Good old memories

Long time memories flash into our minds on and off. Best among them are known to be those directly linked to our friends and family. This opinion can be agreed by many of us.

When I think of the present time and the kids of this time, I really think that we had had a better time than them. Our way of passing time was far better than now.

Annually, after the completion of three full terms of studies me and my sister along with my cousin brother comes from Male’ ,to our ‘home island’, for our biggest holidays. It is so nice to be with our best friends and start our busy and pre-planned routines. These plans were planned in a way that we could fulfill our religious duties such as praying and reciting Quran. In this way, our daily plan normally commenced with the Fajr prayer. We had a habit of waking up very early and going and waking our friends and spoiling their greatest dreams. By the time of the ‘Azan’, our group will be ready and we will go to the mosque. This was sometimes affected by some scary stories ‘made-up’ and told by some of our group members. A light breakfast helps us to start our work. This does not mean we had a lot of work at home. But there were a lot among us who had a house’s work to complete. So, we assist in making their work light. Sweeping the road, washing the coal-coated pots at the beach side, separating the unwanted from the rice and fetching water from the Old mosque’s well were the best among the house work. Looking after younger sisters and brothers were also assigned to some of us. So we had a great time playing and imagining ourselves as grown-ups.

Kids liked me a lot. So, I never had a chance to be alone. The kids who liked me dearly, left me in situations which I found it very difficult to decide on who and who will go with me. My decisions sometimes made them to cry. So, I had no other choice other than taking all of them along with me. The scene seemed so funny when a group of kids always surrounded me, no matter where I go. At times I had to face some intolerable comments regarding this.

As my parents had separate livings my sister and I had a tough time walking from Grandma’s house to Mom’s place. As we were frequently seen going from these two houses, some people used to assume that we were aimless wanderers. And I hated it when they actually do not understand our purpose and intention of those frequent walks.

Playing ‘Ovvalhugondi’,’Dhashundhamaa’,‘Thinhama’ and ‘Gandufilla’  were our favourite leisure times. We also played games which needed running in the evenings. It was so much fun. After the games we go to the beach area for long walks. Our island was surrounded by an attention-catching beautiful sea. There were few coconut palms almost at the sea due to erosion. The beach area was clean. On different occasions we spend time cleaning the place and collecting play materials for our cooking games. Most of our group members did not have the power to resist the sea’s call so even in the evenings, we end up walking into the sea and walking up to the reef, which is clearly visible and dry due to the  change in the tide. There we come across limited but different types of sea creatures. Sometimes we feel as if frozen, if we see a ray or an eel and rush back to the land as soon as possible.

To conclude, I have to say that it is impossible to write all of our wonderful experiences together. These childhood memories were full of fun. We were so united that we were always seen together. Now we recall these pleasant times when we get a chance to meet the members in our group. But there are few who do not even bother to think we were ‘such good friends’. My good friends and I treasure them within us though, some think that these memories are of no use. I am sure that our relationships would be further strengthened by these and our own kids and other children of present time would love to hear these stories and would have a clear picture of how different things were at that time.

A guide for you to foster your child in reading

                     

What is reading?

Reading is not just movement of eyes over the page in a linear order. Most people among us believe that it is ‘passive’. But this idea is not true, as the reader involves herself in an interactive manner, while she brings her personal knowledge to what is being read out. This triangular interaction goes between the reader, the text and the message.

Reading in one of the most essential skill a person can continue. With this important skill a person can master many other skills. Good reading assists that person to write well, acquire knowledge and information, develop creativity, understand concepts better etc.

Without knowing how to read a person will face a number of difficulties in life. In most cases these are faced due to negligence for this skill from the earlier years. For instance, if a child is not properly guided in reading he might not be able to do enough work at school or anywhere which needs reading-related skills.

For a beginner, reading will mostly be difficult and boring. The more sounds taught the more confused the beginner will be. So, as a parent you need to give adequate learning time between the sounds. For children who show less interest, you should always go for the interesting ways, rather than always giving them sentences to read. The following will help you to cultivate keenness for reading in your child.

1.Materials picked for reading should be relevant to the ability and age level.

2. Reading time should be set and fixed in a convenient time that matches with the interest of your child.

3. Let the reading area or place be comfortable.

4. Do not demand full attention of your child at the very beginning. Add up time gradually considering the child’s level of interest.

5. To gain your child’s attention you can bring variations to your voice and use expressions and gestures in suitable situations.

6. Give your child opportunities to read when you feel that he is ready to do so. Remember that your encouragement and words of praise makes him do better and better day by day.

7. Ask questions and test his knowledge and understanding.

8. Use charts or other visual aids to keep track of those books read.

9. Read with your child and let your child feel the importance of reading.

      It is very important to note that the pre-reading stage is the stage in which the mechanics of reading get mastered. Subsequently, your responsibility, with this regard, is to cultivate the love for reading in your child and see him come up.

My favourite songs

I had a past which was full of sorrow. At that time, I thought I was the unluckiest being in this entire universe. Even for simple things I cried. And it was hard for me to control tears. My eyes ached and my heart wept. There were times I felt like moving out of the world which bundled me with that much pain.

But today the whole lot changed. I thank the one and only Allah for showing me the right way. For letting me think in a positive manner. Do you want to know how I “turned over a new leaf”? Two years back I was touched by a very nice song called “ Last breath” I used to listen to it repetitively with my younger brother. The words in it caught my attention and made me go towards the very right deeds. Due to a problem in my phone,I lost it.I was sad to loose it and thought that I would never get it.

