Time for Change

I have been nose deep in books, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have stacks upon stacks of books in my living room. I've been speed reading as well, as time is definitely on my side! It's not unusual for me to be struck with this reading frenzy, but this one is different; this one is for a cause, not just to satisfy my child-like curiosity about the world.

S unfortunately does not like 'learning'.

"Oh, that's learning," she would say whenever I would bring up some interesting facts.

It troubles me to no end, and I have attributed it to my weaknesses as a teacher. This has been one of my worries and stress source, but only recently was I driven to make a move for a change.

Doing OHVA, well I don't like it, but I did it because of several reasons:

1. I tried doing homeschooling the traditional way but I ended up having to prepare a lot of stuff myself that I slept at 1 am each night only having to work a full day the next day, every day.
2. I was very apprehensive about homeschooling 'on my own' because for one, I wasn't even brought up here in the United States, English is not my first language, I don't have teacher credentials, teaching techniques here might very well differ greatly from teaching techniques in Malaysia (heaven yeah, they do!), I'd have to do major research from scratch, as to the scope and sequence should be covered in each grade level. This in itself was intimidating enough to stop me in my tracks.
3. I was also apprehensive about when the time will come when we will eventually have to relocate to Malaysia, and were I to do the traditional homeschooling, I will most probably not have an 'official' school record for the kids. What do I do then?

After doing OHVA for almost 5 years now, I have learned a great deal about the techniques of teaching, the scope and sequence, and most importantly, that I don't want to recreate a classroom at home for the kids.

I have been reading about the different methods of homeschooling; unschooling, unit studies, classical method, Charlotte Mason, Moore Formula, to mention a few.

What I read about education also struck a chord in me. Why do we take our kids out of public school if we only end up recreating a classroom at home? With OHVA, that's what we have been doing, and with muktiple students such as my case, it's getting worse and worse. I have grown to really despise it, when homeschooling should be enjoyed and 'lived'. Learning is a life process, and a child naturally has this drive to learn.

It's when we treat them like empty vessels and force information down their throats that we kill this natural tendency. The 'factory model' is what they call it. A textbook for a whole group of children, regardless of their individuality and personal interests.

A simple example would be to look into my own life experiences. When I graduated with my Bachelor's, the first thought that ran through my mind was,

"YES! now I can read whatever I want!"

Of course, with three kids under the age of 3 that wasn't really a reality, whcih I realized later on, but my interest in learning blossomed, having been given this 'freedom' from a 'one for all' curriculum. From a very young age, I have always been a bookworm, probably because of my lonely childhood, but I also remember sitting in front of the TV, with a notebook, trying to take notes from a kid Science show. I had great ambitions, but school destroyed them.

Ok, now I may sound like I'm just thrashing the whole education system and complaining, but really, think about it, why do we settle with a uniform approach when our children are individuals with varying ambitions, capabilities, interests, and learning styles?

Bogged down with homework, subjects that they have grown to hate, kids may very well develop a negative attitude about school, as is the case with S. School to them is a chore. Learning shouldn't be a chore, though of course there are some subjects that, whether you like it or not, you have to just pinch your nose, hold your breath, and swallow.

When I ponder upon this, I think of all those college graduates who go the normal routes; find a job, get married, have children, wait for the pension. Do they still have this drive to learn? They all went to school. They're all educated. They became 'people', right? But do they go on learning, or have they stopped because they were too burned out learning in the 'education system' and because they are already 'educated'?

I don't think I'm doing this issue justice at all, but the one core point I extracted from all of this is; I want my children to love learning for learning's sake, not because they have to finish elementary school, or go to college, so they could get a job.

My children read for pleasure. Here in the United States, public libraries always have summer reading programs to encourage children to read, bribing them with prizes and gifts, just to get them to read. Alhamdulillah I don't have that problem with my kids. We have always been surrounded by books. Even Baby Z now (considering that all toys we found at the store were Made in China) plays with books. I hesitated buying any toys for him because of the recalls. Yeah, yeah, not all of them are recalled, but it's like the case of drugs - a few years down the line, they make a public announcements like these;

"The ________ pill is recalled because research has found that it increases the risk of heart disease. "

Wouldn't it have been too late by then? I'd rather be safe than sorry.

