Friday 30 August 2013

Sticker Groups

About a month ago, the little girl started peeling and pasting stickers on her own. I thought that that was itself a developmental milestone that she had achieved. The pink, blue and purple stickers were pasted on randomly and I didn't think anything about it. I was just glad that she could do it independently and was totally absorbed at it.


Peeling and pasting stickers

Her first sticker craft

And then about two weeks later, I wanted to occupy her with some sticker activity again since she loved it the first two occasions with the stars. I took out a marine sticker sheet with sharks, angelfish, turtles, starfish and whales on it for her to paste around the dolphin she had painted.

At first, I noticed a few whales that were clustered together and a few starfish on the other side of the paper. I asked her why she did not want to spread them around the paper. But she continued at it and was totally absorbed so I let her be while I continued with some cutting for her craft. Then after a while, when I realised what she was doing, I was so so glad that I had not stopped her. She was grouping the animals into groups around the dolphin with very clear clusters for each group. Subhanallah! 

Clusters of marine animals around the dolphin

Then a week later I tried it again. My husband had painstakingly cut the tarantula which the little girl had stamped with her animal stamps. I thought since I have bugs stickers, I could let her paste the stickers again. I wondered if it was just a fluke or if she would group the stickers again. But right from the get go, and I observed her this time round, it was clear what her goal was. The butterflies, dragonflies, spiders and other bugs were clearly grouped around the spider in clear clusters.

Clusters of bugs around the tarantula

Before all these, I had in the past tried to do some grouping of objects with her according to colours or types which she was never too keen. And I didn't want to push it when she didn't show interest and so I left it at that. But this discovery with her sticker groups tells me something very profound - that a child will do something when he/she is ready. It's not that I don't already know that or have not read that before but I need to be reminded and the little girl provides me with constant reminders.

Thank you Allah for the reminders. I pray that He keeps me steadfast in my upbringing of the little girl based on my beliefs and principles and that I don't buy into the hype or "norm" of pushing the little girl beyond what is developmentally appropriate for her.

Sunday 25 August 2013

Ramadhan & Eid Reading Corner (Part 1)

Our latest Ramadhan & Eid themed reading corner lasted longer than the usual month as I had let it spill over to the month of Syawal. Although it was longer than usual, I didn't think we did too many activities related to the theme at home. As my daughter is still young (she turned 2 during Ramadhan), I felt what was more important was for me to introduce her to the terms related to Ramadhan and Eid, and expose her to the significant activities that mark the holy month such as fasting, reading the Quran, and going to the masjid, and that is how I have classified my activities for the theme.

Our reading and activity corners were less elaborate this time round due to the nature of the theme. I also did not have much time to prepare. Whether I could observe fasting or not (I am still a breastfeeding mother), I felt that I should devote more time to my worship of Allah s.w.t. So here are our simple corners. Apart from books related to Ramadhan and Eid, I had included Islamic books as well.



Our Ramadhan & Eid reading corner

Books specifically related to Ramadhan & Eid

Our activity corner

Reading the Quran

Ramadhan IS the month of the Holy Quran. It is the month when the Holy Book was sent down by Allah s.w.t. from the seventh Heaven to the first for Angel Jibreel a.s. to impart verses to the Messenger, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., during a span of 23 years. There is no better time than Ramadhan for one to read and learn the Quran. That is not to say that during other months, the Quran should be neglected (reminder to self). In fact, I want the Quran to be a part of my daily life and my daughter's too inshaa Allah.   

Reading together at bedtime

Doing her hijaiyah puzzle

Learning hijaiyah letters while doodling

  Arranging hijaiyah magnetic foam letters (self-directed)

 Using a magnifier to look at the hijaiyah letter on Omar 
(Umar is one of her BFFs) 

Picking hijaiyah letters with tweezers (self-directed)

Chalk with self-adhesive felt borders and craft punch metallic stars 
(She says this is her grandpa reading the Quran)

Going to the masjid at night

Oh how I miss going to the masjid for terawih! I had not gone to the masjid the past two Ramadhan. I had given birth on the fourth day of Ramadhan in 2011, and in 2012, I felt that my girl was too young for me to leave at night with a caregiver. On top of that, my husband was away in Germany for a while during Ramadhan last year. This Ramadhan didn't start quite as rosy as well as my husband had to serve his in-camp reservist for the first two weeks.

