Travel Scrapbooks – record those memories!

 I have been reflecting about the places I have been blessed enough to travel to. Growing up whenever I went away with my family or with school on trips, my mum would encourage me to do a scrap book about my experience. When I look at them now I am so glad that my mum encouraged me to, as it is so special to be able to remember the experiences and now share them with my children.

One of my favourite scrapbooks is of my skiing trip to Vallorie in the South of France (I went with school). I kept details of daily activities, foods I ate, funny things that happened with my friends, photos of ice sculptures and the ice rink that was an outdoor swimming pool in the summer. I wrote loads and is so funny looking back at my 13-year-old self and the experiences I had.

With my children I have always had the intention to do this, but it has never turned into actual scrapbooks. As we have some extra time on our hands in the current pandemic, we are working on a scrapbook for our trip we made in January 2019 to Saudi Arabia. This was a special trip for us as Muslims to visit Makkah and Madinah.  I kept plane tickets, business cards for hotels and shops and took pictures of the different places that we visited. Each child will be writing about their favourite memories to add to the scrapbook. 

I hope that this is the start of a tradition in our family to document our adventures.

£3.99 from B&M

Some photos of our trip

Our tickets and hotel card

Why making a travel scrapbook is beneficial:

• ·        Children can express themselves without constraints. Using descriptive writing, pictures, materials and more, put onto paper their journey and feelings.
• ·        It can promote organisational skills and creativity. Arranging how things will go on the page and ordering their story.
• ·        Creates memories that can be looked back upon and can be shared with others.
• ·        Allows reflection of new experiences and other cultures.
• ·        Can be a family activity; bonding time to remember special experiences.

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf

A great children’s book with an important message in it about refugees and the reality of the journey and hardships they face when they are forced to flee their homes due to the war and dangers.

 I enjoyed this book as well as my children and finished the last page sobbing, it is truly an emotional roller coaster. My children got into the book quickly and were eager to read it daily to follow the adventure and find out what happens. I would say this book is great for age 8+.

“It is funny, sad and happy all in on book. I like how the bullies do not win and those doing good are the main characters” Son age 11

The story is told in the voice of a 9-year-old girl and it follows her and her three friends as they make friends with the new boy in their class, find out his story and want to help him. Ahmet is the new boy; he is a refugee who ran away from a real war – the ongoing war in Syria. 

 A fair amount of the story is told in the children's school and some of the themes other than the refugee crisis that are touched upon are friendships, bullying and helping others- all things that children can relate too. The book also has a great diversity of characters. 

I think that this book should be in every classroom and is a great book to read aloud or complete in story time. It can lead to so many discussions. My children have been inspired to help refugees and are looking into projects.


One more great thing about the book is that a portion of the money made from each book sale will be donated to charities that help refugees around the world.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

We read this book as a read aloud. All 5 of my children aged 12, 11, 9, 7 and 4 listened.


The book is recommended for ages 8-12 years but as I said all of mine listened and really enjoyed it. As an adult I would look forward to our daily read aloud sessions.

It is heartwarming, exciting and fun; themes such as friendship, helping others and survival make it engaging for all.



This is a survival story essentially about Roz the robot who is stranded on a wild island after the boat that is carrying a cargo of robot is destroyed in a storm. All of the robot are destroyed except for Roz, who is accidentally activated and then has to learn to survive on the island.

Her journey captivates the reader as she has to learn to makes friends with the animals on the island and how to survive. The twist at the end of the book left my children asking for me to buy the next book; The Wild Robot Escapes. We are looking forward to it.

I would highly recommend this book.

What is education for sustainable development and why is it important?

Education for sustainable development (ESD) promotes and teaches the knowledge, skills, understanding and actions that are needed to create a sustainable world for us to live in.

 It includes:

•    Environmental protection and conservation
• Respect and concern for other people in the local community and across the world.
•  Economic sustainability
•  Equality between people – social justice

How to teach it?

Incorporate it into everyday life and demonstrate how it is beneficial for long term of the planet and ourselves. Treat it as a lifestyle and not a ‘subject’. Explain and research what effects are happening as a result of plastic waste (how it is affecting our oceans), over consumerism, food wastage, excessive travel, inequality and the throw away, convenience society we have become.  Create a mindset. 

