September 2014

Wow, its been a month... time flies when you're having fun!!!
This month we jumped right into... everything!!! New songs, new themes, and new routines, all with our lovely new and returning students.  They brighten up my day, and give me a wonderful reason to get up on tuesdays and thursdays!

On the first day of school we talked about circles. The observed Mr. Robot spinnning round and round to make circles on the floor, this really got them curious, and gave me a chance to start a conversation with them. We also had a few centers at the tables, testing things that roll, and playdough,.  All in all, i hope i got a chance to touch base with all the parents, i had a lovely time meeting all your wonderful children!

In the weeks that followed we took it kinda easy, giving a chance to get settled into routine. They all very quickly fell in love with our "Shake your body down" song by Laurie Berkner.  She is my favorite kids singer, and almost ALL the songs i use are from her.  (you can look them up on youtube!)  They also love all the flannel board stories and enjoy books in general.  In circle we usually try to give some time to hear what the kids have to share (which would take the whole day if i let them ;) ), but i try to listen as much as i can.  If i don't get to them in circle time, i try to sit with them during snack time so they can tell me their stories!

Activities:

Activities have included our circle of friends picture, which was a reminder of how we should act towards everyone in class, our family pictures, in which they cut out their own hearts (i try to give them as much cutting practice as possible!), Handprints collage (which was a group effort, i will use for our yearbook ia), animal habitats activity which took us into our pet theme.  The kids all decided they wanted a pet fish.  We will be getting our "mechanical" fish to take home starting next week ia. i just want to make a chart first so kids know when its their turn and be aware of the pet rules.  We also had a visit from some very cute bunnies, tortoise, and donkey friends from "Once Upon a Pony". We practiced using our gentle hands, and quiet voices around animals.  Lastly we learned about our home, and most importantly the bait Allah, the Kaba. The kids just adore the flannel board story of Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismaeel.  They all listen so intently, wide eyed, mashaAllah, they are at such a beautiful age, where stories are so real for them!

Arabic:

In Arabic we learned the letter Alif for ab (father) and um (mother), they also learned the letter Baa for bayt (house).  We have split the groups into two according to their skill level/age level.  One group is learning from Surah Asr onwards, and the other group is learning from Fatiha, and Nas onwards.  This way we get to do activities geared to the specific needs of the smaller groups.  We have ordered the Arabic for Beginners books, and will be sending them home as soon as we get them. Please remember that this is supplemental material to do at home at the parents discretion.  Many kids in our class are interested in writing their names and are encouraged to practice writing the letters as we go over them in class.  If your child is not ready to sit down and write, please DO NOT FORCE THEM.  We have a multi age group in the class, and do not want children to be pushed to write. Rather you are receiving this book so that you can plug it in, as you feel your children grow and show interest in it.  Thank you for your cooperation on this matter! Please feel free to review surahs with your children at home, they are encouraged to listen as often as possible!

Volunteering Responsibilities:

By now i have contacted many of you regarding your parent participation job this year.  As you are needed i am sending out emails to let you know details of your position.  Please be patient as each of these are long emails, and i get very little emailing time.  If i haven't already, I promise to email you soon as i get a chance!

As for in class duties, I wanted to thank all the parents who have come in so far.  It will be  hard the first time to find the flow, but ia, as you go through your first rounds, you will get an idea of how things work and where things are.  Just as a friendly reminder:
*please try to clean up tables before and after snack, and activities
*snack plates need to be rinsed and dried and put back in orange bins (ia the children's plates will come in the mail soon!)
*please try to sit with the children during snack time
*join in on group time if you are not busy prepping or cleaning
*the more we clean up together, the less i have to stay longer to put things back, if you can help rinse out art supplies, trays, sweep, or anything, this will help me get out of there faster.  (i teach another class and need to leave promptly at 1pm)
JazakAllah khair for all your hardwork and efforts! The classroom cannot function without your help!

Anything else?

Yes, a parent brought up the question about why we go to the pumpkin patch, and i thought the answer would be beneficial to all parents.  During this season our children see an abundant amount of pumpkins everywhere.  We like to take advantage of the fact that one of the Prophet (S) favorite foods, can be learned about so easily.  I like to make things clear for the kids, right is right and wrong is wrong.  Drawing and coloring on food is WRONG.  We don't do that for any other food before we eat it, so we shouldn't for pumpkins either.  Wasting food, (like leaving pumpkins out to rot on purpose), or throwing them etc. is WRONG.  This is not what our Prophet (S) would have encouraged, especially as many people do not even have food to eat!  I want the children to love this season for all the RIGHT reasons!  Pumpkins are healthy, their seeds are healthy!  They can be cooked in a variety of ways and are versatile food! This season brings us harvest, learning how seeds grow, we can appreciate the hard work put in by the farmers, and the joy of having yields of fruit for the winter. A blessing from Allah!  Aaisha (Sabreen's Mom) is our class field trip coordinator. She has already talked to them about how we do not celebrate Halloween, and the guide will be talking about how the pumpkins grow from seed to fruit, and how they harvest them.  We will be taking pumpkins home to do experiments with, like guessing how many seeds inside, feeling the mush and hallowing it out, finding similarities and differences between seeds, and the relationship of size of seed to fruit grown. We will also be making pumpkin soup! A wonderful treat as the weather becomes more and more chilly!

In general, i want our children to be exposed to whats happening around them so they can start to think critically in order to make good conscious decisions for themselves,  InshaAllah!   Ia they will get a chance to practice in taking the good from our communites, and leaving the bad!

That's all folks!
If i forgot anything, I'll add to the weekly newsletters!
If you got this far reading this... you're awesome!

Until next time...
Z

2014-2015 Calendar and Routine

Routine:

Classes Meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am-12:30pm

10:00-11:00    Circle & 1st Activity
11:00-11:15    Snack
11:15-12:00   Arabic
12:00-12:30   Tuesday's Activity, Thursday's P.E.

12:30-12:45   Closing and Clean Up

Calendar:

August:
Thurs. 21st:  MANDATORY PARENT MEETING
                     5:30-6:30pm
                     MCA Babysitting Room

September:
Tuesday 2nd:  No Class, Labor Day Holiday
Thursday 4th: Meet and Greet
Tues. 9th: First Day of Class

October:
Tues. 7th: Eid Al Adha Holiday, No Class
Thurs. 8th: Eid Party

November:
Tues. 11th: No Class, Veteran's Day Holiday
Thurs. 27th: No Class, Thanksgiving Holiday

December:
Tues. 23rd: No Class, Holiday
Thurs: 25th: No Class, Holiday
Tues. 30th: No Class Holiday

January:
Thurs. 1st: No Class, Holiday

February:

March:

April:
Tues. 14th: No Class, Spring Break
Thurs. 16th: No Class, Spring Break

May:
Thurs. 28th: Graduation Day

Come See What We're Up To...

Starting this Fall, please visit this page often to find out about upcoming events, holidays, and reminders.  We will also post pictures of things we've been discovering in class.  This year we will try to communicate all information through the blogsite, so please make sure to click on the "follow" button so you may get an email every time we add new information!

 

JazakAllah khair!

 

 

New school year.. here we come!!!!!

April and May 2010

Newsletter April and May 2010

Assalam alaikum,

InshaAllah all these April showers will bring lots of May flowers! Alhamdulillah my garden is already in bloom with 15 blossoming children…. in this last month inshaallah you’ll be “picking” up some beautiful mature children who have grown right in front of my eyes! What a blessing it has been to have such great children and wonderful parents this past year! This newsletter will be jam-packed with information of upcoming events in April to the end of May. Mid-May will be the last of our thematic units, and the last two weeks will focus on daily themes and field trip days. Thanks for a great year!

Important Dates/Reminders
Week of April 12-16 Spring Break, No School
Sat. April 24, “Going Wild with Nature” Children’s Faire, Children’s Discovery Museum, 10:30-3pm
Fri. April 23rd: Field Trip Steven’s Creek Dam/hiking
Wed. April 28th: Field Trip Petco (TBC)
Thurs. May 13th:Field Trip Fujitsu Planetarium @De Anza College (TBC) $12
Sat. May 15th: Hands on Art Festival, Sunnyvale Community Center, 10-4pm, Teacher Lubna and Teacher Zakia will be having a booth on Islaimc Calligraphy where children can engage in a Islamic tiled mosaic project! Seeya there!
Fri. May 21st: Raynor Park Field Trip, Pick-up children from the park.
Tues. May 25th: Field Trip Silliman Swim Center, Newark, $8
**all children must be accompanied with an adult for safety reasons!
Fri. May 28th: Last Day of School, Graduation starts at promptly at 5:30pm.

