Saturday 23 September 2017

Winners - Nurture Islaam Series Bundle

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


We are overwhelmed by your support! Alhamdulillaah! 

We thank each one of you, who participated in the Nurture Islaam Series Giveaway. Jazzaakumullaah Khayr.

We drew lots and the winners are:



Winners, please email me at ummmaimoonah@gmail.com with the following details to claim your gift (Download Link) before Tuesday 26th September 2017.  Please note the download link will be sent to you within 48 hours of receiving your email inshaa Allaah!

Your Full Name:
Current City:
Country:
Mobile Number:
Email Address:
Children's Names:

I remind the winners once again that you have agreed to our conditions of the giveaway and you will have to print the documents and use them and send us a review along with images within a stipulated time frame inshaa Allaah. This will be discussed with you separately via email. 

As we mentioned above we do not want to send any of the participant empty-handed. So all those who participated in the giveaway will receive a 50% discount on our Nurture Islaam Series Books if purchased within the next week. This offer is valid only until the 30th of September 2017 inshaa Allaah. Grab this fantastic offer and get the 15 Nurture Islaam Series Books for half the price! The titles include
  1.  Who is Allaah?
  2.  Where is Allaah?
  3.  Who Created You?
  4.  Allaah Created People 
  5.  Allaah Created Animals and Birds
  6.  Allaah Created Nature
  7.  Allaah Wakes Me Up 
  8.  Allaah Gives Me Food 
  9.  Allaah Gave us a Special Book
  10.  Allaah Gave me Parents
  11.  Allaah Gave me a Sweet Home
  12.  Allaah Gave me a Family
  13.  Allaah Gave me a Healthy Body
  14.  Allaah Gave me Five Senses
  15.  Allaah Gave me Clothes

To place your orders, please email me at ummmaimoonah@gmail.com so that I can send you the Product List and Preview along with details.

And finally, all participants please email me at ummmaimoonah@gmail.com with the following details to claim your SURPRISE, before Tuesday 26th September 2017 Inshaa Allaah!

Your Full Name:
Current City:
Country:
Mobile Number:
Email Address:
Children's Names:

The surprise is really worthwhile so do not delay! Get it and enjoy with your kids. Please note the surprise will reach you within 48 hours of receiving your email inshaa Allaah!

Once again we thank you for your kind support and hope to see all of you if not at least many of you, taking this opportunity and grabbing all our Nurture Islaam Series PreK level books and assist us in our venture as well as benefit the kids inshaa Allaah! 

Tuesday 12 September 2017

Giveaway - Nurture Islaam Series Bundle

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Alhamdulillaah, indeed all praise is due to Allaah alone, that my small venture at www.umm-maimoonah.com is reaping benefits for us by the mercy of Allaah and benefitting many homeschooling as well as non-homeschooling families around the world. 

We are really enjoying putting out some unique and authentic products for our children with a different touch and feel providing facilitators the much-needed information and guidance for cultivating the little ones upon the Qur'aan and the Sunnah and opening up interesting and engaging ways to keep the little ones busy learning.

Our Facebook page reached 1000 likes recently and we thought it is time to say "Thank You" to all of you out there who have been supporting us throughout. Yes, it's time for another giveaway. But this time what we want to give is our own products - Nurture Islaam Series Bundle for three winners who would use them all inshaa Allaah!

This Giveaway is Over! 


The Bundle includes: All are Downloadable PDF Documents

  • Selected Circle Time Materials
  • 3 Nurture Islaam Series Level 1 Books
  • Homeschooling in a Nutshell - from our Mom's Pack
  • My Book of Benefits - Template for recording audio lectures
  • My Book Report - Templates which includes Islamic guidelines
  • My Character Journal 
  • A Collection of Supplications for a Muslim Child with Arabic audio -  English/Arabic
  • A Collection of Supplication for a Muslim Child with Arabic audio - Arabic Only
  • Colouring Pages for the Supplications -  English and Arabic
  • Progress Chart for the Supplications - English and Arabic
  


  



   



  


Please read this whole post as the winner will be the one who has complied with all of the terms and conditions Inshaa Allaah.


How to enter?
  1. Like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ummmaimoonah)
  2. Follow us on Instagram (www.instagram.com/ummmaimoonah)
  3. Leave a comment on Facebook or Instagram or the blog Giveaway post tagging 10 of your friends. 
  4. Share the Giveaway poster and this blog post link on Facebook or Instagram with tagging us, so that we know you have shared! 
  5. Those of you who do not use any social media platforms may leave a comment with your name or Kunya on the blog on this post and share this blog post link with ten of your friends via email.
Remember, the more you tag and share, chances are more to be winners Inshaa Allaah!


