Kakak Speaks #1

At 2 years 5 months, her words very often amuse me. As tiring and exasperating it is especially when handling both Kakak and Safa alone (how does a mother of two does it!), she often made my heart melt at the most temperature rising moments. Yesterday for instance..

I was feeding Safa on the bed when she came with her Sayang Semuanya series book, asking me to read it to her as usual. "Nak yang ada patung.." she said, referring to the Saya sayang Nabi Muhammad book, where it shows people prostrating over patung. Tired, I shooed her away saying "Ummi nak tidurkan Safa!" Relentlessly, she climbed onto the bed with much difficulty with the book in her hand. 

"Ummi bacalah untuk Kakak.."

"No kakak, Safa nak tidur ni.."

Muka tearing up. And then..

"Pleaaasee Ummi pleaseeee, kakak soraaanng.."  T_T

"Okay okay, meh sini Ummi bacakan."

Smile. Baring sebelah Ummi.

"Ummi marah nanti kakak masuk neraka ke..."

*Please Ummi pleasee dengan muka nangis yang paling tak tahan tu. She likes to say that now. Tak tahulah dia tiru siapa. And her favourite whine is currently "kakak soraang.." usually when she sees me cuddling up with Safa.

The Sayang Semuanya series is really great in introducing concept of syurga neraka, berbuat baik, siapa Nabi Muhammad, loads more. And so far Kakak ask me to read it to her at least 3 times a day, one after the other. Highly recommended! 

Books For Toddler

An update from last post: 

It finally came to my realization today that the kids islamic books we see often nowadays (like the one I mentioned in my last post : 31 kisah nabi, kisah haiwan dalam al-quran), are not really suitable for toddlers 2-and-a-half years old. Maybe its just me, but it's difficult to get toddlers that age to focus on the story when the wordings are like, 'pagi itu angin bertiup lembut'. And the illustrations are 'too  pretty', i.e. not bold enough.

A visit to MPH today with a wish to get the books for Kakak were initially met with disappointment, as I knew straight away upon browsing the kids islamic book section that the books still too early for her. (Sebab nya dah pernah beli satu and its tiring coz I have to shorten and create my own words)

Alhamdulillah among all the books, I finally met one that stands out from the rest. The wording are simple just like the ones you'd see in english toddler books. Not more than a string of 4 words in a sentence, 2 sentence per page. And the best part is, I love the wordings. Very tarbiyatul aulad! ^^

A bit pricey though, at the price of RM 50, but its a set of 6 books.

Already tried it with kakak and she likes it I can tell, I have a feeling I can use it for a long time. I can take a picture of the insides as well if anyone is interested. You'll love the content. You can browse it at MPH bookshops or if you wish to buy it online you can do so here, postage free!

I also bought Kakak her first pencilbox and some stationaries. Crayon, colour pencil, water colour semua dah beli *guilty. Kalau boleh dengan table proper tu pun nak beli (seriously tak sabar!) but will make do with meja jepun ni dulu as its easier really, for me to join her activity.

Activity book couldn't find one with cut and paste activity, and so I'll try to print on my own first.. nanti nak cari yang best-best.

Real happy manage to do 'homeschooling' with her tonight, we even did origami (Ummi bantai je). She keep saying,'Ummi beli untuk kakak sebab Ummi sayang kakak ke. Ummi main dengan kakak sebab Ummi sayang kakak?' Nampak sangat dah lama tak teman dia 'main'.

So easy to make this kid happy!

See our origami?
Not sure yet of the usage of whiteboard at her age, she just loves to draw circles

Membaca dan mewarna bought by 'Ibu', our beloved BS

I also bought a Prof Rozieta Shaari book, the english version of Membina Anak Cemerlang, as the malay version is sold out. Will share it if it's a must-have!

Homeschooling Ideas

Guilt is a constant emotion all parents have. Especially moms, most especially working moms T_T

Every time the thought of Kakak is now at 2 years 5 months comes to mind (almost every day that is), I would feel an enormous wave of guilt. She's at the age where she's learning most rapidly, absorbing things like a sponge and all I am doing for her is leaving  her at other people's house (albeit in the best company of people who loves her), watching cartoons mostly, I think. Lost in everyday routine of pergi balik kerja, at nights too tired for a good activity, and weekends of sharing her with others, I've never feel more like a failure than for this.

But with all the positive thinking I have, I remind myself that what's important is the quality of time, not the quantity.

With a proper planning, we can make the best of time, and make our presence felt even though we are not around her 24 hours a day.

