My Blessings, My Voice

"My Blessings" poster by our 11-year-old daughter (maashaa Allah)

It is easy to turn a lesson into an assessment and child-centered form of expression. For example, when covering our adab with Allah, the children were given free reign to do a poster on their blessings. This was fun for them, maashaa Allah, but also was an excellent way to gauge their thinking and development. Each year they will be given a similar assignment, perhaps expressed in a different form, inshaa Allah. In this way, we can see how their understanding develops and deepens with education, age, and exposure bi idhn Illah.

My Blessings poster by our 8 year old daughter, maashaa Allah.

We have also done infographic-style posters to remind about different aspects of etiquette and manners, al hamdu'Illah. It isn't about the children just repeating what they heard in the lesson; it's about them internalizing it and making it their own. How do they understand the manners for sitting in class? What strategies do they think might work to include the Qur'aan more in their lives?

Another way of encouraging many beautiful and positive forms of expression, is through a blog. We set up a blog, originally for the girls in a monthly book club we hosted, that has now become our children's. They include a variety of things on the blog, and it is a wonderful way to encourage them to write. Although still in it's infancy, you can view their blog here: Little Women on the Prairie