Terms and Conditions
  • This Giveaway is open to all Internationally as the bundle PDF Documents to be downloaded. 
  • The Giveaway is open to sisters who have children ages 3 - 13 only. 
  • The Giveaway ends on Wednesday 20th September 2017 at 12 noon Qatar Time.
  • 3 winners will be chosen randomly as per the entry requirements.
  • The winner will be announced on Saturday 23nd September 2017 Inshaa Allaah.
  • 3 winners will receive a download link of the Nature Islaam Series Special Bundle via email for one license only. 
  • The winners cannot share this link or downloaded files with anyone else nor upload them on the internet. 
  • The winners must use all of our materials in the bundle with their kids and send us a review with images indicating the products are used.
  • The winner must claim or download the pack within the stipulated time and if not claimed during the time period the winner will have to forgo the "Pack". 
  • No anonymous posts
  • One entry per person
  • All of the entry requirements MUST be done to take it as a valid entry
  • We may contact the chosen winners to verify the social media profiles
  • In the event the chosen winner has not complied with the above we will disqualify the winner and choose another. This will repeat till we choose a winner who has complied with all the terms and conditions Inshaa Allaah.
  • Our decision is the final decision Inshaa Allaah. 
Enter the Giveaway and spread the word.

Baarakallaah Feekum


Saturday 9 September 2017

Journaling with Kids - Fun and Easy Writing Tool



بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم




Many sisters have been asking me how to start Journaling with their kids and how Maimoonah does her journal writings. So I thought of sharing our experiences of Journal Writing so far.

If you have been following my blog you may have known that we started journaling when Maimoonah was around 3 years old. We actually began the journey of journaling with getting introduced to Ramadhaan Journals. These are some of the first journal pages done by her when she was 3 years old.


  

 

It was all about free writing and expressing! So that is what journals are for! Seven years later (she is 10 now), I can see how Maimoonah has continued to nurture this habit of journal writing pretty much independently and today she has so many journals with so many different things written on them. Still, does not stop picking up a notebook or two when going to a supply store!



If you check online you will read overwhelming information about Kids Journaling, what is it, why is it beneficial, what do you need, how to do it, how to start it, what not to do and what to do and of course much more. Relax, don't worry, I do not intend repeating all that is found on the net here, rather I would be sharing in this post what worked for us and how I personally view Journal Writing is benefitting Maimoonah in our homeschooling journey. And if you know us well, then we do not stick to mainstream dos and don'ts when it comes to any concept except Islaamic concepts. Our style has always been doing it our way, Alhamdulillaah! So here we go!

Journal writing can be done with even a toddler. Little Ramlah as small as she can be not even turned one and a half adores her own little books and pages scribbled with crayons and pencils So there is no right age as such to start journaling. Most preschoolers and kindergarteners would love to have a little notebook for themselves too. Primary and secondary students, as well as adults, explore journaling with their own unique styles. So any age is fine as long as interest is there or building up...

Benefits of Journal Writing:

  • Easy tool to motivate writing and expression
  • Less boring method to introduce notes taking
  • Improves grammar and spelling
  • Improves hand writing
  • Enhances written communication skills
  • Improves reading skills as well
  • Digs up the hidden creativity
  • Improves arts and crafts skills
  • Opens up the brains to think out of the box
  • Helps with Scrapbooking and learning the Islaamic Principles in depth but without being stressed or overwhelmed.
  • Helps to keep in mind important concepts in different subjects
  • Helps to explore the creations of Allaah and to be thankful for the blessings of Allaah.
  • A better alternative to keeping low the boredom or the constant whining  "I am bored" of a  pre teen or a teenager 
  • The best way to use the arts and crafts left over materials that hide inside the cupboards for months or sometimes years.
  • One of the ways to understand the personality of the child or the learning style of the child. This helps to facilitate the correct teaching style.
  • Helps to gauge the mind of the child and helps to check if the child is having any unethical or unIslamic concepts or thoughts within her or him. Knowing what is going on in the minds helps as parents to correct the false ideologies and concepts and put things right without making it an issue.
  • Great way to keep records of anything important or for that matter even the homeschooling journey.
  • Solves the problem of having to declutter or throw away the whole heap of papers written and drawn every now and then. Having all the doodling and writing in one book keeps the surrounding tidier and the storing easier. 

What do you need?

Honestly, a notebook and a pencil should do the job if there is enough interest. But it is nice to make the exploration a bit more appealing tempting and adventurous with having some supplies that will motivate the spirit of journal writing inshaa Allaah.



So here are few things we keep handy. Please note I do not buy and store any very expensive materials for this purpose only, rather most of the things that are used for journaling are stuff that we anyway purchase for homeschooling use. The challenge here is to use your creativity and complete the job with what is available. I have listed below supplies that are kind of mostly used and essential and some supplies that are good to have especially for older kids.