S has a natural love for animals, and she would read about animals without me telling her to. We even call her our 'Animal Expert'. Alhamdulillah I invested (without realizing it) in non fiction materials when they were younger, drying up my own savings. Despite hubby's complaints of

'What do you do with all these books?"

I stubbornly held on to them, keeping in mind that he's not a reader. Now, alhamdulillah, he sees the kids picking up 'these books' and realizes their worth, or at least I hope so.

What I also realized is that, while a child may not display interest in something you bought for them to use, they may very well pick it up, and explore it with keen interest a few years down the line. So I have learned to not throw these things away, despite a very strong urge to do so when my brain experiences 'clutter attack'.

So, here we embark on this new journey in our homeschooling adventure, and I have chosen Unit Study as a homeschooling method, as I find that it's the one the kids and I are most interested in, and it's also a good method for families with multiple students.

I strongly believe, with the help of Allah, that inshaallah this will be a good change for us, and what brought it on?

Having Baby Z. Remember how I used to fret about how I was going to homeschooli once the baby's 'here'? Well, the baby's here and it ain't pretty (the homeschooling scene, I mean. Baby Z is very beautiful alhamdulillah thank you very much). And that has pushed me to look for a solution. Four years ago I wasn't ready to embrace this, but now inshaallah, I am in a different stage of 'homeschool mom', and I am ready to take this challenge head on. I have accepted the fact that my lifestyle has changed from when they were all younger, and that they no longer take naps which provided me with some 'me time' and 'workout time'. I am older, and inshaallah *cough* wiser. By the way, hubby turned 31 today, but the kids said,

"Abi's 31 but Ummi's still older, but she's shorter."

With this change, the kids and I have come up with a name for our homeschool, and it's HAZENS HOMESCHOOL, created from a jumbled up first few letters of the kids' names. As for OHVA, well, we'll complete it -I'm not that much of an idiot to chuck it out completely ...yet. As I learned from a friend,

"It's always good to have back up."

"It didn't feel like Eid."

"It didn't feel like Eid," they complained.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

We had spent the day going to Chuck E. Cheeses, where they got to play the games minus the crowd, and redeem their receipts for prizes, visited T and S, and entertained the brothers the whole afternoon, plus they got to goof around with Ammu B from afternoon till evening.

"There were no women," they replied.

I sighed. I had decided, for this year, that we were not going to invite both brothers and sisters because of Baby Z's bad case of eczema. His eczema is so bad that it's all over his body, unlike S's (and I had considered S's eczema to be the worst of all three of them), and it seems that it flares up, complete with hives due to unknown causes, which I have yet to discover. If I were to invite the sisters, it would just be too hectic with me having to nurse him in between entertaining people, and I wouldn't be able to just put him down anywhere (for dust mites or any other foreign particles might be the cause of his hives). It's simply easier for my husband to just invite the brothers. Plus, we already have too much ants upstairs in the kids' room (where we never had them before) that I didn't want us to eat upstairs (which would be the case were we to invite both the brothers and the sisters). The logistics just weren't working out with Baby Z's eczema.

This year's eid however was the most relaxing for me. While hubby entertained the brothers downstairs, and the kids played with Ammu B, I slept with Baby Z in our room. Sure, I had to bustle in the kitchen before, but once the pulut kuning and rice were done, I was home free.

All these years, Eids have been somewhat of a source of stress for me as I have had to prepare food for our guests the night before, most times even cooking after Fajr on the Eid day, rushing to the Eid prayers and rushing back home to receive the guests. Then, we would also be rushing to Chuck E. Cheeses with the kids so they could have their fill of Eid, which is exclusively for them. So it rather surprised me to hear them complaining that this year's Eid didn't feel like Eid.

"Our house last year was brighter, this year it's darker. There were not a lot of people."

Well, I guess, we have gotten the kids used to having a LOT of people over on Eid day, such that when we had people over so that they all have enough room to sit, the kids considered it 'not Eid enough'.

Eid Mubarak! (be it Friday or Saturday)

To those who drop by who are Muslims, we wish you

EID MUBARAK!