Special Theme Days: Please have child dress accordingly for acivities.

Wed. May 19th: Circus Day:

We’ll be putting on a show with our own 3-Ringed circus. Come watch as the kids turn into acrobats, ballerinas, lion tamers, stuntmen, and of course clowns! Tickets will be sold at the door for 5 cents, and you can even by popcorn and drinks at our very own snack bar Doors open Noon!

Thurs. May 20th: Dinosaur Day

The kids will have a roaring good time crossing Dinosaur Ditch, making Dino-masks and Watching the movie Land Before Time, rated G.

Fri. May 21st: Kite Day @ Raynor Park

The morning will be spent designing and crafting their own flying experiment, and making their very own kites! We’ll head to the park around 11:00 to try them out. Pick-up on this day will be directly from the park. Please make proper arrangements
Mon. May 24: Music Mania, special guests

We will be having a surprise music group come to engage the children in music beats and nasheed. They will be crafting their own instrument of choice to take home.

Tues. May 25: Swim Day, @ Silliman Swim Center

All children must be accompanied by an adult. The pool is only 2 ft. deep, and children can be watched from poolside. Please bring come in swim clothes under school clothes and we will dress there. Please bring change of clothing and towels and lunch, which will be at the grassy field next to the center. This is an indoor pool.

Wed. May 26th:Camping/Pajama Party Day

We’ll be putting up our tents and grabbing our pillows to rest in the great outdoors (the backyard!) Storytelling, Pancake snack, and Smores will be a treat, and of course we will go on a nature hike!

Thurs. May 27th: Clean Up Day

The kids will spend some time cleaning out their cubbies and sorting artwork and toys. We will also emphasize the importance of cleanliness and hand washing. They will be making their own hand-soap to take home!

Fri. May 28th: Graduation, Ceremony starts at 6pm.

Please be on time for this very important occasion! All children must be present back at school by 5:30pm, and the ceremony will start promptly at 6pm. Please sign up for the potluck dinner. All families are welcomed to attend, invitation cards will be sent out beginning of May.


Back in March…
March began our in depth study of animal habitats. We reviewed what animals need to survive and deduced that animals had features and characteristics that were dependent on the environment around them. We spent time in the jungle, rainforest, and savannah distinguishing spots and stripes, animal homes, patterns on skin and fur, like our hexagon giraffes, and diamond back snakes. We chopped up some great raiforest salad, and became animals like tigers and raccoons. We also began our commitment to the environment by learning the the 3 R’s, recycle, reduce and re-use. We learned P paper as the children engaged in making their own paper out of recycled materials, and R for recycling, L for lion, and S for snakes and Z for zebra stripes.
Arabic included, the finishing of Surah’s Takathur and Lahab and starting Surah Humazah and Nasr. Letters introduced were, Tau for Ta-oos, peacock, Thau for Thabiyah, deer, Qaaf for Qimama, trash.

In April…to the end of May….
Spring brings us back into nature and closer to Earth Day! April started off with our Worm Week, we covered the letter W for worm, in felt slimey noodles, fed our own real worms in our compost bin. Composting is done weekly as the kids give left over foods to the worms. It was exciting to see the a banana peel in the 3 different stages of the process. We jumped into our last habitat the ponds and swamps to cover animals that can live in and out of water, like frogs (tadpoles), snakes and alligators. Reptiles and Bugs will be explored the rest of the weeks following spring break. We will also be involved in gardening, growing seeds, and taking care of the earth. Up till the second week of May, we will be finishing the English Alphabets, with N for nest, Q for quilt, U for umbrella, V for Volcanoe, X for Xylephone, and in Arabic: Kaaf for Kitaab, Laam for laqlaq, stork, Meem for Matar, rain, Noon for nakhlah, bee, Haa hilal, moon, Waaw for wardah, flower, Yaa, for yad, hand. By the end of May, Teacher Lubna’s group will have finished, inshaAllah with Surah Nasr, and Kawther. Teacher Miral’s Group will inshaAllah finish Humazah and Surah Fil.

March Newsletter

Assalam Alaikum, now in the home stretch… I’m sure these last three months are going to be a blast. We are jam packing our days with fun, excitement and field trips...not to mention some new classroom happenings. We’re kicking it up a notch and glad you’re here for the ride! Sit back and enjoy!



Important Dates/Reminders:


*please sign in and out…we don’t want to waste paper and licensing loves it!

*please take home artwork from cubbies, I’ve left bags outside if needed

*please let me know in advance of any changes to your child’s schdedule



Wed. March 3: Marine Science Institute $15

Wed. March 24th: Field Trip Happy Hollow Park and Zoo $8



Good News: Bad News: What’s the Plan Stan??


Alhamdulillah we are blessed to be moving to another home this summer. Unfortunately we will not be able to continue our preschool from that location. For the past two years, this school has been a passion for me and has brought upon so many wonderful experiences. InshaAllah your children will continue to success and many more self discoveries on their life journeys.



Last Month:

Splish Splash!!! Whales, dophins, octopus, starfish, and sharks… I don’t think there’s a creature under the sea we didn’t come across. One of the cool things explored during this theme was the focus on textures from slimey snails and fish, to prickly sea urchins and bumpy starfish, and smooth sleek sharks. It was exciting to actually go to the marine science institute and feel these animals in person. Our field trip to Seascapes was quite pleasant, it gave us a chance to see other sea creatures like turtles, crabs and eels, the highlight being taking home our very own fish tank and starter fish to take care of. The children love taking turns during the week feeding the fish, and soon, we will be adding some frogs and snails as we move onto the unit after the jungle, swamps and creeks! Math concepts of counting in Arabic and English were reviewed, and emphasis was given on the numerical picture and correlation with “how many is that” was made in Arabic. Also, animals like Ollie the Octopus helped us count, sharks eating minnows helped us introduce adding and subtracting which will become in the fore front of our math studies in the next few months. Also, Eric Carle’s book Mr. Seahorse introduced the idea of ocean families and the uniqueness of Allah’s creations. The Ocean theme is always a blast with the kids as they enjoy all the water and bubble play outside…even though it was limited to due to weather. At the seashore, the kids loved digging for actual sea shells and making their very own sand castles. Artwork taken home will include projects like, O for ocean (ocean viewer), J for jellyfish, K for kelp, slimey gaack, sea foam paintings (bubble art), aluminum foil sharks to demonstrate smooth texture, Arabic counting, Ayn for ayn: well, Ghayn, ghoroob, for sunset, faa for farse al bahar, the sea horse.



This month of March…

Be careful many wild animals will be coming your way as we learn all about Habitats! Specifically the jungle and forests. Animals spark creativity and self awareness as we explore Allah’s creations and how they interact with their environments. We will be comparing and contrasting things like spots and stripes, fast and slow, and fur and feathers. Math will be starting to include concepts of subtraction and continuing to build on basic addition. We will learn about respect to animals and caring for them, and Quran stories will include Prophet Nuh and Prophet Sulaiman.


Arabic:


“Bunni al islam…” the new song is loved and thoroughly enjoyed by all the kids. Touching on the “arqan” of our “deen”… it is one of those foundation songs that will be instilled in the hearts of our children. This month we will expand our singing to include yet another beautiful song in Arabic. Letter for the last month included Ayn, Ghayn, and Faa, this month we will be working on Thaw, Zhaw, Qaaf, and Kaaf. Teacher Lubna’s group has finished Surah Lahab and is moving onto Surah Nasr, while Teacher Mirals group is moving forward from Surah Asr, to Surah Humazah. They are also finishing up the Fatha sounds and starting the Kasra sounds of the letters.

February Newsletter

Assalam Alaikum,

Rain Rain Go away…. No, no, nix that…stay to replenish what we have used, and then come again another day… so my pre-k kids can go out to play!...Here we find ourselves in February, my my time flies fast, I find it hard to keep up sometimes! Happy reading!

Important Dates/Reminders:
Tues. Feb. 9: Field Trip to Seascapes Fish Store, Mountain View
Mon. Feb. 15-19th: Mid-Year Break, No School
Wed. Mar. 3: Field Trip: Marine Science Institute, Redwood City, $15
11:30-2:30, Please pick up children at 3:00 on this day.

