Ocean Theme Unit

I decided that I would start planning month-long units to help save time on planning and prepping – because I’ve been struggling to find time for all the stuff that I “try” to do daily/weekly.

This is how I plan a lesson : I start pinning a board based on theme of the unit : ocean, for example. Then I look through all of the ideas that I pin, decide on what I would like to do with the kids, print out worksheets, gather the needed materials (like manipulatives), laminate the worksheets and then decide when and how I’ll present each activity.

Currently we our studying about the ocean : sealife, animals, story of Prophet Jonah (Yunus) and the whale, water and land formations, etc.

Here are some the activities we have been enjoying so far:

Will the egg sink or float ?

The egg definetly floated in the salt water (above picture). But the activity quickly turned to be more of a bath than a science experiment, Z enjoyed sticking his hand in the cup and then splashing the water around.

 

Introduction to Land vs. Water animals

Blue bowls represent water and the green represents land

“Starfish” beads transfering and counting in land and water trays

Z decided to create a drum with two spoons and an empty container while we explored our ocean sensory bin – he came with the idea himself

Coloring sorting “smartie” (french m&ms) in the matching boats

We either read this book in French (like it is written) or we translate it into English

F has an interest for penguins. She likes to waddle around like one and talk about them all the time

For more of our activities : follow us on Instagram - @resourceful_muslimah

Welcome / Bienvenue / Hosgeldiniz

Assalamu alaykom, Hi, Bonjour, Merhaba, and everything else in between. Welcome to our blog about the multlingual and cutlural adventures that our family experiences while living in Paris, France.

I am an American ; my husband is Turkish ; although we do not speak each other’s languages, our common language is French. My husband (Y) speaks three mother tongues : Turkish, Kurdish, and Zaza. We are also a Muslim family striving towards learning Islamic Arabic and as non-native speakers, the pronunciation is often difficult, but we are up to the challenge. So, we are on the track to learn six languages.

We have two kids : F (girl, 3) and Z (boy, 2).

We homeschool (école à la maison or instruction en famille) and we enjoy exploring and discovering at home and our world around us.

I am always asked why I homeschool instead of sending my oldest to French preschool (maternelle), so here are my top 5 reasons :

1. Islamic responsability – as Muslim parents, it is our responsability to show, encourage and teach our kids how to become responsable Muslims and adults

Homeschool Mission Statement :

We begin with Bismillah (In the Name of God), Responsable for our children’s education, we will strive to love, teach, correct, and encourage our children on a daily basis in a clear and simple manner to become pious, wise Muslims who will strive to uphold Islamic values and have a strong relationship with God.

We also believe that learning pariculary fro the Quran and SUnnah will encrouage a lifelong adventure of seeking knowledge. We believe in facing each day with minds open to knowledge and hearts open to love. We believe in the freedom to wonder, to ask, to explore, to imagine, to create.

We believe that every one of us has special talents and that the talents of each of us help all of us. We belive that success means doing our best, being our best and feeling proud of our effort.

2. Overcrowding in maternelle – we live in an area where there are 3 maternelle (preschools) and two primary schools all right next to each other and still there are not teachers and place available for all the kids ! Plus, islamic school is rather expensive too.

3. Multi-languages – Since we are currently learning four languages – English, French, Turkish, and Arabic – I have decided that it is best at the moment to learn in an at-home setting, and switch between the languages (for example every two weeks we will have class in either English or French – I’ll write more about this later)

4. Hands-on discovery and learning through play, games, and exploration based on the child’s interests

5. Enjoyable – I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and I am very happy to be my kids first teacher. I’ve found it very enjoyable so far to see all my hardwork pay off (the benefits outweigh the time planning, prepping and presenting)

Now your turn :

• Introduce yourself, how many languages do you speak or would like to learn?
• What adventures would you like to hear about ?
• If you homeschool, what are you reasons for homeschooling ?

Starting back up or not

I've been debating back and forth with myself if I was going to keep blogging about my family and mine's adventures in France or if I was just going to stop posting.

I have decided to start back up again with God-willing a few posts a week, I can't guarantee it but I'm going to try my best. It's been awhile since I last wrote, November 2014, to be precise, and a lot of good things (we will try to avoid thinking about the negative things) have happened since then, therefore lots of posts to be written.

Future blog posts will include :
- our multi-lingual family adventure of homeschooling preschool and "tot" school for Fatima and Zekeriya (we welcomed a baby boy in February 2015)

- a glimpse into our daily routine (cooking, cleaning, crafts, sewing, time management, 2 children under 2 etc)

 - how the French deal with certain issues (you know the French way of doing things, which are often backwards and annoying from the rest of the world),

- reflections on the world around us

pine cone flowers

Z playing in puddles

F learning the alphabet

Chocolate Funfetti Cupcakes

Hope you will join in on our adventures !