Taqabbal Allahu Minna wa minkum

May Allah accept it from us and from you, Ameen.

10 Simple Pleasures - Belated tag response

I noticed this a while ago, but I forgot to accept the tag. My brain told me I had done it but apparently I hadn't. Sorry UmmJunayd! :P

Here we go:

1. Waking up every morning knowing I don't have to go anywhere I don't want to (like school & work)
2. Waking up every morning knowing I can go anywhere I want to (like the library)
3. Waking up every morning knowing I am my own boss at my own home
4. Knowing I have the ni'ma of being able to sleep (let's just say I sorely needed to sleep during contractions during labor and it made me appreciate the simple pleasure of being able to nod off to sleep)
5. Knowing I have the ni'ma of being able to swallow food and enjoy them (know where this comes from ? you guessed it! morning sickness)
6. Hearing hubby park his bike right out the window, and knowing he's back home for the day
7. Waking up every day knowing my children are still alive and safe at home
8. Making Baby Z laugh
9. Being able to nurse my children
10. Knowing that I still have the use of my faculties

Without sickness there is no appreciation for health. Without death there is no appreciation for life. Everything 'bad' is a good from Allah. I just realized that today as I embark on a new journey in our homeschooling venture. Without the hassle and difficulty I am encountering homeschooling three kids while caring for a nursing baby with a bad case of eczema which requires my constant attention, I would never have been where I am now : considering ditching OHVA for traditional homeschooling. May Allah make it easy.

Now, I have to tag 3 people, eh?

Let me see...

Elsa, Aeryn, Roza.

Way Behind

I'm way behind in posting our daily Ramadan activities, but our staircase now looks merry, ready for Eid.

Last Ramadan, I wasn't able to do anything with them due to incessant vomitting, so this year, I rebounded with the help of Allah, and made sure I make their Ramadan memorable. It's not that easy, with a nursing baby who wakes up at suhoor time.

After Fajr, I had to nurse him and put him back to sleep. Our morning routine goes like this:

1. Suhoor
2. Fajr
3. Individual reading of the Quran, timed
4. Sub'ee (review Juz Amma in a fun way)*
5. Ramadan Crossword Puzzle

We're usually done around 8-9 am, suhoor being at around 5 am.

* I figured that the kids would come to me with long faces were I to review the surahs in a normal way, so with a ball, we did 'Musical Ball' (without the music of course). I would close my eyes, and they would pass the ball around. Baby Z would usually be either nursing, or propped up on my lap watching them with keen interest. Whenever I felt like it I would say

"Stop!" and whoever has the ball would be asked to recite a surah of my choosing. I could usually hear who the ball goes to, so I would sometimes on purpose say "Stop!" when I know the ball is in a particular person's hand. (I think they know this too - smart kids mashaallah)

I started timing their reading of the Quran after realizing that I used to spend about an hour per person, just having them read one page. With the timer, they have motivation to do less dawdling. Alhamdulillah.

Usually, by the time we finish sub' ee, Baby Z would either be fussing, ready to sleep, or already asleep in my arms. When we pray Fajr, he would be up and kicking excitedly. Most times, by the time we're done with sub'ee I am usually tired and distracted by Baby Z's fussing, but so far, only once did I delegate the job of making sure they do the Ramadan Crossword Puzzle activity.

We have less than a week now inshaallah, and so far, I have stuck to my goals for Ramadan, where the Quran and kids are concerned alhamdulillah. May Allah give me strength and patience to continue doing so, for it's really a huge challenge every morning. This perked me up though:

"Ummi, you're nicer in Ramadan," said N.

Either it's because I'm too tired, or I'm free from the evil whispers of the Shaytaan.

Sawm - The Pillars of Islam

What is the Arabic term for 'fast'?

"Huh?"

"It starts with S?"

"Ramadan?"

"Nope. Recite the buniyyal Islam hadith and you'll find the answer, or the kutiba ayat," I said.

They recalled the hadith and a few moments later I heard,

"Oh! Sawm?"

"Is it sawm, ummi?"

I nodded and they filled in the puzzle.

