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.

How to succeed in teaching ( for new teachers )

Teaching is a profession which needs dedication. Without it the aims and objectives of the work will be just an illusion.It is a time-consuming task which can be perfectly performed with hard work and effort. While you are through the on-going processes of teaching you need to widen your thoughts for the benefit of the kids you are catering and to make this possible you have to develop a good relationship between their parents. This will assist you to know more about your students and how they are doing while they are away from school.

The following will do you good to develop yourself, be familiar with teaching and go ahead in this field.

1) Get help from a mentor who is well-experienced in this field. Enquire about what you don’t know and share what you already know. Talk openly and let the mentor know about your personal experiences as a new teacher. Ask for better ideas and apply those methods in your classrooms.

2) Set classroom rules and let students follow them. Praise those who follow them and encourage the others to adhere them at all times.

3) Prepare yourself well for the lessons, which consists of games and other interesting activities and also colorful and useful teaching aids. This will make your students love and long for your lessons. As a result, you will see most of them getting wonderful scores and others improving in your subject area. The interested students will then not dare to misbehave in your class.

4) Time managing is vital for teachers. This is because if students are given adequate time for the assigned tasks they will occupy themselves well in them. If a lot of spare time is given they will possibly feel bored and involve themselves in unnecessary matters which might lead to misbehavior.

5) Be a person who follow the rules and regulations by those who are superior to you. For example: write lesson plans and keep them updated all the time.

6) Give importance to due dates and to organize yourself in a manner that you can complete the set tasks some time before the due dates.

7) As a teacher you need to be very good at observing and a be good listener. The normally quiet classrooms might at times turn out to be as noisy as a market place, due to some reason. If you are skillful at these two areas then you will be able to know what happened and could easily make it end by letting them know that you are observing them very carefully.

8) Teacher herself is a learner. So, make it a point that you read good books regarding teaching and enrich yourself with what you require.

9) Pending work will make you feel stressed and bored. In order to rid yourself  from this stressful situation you need to make plans do your work in a systematic way. For an instance you can keep a record of the tasks to be done, with clearly mentioned due dates and stick it somewhere you could easily see.

10) If in a child friendly classroom, you can always ask for suggestions from the respective parents and get to know their views about teaching. This could be much better if you could meet and talk to them in the absence of their children.

11) Teaching is not easy. You might come across certain debacles. If you come across such difficulties you would have to tackle it with tolerance. Think about it and get to know the cause for it. Try to bring variation to the method of teaching you use and know what is the best for your students and what is more reliable for you. This will help you to have the best control over your class.

12) Set your targets and work towards it ,with willingness and the needed effort,wonderfully.

                     Best wishes from Maee Miss.

Miss you…

This is just the beginning of the year 2010. This year the academic year for the Maldivian schools commence on 10th January. Almost all the preparations for this wonderful day would have been done by the people and the students of the academic institutions by now.

             

            

                    Pictures from: school.discoveryeducation.com

Being part of an academic institution is a pride. Serving in such a campus is far more interesting than just being a member of the institution. And being a teacher who belong to such a noble profession is the most fabulous of all. I am a teacher who teach primary students. But I am still spending time here in Singapore, thousands of miles away from my birth place,with my family. For a teacher her students mean a lot. For a wife her husband and children makes up her world. So, I probably am at a stop, in the middle of a junction. I am just longing to be in the classrooms with a batch of loving kids.

I hope I will be able to join my colleagues and see my students at least by 16th of this month. This is a fascinating holiday for me and my beloved son,but I really miss working in my profession. Through this piece of writing I convey my love for you, my dear students. 

                        - Loving wishes from: Maee Miss.

This is true.

We are here for a great purpose. Allah has sent us for the purpose of examining us.We have both ends in our lives from which we choose one.Either the good or the bad. Some prefer the good while the others deliberately go against it.

