Early years nature walk

Our School is situated at the end of "Dhanmondi Lake" branch. It takes few minutes to reach at the side ways of the lake, though you need to turn towards the back of the school building.

Getting ready at school ground for a nature walk outside the school

Every year, early year class teachers take their students for a walk to that area. Many parents reside around the Dhanmondi area and may be those children also visit nearby places but it is a special occasion for them to visit these same places with their class mates and teachers.

Peeling peanut shells and sharing

Doing some activities such as counting the peanuts etc

Teachers busy with students in groups

Exploring and enjoying nature watch with teachers

Now it's time to go back to school

Students still exploring on sideways whilst going back to school 

Today only girls of Play Group and Nursery all sections went for nature walk and tomorrow all boys will be taking part in this fun and learning outdoor activity.

Why nature walk?
To fulfill the objectives of:------
Exploring the nature that surrounds us in our day to day life.
 • Exploring the nature like flora and fauna and the sunshine and clouds.
 • To find flowers of all colours, shapes and sizes, as well as leaves of different shapes, colours and sizes.
 • To feel the different textures of all the things we found including the bark on the trees.
Listening skills: As we walk we can listen out for different sounds. The most common sounds we hear are birds, cars and buses, dogs barking, people talking, the wind.
 • Weather: Season late winter, dry leaves, winter
 • Safety rules: Follow and listen to the elders. Walk in a line and side of the road.

Main activities:
 • Sitting at ground or sideways to watch the nature. Peel the peanuts (badaam and count how many nuts they find inside it. Two friends will count together (addition) in trays.
• Collecting leaves and discover the shapes, size and texture of these leaves. Strips of papers (wrist band) and sticking leaves on these strips. We will name those strips ‘nature bands’
 • Discuss opposites ie clean/dirty, light/deep green, shadow/light, long/short.
• Relation to Green Deen (Earth): We keep our road, city clean. Dirty water, clean water.
• Flowers (Bangla related) Gaada, Daalia, Gulaab, Chandro Molika. Colours and sizes of the flowers
• Phonics sound: B-Bridge

Art and crafts Planning:
 • Students sat down in class with paper and pencils and  teacher asked them about the things they had seen, heard, touched or smelled whilst on their walk, then they drew them. They had drawings of birds, flowers, trees, clouds, the sun, and the bridge or buildings around the lake. Tomorrow insha Allah I will include those nature pictures in my post.

 Learning outcomes for nature walk:
 • Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment.
• Children develop positive dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, enthusiasm and imagination.
 • Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural processed materials.
• Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media (conversation, drawing)
• Learn to develop communication skills and vocabulary relating to their subjects such as English and Bangla.

• Learn number relationships (as they count and do the addition while peeling peanuts)
• Learn to develop imaginary skills as they draw coming back to classroom, what they explored their nature walk.

Alhamdu Lilla we could successfully meet our objectives today and tomorrow our journey is continued with boys group-----------!

Early years Winter stage show

Now it is the late winter season in Bangladesh. Today it was foggy in the morning when 'winter stage show' was started but early year children and teachers enjoyed the whole function. It was a really warming and colorful occasion.
On the rooftop of the school it looked really bright and colorful although the stage was built very simple and on the floor level.

The main attraction of the program was 'Tuna Tuni' props prepared by KG.
Every class or section prepared English or Bangla rhymes related to winter. As Nursery class sung the vegetable song holding big vegetable format placards.
January month was a busy time for teachers as they have to work hard to make the winter Pitha or stage show programs successful.

More pictures of the winter show:

Winter season celebrations and Pitha festival

Winter season comes in Bangladesh region for a very short time. It stays in this region, more or less 2 months. Few weeks earlier we celebrated 'Winter festival' and I am sharing few of the pictures of this festival.

On 30th January, 2014 we arranged 'Pitha festival' at our school.

Few words about Pithas:
Pithas are are a part of food tradition and food culture of Bangladeshi cuisine. For pitha/peetha there is no similar word in English. It is an interesting thing that there is word in English we can translate or refer to this traditional food. We interpret pitha/peetha as a rice cake or pie. But it’s not like the traditional cake or pie what is common in the western world and in their food culture.

Pitha is not part of Bengali's daily menu. Most pithas/peethas are seasonal, specially prepeared in the winter season because of some ingredients which are available only in winter season. And pithas/peethas of the winter season are the most delicious – a special combination with the climate of winter cold.
It was really hard work to search online for pitha pictures or description and at last I stopped at the blog 'We love our Bangladesh' with a nice description and lot of pictures about pithas.
Reference: 'We love our Bangladesh' blog

I am now sharing the pictures of the festival:

Winter foods including traditional Bangla cuisine 'Pithas'

Pitha festival held on January 30th, 2014:

Enthusiast Nursery class watching 'Bhapa pitha making process'

Importance of writing in our lives

Like reading, writing is a very important learning tool.  Writing can be done through a keyboard (keypad at an electronic device such as pc, smart phone) though pen or pencils are writing tools. Now touch pads or smart phones has improved a way of writing with fingers or touch pens but can we get rid of 'writing with pen or pencil' and does 'writing' is still important for us?
There is a vital importance of 'writing'. 