*please log in and out
*take home artwork in cubbies

Progress Reports:

At the end of this month instead of parent teacher conferences I will be handing out progress reports to give the parents an idea of what has happened since the last conferences. After receiving these parents will still be welcomed to schedule an appt. for a parent teacher conference if needed.

Re-enrollment and Open Enrollment:

Re-enrollment will be offered to all students currently in the program. The deadline to re-enroll is March 15. After this there will be open enrollment to the general public which will be on a first come first serve basis. Please remember we have limited spaces available for next year, and they do fill up quickly. There will be a deposit of $50 recquired which will go towards your September tuition. Forms will be available after the Feb. holidays.


Last Month:

January was Rockin’!!!!, literally… experimenting with sound vibrations, trying to grow crystals, a rock hunt.. that was all cool, but nothing was as awesome as seeing the children’s faces light up as their volcanoes exploded…man… that’s what we want to see, excitement, enthusiasm, and the feelings of achievement the children feel when their projects come together! Dinosaur week was not too shabby either… earning their archeologist badges took some work, but boy did they deserve it. They dug to find fossils, which they “hypothesized” was a brachiasaurus because of the long neck bone… but put together the skeleton, and made plaster moulds of the bones, which was a lengthy but worthwhile process. We also reviewed our adding skills with our Dino-mite Dino-math! Well, as you see the projects come home, don’t be afraid to ask what was involved in making them, sometimes I can’t write about every detail in the class, but would love to share with you. Lastly, the kids were totally well behaved during the showing of Good night moon, and found the play quite entertaining and silly. As for Planet Granite, the pictures will be worth a thousand words, but I want to thank Liqa for her terrific climbing demonstration and skills!

This month:
We will be diving deep into the ocean blue to discover all kinds of sea creatures, the first week will focus on introducing some sea-life, location of oceans, and the letter O, the second week will revolve around knowing the ocean through our sense, mainly texture and sounds, the last week, will be about the beach and sea-shore. We will be acquiring our new “class pet” in Feb, to be chosen by the children, and a great opportunity to actually feel and see sea-life through the science institute.

Field Trips:
1. Seascapes: this is a fish store located off of evelyn in mountain view, the owner will be talking to the kids about salt water and fresh water fish, how to take care of them, and differences between fish and reptiles. The kids will help choose our class pet and we will be setting up our own school aquarium.

2. Marine Science Institute: The children will be taking a 2 hour tour of the tide pools and shore, and will be rotating between 4 centers in which they will be interacting with the marine life in different ways. The total cost of the field trip is $250.00, so I am asking the each child bring $15, to cover as much as possible, and inshaAllah the school will cover the rest. I highly encourage the kids, who do not regularly come on Wed. to participate for the very special field trp. All parents welcome to come as always. The timing will be 11:30-2:00, and we will expect to come back by 2:30. Pick-up at 3:00 for this day only!

Arabic:

MashaAllah, I am so proud of our children, Teacher Miral’s group will be finishing up Surah Takathur and will be starting Surah’s Asr and Humazah this month. Instead of surah review, on mon, wed. and fri, Teacher Miral has been focusing primarily on pronunciation of certain words and letters, and has been doing 3-Letter reading with the Fath-ha for the older children, including the half letters. Surah Review is done on tues and thurs, along with the vocab and letter review. Teacher Lubna’s group started Surah Lahab, and will cont. onto Surah Kawther, inshaAllah. The activity based listening centers have been key in helping them memorize so quickly and easily. Last month we did the letters Sheen for shaheena(truck), and Saad for sakhr (rocks), and Daad for dirse (back molar teeth). This month we will be doing Letters Ayn, Ghayn, and Faa.
The children are also doing well in speaking conversation style.. they so far can say: ma ismooka/ki, what is your name, isme ***, my name is **, kayfa halek, how are you, alhamdulillah, fine, ayna **, where is **, hiya/huwa hunna, he/she is there. We will cont. to practice this along with a new part to this conversation.

January 2010/Dec. 2009 Newsletter

Newsletter January 2010/December 2009


Hooray for 2010! Happy New Years to everyone, may the year be filled with positivity, creativity, and much learning! Can’t wait to see all of you next week, missing all my kids, and looking forward to an AWESOME new year. We’ve had many things updated in the class and some new classroom materials just waiting to be used! Inshaallah Monday January 4th will start school as usual, please take some time to empty out cubbies, update change of clothes/art smocks, and emergency cards when you come!

Important Dates:
Friday Jan. 8th: Ice Skating Vallco Park, admission cost: $12
Wed. Jan. 13th: Play: Good Night Moon, Santa Clara University $8
Thurs Jan. 28th: Field Trip Planet Granite: Rock Climbing, please sign waiver form and leave copy of driver’s license.

Welcome and Farewell:
We would like to send our sincerest wishes to Ismaeel and his family who will be moving down south. We wish the all the best and many blessing in their new home. We are also sending our heartiest congratulations to Abdulsalam’s family who were blessed with twins this past month. May Allah bless their growing family! Ameen. We would like to also welcome all our new students who will be joining us this new year!

Parent Volunteers: Can you help out? Let me know!
Lamination cut-outs, Activity Prep cut-outs:

Description
Cut out pictures, words, etc. that will be used in the class activities,

Snack Shopping

Description
Go to Costco/grocery store to buy snacks/supplies that need to be replenished. All will be reimbursed with a check.

Arabic Activity Prep.

Description
Many of the Arabic games we use are made up, and we need help to cut-out pieces, glue, put together kits, etc.

Library Services

Description
Pick up books put on hold, or search for books related to upcoming themes, drop off books, at Santa Clara Library

Flannel Board Stories

Description
Cut out and glue pieces to flannel board stories ,make flannel backdrops


Last month:

Here’s a recap of Nov. and Dec.. November had us back in our community, looking into local spots and neighborhood helpers. One of the highlights of this unit was the creation of our own model city. Using wooden blocks, glue and screws and lotsa paint, the kids got together in pairs to contribute buildings and roads to the city. MashaAllah I was really really proud to see them create ideas from a plan on paper, intention, purpose, to an actual 3-D model. We made ginger-bread cars, and had fun with fire-safety. November brought us the idea of team-work and respect. Many of the art projects and p.e. games were focused on 2-3 people trying to achieve the same goal. We had 3 legged races, and tug-of –war being some of our favorites. The idea of togetherness was expanded to include our global community as it was the time of our blessed Eid al Adha. The story of Prophet Ibrahim was the foundation for building on trust and universal dependence on Allah swt. The children’s hearts went out to Hajjar and her desperate search for water. When all of this was translated into the obligatory acts of Hajj, the children not only understood what was going on, but they recognized the need to see all muslims as our Ummah!.
After Eid, we shifted gears into a fun experiment filled unit on water, ice and snow. We had 2 weeks of fabulous observations and “cool” art projects which included our penguins and shaving cream polar bears, rainsticks, ice balls, and sugar cube igloos. We postponed our field trip to the first week of January, to the ice rink, which I’m sure the children will love!



This month:
We will be off on a journey trekking thorough mountains and volcanoes. We will be studying rocks, crystals and even dinosaur fossils. We will explore the opposites of hard vs. soft and high vs. low. This unit will also include a Dinosuar unit, and explorations in sound, echoes and vibrations. We will be having 3 field trips this month, please be sure to keep track of the dates and let us know which ones you will be participating in.

Field Trips:
Ice Skating, Jan. 8th: We will be needing a 1:1 ratio for the children in order for them to have a great experience at the skating center. I am currently looking for any volunteers for Friday morning from 9:30-12 to join us at the Vallco Ice Chalet in Cupertino. If you know anybody or can come, please let me know. The cost for admission and rental is $12/child and adult. In case of any volunteer shortages, we may postpone this field trip one more time. Confirmation will be announced by Wed.

Jan. 13: California Theatre Center, Santa Clara University: Good Night Moon: Delight in this musical adaptation of the Margaret Wise Brown book that has been a favorite of children and their parents for over half a century. A small bunny goes through the gentle, reassuring ritual of bedtime as details from the wonderful illustrations by Clement Hurd come to life with lively musical numbers, colorful characters and tap dancing bears playing musical chairs in the Great Green Room. "Good night stars/ Goodnight air/ Goodnight noises everywhere!"

Jan. 28th: Planet Granite, Sunnyvale: To conclude our Rocks theme, we will be given a tour and a special rock climbing demonstration. All children need to have a signed waiver and a copy of parents drivers license, which will be returned to you. Children who are 40 pounds or more, will be allowed to attempt rock climbing.