  • Any kind of notebooks or even sketchbook. You can choose larger notebooks for little ones especially because their writings may be very big at that age plus they may express more drawing or cutting and paste pictures. Also a bit bigger notebooks will be easier to turn pages, write and to use comfortably for the little hands. Keep in mind that it is always better to encourage free writing at the beginning than guided writing. Older kids may like small notebooks sometimes ruled ones and sometimes blank ones depending on what they would like to journal. So get the notebooks accordingly. 
  • Pencils and pens, fine liner pens, colour pencils, felt pens, ball point pens, fountain pens, brush tip markers, emboss pens
  • Erasers, glues, and scissors
  • Water colours, any kind of paints, acrylic, pastel, poster paints etc
  • Crayons
  • Water colour pencils
  • Decorative hole punches
  • Stencils
  • Post it notes
  • Wrapping papers 
  • Stickers
  • Washi tapes
  • Sellotape
  • Ribbons
  • Yarn
  • Decorative Stamps
  • Popsicle Sticks
  • Coloured papers
  • Sequins
  • Glitter pen/ Glitter / Glitter Glue
  • Feathers, gemstones, any other decorating materials
  • Natures treasures such as fallen leaves, flowers, dried twigs, etc etc
Types of Journal Writing
Now that you have all the supplies what do you write, what kind of journal do you maintain? Well, there are many types journal writings. Here are few options.


While each one of them is done either using guided writing or free writing, we do not worry too much about what type of journals to write. In fact, you can just have one notebook and use it for all of the above. It is all up to the child and depends on the child's interest.


How do you start Journaling
Journal entries can be anything and everything.

  • Just to start off,  begin with a selected notebook and ask the child to write or draw something that happened on that day depending on the child's age. Make sure you allow the child to do free writing. You can gently prompt some topics to write or draw about or you could draw and write instead, eventually, they will get the idea. It can just simple as this


  • You can also use a ready made Journal for kids which include prompts and in a template format just to fill in the information asked and decorate. 
 Image result for smartark my journal

  • You can use a sketchbook and encourage children to write poems.


 



  • They can do some research work and write something they have been fascinated about. Maimoonah loved to learn about the bees and she recorded her findings in the journal. 

  • If your child has the habit of reading the translation or the Tafseer of the Qur'aan daily, then you can encourage them to write an aayah that inspired them on that day. Maimoonah maintains a small Qur'aan Journal for this purpose and uses art techniques she learns at the art classes to make it look nice. 




  • If you have babies, you can encourage your older children to maintain a baby diary. Helps with keeping records of the development of the baby, strengthens the bond between the siblings and in some cases, a nice way to get rid of jealousy building up. 

 

  • You can also get the kids to write short stories with lessons and morals. The ulama differ with regard to writing fiction stories. So whichever opinion you take it is better to get the kids to write nonfiction kind of stories or true stories. Maimoonah has been writing fiction and I take a balanced attitude with regard to this as I see her language skills improved a lot with the story writing but I do remind her to be cautious with writing.

  • The random journal entry can sometimes include a concept studied. We did geography the other day and I saw this journal entry next morning. Isn't it a better genuine way to see how much a child has understood from the lesson than merely doing a worksheet?



  • Finally, it can be something done to entertain a toddler who loves the feel of texture. The yarn is used here by Maimoonah and Ramlah is busy with touching and feeling!


Sometimes I see Maimoonah having a journal with worksheets prepared by her for younger kids and may be for herself as well. 

These are some of the examples I have given and you do not have to do the exact same with your kids. Let the kids explore their own linking in their own ways.


Journaling Techniques
As kids get older especially girls, they may like to add a touch of professionalism into their journals, so if your kids are like this it will be nice to show them some journaling hacks that surface time to time and also different creative techniques to use. You will find plenty here. Few Examples are below. Please mute as  there is music and avoid all the concepts and content that are against Islaam displayed in these videos and in any of the third party links I have mentioned if there are any.








Warning
Here are few things to be aware of

  • Make sure kids do not draw pictures that have souls such as humans and animals as picture making is prohibited in Islaam.
  • Encourage the kids to generally write something beneficial as Muslims are always cautious since they are accountable for all their actions.
  • Most people think personal journals are to be kept private and parents must not poke into their diaries and journals. I do not agree with this. Maimoonah loves that I read all her journals and pleads with to me have a look. And I love to read her journal entries with a cup of coffee mostly after Fajr when the house is silent. I look forward to this as I really do love her writings and cute thoughts! So do not create the private thinking in journal writing, but give them the assurance that you are always there to appreciate their talent and creativity while helping them to be on the straight path when they seem slipping away. But keeping their journals private from other than parents is fine and something that you should respect as well. So make it very clear inshaa Allaah. 
  • If the kids are not interested please do not force them. Even after you motivating with supplies, videos and anything else, they still do not show any interest, then know that this is not their cup of tea for the moment, may be they will get interested later. So keep the doors always open. For the moment look into what interests them and find a solution. 
So that's it. This has been a long post, hope I have not bored you! And I hope I have given you some points and tips to headstart this adventurous journaling journey with your kids. Enjoy! And please do comment below if you need me to share with you any specifics and I would love to hear your journaling journey with your kids too! 

I end the post with Maimoonah's words where she is sharing with you what she loves and benefits from journaling through the years...

"I like jouranaling because of 2 reasons: 1 is because it gives me cooling of the mind and the 2nd is because the next year or the year after next I can find my note books and read them throughly. It gives me insight and makes me see my mistakes so that my next journal entry can be better than the first. And it is a lovely way to glorify Allaah for His wonderful creations and to ponder His blessings opon us."


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