For this day, we did the five pillars of Islam. I gave an analogy of a tent, the middle pole being Shahadah and the rest being salat, zakat, sawm and hajj.

"What if we're too poor that we cannot go to hajj?"

"Say the hadith again," I said.

"...manistatta'tu 'alaihi sabeela."

"It means, for whoever can afford to go."

"But the rest of the stuff we cannot leave, ever. "

"What does the shahadah mean?" I asked them. I wondered how much they retained.

"That we believe in Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," S replied. (SAW)

"That Allah is the only god worthy of worship. Because guess what, the kuffar at the time of the prophet SAW also believed in Allah."

I expounded on the concept of worship of one god and talked about how the Arabs during the time of the jahiliyyah believed in Allah, but also worshipped idols.

We also talked about how Abu Bakr declared war on the people who refused to pay zakat, implying that one who does not pay zakat is dangerously stepping outside the fold of Islam.

Battle of Badr

Today's crossword puzzle answer was Battle of _______. (Badr)

"H, get the History book in my room, and S, get Raheeq Makhtum from the shelf downstairs," I ordered.

I was not feeling too chirpy this morning. Probably due to lack of sleep or lack of food. Baby Z's been nursing a lot, a session could last to an hour. Hubby was worried about me fasting in Ramadan, but I insisted that I had done it three times before, so it should be okay. And Alhamdulillah, my milk supply (I feel) has actually increased rather than dwindling this Ramadan.

However, Baby Z also persisted nursing at the wrong times, (or maybe it's the best times, Allah knows best); during iftar, before I could eat a full meal, and sometimes during suhoor. I always end up feeding him for about half an hour to 45 minutes after praying salatul maghrib, and only after that do I get to eat my meal. It has been a pretty hectic Ramadan this year, but I feel a truly blessed one inshaallah.

I read from Raheeq Makhtum, after S gave up on trying to comprehend the writing style. I have to admit, the first few times I read the older version of Raheeq Makhtum, I had to force myself to concentrate to understand it. However, I did always manage to shed tears at the telling of the death of Hamzah Ibn Abdul Mutallib each time. H meanwhile, read Volume 1 of History of Islam. I had told him to look up battle of Badr in the Table of Contents, and while I read, he read. Several times he interrupted my reading with,

'The prophet SAW threw sand,"

and

"Ummi, Abdul Rahman bin Awf and Omayya were friends? How can they be? Omayya was Bilal's old master and Abdul Rahman bin Awf was Muslim."

I was having trouble concentrating despite my recent training in speed reading (I have several stacks of library books about homeschooling and Montessori in my living room, and I have been reading them while nursing Baby Z). Apparently, H is devouring the material more intently than I was. I had to tell him,

"Shh, let me read this first."

When I was done reading, I called them, and narrated the story of the Battle of Badr. As i got to the part where Ubaidullah was seriously injured in the one-on-one combat with the kuffar, H interjected,

"Yeah, I read that too."

All throughout my narration, H kept interjecting, which is a good thing, since it means that he can now read History of Islam while comprehending it by himself. It also surprised me that the names of the sahabah stuck with him immediately. I had trouble remembering who each was. Maybe the Quran memorization did expand his memorization capability. Subhanallah.

I am a Control Freak

I was groggy, and Baby Z needed nursing. Hubby was on FootyTube. I handed him the teaching job for the day.

"Tell Abi to teach you about it. He can google it," I said, when they came to me after trying to answer the day's puzzle. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

Call me a control freak, but I couldn't sleep, despite being so sleepy. Baby Z had already fallen asleep, so it was a very good time for me to get some rest, but I worried about hubbynot performing up to par.

I got out of bed. Hubby was perched on top of the stairs watching the kids try to spell Rayyan. My sleepiness vanished.

"Ok, go write something about it," said hubby.

"No...you have to teach us!" they exclaimed in unison.

I exclaimed my protest too. Ascertained. I was not going to get that sleep.

He went back to his FootyTube to google and I went back to bed, trying to put some trust in hubby. However, I couldn't help eavesdropping.

"Ahh! I have something to tell them," I said to myself, recalling what we learned in Rays of Faith about the doors of Jannah.

