Total Eclipse of the Heart
This has been another lucky week for me because of history and science. On Monday, I had the good fortune of it being the 40th anniversary of Man's landing on the moon. So we happily looked at the visuals and stories that was in the papers that day and read 'Moon' a book by National Geographic with a cat trying to explain the workings of the sun, moon and earth. We then reviewed the concept of night and day and the seasons.
On Wednesday, we of course had the total eclipse of the sun and again the newspapers were very helpful. We also watched the coverage by CCTV which totally spooked me with the day getting dark suddenly and then getting light again. Ihsan was commenting on how excited I was and being quite amused that his mother is capable of excitement. I also did solat kusuf for the first time and explained how the loss of sunlight is a reminder of yaumul kiamat where the same thing will happen, only forever and not six minutes, and how the prophet and the sahabat would solat for a long time when an eclipse happen even though it is only two rakaat.
The CCTV coverage was useful in explaining things that Muslims don't do like celebrating or performing rituals to the sun. On the flip side, I was also able to stress on the spirit of scientific inquiry when a group of foreigners were interviewed who came to China just to observe and study what happens.The next day, we were treated to a visual of the eclipse in the newspaper which I happily used for my circle time.
I of course am doing the theme of the sun, earth and moon which is to tie in with Ramadhan preparation. At the moment I am trying to come up with a list of things I need to review/make which includes :
1. Preparation for change in daily schedule in Ramadhan
2. Review of surahs learnt
3. The history of Ramadhan (come to think of it I don't know when and how the ruling came down)
4. The practice of Ramadhan
5. Review of doas learnt and doas for Ramadhan
6. Ramadhan daily fasting chart
I am planning to have a theme based on 'The Ummah', surahs from the Quran or the battles fought in Ramadhan, haven't decided yet, which by right I should have decided because Ramadhan is less than a month away....
On Wednesday, we of course had the total eclipse of the sun and again the newspapers were very helpful. We also watched the coverage by CCTV which totally spooked me with the day getting dark suddenly and then getting light again. Ihsan was commenting on how excited I was and being quite amused that his mother is capable of excitement. I also did solat kusuf for the first time and explained how the loss of sunlight is a reminder of yaumul kiamat where the same thing will happen, only forever and not six minutes, and how the prophet and the sahabat would solat for a long time when an eclipse happen even though it is only two rakaat.
The CCTV coverage was useful in explaining things that Muslims don't do like celebrating or performing rituals to the sun. On the flip side, I was also able to stress on the spirit of scientific inquiry when a group of foreigners were interviewed who came to China just to observe and study what happens.The next day, we were treated to a visual of the eclipse in the newspaper which I happily used for my circle time.
I of course am doing the theme of the sun, earth and moon which is to tie in with Ramadhan preparation. At the moment I am trying to come up with a list of things I need to review/make which includes :
1. Preparation for change in daily schedule in Ramadhan
2. Review of surahs learnt
3. The history of Ramadhan (come to think of it I don't know when and how the ruling came down)
4. The practice of Ramadhan
5. Review of doas learnt and doas for Ramadhan
6. Ramadhan daily fasting chart
I am planning to have a theme based on 'The Ummah', surahs from the Quran or the battles fought in Ramadhan, haven't decided yet, which by right I should have decided because Ramadhan is less than a month away....
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