Arabic Letter Booklet (update)

Anyone who’s followed this blog for a while will know that I tend to ‘take my time’ and my head is buzzing with wonderful ideas that I find hard to suppress unless I start them. But there lies the problem: I start one thing and then start another and thus don’t usually finish the first thing.

*sigh*

Many of you have sent me emails about the Arabic Letter Booklets in the Downloads section. I got to Harf Thaa` and wanted to complete the other letters, however I can’t find the template I used. I am a stickler for uniformity and so a part of me wants to start over ‘cos the lack of consistency will annoy me to no end.

Sounds like a new project, right? Yes… yes it would be, and so I’ll put that on the backburner for now, as I am trying to make better sense of everything I’m currently juggling.

I actually want to give this blog a nip and tuck… a cosmetic facelift and update some of the information on the pages. This will take time, and I really hope you’ll bear with me.

Apologies for the lameness of it all, but once I start ironing things out, downloads will be coming thick and fast. Well, that’s the plan in my head. InshaAllah.

LaYinka Sanni (Umm Junayd)

Back… again?

I would like to apologise. It has been an incredulously long break between this post and the last one – over a year! Time has flown and so many changes have happened in the life of me and the kidsters, and this blog bore the brunt of it. I’m sorry.

I am so touched that many still comment and even visit this shamble of an abode and I feel that I need to give it an ignition of life. So here I am. Or maybe we.

You see, Jundee (who is now eight) has a thing where he ‘wants to be like Mummy’ – he knows I have 2 other blogs aside from this one and he ‘wants his own website’ too. I’m thinking about it. And the likelihood is that he may be allowed some online writing space, but only after some serious thought about why.

But as a general update:

• I’m back in London. I spent a year away teaching EFL at the British Council in Cairo, Egypt. It was amazing, I loved it and since I drank from the Nile, God-willing I’ll be back there sometime. I have a blog for my adventures and beyond (http://cairovialondon.wordpress.com).
• We’re not homeschooling fulltime, but you know what? Every moment I spend with my children are opportunities for learning, so I’m not too worried about that.
• I’m still the ever-ambitious mummy, which means that I like to supplement their school work, push them a little bit and tidy up bits that teachers might have missed. Jundee finally understands ‘carrying over’ in addition tasks. Thank God – it took a lot out of me. Let’s just say that maths isn’t my forte!
• I’m in the planning stage of some projects I want to start with the kidsters. One being regular visits to sick children in hospital and another being a pen pal one. I also have a Qur’an-based one, not so much for memorising but for understanding and implementation – that is my main focus at the moment. If anyone has ideas for projects that we can pool together I am definitely interested in hearing them.

Please do touch base with me – it would be nice to know where you’re at, if you’re still homeschooling or anything else really?

That’s me over and out!

LaYinka Sanni (Umm Junayd)

Jundee’s Currently Reading: Rashid and the Missing Body

Insha’Allah this will be a regular feature here since Jundee absolutely LOVES reading. I mean, he LOVES reading! This was an exchange we had the other day.

J: “You got me THREE new books, Mum?”
Me: “Yep”
J: “YESSSSSSS!”

And this was the first of the three he chose to get stuck into. It is slightly higher than his reading level, but he likes to be challenged and has requested to be read chapters at bedtime. How can I refuse?

Rashid and his mates learn about friendship, duty, and the importance of standing up for truth as they investigate the strange case of the missing body.

Teeny weeny update

It has been absolutely AGES since I last posted an update and SO much has happened within that time. It’s amazing how life’s activities can overtake us, but I’m grateful for every day I am granted, alhamdulillah.

So, the update: it’s the summer holidays here in the UK, which means the end of an academic year. Jundee will be staying at the Muslim school he’s at, insha’Allah, and I am very pleased with his progress in all subjects – he attained As and Bs, masha’Allah. His teachers do put it down to his previous homeschooling and ongoing ‘top-up’ at home. I’m currently working on his Arabic reading and hope to have him reading from the Qur’an by Ramadan insha’Allah – he can’t get off just ‘cos he’s on holiday from school! We managed to cover ‘shaddah’ today.

Ru. has been pulled out of the nursery she was attending, mainly due to the fact that it was burning a hole in my pocket, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself. There wasn’t much substance that I could see in terms of learning, but we’re now blending letters to make words, and she loves it! She can get ahead of herself a bit sometimes and claims she can read… I’ve got to work on that claim now!

~ Umm J.