Bismillah.
Waktu malam selepas anak-anak tidur, saya sangat mudah tersentuh hati mengalirkan airmata memikirkan manusia-manusia penting dalam hidup. Antara sedih, risau, terharu, rindu. Bercampur semuanya.
Saya selalu rasa terharu dan terlalu sebak memikirkan baiknya Allah memberi aku dua anak penyejuk hati ini, banyaknya bahagia yang Allah beri kepadaku melalui anak-anak ini. Dan apabila mengenangkan demikian, saya pun pasti akan mula terbayang bagaimana agaknya mereka ini andai saya pergi dahulu meninggalkan mereka. Allahuakbar, terlalu sedih untuk digambarkan.
Suka atau tidak, satu masa kita tetap akan perlu berpisah dengan insan-insan kesayangan kita. Dan, sungguh saya rasa tidak bersedia untuk kehilangan mereka. Meski itu lumrah dunia, setiap yang hidup akan mati, namun tetap tidak dapat menidakkan perasaan sedih yang mencengkam sanubari.
Apabila terbayangkan ibu juga airmata ini terlalu cepat mengalir. Terbayang ibu pasti rindukan anak-anak sebagaimana kita merindukan anak kita walau anak cuma ke sekolah sebentar. Apatah lagi ibu tua yang sudah tinggal jauh dengan anak-anak. Allahu...
Ya Allah, aku mohon Kau beri aku peluang untuk berbakti kepada kedua ibubapaku selama hayat mereka. Aku mohon Kau murahkan rezeki aku agar aku dapat bahagiakan mereka dengan memberi apa sahaja yang mereka minta. Ya Allah aku ingin bersusah payah untuk mereka sebagaimana mereka bersusah payah membesarkan aku.
Untuk anak-anakku, andai Kau ambil aku dahulu dari mereka, jagalah mereka ya Allah kerana Engkaulah sebaik-baik penjaga. Pimpinlah mereka di bawah hidayahMu ya Allah, dan bawalah mereka jauh sejauh-jauhnya dari dosa & kemungkaran. Kerana aku mahu bertemu mereka semula di Syurga.
Dan untuk suamiku, halalkanlah segalanya, moga diampunkan segala dosaku, dan moga dikau redha akanku, supaya di Akhirat kelak aku akan bisa memilih mana-mana pintu syurga yang aku mahu. Allahuakbar, matikan aku dalam iman. Matikan aku saat Kau sudah menerima taubatku, matikan aku dalam sujudku padaMu...
Tuhan, aku benar-benar ingin sebuah kehidupan bererti, yang meninggalkan bakti & budi... Yang penuh kecintaan pada Ilahi... yang bukan mengejar duniawi tetapi yang mencari bekal untuk dibawa ke firdausi.
Tuhan, terima kasih untuk hidup ini...
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Friday, October 12, 2018
17 Pesanan Prof Muhaya tentang Mengurus Masa
Bismillah,
Saya ingin berkongsi sedikit apa yang saya dengar dari slot Prof Muhaya di Ikim.fm berkaitan mengurus masa. Disebabkan saya juga mengejar masa, saya hanya akan menulis dalam bentuk point dan mudah-mudahan ia senang difahami & dipraktikkan inshaAllah.
1) Pastikan apa yang kita update di whatsApp atau mana-mana social media kita adalah perkara yang bermanfaat. Jika kita share sesuatu yang lagha atau membuang masa, kita sebenarnya sudah membazirkan masa orang lain untuk membaca apa yang kita share.
2) Salah satu ciri ahli syurga ketika di dunia ini ialah: dia sentiasa tenang di dunia. Kerana hatinya sibuk mengingati Allah. Tidak sibuk dengan hal manusia, apatah lagi yang tidak berkaitan dengannya atau yang tidak memberi manfaat.
3) Semakin banyak seseorang itu berwhatsApp, semakin rendah produktiviti kerjanya. Kerana banyak masanya telah dihabiskan untuk melihat whatsApp.
4) Hargai sesiapa yang berada di hadapan kita. Jangan leka dengan komunikasi di alam maya sehingga kita mengabaikan komunikasi yang di dunia realiti.
5) Manusia yang paling penting pada saat ini adalah: Manusia yang berada di hadapan kita, yang sedang berurusan/ berkomunikasi dengan kita.
Waktu yang paling penting adalah: waktu sekarang.
