Preparing for Eid and learning about Hajj

Assalamu Alaikum everyone,

As you walk into our school you can probably hear the beautiful sound of takbeer echoing in our hallways.  For the past 5 days we have been filling our idle time with takbeer and tahmeed.

I would like to start off this post by thanking our dear friend Sarah L-B. and her family for a wonderful hajj presentation, may Allah swt reward your efforts.  Sarah brought in a detailed poster that includes the different steps of hajj, some zamzam water for the children to share, and a beautiful replica of the ka'ba.  

Replica of Ka'ba made by Sarah's family

We had a very successful Red Day today, the students brought in a mountain of non-perishable food items mashallah.  Students learned how to spell the word r-e-d, and got to present their red show and tell item.  Thank you to all of you that sent in food donations for the Sadaqa Food Bank, and a big THANK YOU to our wonderful teacher Heba Reyad for arranging for this event.

Mountain of food donated by the Abraar School Elementary School for the Sadaqa Food Bank

Jazakum Allahu Khairan,

Safiah Aghliw
SK Teacher
Abraar School

French Post from Monsieur Said

Assalam alaikoum Dear parents,

You find below what we did in the French class :

1-Introducing a few language forms used to describe oneself (je m’appelle ,  je suis un garçon – je suis une fille- j’ai 5 ans )

2-Improving the pronunciation of ( A – avion – arbre - ananas )  , and  B- (bananes , ballon-  bicyclette. )

3-Learning a song  - Bonjour mes amis -  aujourd’hui c’est lundi , mardi ….

4-Gesture teaching : bonjour, tout le monde, comment ça ca? Ça va bien – Il fait chaud , froid .

. 

5-Reviewing  numbers 1 to 10 .

JAK

Teacher Said

French Teacher coordinator.

A visit from a little pet :)

Assalamu alaikum everyone,

yesterday was a special day in SK2 :) we had a visit from our friend Abdallah's pet guinea pig.  The children had the opportunity to learn about guinea pigs, and they got to pet him and see him sniffing and exploring our classroom.

Thank you so much to Abdallah's family for brightening up our afternoon with this lovely visit.

Duaas, nasheeds, and other resources used in class

Assalamu Alaikum everyone.

Every day the SK2 class goes through various routines.  Here are some of the routines and some of the duaas (supplications) used at different times of the day.

We start off the day by reciting surat Al-Fatiha, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq, and An-naas.  Followed by the following duaa:

"Asbahna wa asbaha almulku lillah, wal hamdulillah.  Allahumma inni as'aluka fi yaumi hatha 'ilman nafi'an"

Before eating snack or lunch, one of the students (the duaa leader), leads the class in the following duaa:

"Allahumma barik lana, feema razaqtana, wa qina 'athaab annaar,  bismillah"

Duaa of the month: 

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي لأَحْسَنِ الأَعْمَالِ وَأَحْسَنِ الأَخْلاَقِ

Allahumma-hdinee li ahsanil-a`maal wa ahsanil-akhlaaq

" O Allah, guide me to the best of deeds and the best of manners"

During snack time, and lunch time, we ask the students to eat in silence for the first 5-10 minutes.  This is done to ensure that the children have enough time to eat, and so that they do not choke on their food.  To help enforce this "silent time", we have been using a visual classroom timer so that the students know when their silent time is over.  This timer is a fun and kid-friendly way to keep track of different activities.  You can find it online at:

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/classroom-timers/

During transition times, we've been enjoying several nasheeds (Islamic songs) in the classroom.  Your children may be humming these songs at home!  Here are their links for your listening pleasure:

Dawuud Wharnsby's "Colours of Islam": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iF6W2jvrEU

also

Dawuud Wharnsby's "Al-Khaliq": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AyxlALzdkU

Jazakum Allahu Khairan for your support and cooperation :)

Safiah Aghliw

SK2 Teacher

Abraar School

SK Schedule 3.0 (Hopefully the last version)

SK Schedule 3.0

Lots of Updates

Assalamu Alaikum,

Alhamdulillah the children are getting better and better at following classroom rules, and routines.

In Islamic Studies this past Friday we talked about du'aa, and we got a chance to each make our own du'aa after our group thuhr prayer.  Please don't forget to send in hijabs & prayer rugs with your children on Fridays.

SK's Fall Trees

In art class we used q-tips as paint brushes to make beautifully coloured fall trees.  While painting we sang the song:

The leaves are falling down.

The leaves are falling down.

Red, yellow, green, and brown.

The leaves are falling down.

During math class we talked about the number five, and how so many things important to us muslims are connected to the number five.  Five daily prayers, five pillars of Islam, and five fingers on our hands.  We are reviewing our numbers to 10, and then we will be beginning our patterning unit insha'Allah.

In language we are starting to focus on beginning sounds, and are doing quick reviews of one letter each day.  

Science has been super fun! Talking about the 5-senses gets us really excited, today we worked on our 5-senses booklet.  We had to identify things that produce an odour, and those that do not.

