* Child/ Tama: Yasir. Teacher/ Kaiako: Naema.

Date: 18th June/Pipiri,

2018.
An-Nur childcare Centre.*

Asalamo Alaikum, kia Ora! Yasir, your last story was about your continuity
of developing strategies for active exploration, thinking, problem solving
and reasoning skills. We encouraged you to be involved in the Ramadan programme. During
‘Mat time’ I asked what everyone knew about Ramadan. Yasir, you mentioned how excited you
were to be getting gifts on Eid and when I read a Ramadan story, you took great interest and
enjoyed the story to its end. You also loved taking part in other activities such as making
Telescope from creative junk and looking through a real telescope for the ‘Moon Sighting.’ You
actively participated in responding to open ended questions in regards to activity ‘Phases of the
Moon’ when Ayaan said Moon is in the shape of a circle, you went to the ‘Programme Planning
board’ and pointed to the crescent shape Moon, saying “It is not a circle, it is like a smiley face”.
I appreciated your contribution in the active learning activity and said “Let’s go and find-out
how the Moon changes its shape”. We had an experiment taking the moon ping pong ball
painted in black to present how the moon has no light and it rotates around the globe and used
the lamp to represent the sun. To further understand the phases of the moon, “Keep moving
your hand anticlockwise” I said. “When the moon reaches directly opposite to the sun, this part
of the moon is seen from the Earth and is fully lit up! That is the light we see every day I added.
Of course when only half the moon is lit, it will take the moon about 2 weeks to go from a half
moon to a full moon. A thinning crescent and a return to a full moon will
be seen and how Moon has a cycle of 29 days called ‘Phases of Moon.’

You also enjoyed

cooking Paratha for

Making Paratta for Suhoor; when you touched the dough Yasir you
said it is slimy, sticky and to add flour in order to make it easy to hold.
It would also make it really simple to further mold it into flat bread.
You observed the fry pan cooking the Paratta with great detail, you
pointed out that it was being cooked in a fry-pan at high heat. One
thing you mentioned few times is how you really liked the smell and taste, repeatedly saying
“Yummy smell of Paratta!”
Then all the tamariki (children), pretended sleeping for some time
then woke up to the sound of the drum making neeyyah
(intention) for fasting. Read Dua and eating Paratta for Suhoor
time so you could fast until lunch time.
You also enjoyed practicing having a ‘Healthy Heart’ and to
increase your metabolic system. By being a part of exercises at the
centre, you made it known that you have a love for doing
exercises. Notably when we are doing activities involving
discussion about how healthy a Paratta is as it is made of whole meal flour and vegetable oil.
How it also is a good idea to be eating fruit and vegetables
throughout the day and alongside your daily meals. You rub your
hand on your tummy and said it is yummy and healthy!

Today I cut the fruit into shapes and displayed it on the plate in
order to spark your interest, along with the rest of the
children. I tried to get your creative thinking and linking
the shapes of the fruit to the phases of moon. You quickly
noticed it and said “teacher Naema did you make a healthy
Moon?” Then looked more carefully and added, this banana is
a crescent shaped moon and this is a half-moon with the
grapes and after some time said with great excitement, “This
orange is a full moon!”, followed by “This is a full moon.” You
raised your arms with excitement and said, “Health Moon.”
And with deep thinking after a pause said it is “circle.” Ka pai
Yasir I am really proud of you, be a great thinker.

What is happening?
Observation shows you have been developing a deeper
understanding of the world around you and you are making sense of the natural, physical and
material world. You are gaining more confidence in expressing and sharing your knowledge
with other children as you have been responding to open-ended questions and participating in
all the activities. You are learning rituals of Ramadan and also developing creative thinking as
you connecting the shape of the fruit to a ‘Healthy Moon’ i.e. a full Moon. . You always actively
participate in exercise for Healthy Heart.
How can we extend this learning?

Yasir we will continue to assist you, to promote your learning

and find strategies to further engage your active exploring,
thinking as well as reasoning skills. By inviting and,
encouraging you to be involved in our next Islamic programme about
Hajj, new project of Worm Farm and off course continue the ‘Healthy
Hart.

Yasir Voice: I saw a moon from the window! It was a full white moon, it
has no light, I also found out a moon has a reflection from the sun.

Parent’s and cares givers’ Contribution:

In Ramadan time I met Yaris’s grandma, I mentioned how he talks about his mum living in
Australia, she had a big smile responding “Yes he always says that, his grandma is from Somalia
and his mom is from Australia.”
 The phases of the moon starting with the New Moon are:
 New Moon.
 Waxing Crescent.
 First Quarter.
 Waxing Gibbous.
 Full.
 Waning Gibbous.
 Third Quarter.
 Waning Crescent.