Again, I got out of bed.

"Oh kids, that door, Rayyan, only the people who fast a lot can go through them, no one else can. So it's special that way, because the other doors are not specialized like that. Why do you think so?"

"Because it's hard to fast," answered S.

"Some people can fast a lot, some people are better at something than others. Some can pray more, some can give charity more, and this door is only for those whose specialty is being able to fast a lot," I continued.

Done! I went back to bed, leaving hubby to tell them whatever it is he wanted to tell them. I had conveyed what I wanted to convey regarding that topic, which I know hubby didn't know.

As I lay down, Baby Z stirred and opened his eyes. Seeing me, he smiled. Great!

S heard him babbling, took him, and I tried to sleep, my mind at peace. As for hubby and the kids, they did 'the ten people who were guaranteed jannah'. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Lailatul Qadr

There is a special night in Ramadan called Lailatul ____.

Of course, the surah, the meaning of each ayat are talked about.

The knowledge of it being taken away by Allah.
The signs that it occurred - the dim sun.

"I saw a sun like that once, when I was in school," I told them.

They came up with :

Taqwa

Allah commanded us to fast so we can attain _______.

We read, well I read the ayah:

.

183:

Muhsin Khan: O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V.2:2). "Why did Allah tell us to fast?" "So we can feel how the hungry people feel," H answered. "Well, actually, that's not why we're told to fast," I began, and talked about taqwa, and what it is.

They came up with:

Iqra? Alaq?

For a while they struggled to figure out what the name of the surah is.

"Surah Iqra'!"

"No?"

"Oh! Alaq! Alaq!"

"Is it Alaq?"

I nodded.

"Ok, come here," I motioned for them to come sit around me. I was nursing Baby Z.

It seems that everybody wants to participate, yes, including the littlest one, at iftar and suhoor time.

"Bring me tafseer ibn Kathir from my room, on the table," I said.

We talked about:

the surah was the first surah to be revealed, but not all of it
Abu Jahl wanted to stomp on the prophet's saw neck when he was making sujud, but was chased away by the angel of torment
how the kuffar did all kinds of things just because the Muslims prayed

When I concluded, they exclaimed in unison,

"Oh, I want to do the fire one!"

"No, I want to do that!"

Well, I guess they all did that.

Day 10- Talhah Ibn Ubaidullah

He missed the Battle of Badr because he was spying on he Quraish's caravan.

Answer: Talhah

We covered:

What he did during the battle of Uhud
His right arm was paralyzed
His injuries brought him the name "The Living Martyr"
He missed the battle of Badr but it was as if he participated
He was one of the ten companions promised Jannah

H had a soccer game, so he only fasted for a quarter of the day. His skills had improved significantly from last year, much to hubby's pleasure and surprise. Even an unseasoned soccer spectator like me was able to discern the improvement.

Stand in Coach

We arrived at the field in good time. Since H's lady coach wasn't there, hubby asked the assistant coach if he could join him on the coach side of the field. They had changed this from last year, where the coaches would be on the same side as the parents.

S, N, Baby Z and I strolled on over to the parents' side of the field. The girls spread out our pink picnic blanket and took out their books.

"I hate soccer games, they're boring," N complained.

They didn't actually want to tag along, but we couldn't very well leave them home alone, since I want to watch H's soccer game.

While N lay on her tummy, and began to write her story (she has composed so many stories, fit for publication, and yes, I am her mother, but I really think she is talented in that area), I scanned the the coach's side for hubby. He was sitting with H's team.

The game started, and as I watched, I saw hubby doing his thing at each and everyone of H's soccer games ; shouting as loud as he could to 'coach' H's moves. I whispered to S,

"S, did you know Abi's on that side?"

"Yes, good. At least he's not shouting," she replied, not even looking up from her book.

I chuckled. Yeah right. He was still shouting, just not right behind us as usual.

I could still hear him shouting,

"H, go! No whistle!"

"H, stay!"

"H, look up, look up!"

"Ok H, line! line!"

It tickled me to see him so animated. I guess it's not easy being a soccer player himself, and seeing his own son play on the field. He just had to do his thing, I suppose.