Please excuse me for removing clear photos of the children from our classroom blog.  Insha'Allah I will find a secure way of sharing photos with you, as I am sure you enjoyed viewing them.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1 - Blankets & pillows will be sent home every 3 weeks for a wash insha'Allah.

2 - If your child is not feeling well, has a fever, or has been ill overnight please do not send them to school.  This will ensure that your child will have the adequate rest needed to recover from their illness, and it will reduce the spreading of viruses & bacteria that are abundant during this time of year.  

3- The schedule has been slightly modified, please check blog for SK2 Schedule Version 3.0.

Jazakum Allahu Khairan for your support,

Safiah Aghliw

SK2 Teacher

A Message from Tr.Salam

Asalamu Alaikum                                                                                              S.K

                                                                                                            Sept , 2014

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I would like to welcome everyone back to the new school year and express some of the excitement that we will be having in Arabic class.

The curriculum this year enables the student to learn the basics of the Arabic language by using different methods. These methods encourage eagerness to participate in class while learning in a fun, social and active context that feels psychologically comfortable and safe.

For our first semester, we will insha Allah cover the following:

·        learning the basic phonetics with the different harakats of the alphabet letters (Alif to Dal);

·        recognizing the different shapes of the same alphabet letter;

·        knowing few words that begin with the same letter;

·        writing the individual alphabet letters correctly;

·        promoting positive Islamic values;

·        improving  thinking skills ; and

·        Practicing oral skills of communication.

The reading and exercise books will remain in the classroom only to be sent home once in a while for you to be able to see your child’s abilities as they progress. You can contact me by email at sbeseiso@abraarschool.com

Salam Beseiso

Arabic Language Teacher 

Writing Wednesday

Assalamu alaikum everyone!

COLLABORATIVE PLAY
We started off our day with some collaborative-play rug activities that included wooden blocks, legos, mega-blocks, and hand-to-eye coordination toys.  This morning activity encourages creativity, cooperation, and sharing.  

JOURNAL WRITING
We are writing!!! Today was our first day writing in our journals :).  The children were very excited to be writing in their very own notebooks.

LIBRARY
We had a wonderful time reading and being read to in the library today.

A big thank you to Tr.Nancy, our wonderful librarian.

  

SHOW & TELL
The children did an amazing job showing and talking about their baby pictures & family pictures.  If your child didn't get a chance to present because you didn't have the time to provide him/her with a photo, please let them draw a picture of their family and they can present that to the class.

GYM
Over the past two days we have been practicing our gym routine.  This involves doing the warm-up, simple exercises, and playing simple games.  The students enjoyed some relay races, and playing duck-duck-goose, and hot potato!

SCIENCE
In science we are starting a thematic unit on the 5-senses.  Today we worked on the sense of smell.  The students brainstormed things that smelled "nice" and "stinky".  Some of the items on the nice included:  flowers, perfume, soap, and popcorn.  Some of the stinky items included: socks, bathrooms, skunks, cats, and doggy doo-doo!  The students also took part in a smelling exercise that involved smelling different items, this included : coffee, vanilla, soap, apples, and tea bags.

Thank you to everyone that sent in snacks for our "snacks bank".  Jazakum Allahu Khairan.

Monday, September 15

Assalamu alaikum everyone!

Alhamdulillah today we had another successful and busy day.  

Some of our highlights from today include:

-Numbers Bingo: The students had lots of fun playing BINGO and reviewing the numbers 1-20.  Our winner was our friend Azlan!!!  The students learned that the important thing about competitive games is to have fun, regardless if we win or lose :)

- Islamic Studies:  "Allah created everything" we learned about some of Allah's blessing that he bestowed on us.  We said "alhamdulillah" that Allah has given us eyes to see with, ears to hear with, mouths to talk-eat-breathe with.  We also repeated "subhanallah" over Allah's creation of the sky, earth, moon, and sun.

-During our morning circle time we discussed rhyming words and the students got to take part in a fun rhyming game. 

“Wibbly wobbly wee, and elephant sat on me.

Wibbly wobbly woo, an elephant sat on you.

Wibbly wobbly wafiah, an elephant sat on Safiah.

Wibbly wobbly wuhammad, an elephant sat on Muhammad.”

REMINDERS:  Tomorrow is Group 1's show & tell, please have your child bring in a baby photo and family photo so that they may present it to the class insha'Allah.

COMPUTER CLASS: Insha'Allah we will be adding a computer class to our schedule in the month of November.  

Have a great evening,

Tr.Safiah Aghliw

SK 2 Teacher

Show & Tell Schedule

SHOW & TELL

Next week we will be starting our Show & Tell Presentations.  Our Show & Tell sessions are usually themed and students are asked to bring in things that fall under a specific topic. 