Arabic: During November and December we added some great vocabulary: Daal: daira circle, Dhaal: dhikr: remembrance of Allah, Raa: raas, face, Zaa: zamzam: holy water, Seen: sahaab, cloud. Teacher Miral’s group finished surah Adiyat and Surah Qariah, and will be starting with Surah Takathur then Surah Asr. They are currently working on reading 3 letter words with the Fatha sound. We will be reviewing a bit more before starting the Damma sounds. Teacher Lubna’s group, finished Surah Ikhlaas, and will be moving onto Surah Masad.

November Newsletter

Newsletter Nov. 2009

My, my my, November starts with even more warm weather…what a trip! InshaAllah all this sunshine will help keep the colds at bay and rev up some energy for the coming winter. Woohooo…Bakrah Eid is almost here, and I can’t wait to teach the concept of Hajj. MA, Prophet Ibrahim’s story is the one of the few that I have seen have such a strong impact on the children. I look forward to a great November! Happy Reading…

Important Dates and Reminders:
Nov. 6 TBC, Field Trip to Library
Nov. 18 TBC, Field Trip to Fire Station
Nov. 25th: Eid Party
Nov. 25th: Scholastic Book Orders Due
Nov. 26-Dec. 2: Thanksgiving/Eid Holiday No School

*extra change of clothes

Updates:
Scholastic Book Orders will be available for those parents interested, and will no longer be passed out in the folder. Please ask me for the monthly catalogue if you wish to take a look or order.

Canned Food Drive: For last Eid, we collected coins in our Sadaqa jars and dollar leaves for our Barakah Blossoms. This Eid we will be collecting non-perishable and canned food items to be presented to Rahima Foundation to help feed people in our local area. Please periodically send canned food, or non-perishable items with your children. Each time something gets brought in we will be adding a person to our community poster which will be presented on the Eid party day! Lets encourage our children to share and give what we have with open hands!

Smocky Situation: I have to apologize for the lack of smocks this year, unfortunately the new ones haven’t come in yet. In the meantime, please send your child with an old t-shirt (adult size) that they can wear during art activities, to be kept in their cubbies.

Parent Conferences: JazakAllah Khair to all the parents who came in to talk with us. InshaAllah Khair with everyone on the same page, it will help to make the child’s transitions between school and home smooth and consistent. IA, we will have conferences again in the spring. Please feel free to email me whenever you feel the need.

Oh where, oh where has my cell phone gone?: well, I hate to say it, but its gone to the cell phone graveyard, and until I can find a replacement please call me on the school number 408-530-9550 to report absences, schedule changes, etc.

Journals: This month we will be starting our weekly journals, in which children will collect photos of themselves , and we will be writing dictation from the children, and keep their drawings to help them not only remember what they have learned, but encourage their writing, organization, and communication skills. InshaAllah they will be kept in class and will be sent home at the end of the year as their “year book”.

Eid Party: Please sign up for a dish, we will be having our party from 10-12, IA i’ll be bringing all the gifts, so please don’t send anything with the children, except maybe the food! We will be having an art activity, games and a presentation from Rahima Foundation!


Lima Bean Plants: will be sent home this week. To take care of your plant, please transplant to a larger container and keep indoors on a windowsill or sunny area. Water daily (to keep soil moist). Enjoy picking beans from the plant and encourage your child to count seeds inside, or to tell you the story about how the seed grew. Mashaallah they planted the seeds with a dua to Allah to make their plants grow, and by Allah they did! At the time I had told them the story about how one plant grows out of one seed, yet Allah’s Rahma makes the plant have multiple fruits, each fruit having multiple seeds, and each seed having the capability to produce so much.. this is Allah’s Rahma “Allah loves to give so He blesses us with more!”

Pumpkins: Please look to the recipes below to put your pumpkin to use. The children learned about respecting food, and made many observations on the pumpkin. This is the season where they see an abundance of this food, we wanted them to have solid truthful connection to it. To make pumpkin puree (as used in recipes) do the following:

1. wash pumpkin
2. cut into 4 pieces, remove seeds and stringy insides (bake seeds separately with spray of oil to have toasted seeds… yum!)
3. spray with oil, or butter
4. place on cookie sheet on 350^ and bake for 45-60 minutes until pumpkin is soft inside (you can easily slide fork in and out)
5. scoop out insides with spoon and blend
6. follow any pumpkin recipe, should yield about 1.5-2 cups of puree.

Last Month:
We ventured to the countryside where we enjoyed the coming of fall and spent a lot of time on the farm. Our goals last month included making observations with our 5 senses and comparing and contrasting two things. On the farm we learned about the letter “A” for apples, food that farmers grow that help our bodies, plants and what they need to grow, the circle of life from seed to seed, pumpkins (pumpkin math, cooking projects and scientific observations), “B” for bones, and Mr. Bones who needs milk/dairy to stay strong, Teeth:bones we can see, day and night animals(compare/contrast) including opposums, raccoons, bats, fox, and owls, mapping areas for farm animals, and comparing and contrasting ducks and chickens.

We had a great time with Dr. Radwan who showed us what it takes to keep our teeth strong and healthy. We thank him for his time and creativity with the children. On our visit to Hidden Villa the children explored the garden, tasting fresh food, and learning about composting. They loved feeling the sheep’s wool and running after the chicken. Our two guides did a great job helping the children to learn respect for food and animals. Lastly at the farmer’s market, the children had a blast identifying the different food groups and shopping together to make a complete meal. JazakAllah khair to all the parent chaperones! The artwork is being sent home through the cubbies, so please clear the cubbies out every so often! 

Arabic:

The children have picked up many phrases and words in Arabic. Please try to use them at home also to encourage their responses and familiarity with the language. It’s really exciting for them to totally understand what is being said. MashaAllah you’r children are amazing! Here are some transliterations:
-Maa ismookaa(boy), ismookee(girl) what is your name?
-Ismee____________. My name is ______________
-Hal thureed(boy), Thureedeena(girl) haleeb?, Would you like some milk?
-Maa zhaa thureed(boy), thureedeena(girl)? What do you want?
-alaa: higher
-aseera: faster

(there are many more…I can email later)

Teacher Miral’s Group: We are working on the last few lines of Surah Adiyat, and will start Surah Qariah soon. We have been playing games to help the children associate the Arabic letters with their small form (in writing). We have done the letters that have already been discussed in class: Alif, baa, taa, thaa, jeem, haa, khaa, and will work on daal, dhal, raa, zaay, this month.

Teacher Lubna’s Group: Alhamdulillah the children have finished surah Naas, and will be working on Surah Falaq and Kawther this month. We have been memorizing with hand gestures to convey meaning, and the children have especially loved the jumping game.

This past month we learned thaa for thaalib, fox, jeem for jubn, cheese, haa for hissan, horse, and khaa for kharouf, sheep. Please keep the Arabic artwork at home, as it will inshaallah become a my first Arabic letter book for them that they made all by themselves. It will be a great source of review for the summer, not to mention a very cute keepsake!

This month: Our goals for this month include:
*expanding the observation process to include educated guesses and making conclusions
*continuing the concept of adding in math
*team games to encourage the sense of unity, belonging, and working together as an ummah
*cont. of maps: expanding the idea of a local map/farm map to a global map

This month we will be in the city, learning about our community helpers: where people work, and how they are part of our community, modes of transportation:cars, planes, boats, trains, animals etc, hajj, Prophet Ibrahim (A), helping those in need, our ummah, and lights and energy used in the city (neon, glow in the dark,light bulbs etc.).

Have a good one!

October Newsletter

Newsletter October 2009


Assalam Alaikum! This past month has been wonderful getting to know your children. MashaAllah, each offers something unique and exciting to the class. I know this year is going to be great inshaAllah! Hello October, Hello cold weather…so we hope! InshaAllah fall weather will kick in, so teaching seasons will make some sense to the kids! This is one of my most favorite seasons, as it captures the passing of time in a single leaf! Enjoy!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Wed. Oct. 14: Class visit from Dr. Yahya Radwan (dentist), 10am-10:30, parents welcome to attend.

Friday Oct. 16th: Field Trip Vallco Farmer’s Market

Week of Oct. 19-23rd: Parent Teacher Conferences

Wed. Oct. 28th: Field Trip Hidden Villa Farm

Fri. Oct. 30th: Scholastic Book Orders Due

Sign In/Out
The folder outside, is not just for licensing reasons, its also a communication folder. Please look to it for scholastic book orders, tuition receipts, incident reports, and other paperwork.

