)
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  • Arts & Crafts Box
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  • Our Schoolroom
  • Qur'an Memorized
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