H played in the first quarter, and sat out in the second quarter. Even when H was not playing, hubby would still shout out to some of H's team members.

Just before the third quarter began, I saw hubby asking the assistant coach the name of a boy that was in H's team. The boy was one of the defenders. Then, to my utmost horror, I saw the coach gesturing for hubby to go in the field. I could barely believe my eyes! For all the shouting he has done, he's finally being rewarded ?

He went in, and mashaallah, he did his thing, only this time, with more animation, since he was able to move around and direct the team to make their moves. Even to an unseasoned soccer spectator like me, I could see that his being in there was good for the team. The defense moved forward each time the offense fell back (which seldom happened before), and after watching some of hubby's games, I think this is how he plays it. And befittingly also, his position is the defense, so it's not surprising that he's well versed in the tricks of the defense.

I watched with a wide grin on my face. After a while I whispered to S again, (the girls were unperturbed by the fact that their father was acting as coach, for they continued to do their thing; reading and writing)

"S, do you know that Abi is in the field?"

"Yeah, I think the kids are confused. Because one time Abi said, 'Get the gray and the girl just stood there,'" she replied.

I laughed. I did wonder if the kids understood hubby's jargon, but I think they did. H's team was really flourishing too. Their really good and did really great as a team. H, compared to last year, has improved a LOT. Even hubby was surprised (and even though he's H's father, he's pretty hard on H when it comes to soccer, and Quran for that matter).

Hubby reminded me of H's first ever soccer game; he had stood like a statue in the middle of the field, wringing his hands. You'd never know this was the same kid moving about so skillfully on the field!

Well, the score was 4-0, H's team being the 4. By the way, the assistant coach graciously offered hubby to coach for the final quarter too. On the way home, I remarked,

"I think Abi's happy today because he didn't have to shout so much from the sidelines."

To him, I said,

"Maybe the coach let you in because he figured, 'better let him do all that shouting in the field!'"

I wonder if hubby's going to be in the field again for the next two games. We'll see.

EID AL FITR

"We found it!"

Sure enough they did. I had struggled to complete those two pieces as Ramadan approached, and had had to use hubby and the kids as my sounding board.

"I finished it. S please read it and let me know what you think," I pleaded her to critique my pieces.

She's a pretty good critic too. I don't remember what she said exactly, but she gave me feedback that helped me fine tune the pieces.

H read too, and N plain refused.

"It's boring," she said.

"I only like the balloons and slide thingy part."

"What do you like about it?" I asked them when prompting for feedback.

"The facts," replied H.

"I don't like the Moving Holiday that much, I like the Eid one," said S.

"The ending is weird, Ummi," was one of S's feedbacks.

As I fiddled with my intros, I asked her opinion.

"I think that one's better," she said.

"Yeah, that one's weird," H chipped in, and they giggled.

I sent the refined pieces to hubby so many times for critique, such that even after I told myself I was done with it, he came home and gave me more suggestions and feedback for the pieces.

During the course of writing 'The Moving Holiday', I discovered that the Islamic calendar is the only true lunar calendar. All this while I had thought that the Chinese used the lunar calendar too, but it turned out that they and the Jews use the solar-lunar calendar, not a totally lunar calendar. It's also interesting to realize that Allah mentions this in the Quran, in Surah At Tawbah. I never knew that before.

Well, according to the lunar calendar, S is already 11, and N just turned 9 yesterday in the Gregorian calendar. Nine years ago in the Gregorian calendar yesterday, I gave birth to my biggest baby ever so far, at 7 lbs 1.5 oz, yet she is the tiniest now.

Babbling to Myself

I wiped down the kitchen counter, and babbled about how our old van could have told its own story (previous post). So caught up I was in my made up story that I failed to hear S telling me something. I believed I was talking to hubby, who should be in the living room playing with Baby Z.

I was still talking when I made my way to the dining table, only to discover that hubby had gone upstairs, leaving me babbling to myself!

"I told you he went upstairs, but you didn't hear me!" S said, laughing.

I stood there open-mouthed, incredulously feeling indignant and tickled.

"Wha..?" I began to say.