Cold/Flu Season:
Its that time of the year, that runny noses and fevers become common. Here is a quick reminder of illness guidelines:

Please keep your child at home if:
*persistant coughing and sneezing
*excessive runny nose, green in color
*fever: children may not return to school unless they are fever free for atleast 24 hours prior to school without the use of fever reducing medicine.
*lethargic, in-active behavior

If your child has something that maybe contagious, a docotor’s note is recquired before they can return to school.

We will try our best to keep hands washed and toys/area sanitized, please help to reduce the spread of illness by doing your part!


Parent/Teacher Conferences:
This is something new we are doing this year. We would like to work with the parents to help make an optimal learning environment for each child. These short 15-25 minute conversations will be used to create dialogue to assess individual needs, concerns, and celebrations of the child. We will be doing these periodically throughout the year. Please sign up on the Red clipboard for the best time for you to come and meet.

Receipts:
Did you know that your Pre-K tuition is tax deductable? We are a licensed day care facility with a tax i.d. and the receipts collected can be deducted from your returns…so don’t lose them!

Field Trips:
Alhamdulillah the kids did a great job practicing safety and listening skills at Raynor Park. We will be having more great fun outside of school this month, at the Farmer’s market we will be collecting food that will help different parts of our bodies
(protein for muscle, milk for bones, veggies for vitamins to organs, carbs for energy etc.) , at the farm we will be doing hands on chores to figure out what it takes to produce food for a whole community! We look forward to volunteers, if you would like to join us, please let me know ahead of time, thanks!

Last Month…
September, was busy busy learning about ourselves, our names and in particular a month long look at “our hands”. We went over the ideas of giving hands, helping hands, caring hands, gentle hands, hands that make, and feel, and create and count. Our classroom apple tree blossomed with leaves inscribed with the children’s personal explorations about their hands. September brought us to the end of Ramadan, with our specially collected “Baraka Blossoms” presented to Sr. Dian of the Give Light Foundation. She talked to the kids about orphan children, and our responsibilities to them. We also went on a treasure hunt to find mail for our mailboxes. JazakAllah khair for all the parents for helping to make this time so memorable for them. Their goody bags were brimming with treats! Our classroom “mailperson”, chosen everyday, would deliver mail to the all children, from the parents and teachers. They had a great time sharing stories about their families and exploring different textures at the sensory table. In the take home art, you will find projects including, our “hand book”, B is for bones, our Ramadan moons, various Arabic art, and any other drawings/paintings done.

This month:
October will bring us into the season change, explored through the obseravations of leaves, color mixing, and a continuation of our seed study. From learning about food that helps our bodies, we will be moving into the country to learn about farms as sources of food for the community. We will also, comparing and contrasting night and day animals, sounds, and colors. We will begin our Pumpkin study, as we learn about respecting food and appreciating its purpose, texture, and flavor as one of Allah’s mercies to us.

Arabic:
We are going through the alphabet in order and so far have covered Alif for um(mom) and ab(dad) , Baa for bayt (house), Taa for tamar(date), tin(fig), and tufaahaa(apple). Each letter has been introduced with a short song/rhyme to help remember the vocabulary. This month we will continue with, Thaa, Jeem, Haa, Khaa, and Daal. Children will now be grouped in Arabic with either Teacher Miral or Teacher Lubna. Teacher Miral’s group will start with Surah Adiyat and work toward the end of the Quran this year. She will be handing out homework sheets, to help review letter and small letter taught that week. All homework is OPTIONAL, and is only to be used to help the child review concepts, they will neither be collected or graded. As these older children get geared to read 3 letter words, its very helpful to become familiar with the half letters. Teacher Lubna’s group will memorize from Surah Naas and back up to the larger surahs. We use a tool called “active memorization” for the younger children, in which they participate in various listening, hand building, and movement activities to help keep them engaged while memorizing. Here is a weekly Arabic program schedule:

Monday: Teacher Miral’s Group(G1): Memorization, song, and half letter introduction
Teacher Lubna’s Group(G2): Memorization, song, and Surah review through Listening centers.
Tuesday: G1: Memorization
G2: Memorization
Both Groups do the song, and Letter intro and Review through an Active Game
Wednesday: G1:Memorization, song, half letter inro.
G2: Memorization, song,
Both do the letter art project
Thursday: G1: Memorization
G2: Memoirzation
Both do song, and pre-wrting/writing activities.
Friday: G1: Memorization, song, Active Game
G2: Memorization, song, Active Game
Both do Arabic storytime.

Newsletter September 2009

Assalam Alaikum,
Welcome to Tazkiya Preschool! We are excited to be starting school during this blessed month of Ramadan. May this month be full of dedication, sincerity, peace and blessings for us all… and may spirit of this month uplift us throughout the year. This month we will be discovering ourselves and getting to know each other with our theme of: In my heart. hPlease look to this website for monthly newsletters and updates/changes to our program. We also will be communicating through email and using a private Picasa account to upload pictures. JazakAllah Khair!


Important Dates/Reminders:
Mon. Aug. 31st: First Day of Class
Mon. Sept. 7th: Labor Day Holiday
Fri. Sept. 18th: Eid Party, In Class
Fri. Sept. 18th: Scholastic Book Orders Due
Mon. Sept. 21-Wed. 23: Eid Holiday
Sat. Sept. 26th: Eid Party and Back to School Day
Wed. Sept. 30th: Field Trip to Raynor Park

*last day to enroll is August 28th! Pleas make sure we have all your paperwork, immunization information and tuition checks! JazakAllah Khair.

“My first day!” :

Dear Mom and Dad,
I want to have a great day at school. I’m really excited to go, but I’m a little bit nervous too. Help me out, here are some things I need:
*Please walk me through the gate, and sign me in and out of the school.
*Don’t forget to bring my lunch, (I get very hungry!) My teacher will give me snack, (probably something healthy, but I’ll tell her I just want goldfish!)
*Oh yeah, my extra change of clothes, just in case I have an accident, or get too dirty
*How about you send me a picture of our family, so I can show my friends and teacher the people I love… and just in case I miss you guys too much, I’ll give your picture a hug!
*Wait, one last thing, please make sure my teacher has all your emergency information, and your cell phone number…I’m sure she’s very keen on keeping me safe!

Well, I love you, and don’t worry, I’m all growed up now!

Love…. Me!

Daily Routine:
8am-8:45 Arrival/Welcome
8:45-9:15 Circle Time
9:15-9:45 Activity 1
9:45-10:30 Arabic
10:30-10:45 Snack
10:45-11:30 Outside Play
11:30-12:15 Activity 2
12:15-1:00 Lunch/Clean Up

This schedule is to help keep the day flowing. Please note that all timings are NOT set in stone. We will stay flexible with the times to fit the best interest of the children.

Scholastic Book Orders:
Scholastic Books is an optional service provided by our school. The company offers books at low cost to the parents and rewards teachers with bonus points to get more books for the classroom and other learning materials. It is a great way to encourage your child to read and to build your own home libraries. If you do decide to order, please write all checks payable to “Scholastic Book”. Look to children’s cubbies, for the new offers every month.

Field Trip:
Since the children are new to the school, we will be having a simple field trip to the park to review safety and listening skills. We will be going to Raynor Park in Sunnyvale, from 9:30-11:30am. Please sign permission slip on the Parent Board. Parents welcomed to come. In general we will be having 1-2 field trips per month.

Eid Party & Back to School Day:
The last Saturday of September, the 26th, we will get an opportunity to meet again and enjoy the afternoon with all the families. Please bring a dish to share, and we’ll have games, treats and art activities for Eid. You will also get a chance to see your child’s work, and meet the teachers! On Friday Sept. 18th, will have our in class party, where the children will pass out treats for their friends. Please bring 10 of something (i.e. pencils, snack crackers, a picture they draw etc. nothing expensive, this should not be a burden to your budget!).

Newsletter April/May 2009

Assalam Alaikum! What a wild time we’ve had this past month! We haven’t skipped a beat as we’ve danced around the world through rain or shine! Now, as we glide into the home stretch, we’re so excited to be finishing off our world tour with visits to Mexico, Peru, Australia, and Hawaii. InshaAllah this will be the last newsletter for the school year, and I want to thank all the parents for their trust and support, especially your patience and understanding in the past few weeks. We’ve had a great year, and I wish you all a fun filled summer!