As we are human beings we are not perfect in our deeds. We need to stay away from some things which we think is the best at the time it is chosen, but may hinder our lives and the hereafter.The noble verses of Quran guides us towards what is good and leaves us to learn from the experiences of those who lived in the days of ignorance and those who came afterwards.There are plenty of other pathways having religious knowledge and solutions. Nowadays we find ourselves really lucky to get access to internet and other fast and affordable services as they are very useful,if used for the correct cause.

How many of us want to develop our minds? How many among us want a positive change? We all have twenty four hours for us,everyday.It is obvious that our work vary and the facilities or the resources available will be different too. But we as Muslims,should have one common aim in life.Though it should be as such, we all do not work  towards it. As previously said, it is the sole purpose of this life. It is  the purpose of getting a desirable pass in the test of this world.

Instead of preparing ourselves for the real-life test, a lot of us mingle in those things which are of interest to them, but of no benefits when in is considered in a long-term basis. There are a lot of activities which make us addicts, that gives us pleasure and joy. Some of them do have other strengths as well, like developing our minds and refreshing them. Even though these acts make you stay away from the righteous deeds. We unknowingly make ourselves occupied in these activities and neglect the most important duties of our lives like, praying and reciting Quran. Some of us also spend handful of money on their rather expensive wants than spending for the poor.Our lord, Allah created us and provided with wealth but, some of us are too stingy to spend their money on the way Allah mentioned in the holy Quran. Some among us really own a lot; houses, cars,resorts and many more. How many of them spend a portion of that money on the blessed voyage of pilgrimage? How many of you have heard about rich people who face their death having nothing. There are few of us who  leave empty handed with a short record of deeds. Who else other than Allah know how much sufferings they will experience in their grave and on the day of resurrection.

                                                             Picture source

It is true that we all need refreshing and fun-filled activities to help ourselves feel better. But we need to have certain limitations for them. We need to manage our time in a better way considering the perfect tidings of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Let the devil fail in it’s venture and be victorious by persuading yourself towards good deeds. Be strong in will power and yield the crop of this life for the harvest will benefit you in the end.

Lifeless but like real….

The sweet sound of a cuckoo chirping in a rhythmic way persuaded me to stand. I wanted to know more. My heart desired to see more and explore the natural beauty through our half- way -opened window. Time here is 6:29. Why am I here, awake and tired? I really don’t know why.

I went towards the window and moved the curtain to the left, quietly and slowly so that others sleeping here will not be disturbed. I did not want to ruin their ‘delicate dreams’. Every living being is fast a sleep except the busy sellers who are setting their tables and getting ready for their customers, at the market place. The cars in the parking zone are lost in their sleep after another busy day. I could hardly hear a car or two from a distance place. Everything here seems so dull. The colors present in the sky are intricate to name as it was surrounded with dark and immobile clouds.

Birds chirping are becoming much clear and audible, though they are out of sight. I wish I could see them chirping in the competitive tone; one after the other. Oh! That bird is chirping so sweetly. Maybe it is flying nearby.

Little by little, things are changing. Because of more light, more things are coming to sight. Lonely people are heading towards a destination of their choice. I don’t know where they are going. Certainly they are going to an important place. Otherwise they’ll not be awake and moving along , freshly, at this early hour.

The road is becoming busier now. Birds sound more active than before. But the time interval between their calls is long now. Trucks are seen moving around with their heavy backs. They are noisy but, without that, they would not be able to carry on with their responsibilities. I wonder how the neat row of the cars would sleep in this noisy environment. The grayish blue sky with fluffy white clouds are giving way to the reddish- pink ,still clouds, to make the sky glow with the colors and effects of the sunrise. A very essential one is not here, at this moment. Surely, it is the cold morning breeze! Where are you? When are you coming? The tall green trees are yet asleep. You can wake them up quite easily. I know you are really great in making them. This place still seems so gloomy in the absence of the moving leaves. Everything outside has got its own color now. It is lovely. It is filling my heart with joy. This is really interesting. I have never spent time like this ever. It’s wonderful to listen and see the gradual changes in the environment.