Importance of writing:

Wikipedia says: "Writing helps you express yourself"

 Writing prepares you for school and employment (both of which in most cases require a lot of it).
 Writing is how much of the world communicates. If you don't write, you cut yourself off from a large community (including this one, incidentally).

Virtues of miswak

The World Health Organization recommends the use of the miswak in international consensus reports on oral hygiene published in 1986 and in 2000. The miswak is made from the plant Salvadora persica. For religious and cultural reasons use of miswak (for cleaning teeth and oral health) is firmly established and widespread in most of the Muslim countries.

Virtues of the miswak:
"The miswak is a mean of purification of the mouth and a mean of pleasure of the Lord "(Al-Bukhari).

"Had it not been for the sake of over burdening my Ummah I would have ordered them (to use) Miswak with every ablution"(Al-Bukhari).
It has also been narrated by reliable sources that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was emphatic in the daily use of Miswak, upon waking, before and after eating, leaving and entering his house, before ablution, and prayers. Furthermore it was a practice of all the Prophets (peace by upon them). Some scholars have mentioned upto 70 benefits from the use of Miswak.

Dishonesty and lying in the light of Islam

A very common saying is 'Honesty is the best policy'. On the other hand when it come to our social life and relationships, lying and dishonesty sometimes becomes a major sin. It is also said that it is the root of every evil.
Why lying and dishonesty is a major sin and what scholars say about lying and dishonesty?

It may take care of the present, but it has no future. Worse than telling a lie is spending the rest of your life staying true to a lie. ~Robert Brault
We tell lies when we are afraid-----, afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. ~Tad Williams
Lying and dishonesty always leads to hypocrisy.

Drinking Water or Soft Drinks?

With the frequent use of soft drinks and sodas, we are replacing it with water. Is it ok to drink soda drinks and leave our bodies thirsty? Our kids and teens are becoming addicted to the soft drinks, rather than taking enough water which is essential for their health.

The average American drinks more than 53 gallons of carbonated soft drinks each year, more than any other beverage, including milk, beer, coffee or water.

Harmful effects of taking too much sodas in place of water:

Did you know that just one can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar?!
This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake (which is more than double my recommended daily allowance to begin with). Within 20 minutes of drinking that soda, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat. Within 40 minutes, your blood pressure rises due to your body having absorbed all the caffeine, and then your liver dumps even more sugar into your bloodstream.

After about one hour, you’ll start to have a sugar crash, which often times leads you into a vicious cycle of consuming more sugar - and caffeine-laden stimulants, followed by crashes, throughout your day.

It is a proven fact that sugar increases your insulin levels, which can lead to not only weight gain, but also high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, premature aging and many more negative side effects. n soda pack on the pounds, it can also deteriorate the body as well.

One of the more troubling health risks soda drinkers face (as if obesity isn’t bad enough) is a higher cancer risk. Numerous studies have pointed out the link between sugar and increased rates of cancer, suggesting that regulating sugar intake is key to slowing tumor growth.

Which one is better toothbrush or miswak?

Which toothbrush do you use for teeth cleaning?
There are numerous varieties of available toothbrushes starting from cheap and ordinary to expensive, and electric toothbrushes.
Purpose of toothbrush is to clean the teeth and the material of this cleaning tool it almost same 'the plastic'.
But is it the safe way of keep your teeths healthy?
But we have a natural dental cleaning solution. It is natural toothbrush or bark of a tree.
For centuries people around the world cleaned their teeth with the natural toothbrush tree. After the advent of plastic, synthetic toothbrushes people adopted this new and cheap tool for cleaning their teeth.

Importance of Adhaan for Islamic society

The adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, is an integral part of the Muslim faith. The Adhan serves an announcement of the time of prayer.  Adaan is called out in mosques, Islamic schools, homes, and on the street in Muslim communities five times a day.  It is, at the same time, an announcement of the principles of Islam and the significance underlying them of Tawheed, the Risalah, and so on.

The adhan is also used in connection with the birth of a child, when the father reads the Adhan into the ear of his newborn child.

Adhan (call to prayer) lexically means ‘announcement,’ as states in the Holy Quran:

Ramadan -The Most Blessed Month

This is Shabaan month and next one is 'Ramadan' -the month of fasting. The most blessed month Ramadan is being observed by more than a billion Muslims around the world.

Muslims are supposed to observe fast during this month. Fasting or sawm is intended to help teach Muslims self-discipline, self-restraint and generosity. It also reminds them of the suffering of the poor, who may rarely get to eat well. The purpose of fasting is to cleanse the soul by freeing it from harmful impurities.

 Facts about Ramadan

The most blessed month for Muslims:

Did you miswaak your teeth today?

The sentence should be 'Did you brush your teeth today?', but I replaced it with the 'miswaak' a natural tooth brush. This article is about introduction and importance of this 'natural dental health tool'.