Important Dates/Reminders:
Thurs. April 9th: Field Trip Clay Planet
Week of April 13-17th Spring Break
Thurs. May 7th: Field Trip to Lowes
Fri. May 8th: ALL Scholastic Book orders due
Wed. May 13th: Field Trip to Petco
Sat. May 16th: Hands on Art Festival Sunnyvale, 10am-3pm
Wed. May 27th: Parent Surveys Due
Wed. May 27th: Wheels Day, Field Trip Raynor Park
Thurs. May 28th: Waterslide Day Field Trip Parent Participation Required
Fri May 29th: Graduation Ceremony and Art Show 5:00pm Potluck
Fri. May 29th: Last day to Pre-Register for next year. After this date there will be a $25 registration fee.

Last Month:
March and April have brought upon new discoveries in math and art. In Egypt we learned about triangles as parts of pyramids. We also took a trip to the Rosecrution Museum in San Jose to see the origins of paper from papyrus. This lead to our own experimentation in paper making. From the deserts of Egypt we traveled down to Kenya where we learned some Swahili (Jambo, Habari Ghani: Hello, How are you?). We also patterned prints on our Kente cloths, practiced beats on our drums, and found ourselves on a safari full of jungle animals. We also spent some time soap carving and cooking up some African sesame cakes.

Later we traveled across the Pacific, to Mexico, where we found ourselves surrounded by the sounds and colors of this lively country. Not only did we eat snacks ranging the colors of a rainbow, we also tie dyed our own t-shirts. Through this activity and many other color mixing experiments, we found that combining primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) makes secondary colors (green, orange, purple and brown). We also spent some time pinching and coiling clay, and weaving pipe cleaners. Lastly traveling down to Latin America, we rowed a boat to the Rainforest. We imagined animals and our surroundings as we listenend to rainforest sounds, and put up our new bulletin board, “Rainforest Rainbow”. In a local pueblo in Peru, we found ourselves at a fiesta making black bean quesadillas, and wrapping goopy newspaper to form our “Earth” piñata. After exploring so many wonderful places on Earth, we can’t but help to learn how to take care of our planet.

This Month:
May brings us to the end of our school year, with explorations in the earth, bugs, volcanoes, oceans, space, recycling, and gardening. We want to tie in all that they have learned into some basic concepts we have been trying to reinforce throughout the year.

Exploration/Observations: comparing, contrasting, asking questions
Expressions: using art/words and imagination to demonstrate feelings and information
Respect: to each other, the greater world community, to animals and to the environment
Identity: self esteem through confidence in our abilities/skills, pride for our beliefs and morals as muslims, and the uniqueness of our being as Allah has created for us.

Arabic:
Teacher Miral has done a terrific job of introducing arabic as a language to the children. Not only does she talk to them in Arabic, the children have also learned songs and have read familiar books in Arabic. Their skills of recitation were refined with improvement in pronunciation and introduction to some basic rules of tajweed. MashsaAllah the children have finished Surahs Kawther, Asr, and Fatiha, and will be completing Surah Falaq before the end of the year! We worked on the letters Haa for hissan (horse), and Tha for thobaan(snake), Ayn for ankaboot(spider), Seen for samak(fish), and Sheen for shams(sun). Many of the children can recognize sounds associated with letters, and are on their way to learning the small (or half) letters as they are joined together. They are well on their way to reading soon and I recommend summer practice at home or with Arabic tutors. Fortunately, Teacher Miral will be having a summer session Arabic playgroup for this age to meet twice a week, 9:30am-11am. The fee will be $120/Month. Please contact her directly for details.


Parent Surveys:

We want to hear your comments and suggestions regarding our school. Please take some time to fill out the parent surveys that will be sent home in their cubbies. We appreciate your honesty and sincerity in this matter. All surveys due the last wed. of May.

Events for the Last Week of school:

Mon: Pajama Day: please send your children in their “night” clothes for some slumber party fun
Tues: Camping Day: get ready to sleep in tents outside, go hiking, and making our own food on the “fire” pit
Wed: Wheels Day: bring your bikes, scooters, or skates for a rollin’ good time on wheels at Raynor park. Please send a sac lunch so we can picnic at the park, and a water bottle to keep the kiddos hydrated.
Thurs: WaterSlides: Parent participation required, $4 children, $7 adult, swimsuits, towels, change of clothing necessary. Location: Sillman Activity Center. 6800 Mowry Avenue. Newark, CA 94560.
Fri: Graduation Ceremony and Art Show 5:00pm: Please sign up for the Potluck, and all family are encouraged to attend. Yearbooks passed out that night.

Have a great summer!

March Newsletter

Assalam Alaikum
Alhamdulillah spring is in the air, and hopefully some warm weather will come our way again. Enjoy!

Important Dates/Reminders:
Thurs. March 19th: Field Trip CDM for Musical Puppet Theatre
Thurs. March 26: Palo Alto Jr. Museum
(TBA)Persian cultural center
Friday March 27th: Scholastic Book Orders Due

*please sign in/out as it is a licensing requirement
*in April we will be working on environmentally friendly “recycle art” please save interesting canisters, papers, Styrofoam, light bulbs, etc.

Last Month…
Wow, there are a 180 countries in this world, and we’ve just begun by traveling to China, Japan, India, England, France, Russia, and now Italy. We probably won’t have time to get to all, but a few in each continent will be our goal. It’s been amazing to explore the different cultures through their music, food, festivals and famous landmarks. The children enjoy learning how to speak phrases and count in the various languages. In England we came across “Big Ben” and made our own clocks. The children did a great job making “observations” on the numbers, big hand and second hand. In France we made “Crepes” from the book “Crepes by Suzette”, and visited the Eiffel Tower with “Madeline”. In Russia we read a story about “Stefecha” who visits her grandparents and discovers the “Matryoshka Dolls”. We also made Russian Latkes with the eggs left over from our decorated faberge eggs, a famous art form from there. In our song we are learning called “We Speak…”, we added a new phrase, “when we “are in Russia we speak Russian, DAH, NYET (yes/no)” All the lyrics from this song will be at the end of the newsletter.

This Month…
With the beautiful spring weather coming up, (inshaAllah!) we will travel from Italy to to the Middle East, where we will be making observations on the desert regions. We will look into the Islamic art of tile mosaics, calligraphy and mosques. Specifically we will go to Iran and Egypt. Also we’ll make some middle eastern flat bread with regional spices. We will also be looking into the grasslands and jungle regions of Africa. We’ll be working on some African block printing, fried bananas, musical instruments and beading. We will incorporate the idea of opposites, navigational symbols, and regional folk tales, and triangle shapes and patterns. We look forward to our travels and can’t wait to move ahead.

Whats New?
There have been a few positive changes to our classroom. First we would like to welcome teacher Faizah who will be working with us daily from 10-1pm. She brings her warmth and experience to the children, who instantly have taken a liking to her. She will be starting full time after the spring break in april. Also, this month we welcome our new Arabic teacher, Teacher Miral. Teacher Miral will be starting March 16th and working until the end of the school year. She has her Ejaaza in the 30th part of the Quran, and will bring a new element of spoken Fusha Arabic to our class. We are very grateful to have such qualified new teachers working with us.

Arabic:
After having done review of all the Surahs for the past week, we focused on Surah Fil as the children needed a bit more practice with this one. We covered the letter “faa” for Fil, elephant. This month we will be moving onto Surah Kawther, Surah Asr, and Surah Falaq. Please remember to keep the surahs alive in the children’s hearts by singing them in the car or just listening to them. It should be a fun time, like group singing, as it will encourage them to remember Allah throughout their day and activities. Night time is also a good time, but we want don’t want them to associate “tiredness” or “going to sleep” with the surahs. I suggest at night time to have them pick their favorite surah to say, and listen to the 4 Kuls (even though we haven’t learned all of them yet) or the dua for sleeping. If you have any other suggestions or things that work for you, please let me know so we can share it with the group.

Volunteers
The classroom needs some volunteers with the following, please email me if you can help. Thanks

*cutting out flannel Arabic letters
*flannel scenic backgrounds (ocean, farm, jungle, swamp)
*snacks from Costco/Safeway
*various art supplies from Michaels/Office max/Morrison’s school supply
*primer/varnishing wood play area
*fixing damaged class books
*picture folders from National Geographics

Song Lyrics “We Speak…”
When I am in China (repeat), I speak Chinese (repeat)
“Nee how maa, Who how shei shei”
When I am in Japan, I speak Japanese
Ichi, Ni, San, (tan, tanna tun), Shi, Go, Roku, (tan, tanna, tun), Sichi, Hachi, Ku, Joo (tan, tanna, tun)
When I am in India, I speak Hindi
“Kya haal Hai? Bus teek taaak”
When I am in France, I speak French
Un, Dua, Tua, Kat, Senct, Sist, Sept, Wheat, Nuf, Due
When I am in Russia, I speak Russian
“Dah, Nyet”

February Newsletter

Assalam Alaikum,

As we travel around the world, February will take us from the far east, to Northern Europe. Alhamdulillah its been nothing but exciting to see the wonders of the world and the unique cultures around us. We look forward to more stamps in our passports and more activities revolving around this theme. JazakAllah khair to all the parents for their patience and support in the coming months.