Show & Tell 1 (Tuesday)	Show & Tell 2 (Wednesday)
Aaminah Abdallah Abdulkarim Abdullah R. Adam Ali Alisha Amine Aya G Ayah O Azlan Barack Bilal Joude	Karim Layan Majd Maryam Mohammed Nilufer Omar Raghad Saleh Sara S Sarah L-B Sumayyah Wafia

DATE	TOPIC
Week of September 15	Baby Picture & Family Picture
Week of September 22	Favourite Stuffed Toy
Week of September 29	Something Red
Week of October 13	Favourite Shirt
Week of October 20	Something Blue
Week of October 27	Something Green
Week of November 3	Anything they want to share

***PLEASE KEEP THIS SCHEDULE HANDY FOR FUTURE REFERENCE***

Learning About Germs!

Assalamu alaikum!

We have been very busy in our SK2 classroom :)

In science we learned about germs, what they are? How they spread?  and how to get rid of them! We did a science experiment involving glitter to show how easily germs spread.

Yesterday's science lesson

In language and math we reviewed the letter Bb, and the number 2.  We are using these two weeks as a diagnostic period to see what level the students are at.  Please be patient with us as we go through this assessment process.  Jazakum Allahu khairan :)

During our library period we got to visit our school library.  Tr.Nancy (our librarian) explained to us some of the procedures of story time.

In gym class we practiced running safely, walking like bears, hopping like bunnies, and we played a nice game of duck duck goose.

Today we got to meet our French teacher for the very first time, the students had a wonderful time learning new French terms with Monsieur Said.

Have a great evening :)

Safiah Aghliw

SK 2 Teacher

Abraar School

Terrific Tuesday

Assalamu Alaikum.

We had a terrific Tuesday today alhamdulillah. Every morning we start off our morning by signing in, this activity is done with the goals of improving penmanship, creating a morning routine, and seeing who is absent even before we call out names for attendance.  Early students also get a chance to strengthen their fine motor skills and exercise their creativity by playing with play-dough.

The students had a fun tracing activity with Tr.Salam during arabic class, they also got to meet Tr.Salam's friendly duck.

During our morning circle time, we discussed the topic of "getting along", and we learned different strategies on how to get along and share.  Students shared some of their experiences on what they do at home to help out their mothers.

Today we had our very first gym class mashallah!  We had lots of fun stretching, and playing a competitive game of "duck duck goose", and "what time is it Mr.Wolf?".

During math we talked about the number 1, and tied it to the topic of the oneness of Allah swt.

Overall we had an amazing day alhamdulillah.

Have a good evening :)

SA

Monday, September 8, 2014

Assalamu alaikum everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend with your amazing children.

Alhamdulillah today we had a super busy day.  Today we had Tr.Hawwa with us instead of Tr.Charmaine, mashallah the children We started off the day by reviewing the letter A, and we had to look for all the letter-A's in our morning message.  The students worked really hard on a letter-A worksheet.  

In Arabic with teacher Salam, the children practiced the Arabic greeting of "assalamu alaikum", and "kaifa alhaal?".  

During Quraan class, Tr.Hoda is working hard to improve the children's pronunciation of the letters in "bismillahi-rahmaani-raheem".  

Unfortunately we did not have French today because of a schedule mix-up, but inshallah we will be seeing Monsieur Said on Thursday.  

We had lots of fun playing with our classroom toys, and play centres.  Oh, and we also practiced writing our names!  Students are encouraged to use a capital letter at the beginning of their name with lower case letters following the initial capital letter.  This is something you can practice with them at home insha'Allah.

Our welcome song is called "look who's here", ask your child if he/she can remember the words to this song.  

Please stay tuned for our upcoming Show & Tell schedule and subjects.

Thank you to everyone that has sent in extra clothing for their children, we are still missing quite a few.  Please do not delay, as this is a necessity in every kindergarten classroom.

Jazakum Allahu Khairan,

SA

Revised Schedule

Assalamu Alaikum,

This is the revised schedule to accommodate our Monday nap time.  Please print and keep handy for your future reference.

SK2 Schedule 2.0

SK2 Weekly Schedule 1.0

First Day of School - Alhamdulillah!

Assalamu alaikum everyone :)

Alhamdulillah today we had an amazing day.  We practiced lining up, pushing our chairs in, raising our hands, answering the salam (Islamic greeting), and putting our things away.  We read the story "The Kissing Hand" which is a cute little story about a raccoon that is feeling a little nervous about going to school for the first time.  The children enjoyed taking part in our welcome song "look who's here!", and our calendar routine.

We spent some time outside in the yard today where the students and I collected so many beautiful wild flowers to make a lovely bouquet for our classroom :)  After our resting time, we had lots of fun working on our name crowns!

Thank you so much to all of you that were very prompt, and organized in labeling and sending your child's school supplies.  Those of you that have not sent in the required items from the supply list, please be sure to do so as soon as possible.  ***If you haven't sent indoor shoes and a change of clothes, please make sure you send those in right away.

Jazakum Allahu Khairan, and we look forward to a fresh new day tomorrow insha'Allah.

SA