Oh, the things Yusuf can do all by himself these days!

And yet, he (sometimes, at least) takes the time to help out the little guy.

Scenes from our Wedventure two weeks ago (click to enlarge):

Yusuf was one of the many children highlighted in the most recent issue of the The Muslim Link for fasting during Ramadan. Look for him amongst the sweet faces below; he’s a little more than halfway down. Click the picture below to open it in a new window, then click again to enlarge.

From The Muslim Link:

Here they are … your Ramadhan Super Stars! The children listed in this issue fasted all or part of the month of Ramadhan, opting to participate before they are obligated to fast. We salute these shining lights and ask Allah to keep them on the straight path throughout their lives, Ameen!

There is nothing like a late afternoon walk in the fall. The evening light makes the colors even more beautiful than they are midday. Of course, the boys are so fast on their bikes now that I spent most of our trek around the lake running to keep up (note to self: I need a bike!). I did manage to take one quick pause to snap a picture with my phone. Gorgeous, right?

Most math done around here is completed orally and consists of hands-on activities and games. The boys (Yusuf and Amin) occasionally have a worksheet to do, here is some of Yusuf’s recent work:

Building Numbers

Adding Tens and Ones, Adding Tens

Hundred Chart

Yusuf has just started Miquon Math as a supplement to RightStart (there’s a link in the sidebar). It’s a very different approach, workbook-based but reliant upon Cuisenaire rods. He did six pages both yesterday and today, and here I thought two pages would be plenty! Yusuf is one self-motivated, hard-working kid masha’Allah, may Allah preserve him.

Last weekend, our dear friend held a community clean-up on her 30 acre farm to prepare for the approaching winter. The boys and I were there from mid-morning Saturday until bedtime Sunday. The group of families cleaned the chicken coop, brooder, and goat pens. We weeded and cleared out sections of the garden, tilled, and spread manure. We mowed the lawns and trimmed the bushes.  I was too busy working to get too many pictures, but oh how I wish I had one of Yusuf with his chicken coop cleaning mask on — he wore it well after the work was done, like a trophy for a job well done. Here are some general farm scenes I’ve taken on our frequent trips. The farm is, after all, the place we spend the most time after our own house.

Zak and Snowball

A few of the 25 laying hens.

Yusuf's chicken feeder

Yusuf built this chicken feeder! We measured together, I used the circular saw to cut the pieces, and Yusuf put it together with the screw gun. I did the four screws that had to go through the PVC pipe, but he put in the other eight all on his own. Needless to say, he was a proud little guy, especially come Sunday morning when he got to spread the chicken feed in the trough that he built himself. The chickens had no complaints.

Wednesday is the boys’ day off school, so usually we plan something special. It is fitting that our first documented Wedventure (Wednesday + adventure, get it?) was a trip to South Germantown Park’s Adventure Playground. The outing started with Mansoor slamming his sweet finger in the car door. He screamed, his fingernail turned purple, but all in all he handled it like the little man he is. Our trip ended with Yusuf accidentally kicking Mansoor smack in the fact while clumsily attempting to climb a ladder. Between Mansoor’s tears, Yusuf managed to fall off a four foot high seal statue and land (hard) on his face. Thankfully, the ground was sawdust rather than cement. Despite the absurd number of injuries (and two emergency trips to the bathroom), we had a great time. Really!

I admit it, I can’t draw. Really, I simply don’t know how to draw anything other than maybe a doodled flower while I’m supposed to be taking notes. So, when Yusuf and I sit around to draw together, I’m far from an inspiration for him. Our drawings tend to consist of geometric houses (you know, a triangle roof on top of a square house), stick people, grass and sky. We make great messes with paint and construct all sorts of cool 3D projects, but drawing has eluded us both. It was time for an intervention.

We finally purchased Draw, Write, Now last week, and this lovely book entered our school room yesterday. Today we have masterpieces! Behold Yusuf’s Mama Hen and Chicks:

Notice the big brother chick and the little brother chick

Yusuf decided that this one will go to our dear friend Zahirah as she is currently raising chickens. Tomorrow we will try to create another drawing, I’m hoping for (my) Grandma. This breakthrough is making the idea of making cards for relatives and pen-pals much more exciting!