Important Dates/Reminders:
Wed. Feb. 4th: West Coast Martial Arts Field Trip
Mon. Feb. 16th-20th: Mid year break, No school
Tues. Feb. 24th: Scholastic Book orders due
Wed. Feb. 25th: 10:30-12, CTC Play Field Trip
"I don't want to go to bed" Sunnyvale

*please sign in/out as its a licensing recquirement
*next open house is on March 7th 10-1pm

Last Month:
The year came to a great start with a closer look at our world. We made a "PEOPLE" collage, comparing how Allah (S) has made us all unique. We looked into the "Colors of Us", mixing red, black, yellow and white to make brown, all different shades and tones. Included in this was the story of Prophet Adam (A)and his creation from earthly elements. This started our study of clay from around the world. In China we had a great time visiting the Great Wall of China, in particular the story of the Jiauxjing Pass. New Years was in our midst and we celebrated with a Chinese dragon parade, freshly made eggrolls, soup, paper lanterns, and of course the passing of red envelopes. For P.E. this month, we studied discipline, strength and focus through a book called "Karate Hour". The kids lined up daily to learn different stances and stretches. These ideas was reinforced with our field trip to a martial arts dojo. We'd like to thank Patrick of West Coast Martial Arts for teaching our children various techniques and talking to them about focus and respect to others. Speaking chinese was also fun, as we learned how to say "Gung hai phat choi" Happy New Year, "Ni how ma, wo how shei shei" How are you,fine thank you.
The last week of January was spent in Japan. We continued making pottery on the wheel, as Japan is known for its pottery and ceramics. Also, we were honored to meet Mathew Gollub, author of "Ten Oni Drummers" a japanese counting book and "Jazz Fly" (zee zaba zoo zaba zee zaa roni!). Thank You Azra for inviting our class to join in on this special school assembly. One of the most memorable field trips this month was our visit to the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose. The kids had wonderful and peaceful time climbing over bridges and rocks, observing Koi fish and listening to the sounds of the waterfall.

This Month:
We find ourselves in busy India, we will be visiting our second wonder of the world, the Taj Mahal, and experiencing the cultural dance and music from the Indian Tabla and Sitaar. From here we will travel to Russia, London and Spain. We will be getting a sense of geography, and looking into directions (like North, South, East West). As the children are showing great interest in telling time, (they're getting quite good at the calendar dates, days and months)we will also be working a bit with clocks. Next month we will move south into Africa and then across to South America which will include a focus on colors, patterns, animals, and helping the environment.

Field Trip Info:
Our last field trip in Feb. is to the California Theatre Center. The cost is $8 per child. The play "I don't want to go to bed" is about the frustrations of a young girl who doesn’t like bedtime but transforms this nightly task into a wonderful imaginative adventure with her parents by re-enacting her favorite stories including The Three Little Pigs and The Billy Goats Gruff. I will need one other parent volunteer to accompany the class. Please let me know ASAP if you are available to chaperone.

Arabic Updates:
The children are finding their arabic groove. MashaAllah they are on their way to finishing Surah Fil this month, and through activities like play dough letters, salt trays, and letter hopscotch, they are really getting familiar with associating sounds and recognizing letters. They also love to play musical Surahs, which involves listening to the Quran and Surah review.
Teacher Lubna will be on leave from the last week of Feb. through the end of April to attain Ejaza in the 30th Part and to study calligraphy. We wish her all the best in her journey. We will be having a substitue Arabic teacher that will be starting in March, IA.

Anything Else?
Yes of course, we are looking into hiring a new TA that will be working through the end of the school year. The position is expected to be filled by the end of this month, but we will keep everyone posted.

Happy February!

Newsletter January 2009

Assalam Alaikum

Wow, as we welcome in the new year, i give you my renewed commitment to Tazkiya Preschool. We have only worked harder to develop our interactive environment and holistic curriculum. InshaAllah i look forward to the second half of the school year. Have a great one!

Important Dates/Reminders
Friday Jan. 16th, Scholastic Book Orders Due
January-February: Open Enrollment for this school year
March-May: Open Re-enrollment and new enrollment for 2009-2010 School Year.

Recent Updates:
Alhamdulillah, we have accomplished a lot in the recent holidays. We now have a safe new climbing structure with swings, and new wall heaters as well as a heating unit in the play room. We also took the opportunity to get carpets cleaned and toys updated. All pictures will be emailed out in a private link, and newsletters will be available through this blog site. We are currently interviewing prospective teachers and aides to start Feb. of this year and inshaAllah continue in the upcoming school year. InshaAllah with new flannel board stories, arabic games/art, and upcoming exciting themes, we have a lot to look forward to.

Past/Upcoming Themes:
We ended the year with a dip into the cold weather. In our explorations of winter we conducted science experiments on freezing and melting using water balloons. We also discussed the differences between rain and snow, created unique snowflake designs and had lotsa fun with ice painting.
We will kick off the new year with a re-visit to "Where are YOU?", including spatial relationships (on, above, across), as well as putting themselves on a map and scouting out the world around them. Focus this month will include, "Sharing is Caring/Zakat", "Music, Harmony and Dance", and "Transportation". Toward the end of the month we will start our World Tour with our first stop to the jungles of South Asia.

Scholastic Books
New order forms for January will be in the cubbies. Please note that we now have Honeybee and Firefly orders that are geared only to Preschool Level. For all orders you may write one check to Scholastic Books. Book orders will be due Friday January 16th.

Arabic:
For the first week back we will be reviewing the surahs and letters covered so far. InshaAllah with the end of Surah Quraish, we will move along to Surah Fil. Please note, after we have finished with the next Surah Nasr, we will be going back to study Surah Fatiha and Falaq.

Newsletter December 2008

Assalam Alaikum,
InshaAllah you all are doing well. We're looking forward to the next few week and are all excited for the Haji's and Eid. I wanted to give you all some updates on the classroom activities.

Important Dates and Reminders:
*please remember to sign in/out
*check cubbies for accumulated art work and food.

Fri. Dec. 5th: All Scholastic Book Orders Due
Mon. Dec. 8th: No school, Eid Holiday
Tues. Dec. 9th: No School, Eid Holiday
Wed. Dec. 10th: School in session, Eid Party from11:30-1pm.
Thurs. Dec. 11th: School in session
Fri. Dec. 12th: No School, Holiday

Mon. Dec. 22-Fri. Jan. 2nd.: No School, Winter Holiday

Last Month... This Month...
We had a blast learning about the farm; not only did we learn about the animals, but we also did an in depth study of seeds sprouting, and how farmers plant crops. We also had a great time at Ardenwood farms. Inshaallah i will send out another email with pictures of class activities. We have also incorparated some arabic letters and vocabulary, such as Baa for baqarah, cow, and Khaa for kharouf, sheep.

This month we've geared up to get ready for a virtual Hajj experience. This past week we have set the backgroud through the story of Prophet Ibrahim and his sacrifices to Allah. We also have gone over some of the different components like staying in tents at Mina, and tawaaf around the Kabah. This Friday we will actually be putting everything together to have a real hands on experience. InshaAllah in the following weeks we will be focusing on our Ummah as one and extending the Hajj concepts of equality and brotherhood. We have done Kaaf for Kabah, and the letter M for the mountains of Safa and Marwah. Also, as we experiencing Hajj, we will be emphasizing spatial awareness through the ideas of: running "in between" 2 mountains, "around" the kabah, "over and on" the mountain of Arafat, "under" the ground, the well of zamzam, etc.

