Challange: Desgin a Masjid (mosque) using different materials!

Earth Puzzle Extension

Here is an extension with the World Puzzle.  While S was reviewing the names of the continents, N used the puzzle to create her own piece of art.

The continents are color coded for easy recognition and memorization.

North America - Orange
South America - Pink
Africa - Green
Asia - Yellow
Europe- Red
Australia - Brown
Antarctica - White

Prayer by Mr. Sherman Jackson

"The great Spanish Muslim, Ibn Hazm, once wrote that the most consistent feature of human life is anxiety. Anxiety, he argued, traversed race, gender and social status, all religions, cultures and philosophical commitments.

In every society, those who are privileged are anxious about preserving, and perhaps augmenting what they have, be it wealth, health, good relationships or spiritual fulfillment. Those who are dispossessed, sickly, lonely or unfulfilled, on the other hand, are anxious about obtaining what they do not have.

All humans, however, instinctively recognize that something beyond their intelligence, good looks and social station will determine all of this. For all are aware that there are powerful people who have frail bodies or horrible relationships and that the unintelligent often acquire many times the riches of the intelligent.

Most of my private prayers and supplications (du'a) are part of my personal response to this cosmic anxiety, my way of tendering a cosmic "Thank You," on the one hand, and a cosmic "Please" on the other.

Beyond this, however, there is a canonical prayer (salah) that I offer at least seventeen times a day. This prayer reinforces the essence of my Islamic religiosity by reminding me that cosmic human anxiety is neither an accident nor an epiphenomenon, and that this basic feature of the human condition can never be overcome, but only prudently managed through a sincere relationship with God. This prayer also is the first chapter of the Qu'ran and it goes like this:

* Praise be to God, the Lord of being and becoming.
I recognize my contingency; every creature has a creator. And I recognize the grandeur of my Creator.
* The All-Merciful, the Mercy-Giving.
I have been given much that I have not earned. How do I repay this cosmic debt? There is still more that can be earned. What will I do to earn it?
*Master of the Day of Judgment.
It matters how I live my life and how I respond to my cosmic anxiety and my cosmic debt; for I shall have to account for it all. Have I repaid my cosmic debt?
* Only You do we worship and only Your ultimate aid do we seek.I seek Your favor, even in fulfilling my debt to You. For I know that by myself I am not always selfless, courageous, wise or even strong enough to do the right thing. I seek Your aid, however, not through my own designs but by trying to live up to Your expectations, by worshiping You.
* Show us the straight path.
Guide me to the right responses to my cosmic anxiety and my cosmic debt. And inspire me to live by these right responses.
*The path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your favor.
I recognize that it is a bounty to be guided. And I recognize that granting me this recognition is among Your greatest bounties.
* Not the path of those who incur Your wrath.
Those who seek to cover rather than confront their cosmic anxiety or their cosmic debt, who believe themselves to be self-sufficient, either out of ignorance or simply because they want to remain self-serving.
* Nor those who go astray.
Who recognize their cosmic anxiety and their cosmic debt but who delude themselves with the idea that they, rather than You, can define what will earn Your pleasure.

At least seventeen times a day, at intervals spreading from dawn to night, I offer this prayer, as mandated by my religion. In the midst of all the daily threats and boosts to my ego, perhaps the point of this repetition is to keep me from 'forgetting' my contingency and my cosmic debt.

Forgetfulness, however, will always be with me, lurking behind every little accomplishment and every failure. This is why I must ever seek refuge in the remembrance supplied by prayer.
And God knows best."

- Sherman Jackson (The link to this post isn't working anymore)

On Faith - Sherman Jackson

Finality of Form

Finality of Form

 

 

"A triangle is a triangle, and nothing evolves into a triangle; until a triangle becomes a triangle, it is not a triangle. So if we have three loose lines that gradually meet, even if there is one micron of separation, that is not a triangle. Only a triangle is a triangle. And life forms also have a finality of their own."

 - Seyyed Hossein Nasr

How to Be... (Keri Smith)

Random Science Experiments

 

How does a Diya work?

(Diya, Cotton Ball, Ghee)

 

 

 

Where does the water go when a plant is watered?

(Carnations, Baby food jars, Food coloring)



 

What's making the balloon float?

 

What happens if you close the vent?

 

 

Watching water travel through paper

 

Making Concoctions??  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linear Counting - 3 year old

In no particular order, these pictures are just a glimpse of some of the activities presented and mastered in an Early Childhood Montessori Classroom.

FREE Du'a Posters

Mini-Mumin Dua Posters

Our FREE Du'a Posters are an easy way to help remind your child of when and where to make
the appropriate supplication! Just print out and post at convenient locations around your home. Each poster corresponds to a title in our Du'a Series storybooks, please see the associated title
for details related to that supplication.  Visit our Bookstore if you would like to purchase any of
the titles in the series.

Is It Really Possible to Love Too Much?

[...]

Creating Weakness

"You may have heard the story of the little boy who watched a butterfly struggling to emerge from its chrysalis. He felt sorry that the butterfly had to struggle and thought he would help by opening the chrysalis. The butterfly fluttered a few feet, then drifted to the ground and died because it did not have the muscle strength to keep flying – strength that would have been developed through its struggle to leave the chrysalis. This struggle to learn and grow is built into the life story of most of the animal kingdom for a very good reason. It is meant to be built into the human story as well. How often do we take the role of the little boy and rescue our children from struggles that will help them build the strength they need to handle the even bigger struggles they will certainly encounter in their lives? And why do we do it? These questions will be answered in greater detail in later chapters, but a simple answer is that even the most loving parents lack knowledge about the long‐range effects of what they do.

Knowledge (and Lack Thereof)

The little boy would not have followed his emotions if he had understood that he was hurting rather than helping the butterfly. Much of what we do is due to lack of knowledge – another key to unlocking the mystery of loving too much. We don’t know

of any parents who would rescue or overprotect their children if they truly understood that they are doing more harm (in the name of love) than good.

We know that parents who “love too much” have very good intentions. However, they may not be aware that their loving intentions do not produce the results they hope for. Their children may be missing opportunities to learn to truly value themselves (instead of feeling loved only when they are pampered), and to value others (instead of loving only those who are willing to pamper them). Too many parents do not realize that when they overprotect and/or rescue their children (to protect them from difficult situations and hurt feelings); they are leading their children to develop the belief that they are not capable, resilient problem‐solvers." [...]

Complete article here...

Method Play - April

April

 

Download Here

 

Who was Prophet Nuh/Noah (as)?	How many ‘Alhumdlilahs’ can you say in 120 seconds?	Find 10 pairs of opposites. Does Allah (swt) have an opposite?
Write or narrate a letter to you grandparents.	Clean your room. Give 5 things away.	Count the clean socks in the laundry by twos. Sort them first!
Play the silence game: sit quietly for 3 minutes. Use a timer.	Record the time for the sunset for one week.	Host a party for your friends. How will you serve them?
Learn about Angels. List 5 things you know about them. Share with a friend.	Estimate how long it will take you to get ready for bed. Have someone time you.	Where do you live? What is the name of your city, province, country, and continent?

 

 

 

 

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Practical Life - Toddler to Pre School

 

 

More Practical Life Resources - Click Here