September Unit: Butterflies, Prophet Musa and Muharram

This month we did the Butterfly unit and B really enjoyed it. We talked about what insects are, what a butterfly is, where it comes from and its different lifecycle stages. Unit study at a preschool and kindergarten level comprises of 3 components:

1. Books
2. Printables/worksheets to reiforce what we learn – also helps practice writing, cutting, pasting and colouring skills (pencil control and fine motor skills).
3. Crafts retaled to the books read.

As promised, I have included the details of everything below. Additionaly, I try to include other subject areas in this ranging from Math, Islamic Studies to History and Geography. At this level everything is obviously very basic, but its good to make those connections and explore other subject areas through one topic.

Science, Math and Arts

I got the books below from the library.

1.Books:

• Science: Lifecycle of a Butterfly:
• Caterpillar and Bean by Martin Jenkins (also talks about the lifecycle of plants simultaneously)
• Monarch butterflies by Joyce Markovics
• Butterflies in Room 6 by Caroline Arnold
• Caterpillar dreams by Clive Mcfarland NOT BY Jeanne willis and Tony Ross as it talks about worshipping the sun
• Pete the cat and the cool caterpillar
• The crunching munching caterpillar by Sheridan Cain
• Ten little caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr.
• Seeds, Bees, Butterflies and more poems by Carole Gerber
• Bye Bye Butterflies by Andrew Larsen
• A caterpillar becomes a butterfly by Amy Hayes
• The very impatient caterpillar by Ross Burach
• Moth or butterfly? By Susan Kralovansly
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

2. Printables/worksheets (all free) – 

I got the printables below from various blogs and websites which I have linked below. The printables cover quite a bit of math and provide learning materials like 3 part cards of the lifecycle of butterfly, skip counting puzzles, graphing and so much more. Therefore, I do not do math separately (yet), and just reinforce what is in the printables. I did not print the entire packs, only the pages that were applicable to my child.

• The very hungry caterpillar pack
• Butterfly lifecycle cards 
• Butterfly facts coloursheet
• Printable butterfly life cycle pack
• Butterfly lapbook

Crafts:

• Clay butterflies
• Dye butterfly 
• Coffee filfter butterflies 
• Cupcake liner butterfly 
• Story sequencing cards
• Lifecycle of a butterfly pasta activity 
• Finger puppet moth and butterfly from the book Moth or Butterfly by Susan Kralovansky

Islamic studies

I cover 4 components in Islamic studies.

• 1) Name of Allah – covering one name of Allah per month mostly through crafts.
  • This month we talked about the name of Allah Al Musawir – the Shaper as it ties in well with the butterfly unit theme.
  • Book: Qur’an – Ayah (59:24) He is Allah: the Creator, the Inventor, the Shaper. He alone has the Most Beautiful Names. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth constantly glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, All-Wise. 
  • Craft: Draw the outline of a butterfly on a piece of paper. Let the kids paint on one side of the butterfly. Fold the butterfly in half when the paint is wet so the paint can print on the other side, making a symmetry. Write the arabic name Al-Musawir.

• 2) Prophet of Allah – covering the story of one Prophet per month including memorizing a dua that is special to them, followed by crafts
  • Book: Migo and Ali
  • We covered Prophet Musa this month as it ties well with the Islamic month that we will be covering, which is Muharram.
  • Dua: Rabbish Rah Lee sadree. ( Surah Taha 20:25-28)  Explain you can read this dua before beginning to learn something new or when you find something difficult to do.
  • Crafts:
    • Basket weaving with card stock. – You can watch the tutorial here
    • Dua Card (Rabbi Shrah li sadree) – print out the dua from google images, let the kids paste it on a colourful cardstock, decorate and display.

• 3) Akhlaq of the month –
  • Inspired by Jeddahmom, I use the book A to Z Akhlaq and explain the concept first followed by a craft.
  • This month was an intro : What is Akhlaaq and what does it mean? Why is it important?

• 4) Islamic month and its significance.
  • Islamic Month: Muharram
  • Explain the concept of Migration and how Prophet SAWS migrated from Makkah to Madinah 
  • To explain the concept of migration, explain how geese and monarchs have migrated to South this month because it is too cold here – Prophet SAWS migrated because the Makkans were not letting the Muslims practice Islam.
  • The day when the Bani Israel were saved from Pharoh (incident of Parting of the sea) was the 10th of Muharram, also known as Ashoora. We fast this day (and a day before or after) – it is a way of thanking Allah. 
  • Craft: Parting of the sea craft

History and Geography:

Country: Egypt (goes with Prophet Musa theme)

• Talk about where Egypt is on the map, show them the map and flag.
• 2 things special to Egypt are Pyramids and River Nile (in which baby Musa AS was placed)
• Egypt was ruled by kings in the olden days called Pharaohs.
• Craft: Egyptian jewellry (bracelet and necklace)
  • For the necklace, take a piece of cardstock and cut it out in the shape of a thick necklace. Cut out different shapes from a glitter sheet, or construction paper and give it to the children to stick. Add a piece of yarn or string at the edges to make a necklace.
  • For the bracelets, take 2 pieces of emptied toilet paper rolls, and cut it through one side to make it like a cuff. Now get creative! You can use washi tape, stickers, stamps, left over pieces of construction paper or glitter paper to decorate your bracelets.

Thats all that we did in our Unit studies this month in addition to our Morning basket. As you can notice, the main focus is exposure to various books, followed by loads of hands-on crafts. You can find a pdf version of the unit with details below. Feel free to download it and benefit from it inshaAllah.