Nature has provided us with a wonderful solution to effectively and safely maintain dental health and oral hygiene. This natural toothbrush is called ‘Miswak’, derived from natural resource ‘tree’. Miswak is called natural chewing stick or natural toothbrush because it is composed of a compact group of minute natural fibres that perform exactly the same function as a normal toothbrush except that it is made of natural rather than plastic fibres.

Teaching values to new generation

Few days ago an article caught my attention which was about 'teaching values to our kids'. You will agree with me that our culture, our ethics and values are drastically changed and we are unable to teach these important lessons to our new generation. We are unable to teach our kids 'what ethics or values they need to learn'. This article and useful tips might be helpful to many parents so share your ideas in this connection.

Teaching values to your kids:
How can parents teach values to their kids?
Here are ten ideas to help you:

1. Tell them your life stories and teach through your stories 
   Kids love to hear stories about your childhood. Weave in some moral dilemmas and you've got great opportunities to teach values to them.

Video tutorial sites for teachers

Many educators are still novice to computers or internet and they want to develop their skills to get most from modern technology. This article is for all teachers who love to learn by watching video tutorials. These free tutorials are mostlty created for teachers to help them for skill development.
Good news is that these all sites offer all the tutorials free of charge. Moreover you don't need to register or sign in to watch videos. You are also free to upload your videos at thsee sites.
Most of us know that 'YouTube' is a very effective learning site where you can search and find numerous videos, although there are more sites with video tutorials. I am quoting few of the sites which I usually search or browse for video tutorials.

*** 'Khan Academy' is a non profit organization providing learning opportunities to students,teachers, home-schoolers etc. They have around 3600 videos covering K-12 math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics. Each video is a digestible chunk, approximately 10 minutes long, and especially purposed for viewing on the computer.

*** 'Teacher Tube'
is a place for professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

*** 'School tube' is created by 'National Education Associations' for use in K-12 to empower students and teachers through the use of video. SchoolTube content is student and teacher produced, and is approved through an innovative process.

 And last one is the link to other sites where you can find more tutorials.

* 47 Alternatives to Using YouTube in the Classroom

Among these sites I miss only 'Teachers Tv' which is unfortunately closed, though you can find some of the tutorials at 'Teach Find' site which is a search site to find teaching resources, lesson plans and CPD materials using a simple search tool.

Winter festival celebration

Due to unavoidable situation around the country, school was kept open on Friday. Friday 14 of December was a working day of teachers of School. Early year teachers were asked to plan about 'winter festival' as coming week was the exam week for senior section and early year children enjoy their fun week activities.

Saturday 15, December the very next day was planned to be celebrated as 'winter festival'. Objective was to introduce and enhance knowledge of kids about 'winter clothing, winter play or games, winter food etc.
Teachers were enthusiastic about festival and though it was really hard job to prepare everything one day ahead of the festival, they agreed to do this educational and fun festival next day.

Winter pithas of Bangladesh

Rice cakes of winter pithas are counted as cultural or local food of Bengal. Pitha, in the Bengali, Assamese and Oriya cuisines, is usually a thin-flat cake prepared from a batter made with soaked and ground rice.
Saturday on December 15, 2012, a 'Winter Festival' was celebrated at our School. Pitha or rice cakes are mainly made with 'rice powder' mixing with molasis or other spices.

More about Pitha: Pithas are usually cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan and could be fried in oil, roasted over a slow fire or baked and rolled over a hot plate once made. In West Bengal and Bangladesh, special pithas are made in different processes such as steaming or stuffing, the bhapa and puli pithas being
examples respectively. Special festivals where pithas are generally made include Nabanna in Bengali culture, Bihu in Assam and many festivals in East India.

It was the first time to learn many pitha names. I am including the pitha pictures and their names in this post as our new generation needs to learn about their culture and food habits.

Predictions and prophesies about Dec 21, 2012

People around the world are worried and concerned about predictions and prophesies about coming 21st of December 2012.
This time is given many names such as:
"The Time of Trial on Earth,"
"Judgement Day,"
"The Time of Great Purification,"
"The End of this Creation,"
"The Quickening,"
"The End of Time as We Know It,"
"The Shift of the Ages,"
"The Apocalypse"
and "Armageddon".

Teachers training session "Effective Implementation of numeracy strategy in reception years"

Training sessions for teachers at our school are part of their yearly routines. Teachers are lucky to be in their best shape (as a teacher) due to having teaching training on regular basis. In our school, numeracy strategy was practically and successfully implemented few years ago. Many parents including new teachers joining early years recently needed basic training about 'Numeracy strategy'.
'what is numeracy strategy?' 
The simple answer of later question could be that 'It is activity based learning system which is being adopted and successfully implemented in Britain for years. In early years, children learn numeracy and mathematical skills through practical activities, games and tasks which have a real relevance and meaning in everyday life.

Big bazaar of Play group students

It is November 11, 2012 Sunday. There is an event of 'Big Bazaar' where students of play group of 'Our School' are sellers. You must be wondering what is this 'Big Bazaar' all about. Basically through this event was celebrated to encourage children's lovely and hard work.
Who is the buyer?
Parents of the play group were buyers at this bazaar. Parents were invited to see the creative work done by their kids.

Process of preparing art work

What is being sold at this bazaar?