Perkara yang paling penting untuk dibuat adalah: apa sahaja kebaikan
6) Nabi sollallahu alaihi wasallam, apabila berurusan atau berbicara dengan sesiapa yang di hadapannya, dia akan membuatkan orang itu merasa seperti dialah manusia yang paling penting bagi Nabi, Betapa Nabi menghargai manusia yang berada di hadapannya. Oleh itu janganlah kita terlalu leka dengan handphone sehingga mengabaikan sesiapa yang di hadapan kita.
7) Salah satu tanda Allah sayang kita: Allah letakkan rasa benci kepada perkara lagha dalam hati kita.
8) Perlu selalu minta Allah beri kecukupan waktu kepada kita & beri keberkatan masa.
9) Untuk yang sudah berkahwin, jadikan pasangan kita sebagai "taqwa partner" kita, yang membantu kita menjadi hamba Allah yang beriman.
10) Bangun pagi, jangan terus buka handphone atau social media. Selepas selesai solat, mandi, serta apa yang sepatutnya, jika mahu buka handphone, bukalah video yang berkaitan motivasi atau mencari inspirasi.
11) Kalau kita berpegang kuat dengan Al Quran, hubungan kita sesama suami isteri akan jadi lebih baik.
12) Di rumah kita, pastikan kawasan meja makan adalah GADGET-FREE ZONE.
13) Di rumah, kalau kita ada rasa menyampah atau tak suka bila tengok pasangan kita, tetapi di tempat kerja kita rasa seronok berurusan dengan mereka yang berlawanan jantina, itu tandanya syaitan sudah berjaya mempegaruhi kita dan membuat kita hanya nampak keburukan pada pasangan kita. Memang itu kerja syaitan, iaitu untuk memisahkan suami dan isteri atau mencetuskan pergaduhan.
14) Kena sentiasa tanya pasangan kita;
"Have I been a good husband/wife to you?"
"Kalau saya mati sekarang, ada tak apa-apa perkara yang awak terkilan?"
15) Tanya diri kita, ada tak kita ni berniat untuk jumpa pasangan kita di syurga nanti?
16) Kalau suami/isteri kita nampak banyak sangat berwhatsApp, itu salah satu tanda bahawa dia mungkin kekurangan perhatian dari pasangan, jadi dia cari perhatian di whatsApp.
17) Usah terlalu banyak bermain game atau melayan hiburan. Kalaupun kita perlu, pastikan ia hanya 5% sahaja dari kehidupan kita.
Salam Jumaat & semoga bermanfaat! :)
Saya ingin berkongsi sedikit apa yang saya dengar dari slot Prof Muhaya di Ikim.fm berkaitan mengurus masa. Disebabkan saya juga mengejar masa, saya hanya akan menulis dalam bentuk point dan mudah-mudahan ia senang difahami & dipraktikkan inshaAllah.
1) Pastikan apa yang kita update di whatsApp atau mana-mana social media kita adalah perkara yang bermanfaat. Jika kita share sesuatu yang lagha atau membuang masa, kita sebenarnya sudah membazirkan masa orang lain untuk membaca apa yang kita share.
2) Salah satu ciri ahli syurga ketika di dunia ini ialah: dia sentiasa tenang di dunia. Kerana hatinya sibuk mengingati Allah. Tidak sibuk dengan hal manusia, apatah lagi yang tidak berkaitan dengannya atau yang tidak memberi manfaat.
3) Semakin banyak seseorang itu berwhatsApp, semakin rendah produktiviti kerjanya. Kerana banyak masanya telah dihabiskan untuk melihat whatsApp.
4) Hargai sesiapa yang berada di hadapan kita. Jangan leka dengan komunikasi di alam maya sehingga kita mengabaikan komunikasi yang di dunia realiti.
5) Manusia yang paling penting pada saat ini adalah: Manusia yang berada di hadapan kita, yang sedang berurusan/ berkomunikasi dengan kita.
Waktu yang paling penting adalah: waktu sekarang.
Perkara yang paling penting untuk dibuat adalah: apa sahaja kebaikan
6) Nabi sollallahu alaihi wasallam, apabila berurusan atau berbicara dengan sesiapa yang di hadapannya, dia akan membuatkan orang itu merasa seperti dialah manusia yang paling penting bagi Nabi, Betapa Nabi menghargai manusia yang berada di hadapannya. Oleh itu janganlah kita terlalu leka dengan handphone sehingga mengabaikan sesiapa yang di hadapan kita.
7) Salah satu tanda Allah sayang kita: Allah letakkan rasa benci kepada perkara lagha dalam hati kita.
8) Perlu selalu minta Allah beri kecukupan waktu kepada kita & beri keberkatan masa.
