Firstly, for reluctant reader, you must help them to get use to reading instead of doing other not so productive activity such as watching meaningless TV programme. For a start, it is best to choose books that interest them.
The books they read don't always need to have a lot of cultural significant. I know of many children who like to read Goosebumps and Animorphs which I don't consider as great literature. However they do capture kid's imagination and turn them on to reading. From reading Goosebumps, you child might be willing to try science fiction by authors of the caliber of Isaac Asimove and Ray Bradbury. And Mystery lovers might move from Nancy Drew to O.Henry or Edgar Allan Poe.
Choosing Books For Reluctant Readers
Some moms and dads don't really approve their children to reading comic books. Yes, comic books contain a lot more picture than words and the sentences are often not properly constructed. These parents hope that their kids have better taster by reading other kind of books. My personal take is this, "For reluctant reader, it is better to comic books than nothing at all". However make use that the content of these books are healthy - there are unhealthy comic books today that are full of violent and immortality. (Nowadays, we have Islamic comic like Aulad, Ana Muslim. I bought them for my kids too).
4. Accept Comfort Over Proficiency
You're trying to encourage your child to read. Quantity is better than quality at this time. For a start, I'd suggest that you choose books that are below his reading proficiency so that he can feel good about reading them. He'll know when he ready, he can go for harder books with better quality.
5. Try Poetry and Puzzle Books
Parents may have forgotten how their children loved the verbal silliness of Dr. Seuss? Silly, spooky or lyrical poetry and rhythms often capture children's imagination when books don't. Look for poetry books written for young readers e.g. books by Shel Silverstein are all time favorite for kids. (Dr. Seuss's books are funny. My kids love them too).
I'd also encourage you to try puzzle books for your child. One of my personal favorite s Usborne Young Puzzle Series. They are very well written and highly captivating for children, evenly adults. They encourage creativity and help children to build up their problem solving skill.
** Based from my experience, as parents, we can inculcate the passion for reading in our children right from their early years. Instead of buying toys, I used to buy board books for Wafitos and Afafita. In fact, Wafitos' first toy when he was one year old was books. Some parents may think that how could a one year old toddler appreciates books? Well, the truth is, to nurture the love for reading, we MUST start as early as we could. Our toddlers and babies may throw the books, bite them, chew the covers or tear the pages, but its ok. They'll soon love books when they grow up. Inculcating the passion for reading and love for books means that we, parents, MUST read the books for them regularly. Its better if we could make it a routine of bedtime story. We must show our babies and toddlers what is books are, and what can we get from reading books. We must also make the books accessible for them to take and flip through. For example, set a mini library or a put a bookshelf in our kids room.
Alhamdulillah, my son has a strong love from books. He can spend hours in MPH or Kinokuniya, sitting at one corner, reading books. I'm glad that my efforts are fruitful now. Many a times, when he was a toddler, I keep on questioning, would all my efforts of exposing books to him be fruitful? But now, I'm glad that I have done a right thing for my kids.
Patience in the Qur'an
Patience is mentioned more than 90 times in the Qur'an. No other moral value is mentioned as much, not even truthfulness or honesty. The word is mentioned in the imperative form in the Qur’an. For example, Allah SWT also says what can be translated as, “And seek help in patience and prayer” ( 2:45).
If you wish to be close to Allah, then be patient. If you achieve that degree of closeness, you will hardly have any reason to fear committing sins. Allah says what can be translated as, "Surely Allah is with the patient" ( 7:46), and as, "And indeed We will definitely try you with something of fear and hunger, and diminution of riches, and selves, and products; and give glad tidings to the patient" (2:155).
Patience is the only deed whose reward is endless. We all know that the reward of a single good deed shall be ten-fold, and that of giving charity may be even 700-fold. However, no one knows where the limit of reward of patience lies.
Also, Allah SWT says what can be translated as, "And Allah loves the patient" (3:146). Knowing that Allah is with the patient and loves them is enough to encourage people to endure. You will have the power to quit smoking, obey your parents, connect your severed ties of kinship, and resist gazing at what you are not allowed to look at, if you simply bear that in mind.
Moreover, Allah SWT says what can be translated as, "And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our Command, since they (endured) patiently and had certitude in Our signs" (32:24). This ayah is about the Jews during one of the periods in which they were compliant. Allah in this ayah says that leadership and supremacy depends on two props: patience and certitude in Allah. The torn Muslim ummah (Muslim nation) will not attain leadership over all nations except through patience. Patience is not only illustrated through performing the different acts of worship. Patience can be in focusing on reform and improvement of production, while abstaining from sins, handling distress, and putting ultimate trust in Allah, as well.