"Abi went upstairs but told us to shush," S continued, laughing at me.

"He left me talking to myself??" I said.

"Never mind, I'll go and shout in his ears upstairs," I told S, and I began to laugh too.

I crept the stairs, and S and N followed suit.

So, while hubby gave Baby Z his bath in the bathtub, I stood outside the bathroom and orated my story. Whether they want to or not, they're listening to it.

The Blue Van

I used to transport people to and fro. It was pretty dull. One day, a family of five visited me. They test-drove me, and immediately took me. I was elated. Now life was finally going to get interesting. They have kids!

I was immediately packed with multitudes of belongings. So packed that I thought I was going to throw up. The 'Ummi' said,

"It looks like a can of sardine."

I felt like one.

They drove me all the way south, through the Appalachian mountain range, all the way to Georgia. The three kids gave me an interesting life. two of them played scratching games all the way to Georgia that the boy developed a dimple on one cheek. There we lived for about a year. 'Ummi' drove me a lot, mostly we went to the library and Jo Ann.

On the way to the mall one Sunday, my right tire blew with a very loud pop. We veered off the highway. I fought hard to stay upright so they won't get hurt.

Then, they packed me up again, but this time, the boy didn't ride in me. Instead, he rode with 'Abi' in the U Haul truck while the girls and 'Ummi' rode in me. We went back north, through the Appalachian mountain range again. 'Ummi' wasn't too happy driving all the way up the mountain. I could sense her nervousness in the way she stepped on the accelerator.

I could hear S saying,

"Falling rock, Ummi?" as she saw the signs along the way up the mountain.

"Yes," said 'Ummi' , and I could sense her shuddering.

We reached Ohio and here we stayed for quite a while. They used me relentlessly. One winter, they brought me to the east coast. I was really tired, that one of my tire blew while they were on their way to a friend's house at night. Poor them, they didn't have a cell phone and while 'Abi' changed the tire in the dark and sleet, the rest of them stood outside and got drenched. On the way back to Ohio, I tried my hardest to keep from falling apart. My parts were clanking. I'm sure they were scared I would break down on the way home. I didn't disappoint them. They arrived home safely.

Sadly, I have grown too old for them. I keep hearing the kids saying,

"We need a new van!"

The back door was broken, and could only be opened from the outside, and only 'Abi, S and H could open it. My body parts grew worse in the clanking department, and I was even emitting a burning smell. I often heard 'Abi' and 'Ummi' discussing my condition. Worry was the utmost in their voices.

One day, they drove me to the northen part of town to see another van. They liked it, and 'Ummi' drove us home. 'Abi' drove the other van home. Ahh....it's only a matter of time then, before my fate was sealed.

"The junk yard was willing to pay 300," said 'Abi'.

I heard them discussing selling me. 'Abi' took pictures of me. I stood as proudly as I could. I had served this family well, except for the two incidents of the blown tires.

Then a man came to look me over, and he made up his mind right then and there. He wanted me. I felt sorrow seeping inside my body parts, clank and all. This was it. I was going home with this burly man. He looked nice, but I rather preferred the family.

Today, I had the chance to visit my family again. As I sat there parked in front of their apartment, with a long ladder on my back, I looked up and spied four faces looking out the window. If only they knew how happy I was to see them again, and if only I could wave and let them know how much I miss them. I could hear H's loud excited chatter. I heard something like,

"ah! he changed it! the windshield! and there's a curtain in the back window!"

I could feel love in his voice. They still love me!

As my new owner drove me away, I took one last look at the family I have been serving for 6 years, and tried to stifle back my tears. I will miss Baby Z's wails, N's non-chalant manner, S and H's quarrel. I will miss them all.

The Sword of Allah

"Khaleed!"

The 'poison' gave it away. All excited they clambered onto my bed where Baby Z was stationed comfortably.

"Ooh! wait! wait! I wanna write the facts!"

I waited. They came back with notebooks each. Amazing! I didn't even tell them to write notes, but they're doing it on their own.

I waited as they comfortably seated themselves on my bed, Baby Z in the center, looking up around him at the faces of his 'sibs' (that's what they dub themselves to each other now).