But after that, things were much better and I managed to squeeze in a few terawih at the masjid, with and without my husband. I still remember how I felt on the first night I was at the masjid this past Ramadhan. I was so happy that I got to be a guest in the House of Allah s.w.t. that I felt like bursting at the seams with joy. I was overcome with nostalgia too as I remembered my younger (read: single) days when I used to spend time alone at the masjid during Ramadhan. I still recall those days with lots of fondness and I try to console myself that I had the opportunity. There's no point regretting it now that I had not spent more time at the masjid when I had the time and opportunity.

So this act of going to the masjid at night is something I hold close to my heart. When we read books and there were scenes of people going and leaving the masjid at night, I made it a point to stop and talk about it with my daughter. And so the masjid craft we made all had stars to show that it was at night. I called them "Masjid on a starry, starry night". It was during this activity that I found out that the little girl could peel stickers on her own. In fact, she was very good at it! I didn't know it previously as she had always asked me to peel the stickers for her. 


Peeling and pasting the stars


Our versions of "Masjid on a starry, starry night"

Chalk with craft punch stars and cut-out moon

Ink stamps with craft punch stars and cut-out masjid from money packet

Alhamdulillah a group of mothers had planned a qiyam at a masjid on the night of the little girl's birthday. I knew it was the perfect opportunity to bring her to the masjid. Although I found out minutes before leaving for the masjid that the time of the month had come, my bags were packed and so we decided to go ahead with it. I did not want to miss the opportunity to spend a night at the masjid on one of the last ten days. 

At the masjid, the little girl had so much fun with other children and did not sleep till way, way past her bedtime. Around midnight, I went down with her to the main prayer hall to send some food and to meet my husband. We sat at a table by a vending machine, drinking mango juice and eating murtabak, to celebrate the little girl's birthday. Just the three of us at a quiet corner of a masjid yet there was nothing short of perfection in that little celebration. And that's how I shall remember the night/morning that she turned two.


I had intended to publish this in one post but I have been procrastinating and swarmed with lots of work (both in and out of the house) and Eid visiting. So I shall continue the second half of this post another time. 

Note:
The second part of this post can be found here.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Henna Designs

This morning, the little girl woke up, stared out the windows for a while, then asked for the whiteboard. We wiped the board together and then she asked for the markers. After I had gotten the markers, she said, "I want to draw henna like kakak." I knew exactly which "kakak" (elder sister) she was referring to, the one in the book Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns.



So I took the book for her, opened up to the page of the "kakak" with henna designs on her palms, and let the little girl draw. She started with an orange marker, just like in the picture, then went on to other colours. She was concentrating so hard and was at it for quite a while. Although she usually writes and draws with her right hand, she even transferred the marker to her left hand because she wanted to draw on her right hand.



She asked me to join in as well and I obliged. I didn't want to draw too nicely as I did not want to interfere with her efforts so I drew a few flowers and dots on my palm. The little girl even coloured her fingertips, just like in the book, which I found to be hilarious at first, but then I smiled at her observation and wanting to follow closely to the picture.


What a lovely morning it was and I totally love it when she takes the lead when it comes to her play and I am close by to assist, accompany and guide her.

Then later in the day, I read article online and came across this, which totally inspired me:

The right brain, which governs much of our self-regulation, creativity and empathy, can grow throughout life. The right brain grows through full-body experience like rough-and-tumble play, dancing or freelance artistic creation. So at any point, a parent can take up a creative activity with a child and they can grow together.

I'm not saying I'm a creative person because I am far from one, but I have noticed that the more I think of ways to occupy my child with craft or messy play at home, the more I can think of new ways of doing things with her. Initially I thought there are only finite ways of doing things and one day I would hit a brick wall, but I'm grateful that that day has not come yet. Does that mean that the creative part of my brain is growing? I really do hope so!