Teach skill and involve in activities such as:

•                   Sewing
•             Mending and re-purposing clothes.
•             Cooking from scratch
•             Up cycling
•           Cleaning up local areas (litter picks)
•           Recycling
•             Planting and growing plants and food
•            Volunteering for projects to help those less fortunate- (refugees etc)
•           Teach sustainable choices when buying products (Bamboo toothbrushes, not single use)

using household waste to make resources

Learning how to sew on a button 

       

Taking part in a local litter pick 

The Saber Tooth Curriculum (1929) and how is still a metaphor for the current education system

The saber tooth curriculum is a book written by J. Abner Peddiwell containing seven short stories full of satire about the education system. The most well-known is the saber tooth curriculum.

An individual (New-Fist) in his stone age society came up with a curriculum of fish grabbing with bare hands, Woolly horse clubbing and saber tooth tiger scaring with fire to teach the children. These were all relevant at the time and the students developed real skills that were beneficially in their life.

As times changed, the need for the three skills in the saber tooth curriculum were no longer needed and relevant. There were no fish to catch, woolly horses to club or tigers to scare. The cave dwelling society refused to changed its curriculum despite an impending ice age.

 A radical questioned the curriculum “you will have to admit that times have changed. Couldn’t you please try these other more up to date activities? Maybe they have some educational value after all?”

The wise old men were indignant. “If you had any education yourself, you would know that the essence of true education is timeless. It is something that endures through changing conditions like a solid rock standing squarely and firmly in the middle of a raging torrent. You must know that there are some eternal verities, and the saber-tooth curriculum is one of them!”

This story for me is still so relevant in 21^st century UK regarding the current mainstream education system. Some of the points I feel are still important are:

• ·        Schools are teaching in an outdated way, outdated skills and knowledge to students.
• ·        Schools are out of touch, they are not flexible and responding to the emerging needs of the current and future generations.
• ·        School reforms meet residence from many angles.
• ·        Jobs now are looking for a different skill set than what is being taught.

The current generation are dealing with technological advances at a speed that has not been seen before. Information is available at our fingertips through the internet; so is curriculum content that still teaches content to memorise for tests still beneficial?? I would argue it is the same as still teaching saber tooth scarring when the saber tooth tiger became extinct.

I would love to see an education system that focuses on skills that will be beneficial in today’s world.

Skills such as:

•       Critical questioning
•         Divergent thinking
•         Creativity
•         Working collaboratively
•         Experimentation

With the global drivers such as sustainability, demographic change and technical advances we need a generation that will think outside the box creatively to create solutions NOT stay with the same skills that were created for a different time.

Islamic studies quiz for children

Islamic Studies Quiz for children.

It is upon us as Muslims to seek beneficial knowledge and teach it to our children.

This quiz aims to covers the foundations of Islam.

I like to do this quiz at the beginning of Ramadan so can see what areas need revision. 

If you are stuck on any of the questions, I would recommend a book called:

My first Islamic studies Book (Junior Level) by Markaz bin Jabal

1.      What are the 5 pillars of Islam?

2.      What are the 6 pillars of Eman?

3.      What is Ihsan?

4.      What are the 3 categories of Tawheed?

5.      What are the 3 questions you will be asked in the grave?

6.      What are the answers to those 3 questions?

7.      What is the Prophet’s ﷺ full name?

8.      Name 5 of Allah’s names and the meanings.

9.      What did the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ say we should break our fast with?

10.   How many surah’s are there in the Qu’ran? Which was the first Ayah to be revealed?

11.   Name 5 animals that are mentioned in the Qur’an.

12.   What is Tawakkul?

13.    What are the Arabic words for..

·        Straight path =

·        Mankind =

·        The dawn

·        King/master =

·        Patience =

14.   Name 3 major sins.

15.   What is the worst sin?

16.   What should you say when you leave the house?

17.   Who built the Ka’bah?

18.   Where is Allah?

19.   Can you name 10 prophets?

20.   Who were the first 4 caliph’s in Islam after the death of prophet Muhammad ﷺ ?

H

    Below is a PDF you can download and print with the quiz. (To save paper I usually set it print 2 pages on 1 sheet and make it A5 size).

