Reading with Umar:)

I have been busy recently especially after the birth of our second caliph..still 'terkial-kial' adapting to the new routine with two sons at home..enjoying every bits of it..alhamdulillah..

I have not doing much activities with Umar for quite sometimes..we usually only read a page per day or maybe a page in two days. The rest, Umar will read by himself as he always loves reading. When he reads alone I'll listen to him and there would be many mistakes but I just let him continue reading for not to discourage him..He must be wanting so much a new book to explore!

He demanded for more arts activities. I only managed to do simple paintings and some 'kolaj' with ayah's help on my first day of confinement.

As for Umar's learning to read the Furqan, he already proceed with his 3rd book. He says that it is quite hard for him to master it but he will try to read at least half a page per day..he also forgotten some of the 'baris bawah' because of long break due to my health status..

Here is Umar's video reading last night:

A reader today is a leader for tomorrow

I like to highlight Tun Dr Mahathir's opinion on the important of reading to acquire knowledge in comparison to gaining knowledge through watching tv.

This was from the star date 31st jan 2010:

"Reading is different. It stays in your mind longer. You learn when you read. Not only the knowledge contain in the book but also the language, the way the book is written."

"Of course we can also acquire knowledge through television but we cannot gain an education just by watching television alone.They say picture paints a thousand words. Sometimes when you look at a picture, you see not just one but many thousands of words. However understanding still may not come and so you do not produce."

I think his words in the article explains clearly how acquiring knowledge from reading is the main important way and should be encouraged since young.

So, lets read with our kids!!choose the right material for them! Even Islam's first revelation was "iqra'":)

Reading is a way to release tense too!;)

Personalized story book;)

To make our reading journey more interesting and for Umar to have more sense of attachment to the books, I made some personalized story books. They are just some simple books but with variety of new words to introduce to Umar.

I have this ideas since Umar now show his interest on the laptop. So why not prepare some educational material on the lappy for him;)

Umar was smiling and eager to read the book as he saw his own photos on it. It may save the cost too and it allows mothers to create a book that suits their child;)

have a try..it is a good feeling when Umar likes the book so much. Planning to print the books out later! Yeay! Alhamdulillah..

p/s: I planned to make more children book on Islamic values as it quite difficult to find simple and interesting Islamic story books. Hope I could make it before the labor pains start! Pray for us! May Allah bless our families!

What do you think about this personalized story books?leave some comments as they make my day!

nurturing interest on books

It is sometime a challenging experience to nurture the interest on book among babies or even toddler. The first step to reading is to introduce the books to them.

Introducing books is like introducing a person to your child. First let them spend some times with the book. Let them explore, turning the page and even tear it;)

It is a good sign if the baby turn the pages by him/herself. It shows that she know the sequence and later wanna read it.

One of a good ways to explore the book together with your baby or toddler is by choosing a book which allow more space for the kids to participate. Above are 2 books I used to start with when umar was less than 10months old. Besides reading aloud and let him recognize the word, we spend times doing the activities in the book together. Initially he just observed and listen and later when he able to speak he participated

From my observation, umar developed good understanding on instruction, learn how to 'tackle' the activities, build confidence and stimulate him to speak and read.

book with colourful illustration may attract toddler's attention; it is vital to choose books with simple writing on every page and lots of pictures to discuss with the kids!

enjoy reading and strengthening our mother-child bonding!

new reading collection!

We have started with our new book for Umar's reading session. We have chosen Dr Seuss's book as our collection. The main reason is because I noticed that umar sometime mistakenly read the word which closely spelled.E.g. mouse and house. Secondly, just to make a variety in our collection thus introduce new style to Umar;)




In Dr Seuss book, it prepares ryhmes and interesting illustration which help umar to learn the word in detail. He enjoys it so much! We just had one book only. If anyone out there would like to sponsor us with the whole series it would be much appreciated!!!*grin*


Reading is fun! especially with our own kid:)

reading progress

Now umar taking his time enjoying a.k.a mastering & revising the 2a ladybird book..he reads about 2-3 pages a day..I just don't mind as long as he enjoy doing it. He can recognize some words clearly. While I was reading, he'll point out and read few words that he can recognize which enlighten me..

He also pointed out words on the telly and even laptop when we surf together.

I really excited and wanted to read with him more..bravo umar! alhamdulillah!

p/s: I'm craving for good books..i've finished on average 2 books per week now..ouch!need some more good bood for my brain!!

He can read at 2 years 10months old

Alhamdulillah..alhamdulillah..alhamdulillah..today umar had finished his 4th books, the ladybird 2a book..he became more and more interested in reading..everytime we passed a shopping mall he'll say "ayah, there's bookstore"..masya-Allah..with Allah blessings, he can finish his book in one day..good boy..he'll be uneasy if he still not finish his new book..the first book took 2 weeks to finish but after that reading is easier for him..alhamdulillah:)

He actually started reading on the 4th of Oct and on the 18th October 2009 Umar had finished reading his first book..book 1a of ladybird series..he read himself with me supervising..

My target now if to enrich his vocabulary daily..I'm making my own flash card now..(continuation of our old homemade flashcard)..he can read few of the flash card that i've showed him when he was a baby..subhanallah..

My aim is to make him read at early age so that he can treasure a lot of books out there..and by reading he can explore anything to enrich his knowledge..

besides that I'll pray to Allah and try to make him read arabic as well...after watching the 'salasilah Rasulullah' I have this strong determination to help my son memorize the Quran..oh Allah please help us..

now i feel like my holiday is too short for all these..biiznillah

reading with my toddler project

A few points on how to read with your toddler:

1. introduce him with books or words since young (I started introducing the flashcard to umar since he is about 2 months old..the earlier the better)

2. parents must be good example (mother especially) , when they see us reading, they'll be interested to read..e.g. for umar, he'll grab his own book when i'm reading my book

3. read when he wants to read.find a suitable time.do not force them to read especially a toddler.they need to move around to explore their world.while reading, if the child looks bored/tired,its ok to stop..morning is the best time as they are still fresh..stop if they wanna stop..

4. start with parents read aloud to them.do not ask or test them. young kids don't like to be tested e.g. dont test them on the word we just read to them.even though they look as a passive listener but they do learn!

5. choose a suitable book to thier age (will be elobrated in other post)

6. DOA utk anak sentiasa..doa ibu itu makbul..seriously, ana kalau rasa susah nak ajar anak sesuatu, doa specific utk anak tu, sebut nama dalam doa..iAllah, Allah akan bantu..

7. appropriate for toddler: after reading/showing flashcard, may reinforce the word by other means. e.g. after showing flashcard on 'cucumber', show them the 'cucumber' and surf encyclopedia online on 'cucumber'..

8. to encourage kids to read, reward method. e.g. used sticker they like (e.g. umar like sticker on cars) and stick on the page they have succesfully mastered..

9. choose appropriate font size for appropriate age..younger infant could not see small print and they see better in red colour..because of the immature cells of the eye..choose bigger print even for toddler and simple sentence a page..by age may change to smaller font and black colour font..:)

10. try to make a routine to read everyday..its ok if only a page or even a sentence a day..make it an enjoyable experience for both ibu dan anak!!

enjoy reading everyone!