Arabic Updates
What we've tried to do is explain the surahs as parts of a story that are slowly coming together. The children have already established oneness of Allah and His attributes through Surah Ikhlaas, and how we seek protection from Allah through Surah Nas. After Surah Maun and Surah Lahab, the children have understood that in this community of Mecca, there are some good people like the Prophet (S)/muslims and some bad people like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab. Now as they start Surah Quraysh, they are finally putting a name to this community, the tribe fo Quraysh who have been given the promise and safekeeping of the Kabah. From here we will move onto Surah Fil, about Abraha attacking the Kabah, and then Surah Nasr, Allah giving Victory to the muslims. InshaAllah in due time, they will start again with Surah Fatiha and Falaq, etc.
One of the major components of Arabic time has been the letter and sound games, surah musical chairs and the jumping games to promote interactive learning. In the past few weeks we have also added the art component, so please look toward the projects that have new vocabulary you can practice at home. Hand gestures are another major part of reinforcing the memorization process and the building of vocabulary. As signs are developed to convey meanings, and then repeated in the upcoming surahs, the children are really getting a good exposure to the arabic language. We are all really excited to see their progress in such a difficult subject matter.

Scholastic Books
Please make ONE check for all orders, payable to Scholastic Books. inshaAllah we will get them before the winter holidays.

Eid Party WED. Dec. 10th
This Eid inshaAllah, we will be having a potluck Lunch. So please bring a kid friendly dish to share. Here are some ideas: a dessert, drinks, snacks, pasta, chicken/rice... if everyone picks one type of category it will be a little easier for everyone. Please let me know as soon as you can. Inshaallah i will be providing the treats and gifts this time. We will be having some light entertainment with Surahs, songs, dance and puppet show (if we can get our act together!)

Eid Mubarak to everyone. Have a wonderful day with your families and friends!

Newsletter November 2008

We’ve had a great time last month diving into healthy foods and exploration of our bodies. We tasted an assortment of fruits and veggies for snack, dug right into pumpkin mush to count seeds and make pumpkin bread, and we had guest speakers to help teach us the importance of healthy choices and cleanliness. Thank you to Asma and Saira, the children were quite excited to have such an experience. We also took some time to measure our bodies in feet and “inchworms”, and make stone soup from real stones and vegetables we bought from the local farmer’s market. As we move into this month, we will be busy farmers growing our winter vegetable garden and tending to the farm animals. We’re looking forward to visiting Ardenwood Farm this Friday.

Important Dates/Reminders
*please sign in/out as it is a licensing requirement
*as weather gets colder and noses begin to run, please mind the spread of illnesses (remember if they got a fever, keep them at home!)
*please donate brown paper bags for our classroom Fall Tree.

Friday Nov. 7th: Field Trip, Ardenwood Farm, Fremont, $4/child $5/adult
Monday Nov. 10th: Veteran’s Day Holiday, No School
Wed. Nov. 26-Fri. Nov. 28th: Holiday, No School

**Open Enrollment**
InshaAllah we will be opening up enrollment again starting mid-November thru December for Pre-K Session 2 (From January-May.)

Upcoming Themes
A few changes to our theme schedule, we’ve extended our farm and cities week and will be moving toward a bigger picture of our world. This will be leading up to next month’s theme about Hajj and our ummah. We also be laying the foundations down for our trip around the world starting next year.

Missed Days
For any days the school is closed due to Teacher illness, there will be an opportunity for those days to be made up. For part time students they are welcome to either come a day they are off, or stay for a full day, with prior notification to the teacher. For full time students, we will look into suitable make-up times.

Scholastic Books
Alhamdulillah, the orders are in, it took a bit longer because it was a first time. The new order forms for November will be in their cubbies, and will be due in 2 weeks, by Nov. 21st.

Newsletter October 2008

Chilren are a “trust, placed by God, in the hands of his parents, and his innocent heart is a precious element capable of taking impressions.”
-Al Ghazali

… and you never get a second chance to make a first impression, so lets make it a positive one!


Important Dates and Reminders:
Children’s Discovery Museum: Saturday, October 11th, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday October 12th, 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Kick Start Eat Smart Visit Rainbow Pizza and Market! Shop for pretend fruits and veggies in the farmers’ market, then design a pizza using what you know about eating a rainbow to stay healthy. You can find more colorful food ideas at www.cdm.org/kickstart. We will also try some new ways to move. We might be offering Jazzercise, hula hoop fun, dance moves, or more!
Sat. Oct. 11th: Fireman’s Pancake Breakfast @ Station #2, corner of Wolfe and Arques.

Fri. Oct. 17th: Field Trip Farmer’s Market: 9:30-11:00am
TBA: Field Trip Grocery Store

Upcoming Themes:
This month we will be taking a closer look at our bodies. We will be doing activities exploring form our bones and brains to eating healthy and staying healthy. InshaAllah this month will be full of cooking projects and visits from fellow parents who will demonstrate eating choices and hygiene skills with the children. We will also be looking into how are bodies grow and change, through skills of observation, measurement, and comparisons. This will coincide with the changing of the season and a month long art project of our “Fall Tree”.
On the social front, we will be focusing on self intiative and independence. This will include self service for snack, and “complex” snack, ones they have to put together themselves. Also, children will be encouraged this month into home activities with their parents that they will bring back and share. They will also be asked to demonstrate the “process” they took to make the snack.

Last month:
We had a great time mapping out our family, community, and using imaginative role playing to learn about our community helpers. We also had a peaceful field trip to the masjid where they all got to help clean up the masjid and practice their surahs. They also were treated with kufi’s and scarves we will be using periodically in Arabic class.
One of the highlights of this month was the study of Ramadan and sharing with neighbors/friends. Also children collected stars to chart their good deeds and progress in becoming “better” in character. Stories included “The Prophet (S) and his neighbor”, and Abu Jahl’s treatment of the orphans (Suah Ma’un).

Arabic:
Alhamdulillah the children have memorized Surah Ikhlaas and are now finishing up Surah Ma’un. They are very excited and very receptive to learning through hand gestures and active games. InshaAllah this month we will continue onto Surah Tin (Fig). We also have been learning the letters alif for Allah, Baa, for Bismillah, and Raa for Ramadan.
InshaAllah Teacher Lubna will be joined shortly by Teacher Rokaya who will be working on Arabic Language exposure and comprehension with the children.

Newsletter September 2008

Assalam Alaikum,
We are so excited to be starting this year with the light of Ramadan shining over us! May this month be a source of blessing and an opportunity for all to better ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually? InshaAllah we have a bunch of Ramadan activities and our theme “Me, my family and community” activities planned this month. So let’s start exploring around the world, right here in our own homes and neighborhood!


Important Dates/Reminders:
Mon. Sept. 1 First Day of Class
Mon. Sep. 15 ½ Day of School, everyone done at Noon.
Fri. Sept. 26 Scholastic Book Orders Due
Tues. Sept. 30 Eid Party 11am-2pm
Wed. Oct. 1-3 No School, Eid Holiday

*Please leave extra change of clothing in plastic bag inside the cubbies.
*Please remember to sign in/out daily

Daily Routine
8am-8:45 Arrival/Welcome
8:45-9:15 Circle Time
9:15-9:45 Activity 1
9:45-10:15 Arabic
10:15-10:30 Snack
10:30-11:00 Outside Play
11:00-11:30 Activity 2
11:30-12:00 Outside Group Game
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Free Play
1:00-1:45 Quiet Time/Rest Time
1:45-2:30 Activity 3
2:30-3:00 Clean Up

This schedule is to help us to keep the day flowing. Please note that all timings are NOT set in stone. We will stay flexible with the times to fit the best interest of the children.








Theme Schedule
Please do not be overwhelmed with the theme schedule. This is NOT information to be transferred to the children and later tested. This is PRESCHOOL: A wonderful opportunity for the children to explore, ask questions, get dirty and just figure out what they are all about. It should be enjoyed at the children’s pace. So don’t worry if your child is not always choosing to participate. Learning takes different forms, and one of the best is in everyday PLAY!

Scholastic Book Orders
Take advantage of these awesome books available at such great prices. Please make checks payable to “Scholastic Book Club”. Books will be in approx. 2 weeks after the order date. This is an easy way to start your own home library and encourage the love of reading.

Eid Party
InshaAllah we will be having a fun filled day with games, nasheeds projects and food. Please sign up for the potluck on the parent bulletin board. All children in the program are encouraged to attend. All parents are welcome to join the fun.

Revised Holiday Schedule 08-09
Oct. 1-3 Eid Al-Fitr Break
Nov. 10 Veterans Day Holiday
Nov. 26-28 Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec. 11-12 Eid Al-Adha Break
Dec. 22- Jan. 2 Winter Break
Feb. 19-20 Mid-Year Break
April 13-17 Spring Break
May 25 Memorial Day Holiday