9) Untuk yang sudah berkahwin, jadikan pasangan kita sebagai "taqwa partner" kita, yang membantu kita menjadi hamba Allah yang beriman.
10) Bangun pagi, jangan terus buka handphone atau social media. Selepas selesai solat, mandi, serta apa yang sepatutnya, jika mahu buka handphone, bukalah video yang berkaitan motivasi atau mencari inspirasi.
11) Kalau kita berpegang kuat dengan Al Quran, hubungan kita sesama suami isteri akan jadi lebih baik.
12) Di rumah kita, pastikan kawasan meja makan adalah GADGET-FREE ZONE.
13) Di rumah, kalau kita ada rasa menyampah atau tak suka bila tengok pasangan kita, tetapi di tempat kerja kita rasa seronok berurusan dengan mereka yang berlawanan jantina, itu tandanya syaitan sudah berjaya mempegaruhi kita dan membuat kita hanya nampak keburukan pada pasangan kita. Memang itu kerja syaitan, iaitu untuk memisahkan suami dan isteri atau mencetuskan pergaduhan.
14) Kena sentiasa tanya pasangan kita;
"Have I been a good husband/wife to you?"
"Kalau saya mati sekarang, ada tak apa-apa perkara yang awak terkilan?"
15) Tanya diri kita, ada tak kita ni berniat untuk jumpa pasangan kita di syurga nanti?
16) Kalau suami/isteri kita nampak banyak sangat berwhatsApp, itu salah satu tanda bahawa dia mungkin kekurangan perhatian dari pasangan, jadi dia cari perhatian di whatsApp.
17) Usah terlalu banyak bermain game atau melayan hiburan. Kalaupun kita perlu, pastikan ia hanya 5% sahaja dari kehidupan kita.
Salam Jumaat & semoga bermanfaat! :)
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
3 Sebab Kenapa Anda Perlu Berbisnes Ketika Muda
Bismillah.
Kalau anda ada perancangan untuk memulakan sebarang bisnes, waktu yang terbaik untuk mulakan adalah SEKARANG. Lebih awal lebih baik, lebih muda lebih utama. Di sini saya senaraikan tiga sebab kenapa lebih utama untuk memulakan bisnes ketika usia 20-30an.
1) Masih muda, masih tidak ada banyak komitmen. Jika anda masih bujang (tak kira sedang belajar atau bekerja), memulakan bisnes seawal mungkin adalah yang terbaik kerana anda masih belum ada komitmen yang banyak seperti rumahtangga atau anak-anak. Apabila berbisnes, tahun-tahun permulaan sangat memerlukan tenaga & masa yang banyak dari anda. Dan anda akan ada banyak masa untuk merasa jatuh, merasa kerugian dalam bisnes (ini semua perkara wajib dalam SEMUA bisnes), dan anda tidak perlu terlalu risau kerana tanggungan anda hanya diri anda.
2) Lebih bertenaga dan bersemangat. Dalam apa jua perkara, kita fahami bahawa jiwa anak muda memang sentiasa membara, kerana itu ia amat penting untuk disalurkan ke tempat yang sepatutnya. Jiwa muda yang kental dan bersemangat adalah antara elemen yang sangat penting dalam mengembangkan bisnes dan belajar pelbagai perkara tentang membina legasi.
3) Usia muda lebih mudah menyesuaikan diri dengan perkara baru. Anak muda lebih cepat untuk belajar tentang teknologi dan bagaimana menggunakannya untuk bisnes, apatah lagi untuk 'adapt' dengan teknologi yang adakala terlalu cepat berubah-ubah, contohnya berkaitan membuat iklan di Facebook. Ia bukan sesuatu yang mudah untuk dipelajari apatah lagi kerana sistem & algorithm Facebook terlalu kerap berubah. Dan difahami bahawa apabila kita semakin berusia, ia semakin sedikit sukar untuk kita cepat memahami teknologi baru. Bisnes sentiasa memerlukan kita untuk upgrade ilmu dan diri.
Sebenarnya ada banyak lagi sebab kenapa bisnes sebaiknya dimulakan ketika usia masih muda. Tapi saya hanya sebutkan beberapa perkara sahaja yang terlintas buat masa sekarang. Jadi kalau anda ada niat untuk memulakan bisnes, mulakan sekarang! Samada menjadi ejen dropship, stokis, atau bina brand sendiri.
Moga membantu. :)
Kalau anda ada perancangan untuk memulakan sebarang bisnes, waktu yang terbaik untuk mulakan adalah SEKARANG. Lebih awal lebih baik, lebih muda lebih utama. Di sini saya senaraikan tiga sebab kenapa lebih utama untuk memulakan bisnes ketika usia 20-30an.
