'signs of spring' walk

we went for a 'signs of spring' walk with our home-school group at our allotments and leisure gardens. it was an amazing day. the sun was shining 'bright', our allotments are very quiet and peaceful, we ate, relaxed, the kids played, picked flowers, climbed trees, grew seeds and searched for the signs of springs, of course.

pots made from newspaper which can be planted with the seed inside (genius, unfortunately i don't know how to make them)

frozen yogurt tubes (another spot of genius on another sisters part (wonder why i didn't think of this)

and at the end of the day.....need i say more.

currently getting my gardening tips from....

the books very good, it has tips and advise for a wide variety of vegetables, definitely necessary for amateur gardeners like myself. need all the help i can get.

the water cycle

this week we have been learning about the water cycle, the miracles, the blessings, the science behind it etc. we started by getting some books from the library, we read and discussed them.

then we made our own picture of the water cycle, to make it a little more fun and crafty, we made the picture out of tissue and crepe paper (this part they loved), then we wrote what happens during the whole cycle on separate pieces of paper and stuck them on (by this part they my sons hands were aching! if you know what i mean)

today we done an experiment by boiling some water in a pan (just a small amount), i held a cold plate over the boiling water, to show the kids that the steam turns back into water when it cools down, after a while the water had almost evaporated completely, we discussed that this is a similar process to the water cycle.

other things that i want to do relating to this topic are:

one of the books above 'a drop of mercy' has some refrences of the qur'an which i want to go through and discuss.

maybe some worksheets.

http://www.kidzone.ws/water/index.html

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/swater.html

some videos

http://www.neok12.com/Water-Cycle.htm

another experiment

http://www.mcwa.com/kids.htm#cycle

let the growing season commence!

:: allotment getting dug :: seeds bought :: herb garden planned :: potatoes chitting ::

i think it's fair to say that the growing season has well and truly commenced! and i am very excited....

our new classroom....our allotment

this is it, we have signed on the dotted line and for one year this piece of land is ours! what am i going to do with it? i hear you ask, well this piece of land is not just a 'piece of land' it is our classroom, our playground, where learning and playing merges to become one, where we learn about growing vegetables and flowers, where we learn about the plants life cycle, where we learn that some vegetables grow under the ground and others above it, where we learn that some vegetables climb up really tall, where we learn that herbs can be used for medicinal purposes, where we learn about pollination and photosynthesis......like i said, this piece of land is not just a 'piece of land' its our classroom!

butterfly craft

at our home-ed group this month we did arts and crafts, something that almost every child enjoys, so its a safe option. the under sevens made butterflies out of loo roll and paper plates....

the tiny ones got on with their own thing...... woohoo

and the older girls made a more sophisticated butterfly, which was decorated with gems and other sparkly things, the girls had a ball, mashallah, the butterflies were attached to a clothes peg, and finally some magnets were attached to the peg to make a great fridge magnet/photo frame (the photo can be placed in the peg).

the older boys made dragonflies instead of these girlie butterflies (no pictures, sorry).

it's great this group of ours. it's not just a place where the kids go to do crafts once a month, it's a place where we can go and meet other like minded women, share ideas, ask questions, get tips, drink coffee, laugh, chat, need i go on?