Days passed without it. And Last November, my husband showed me a very nice song and told that it was by Ahmed Bukhatir. I started without much interest but soon I was so touched by the song, the translation and the video. This song,“Ya Ummi” made my heart melt. As I result I cried and cried. I wanted to hide my tears but I did not have the control over my feelings. This song was about a one-eyed mother and a stone-hearted son. After that night, a strong interest grew within me to know about the great singer and his songs. His name is Ahmed Bukhatir and he is a singer from United Arab Emirates. Since then I started downloading his songs and listening to them as they are the most beautiful songs one could ever listen to. The meaning of those songs lights my heart, refreshes my mind and purifies myself. I love watching when I am all alone. This helps me in thinking more about how I would benefit from this world.

Another beautiful song by him is IQRA showing how a good brother succeeds in learning the Quran by heart while the other brother fails to do so.

Otherthan the above mentioned songs, Ya Adheem,This is my Hijaab and Ya Manyara are heart throbbing songs by my favourite singer, Ahmed Bukhatir. I hope you will listen to them and feel the difference in you.

Technorati Tags: Ahmed Bukhatir,best songs

Gift your child what you know

When we were small we never know what lies in our future. But almost all of us step on to a phase where we choose our partners and at the very end we get married and settle with our life partners. The main aim of marriage is to bring up good children.

Our religion has shown us the way to carry-on with successful married life. The other source to lighten our heart with the best is the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Mohammad ( PBUH ) . Through his guidance very useful supplications have reached us.

The first step in bearing a child starts with the plan. Our prayers for the child needs to be started from this stage onwards.

Here I would love to add some important things you need to teach your child which will aid in his development and the whole life.

· Let your child know that he is a Muslim and he should say "laa ilaaha illallaah Muhammadur-rasoolullah."

· He should be told that he worships Allah alone.

· Tell him to do good so that Allah will be pleased with him. Guide him with the good tidings of Prophet Mohammad ( PBUH )

· He should love and fear Allah more than anyone or anything

· Let him hope that Allah will save him from the Hell fire. Assist him to follow the right path and hope that Allah will reward him with Paradise.

· Let him know the meaning of "laa ilaaha illallaah Mohammadur-Rasoolullaah." There is none worthy of worship except Allah, Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah.

· Make him pray five times a day.Let him know the time of the prayers. Let him recite Quran beautifully.

· The Fajr prayer is at the time he wakes up at dawn before the sun rises.

· Dhuhr prayer is just before Lunch time.

· Let him know that after resting and reading books in the late afternoon it is the time for Asr prayer.

· When the sun sets and the sky becomes darker let him know that it is Maghrib prayer.

· When the moon is present in the dark night sky it comes the time for Isha prayer.

· Make him keep this in mind at all times, “I pray to Allah. He is the only one I pray to. He is the only one that can answer my prayers”.

Nowadays many parents leave this important responsibility to teachers. The child’s first step to education should be taken in his house. If the foundation stone is laid properly the child will be growing sure-footedly. If it is the other way around, the things will turn out bad for him. As we are Muslims,we should make our children aware of the right and the wrong, from the very beginning itself. We should be responsible in showing our children the path to success. This would be quite simple if we set ourselves as good examples.So let us not waste our time. Let us enrich ourselves with important knowledge and gift those to our children.

USING EFFECTIVE TEACHING METHODS

The modern teaching methods recommend teachers to eliminate the ‘board and chalk’ method. Rather than this ‘old- styled’ teaching method, they should involve students to the maximum. The teachers must provide the students the opportunity to explore. The lessons should let the students use their senses actively.

What I hear, I forget;

What I see, I remember;

What I do, I understand

The above saying let us take into consideration that students learn well by doing. But, we should also consider the age differences and different ability groups. Apart from this, catering the students by keeping in mind the three modalities of learning, VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic) will be of great use for the teacher. It is the work of the teacher, to know her students’ capability or capacity to learn. This can be easily detected through observations and from the results obtained by the individuals. In any case, if it is not ‘visible’ a meeting or two with the parent or guardian will be of assistance.

To derive the attention of the pupils, the teacher needs to bring variations to her style of teaching and experience the changes in her pupils. These alterations will assist her in knowing her students better. They can surely make the teaching and learning environment interesting. In addition to this, the teacher can do her work smoothly, with the interested batch of students.

Some effective teaching methods

_ Lectures ( with and without discussion )

_ Asking questions

_ Brainstorming

_ Using videos

_ Discussion                            

_ Case Studies

_ Role Playing

_ Worksheets/Surveys

_Guest Speaker/resource person

One more thing the teacher has to be conscious about is that while these methods are in use the teacher might have some limitation.

Dear teachers! Their strengths are worth using than leaving them. So, try to your maximum potential and see the favourable difference in you, your students, the teaching and learning atmosphere and all the others who are directly related to this process.

By: Maee.

No wonder it’s a wonder….

It’s a wonder to be in your world,

You both give me joys worth gold,

Let our family be sound and safe,

Throughout our journey, not our game,

 

Not that we are together always,

But still we are happy with our days,

Wishes come so good and sweet,

With each and every beat.

Back as a blogger, after a ‘short break’.

Time when it is not managed well leads us to stress.We often think that our time is not enough. But in the real situation the one who manages time does have ‘enough’ time while the person without the time managing capacity suffers a lot. I myself have found this difference. 

Just because I am very much fond of writing and I believe that I can do the best of it if I can stick to the managed time I thought of consuming sometime for this too.

I wish I could provide you readers with a ‘new shipment’ of valuable information through my leisure practise.

                                 Thank you.