1) Masih muda, masih tidak ada banyak komitmen. Jika anda masih bujang (tak kira sedang belajar atau bekerja), memulakan bisnes seawal mungkin adalah yang terbaik kerana anda masih belum ada komitmen yang banyak seperti rumahtangga atau anak-anak. Apabila berbisnes, tahun-tahun permulaan sangat memerlukan tenaga & masa yang banyak dari anda. Dan anda akan ada banyak masa untuk merasa jatuh, merasa kerugian dalam bisnes (ini semua perkara wajib dalam SEMUA bisnes), dan anda tidak perlu terlalu risau kerana tanggungan anda hanya diri anda.
2) Lebih bertenaga dan bersemangat. Dalam apa jua perkara, kita fahami bahawa jiwa anak muda memang sentiasa membara, kerana itu ia amat penting untuk disalurkan ke tempat yang sepatutnya. Jiwa muda yang kental dan bersemangat adalah antara elemen yang sangat penting dalam mengembangkan bisnes dan belajar pelbagai perkara tentang membina legasi.
3) Usia muda lebih mudah menyesuaikan diri dengan perkara baru. Anak muda lebih cepat untuk belajar tentang teknologi dan bagaimana menggunakannya untuk bisnes, apatah lagi untuk 'adapt' dengan teknologi yang adakala terlalu cepat berubah-ubah, contohnya berkaitan membuat iklan di Facebook. Ia bukan sesuatu yang mudah untuk dipelajari apatah lagi kerana sistem & algorithm Facebook terlalu kerap berubah. Dan difahami bahawa apabila kita semakin berusia, ia semakin sedikit sukar untuk kita cepat memahami teknologi baru. Bisnes sentiasa memerlukan kita untuk upgrade ilmu dan diri.
Sebenarnya ada banyak lagi sebab kenapa bisnes sebaiknya dimulakan ketika usia masih muda. Tapi saya hanya sebutkan beberapa perkara sahaja yang terlintas buat masa sekarang. Jadi kalau anda ada niat untuk memulakan bisnes, mulakan sekarang! Samada menjadi ejen dropship, stokis, atau bina brand sendiri.
Moga membantu. :)
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Alhamdulillah, finally.
Alhamdulillah, I've got my own domain.
Big thanks to sis Iman Abdul Rahim for sharing the steps. It was kinda complicated just now to transfer the domain to blogger, but I googled on how to do it. Though it's a bit technical (and me is so noob at it), Alhamdulillah I managed to change my url.
I really hope that after this, I'll update this blog more often InshaAllah. Getting your own domain isn't free, you have to pay for it. So I wanna make sure that I will make use of this blog. It's just that I am currently considering whether to buy a new theme for my blog or stick to current free theme.
[Update: I've decided that I am not buying any theme from Etsy yet. I wanna make sure first that I am consistent in updating this blog.]
Big thanks to sis Iman Abdul Rahim for sharing the steps. It was kinda complicated just now to transfer the domain to blogger, but I googled on how to do it. Though it's a bit technical (and me is so noob at it), Alhamdulillah I managed to change my url.
I really hope that after this, I'll update this blog more often InshaAllah. Getting your own domain isn't free, you have to pay for it. So I wanna make sure that I will make use of this blog. It's just that I am currently considering whether to buy a new theme for my blog or stick to current free theme.
[Update: I've decided that I am not buying any theme from Etsy yet. I wanna make sure first that I am consistent in updating this blog.]
How to Improve Your English
Bismillah.
I have been receiving questions on how to improve our skills in English, especially for speaking & writing. So I guess it will be better if I write my answer here, easy for you to refer, and easy for me too, since I won't have to repeat the same answer. Anyway, first let me remind you that I am still improving my English too, so if you happen to see any grammatical errors in my post, kindly excuse me, for I am still learning. :)
Basically, for every skill in this world that we want to acquire or improve, there's one compulsory thing to do; practice. So, if you want to improve you writing skill, by hook or by crook, you have to write, a lot. And same goes to improving your speaking skill; practice speaking. Speak whenever you have chance. I'll elaborate more after this. But you get me right? There's no magical way to attain a skill & be good at it, except by practicing it, again & again, with the right method.
Now what you need to do when I say that you have to practice writing? Up to you, as long as you make yourself used to writing in English. It's even more easy in this modern world, because you have so many virtual places that you can practice writing; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Blogspot, Tumblr and many other social media. (If you prefer the pen & paper method, great then).