Allah SWT says what can be translated as, "And indeed he who (endures) patiently and forgives, surely that is indeed (an act of true) resolve concerning His Commands" (42:43). It is an act of resolve then when you have patience over an offence and forgive those who hurt you.
Allah urges believers and messengers to have patience. He addresses the Prophet, saying what can be translated as, "So (endure) patiently, as the Messengers endowed with resolve (endured) patiently"(46:35). Patience here turns from being an insubstantial theory into a tangible practice to adhere to.
Allah stresses patience in his advice to the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and his ummah, "O you who have believed, be patient, and vie in patience, and be garrisoned (i.e., Keep a standing army ready to defend you) and be pious to Allah, that possibly you would prosper" (3:200).
Addressing the Prophet s.a.w, Allah SWT says what can be translated as, "So (endure) patiently under the Judgment of your Lord, and do not be as the Companion of the
The stories of the prophets in the Qur’an always end with the moral that is to be understood from the stories. Surat Yusuf and surat Hud conclude with many morals. At the end of Surat Nuh (Noah), Allah says what can be translated as, "So (endure) patiently; surely the (fair) end is for the pious" (11:49). Through this story, Allah tells the Prophet s.a.w. to learn from those who were patient before him as their end is most certainly “fair”.
Allah also teaches us that victory shall not be granted to the Muslims unless they persevere in following the right path. Allah describes in Surah al-Baqarah the confrontation between Jalut (Goliath) with his army of non-believers and Talut (Saul) with his army of believers. At the end of the story, he says what can be translated as, “(But) the ones who expect that they will be meeting Allah said, “How often a little community has overcome a much (larger) community by the permission of Allah; and Allah is with the patient." (2:249). Allah says in a later ayah what can be translated as, "So they routed them, by the permission of Allah" (2:251).
Allah also says in Surat al-Anfal what can be translated as, "In case there are twenty of you, patient (men), they will overcome two hundred" (8:65). According to this ayah, victory is conditional on the element of patience. If you have the patience to abstain from sins, worship, study, work, and behave yourself with your parents, then be certain that you will succeed in what you are doing. Do not blame ‘deep-rooted habits’ for your behavior; but rather you should train yourself to be patient.
Allah SAW says what can be translated as, "And similarly many a Prophet there has been along with whom myriads manifold have fought; so in no way did they feel feeble for whatever afflicted them in the way of Allah, and in no way did they weaken, and in no way did they yield themselves; and Allah loves the patient" (3:146). The victory of religion also relies on patience.
The supermarket is one of the best examples of a place where the ability to use mathematics is put to work in the “real world.” It’s a great place to practice measurement and estimation and to learn about volume and quantity and their relationships to the sizes and shapes of containers—geometry!
Making a grocery shopping list can be both enjoyable and an opportunity to reinforce young children’s number sense.
What You Need
★ List of grocery items
★ Color pictures of grocery items cut from magazines, catalogs or advertising flyers (for example, choose pictures of different kinds of vegetables, fruit, containers of milk or juice, cans of soup, boxes of cereal and crackers, loaves of bread)
★ Index cards (or similar-sized cards cut from heavy paper)
★ Glue stick
★ Small box (large enough to hold the cards)
What to Do
★ Put together the set of food pictures and help your child paste each picture onto a card. Then have your child sit with you as you make up a grocery shopping list. Read the list aloud to her, item by item, saying, for example, “We need to buy milk. Find the picture of the milk.” When the child finds the picture, have her put it in the box. Continue through the list, asking her to find pictures of such things as apples, potatoes, bread, soup and juice.
★ When you’ve finished, ask your child to tell you how many things you need to buy; then help her to count the pictures in the box.
★ Ask your child to put all the pictures of vegetables in one group, then all the pictures of fruit in another group. (You might continue with items that are in cans, items that are in boxes and so on.)
★ Point to one group of pictures, such as the fruit. Help her to count the number of pictures in that group. Have her do the same for other groups.
Use advertising flyers or newspaper advertisements to help your child identify, classify and count items. Ask, for example, “Howmany cans of soup are there?” “What vegetables do you see?” and so forth.
Your Heart is the Pillar of Your Worship
by 'Abdullah 'Azzam (may Allah have Mercy upon him)
A fortnight ago, I happened to watch the Ripley's Believe It Or Not show. It was quite entertaining, as usual, exposing the world's most weird happenings, things and people. Suffice it to say, among the stories highlighted during the one hour program, the cover story on a group of native tribe in Brazil had really caught my attention. This tribe (I forgot its name) had a very peculiar culture, which I doubt would be accepted by modern and so-called civilized people nowadays. Honestly, I was so sad knowing and seeing them living in an uncivilized life. The women were still topless, and some are the men still went out for hunting or fishing in naked. They also lived in small bamboo cottages.