After some searching around for materials, these two being the sifu for children's education (the best guides!) - so many DIY fun activities its amazing.

http://cinta-rasul.blogspot.com

http://wwwmamahomeschool.blogspot.com

These are the plans I have come up with:

1. Buy activity books, which involves cut and paste, colouring, identifying alphabets. But here at http://wwwmamahomeschool.blogspot.com there's so many links to download the activity sheets and print! And compile everything in a ring file as Kakak's Activity File.

2. For storytelling, these three books

3. Kakak loves origami! I got to learn em to teach her

http://www.origami-instructions.com

4. Fun alphabet games on internet (drpd buka youtube)

http://www.starfall.com/

5. Arab cartoons to download from internet and pasang kat TV

http://cinta-rasul.blogspot.com/2011/09/kartun-bahasa-arab.html

http://cinta-rasul.blogspot.com/2012/02/lagi-ttg-kartun-arab.html

6. Watercolor - instead of using brush like we usually do, use potato carved into shapes and cop

Do hop over to the these two webs for amazing ideas to be shared with your lil ones. Plus your child would think you're the most brilliant fun adult ever lived! hihi.

If anything, it makes me less guilty about not being with my children 24/7.
Its amazing really how so little effort on our part can give so much pleasure to our child. As we know any games we play with them are the ones they enjoy the most :')

Note to self : Must make sure Airin gets a good sleep at BS every morning so that I can have a good one hour with her every night. No more lights off with botol susu at 8.30 pm!

6 Kekuatan Yang Perlu Ada Pada Ibu-bapa/ Pendidik Untuk Mendidik Akhlak Anak-Anak

1- Kekuatan ILMU: Kekuatan Ilmu pada ibu-bapa paling penting kerana ibu-bapa perlu mendidik dan membimbing dengan ilmu pengetahuan. Kesempurnaan IMAN adalah AKHLAK. Orang yang dekat dengan Rasulullah SAW di akhirat kelak adalah orang-orang yang punya AKHLAK terbaik.. Subhanallah..

2- Kekuatan latihan dan kebiasaan untuk bersifat tawadduk dan Qanaah / penguatkuasaan : Iaitu dengan membiasakan diri dengan sunnah Rasulullah SAW contohnya berwuduk sebelum tidur, solat witir sebelum tidur, solat dhuha, menggosok gigi pada setiap waktu solat ketika berwuduk dan lain-lain...  Tapi hari ini dah tak macam dulu, kita biasanya membiarkan anak-anak tidur lewat kerana menonton TV dan sebagainya.

Ustazah menceritakan tentang kisah Hassan Al-Banna dalam menunjukkan contoh tauladan tentang disiplin kepada anaknya.. "Suatu  hari Hassan Al-Banna berpesan kepada anaknya yang bernama Wafa' kalau saya tidak tersilap.. 'Wafa..Wafa.. Ayah nak tidur 7 minit saja, nanti selepas 7 minit tolong gerak ayah, ayah ada banyak kerja nak buat'.. Maka anaknya pun ke dapur untuk membuat air dan hanya setelah 10 minit baru dia teringat pesanan ayahnya.. Lalu cepat-cepat dia ke depan dan mendapati ayahnya sudah bangun dan meneruskan kerja-kerjanya.."... Subhanallah Moga Allah memberikan kekuatan kepada kita untuk menghayati sunnah Rasulullah SAW dan menjadi orang yang pertama mengamalkannya sebelum mengarahkan anak-anak kita untuk melakukannya...

3- Kekuatan Contoh Tauladan: Biarlah akhlak kita memberi nikmat kepada  orang lain.

4- Pengawasan/ Observation kepada anak-anak: Terutamanya terhadap akhlak anak-anak, kata Ustazah bagi anak-anak yang Sombong/ tidak belas kasihan/ suka bergaya, penawarnya suruh anak itu cuci tandas, cuci longkang...

5- Kekuatan Penghargaan: Pujian buat anak bersandarkan kepada Allah SWT.. Cthnya "Alhamdulillah  mak dapat anak yang soleh/solehah".

6- Tazkiyatun /Penyucian hati: Bila kita banyak  membenarkan anak-anak main game, maka ketika solat/ belajar, game itu akan terbayang-bayang.

Dalam kita marah-marahkan orang kafir kita sendiri  yang ambik produk (game, movie yang membuka aurat/bersifat kurafat dan syirik mereka dan rosakkan anak-anak kita..

- copied from http://permatahatiibu-rozana.blogspot.com/