Why I chose to home educate.

Why I chose to home educate.

Below are some of the reasons that I chose to home educate.

v It feels natural. An extension of parenting that allows you to journey with your children as they grow.

v It gives my children the freedom to explore and learn.

v It allowed my children to follow their interests – Child led learning.

v To enable my children to progress at a natural pace for them. No holding back or pushing.

v Gives us the time to develop life skills.

v It encourages learning in the real world with people of all ages and backgrounds.

v Gives us more opportunities to travel and explore the world.

v Took away the pressures of excessive testing and exams.

v There are no time limits of activities and learning that is being enjoyed.

v Children get more 1 -1 time.

v Allows us to enjoy and practice our faith.

v Gives us the opportunity to live as sustainably as possible.

Some bonus reasons my children shared:

v We get to have more experiences.

v If we don’t understand something, we can get it explained in dept lots of times.

v We get to do work on the beach and in the woods.

v I can be myself and not worry what others will think.

v I have more time for my interests.

These are a few of my top reasons. Having a background in teaching I just felt that the classroom was becoming more restrictive to children and teachers. It caters for one type of child who learns in a specific way. This learning style is directed at the ever increasing number of tests and assessments that students are given year upon year. Creativity was not celebrated the way it should be and children are not encouraged to question or be critical. I can still remember at a parents evening when I was told my 7 year old boy asks too many questions. As a teacher I can understand that it is not possible to allowed unlimited questions from 20+ students but as a parents and educator it broke me. That inquisitive nature was being crushed. 

Home education for me was allowing my children an opportunity to learn in a style that suits them, at a pace that suits them, in many different stimulating environments. They have taught me more about teaching than all of my training and education.

It is definitely not the easy option and I cannot possible say if we will be home educating in 5 years from now. Seasons and family needs change and we have to go with the flow. It is not for everyone and I give my children the choice to attend school if they want. Whatever happens, I aim to instill a love of learning in my children and equip them with skills that will help them navigate as they grow up in the 21st century.  

How can we make children enjoy maths??

Maths is one of those subjects that not many children say they enjoy and for many it is a chore or struggle when asked to do maths work. This is the issue for a few of my children and I have been observing them and trying to understand why this is.

One claimed to me just the other day that MATH stands for Mental Abuse To Humans!!
For someone who enjoys maths I was shocked to hear this.

Years ago when I was in school teaching 4 year olds, maths was a fun lesson. We would relate numbers to objects, play games, count objects, make a pretend shop and more. I can hear older children now saying that once they get past a certain age the fun, relatable aspect of maths is gone.

This is where I feel that maths has lost its flare. Children cannot relate maths to the real world. They can't understand how algebra will be useful to them, how fractions will help them later in life. It is here we lose them.

Going through different maths curricula the past few years, I can't help but feel for children. They are boring, repetitive and often don't explain the process enough for understanding to a degree that can be used in their lives. Maths is a core subject and therefore tested regularly from the start of school, for this reason maths techniques are often taught in a way to answer questions on tests, not taught for understanding.

I am trying to make maths fun for my children. I am doing this by relating it to real life and about things that the children are interested in. Teaching fractions just calls out for cooking, sweets and pizza. With 5 children, sharing out portions equally is a skill they all want (to make sure no one gets more!). The children have created a business plan for an entrepreneur fair they are working towards. So many maths skills involved. The thought of making money was a big incentive here.

Some of the ideas we have used to make maths more enjoyable over the past week are:

For my 10 year old working on the mean, median and mode I found creating data around his passions made everything click and made it more enjoyable. Gathering data of the depths certain sea creatures can go allowed him to research animals which he enjoys and compare them to each other.

For my 9 year old working on area, instead of just worksheets; I gave him a tape measure and asked him to work out the area of rooms in the house.

For my 12 year old who was not enjoying algebra, we used algebra and formulae to uncover some fascinating facts about the Burj Khalifa skyscrapper.


Real life relatable maths is the way forward to create engaged students who have skills that will assist them in their lives. Using percentages to teach about savings and money management. Fractions and ratios to help with cooking and meal planning and many more ideas that will help them in the future.