To me, this group of people was really 'weird'. The female tribe members applied plats made from clay on their lips and mouth as one of their accessories and as to attract men. These plats will gradually make their lips wider and mouths bigger. The bigger and wider a mouth is the considered the prettier. So, every girls and women forced the lips and mouths to become wider and bigger by putting bigger plats. This act could result to lips-tearing and bleeding. Despite the pain and agony, they willingly keep on cherishing this tradition.
Sounds weird and scary huh? But the most strange and agonizing tradition in this tribe is the "puberty test". I couldn't stop from screaming 'ouch', 'eeiiii', 'biar betul'...etc as I watch young girls and boys going through tests to show their braveness when they reach puberty. According to their tradition, whenever a boy reaches puberty, (this usually in the teen age) they are encouraged to do a ritual which includes bravery test. As to prove their braveness to other tribe members and declare to their elders that they are ready to be an adult and take up the responsibilities of an adult, the boys must put their hands in a jar filled with thousands of ants. These ants are the one that are well-known for their lethal bites. (Ya Allah..just imagine!!) So, as to pass this test, a brave boy shouldn’t pull out his hand from that jar, let alone crying out for help. He must let the ants bite his hand. Having said that, if he passes this test, he would be acknowledged as a true brave man.
So, what about the girls? Well, the girls were also being tested in a different kind of test, yet as agonizing as the boys test. First, the girls should be fasting for a whole day. Then, some elder women of the tribe would pull out their hair...every single hair....until the head became bald!! Just imagine....it was so painful, and absolutely a real kind of torture. And, if the girls could bare the agony, then only they would be acknowledge as an adult.
Masha Allah! As I watched the program, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of the justification and reason behind both tests. At last, I made my hypothesis. The pain of ant biting resembles the upcoming challenges for the boys as they become adults while the pain of hair-pulling most probably resembles the labour pain...heheheh.
That night, I made a conclusion that I knew was so unfair and unjust. I categorized them as uncivilized people. Yet I’m thankful to Allah for giving a chance to be a civilized person living in a civilized society. Having said that, I started to ponder on my ‘civilized’ community and society. Who am I to judge other people and called them uncivilized? Are we really civilized enough compared to them? And the mind-boggling questions started on.....and on....
As a matter of fact, we are not much different from that so-called uncivilized tribe. It their women are topless, isn’t it the same with us? Just look at ourselves, our communities...we are so proud to say that we can creatively design up to date clothes and we can produce good quality linens and silks, yet, many of us are still barely covering our aurah. If the women of the tribe hurting themselves to make them prettier and to attract men, we, the ‘civilized’ women are surely not much less hurting ourselves to always looked pretty. If they use plats for lips, we use botox, ‘susuk’, and other kinds of hazardous cosmetics for the same purpose. If the boys dare to feel the pain to show their braveness, our youngsters even dare to die to show their skills and braveness to the world, through ‘merempit’, clubbing, taking drugs, etc.
Now only I realise that we are not much different from them. As a matter of fact, the more we claim ourselves as civilized people, the more we return to be uncivilized. The higher skyscrapers we build, the lower is our akhlak and virtues of life. If we still don’t change, the sooner we will be living like the native tribe on the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Show. Do we really want to be like them??
The microscope...Wafitos is do excited gathering new specimens and analyse them through his microscope. Siap nak buat lab sendiri.
Lego set....can give the kids endless joy of building creating things...
**20 Points to Love
by Shaykh Riad Ouarzazi
What should i do?
How to narrow the scope of my research?
Which part should be focused?
should I restrict my research to Malay Archipelago?
Hmm.... poningnya kepala...
Dah stuck nie.....
I think I'm starting to have the sindrome-buat-PhD
O Allah...give me hikmah and ideas to embark this project.....
Young children may not recognize that numbers are all around them. Pointing out numbers on everyday items increases their number sense.
What You Need
Boxes, cans and bottles of food and other household supplies
What to Do
Place several boxes, cans and bottles on the kitchen table. You might use a cereal box, a can of soup and a bottle of dishwashing soap. Sit with your child and point out one or two numbers on each item. (Numbers can be found in the names of some products, as well as in the list of contents and in addresses. However, rather than pointing to a very large number, such as a postal code, point to one digit in that code—a 6 or 3 or 8.)
Point to one of the items and say a number that is easy to see. Ask your child to find it. Then have him look for that number on the other items.
Have your child choose a number for you to find on one of the containers.
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