I began by telling them of Khaleed's reputation as a warrior. Battle of Uhud followed naturally, and then we went on to how he became Muslim. I skimmed the battles he led and won and went straight to his death, and how he longed to be martyred.

By the end of my storytelling session, they each had a solemn look on their faces. I knew then that it was a succesful learning session, alhamdulillah!

"Look at my notes," said N, handing me her well written notes, neat, with drawings.

"Here's mine but it's not as neat as hers," offered H.

"I didn't write any. It was too fast," said S.

"Well, you know what. You don't have to take notes with writing. You can draw if you need to. As long as you understand your notes, that's enough," I said.

I had stumbled across a style of learning that allows the students to take notes with pictures. Traditional school systems require the traditional note taking, but the fact is, people learn differently, and what may seem as doodling to one person may actually be note taking to another. I saw an example. It was actually pretty ...cool.

As usual , I let them off to make their gallery entries while I tended to Baby Z who needed nursing.

Bad Instructions

David spent between $8 and $16. What two things did he buy?

H's answer was an item that costs $15.99. As I corrected his work, I pointed out his mistake.

"Oh!! Argh! They asked it wrong!"

He went away stomping in anger.

I was speechless. I guess I kind of agree with him.

Later on, I was making Kuih Sagu, and was continuously stirring the thickening tapioca pearls. There were still bits that were not translucent (a sign that they're not cooked yet). So I lept stirring. After a while I employed little hands to do the arduous stirring for me.

"How come you don't know when it's done?" asked H when I told him that I had made it before but it didn't turn out good because there were uncooked bits in it.

"Well the recipe said to stop when it's translucent, but it didn't say that there might be some that won't be translucent so I took it all out," I explained.

"Hmm, bad instructions," he said.

I had to stifle a laughter. I always thought some recipes are lacking in explanations that would have helped avoid disaster. It's only through repeated and persistent tries that I have been able to make some traditional Malaysian desserts, after years of experience in the kitchen. One time, I realized that the reason my Apam Balik didn't turn out well was because I didn't put enough grease in the mold.

Our Kuih Sagu turned out good tasting, but lacking in structure. Instead of being sliceable, it was spoonable. However, now know that you just have to keep stirring as you pour the washed and trained tapioca pearls into the pot of boiling sugared water. The kids loved it.

Next try (inshaallah) : kuih lopes.

If it doesn't turn out, I know what H will probably say, "Bad instructions."

Day 11- Uthman Ibn Affan

Even the angels are shy from him.

Answer: Uthman

It was Sunday and I didn't have enough sleep on Saturday because we had went to H's soccer game early in the morning, and I had stayed at the masjid from Zuhr till Asr, so they practically read about Uthman on their own from Uthman Bin Affan.

When I woke up, these were on the wall.

Later on I did rehash with them the event where the prophet SAW straightened himself up when Uthman knocked, which was when the prophet SAW said to Abu Bakr ,

"How can I not be shy from one whom even the angels are shy from?"

Day 12 - Abdullah Ibn Abbas

Abdullah Ibn ___ was very intelligent and wise. The prophet SAW made dua for him to be blessed with knowledge when he was young.

Answer: Abbas

I drew a rough family tree of the prophet SAW from Abdul Mutallib, his sons; Hamzah, Abi Talib, Abu Lahab, Abbas, Abdullah and then to his grandsons; Muhammad SAW, Abdullah, Ali, and Jaafar.

Then I made a family tree of them from hubby's dad, to his sons; hubby and Ammu I; and then to them; S, N, H, J, Z and we imagined that Ammu I had a son named Ahmad.

We talked about the relationship of Abdullah Ibn Abbas to Muhammad SAW and Abbas to Muhammad SAW, just like them and Ammu I and the imaginary Ahmad (hubby's brother and my siblings need to get married real soon, even if only to give our kids some cousins to call their own).

We also talked about how Hamzah, Muhammad SAW's uncle was the same age as his nephew. For that, we imagined hubby getting a baby brother at the same time that we had Baby Z. Naturally it seemed hilarious to them to have an uncle of the same age or even younger.

They read from Child Companion Around the Prophet SAW.