Do you feel embarrassed that you might make mistakes? No problem, as a start, you can set the audience only to yourself, or make a new account that's set to private and only you (or a few other people) can view it. Because the goal from this practice isn't really to let people read your idea, but to let you practice writing, to make your hands & mind get used to jotting down whatever you have in your mind.
As for me, I started practicing thoroughly to write in English when I was 17, it was 14 years ago, the year I need to sit for my SPM. I was given tasks by my English mentor to write an essay every week, and submit the essay to her, which I was asked to sit down for exactly one hour (to get used to the time length for exam) and make sure I finish an essay.
At first it was not an easy task, I had to force myself a lot, but eventually it got easier. And after SPM, I've decided to have a blog as a place for me to improve my writing skill. As the technology is getting more advanced, I have so many social media accounts, I use them to help me improve my writing. It's okay if you feel like you're writing craps at first, we all do anyway. Just start. :)
I wanna share how I used to write during my early days of blogging, and how it really helped me. I usually created a draft of my blog entry in Microsoft Words. When I write there, it will notify me whenever I make spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in my sentences. And more importantly, Microsoft Words will recommend better (or bombastic?) phrases for me to use in my sentences. You can try this too.
Now let's move to speaking. Honestly, there's no other way to be able to speak in English, other than to actually speak in that language. Having good skills in writing/listening/reading English isn't a guarantee that we will automatically be good in speaking. If our tongue rarely speaks English, we will never be good in speaking English, no matter how good we are in writing English. Because writing & speaking are two different skills.
And I have to admit that, my speaking skill isn't as good as my writing, perhaps because I write more than I speak in English. (Only speak in English with my daughter, obviously the vocabularies used aren't as much as those in written texts).
If I don't speak much in English, then when did I actually learn speaking? Since I was small, I really love to read English books loudly. I am sure it helps me to let my tongue get used to say English words. Other than that, it's important too to speak to yourself in English. Not necessarily in front of a mirror, you can even practice it while lying down. Choose any topic that you want, and then talk to yourself in English.
Lots of people say they learn a lot from watching movies & listening to English songs. I am not sure how much it helps, because I don't learn English through movie or songs. However, I don't deny that we can improve our vocabularies and listening skill by doing so. :)
Anyway, another final note to add, for writing, I benefited a lot from my readings. I learn new words, how to construct sentences, phrases, idioms, and many more. As for speaking, listening to other people speaking (in my case, I love listening to English motivational talk or Islamic lectures) helped me a lot in improving my speaking skill. So I guess, these four skills- reading/writing/speaking/listening can't be separated if we want to improve our language proficiency.
Till then,
Bye!
I have been receiving questions on how to improve our skills in English, especially for speaking & writing. So I guess it will be better if I write my answer here, easy for you to refer, and easy for me too, since I won't have to repeat the same answer. Anyway, first let me remind you that I am still improving my English too, so if you happen to see any grammatical errors in my post, kindly excuse me, for I am still learning. :)
Basically, for every skill in this world that we want to acquire or improve, there's one compulsory thing to do; practice. So, if you want to improve you writing skill, by hook or by crook, you have to write, a lot. And same goes to improving your speaking skill; practice speaking. Speak whenever you have chance. I'll elaborate more after this. But you get me right? There's no magical way to attain a skill & be good at it, except by practicing it, again & again, with the right method.
Now what you need to do when I say that you have to practice writing? Up to you, as long as you make yourself used to writing in English. It's even more easy in this modern world, because you have so many virtual places that you can practice writing; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Blogspot, Tumblr and many other social media. (If you prefer the pen & paper method, great then).
Do you feel embarrassed that you might make mistakes? No problem, as a start, you can set the audience only to yourself, or make a new account that's set to private and only you (or a few other people) can view it. Because the goal from this practice isn't really to let people read your idea, but to let you practice writing, to make your hands & mind get used to jotting down whatever you have in your mind.
As for me, I started practicing thoroughly to write in English when I was 17, it was 14 years ago, the year I need to sit for my SPM. I was given tasks by my English mentor to write an essay every week, and submit the essay to her, which I was asked to sit down for exactly one hour (to get used to the time length for exam) and make sure I finish an essay.
At first it was not an easy task, I had to force myself a lot, but eventually it got easier. And after SPM, I've decided to have a blog as a place for me to improve my writing skill. As the technology is getting more advanced, I have so many social media accounts, I use them to help me improve my writing. It's okay if you feel like you're writing craps at first, we all do anyway. Just start. :)
I wanna share how I used to write during my early days of blogging, and how it really helped me. I usually created a draft of my blog entry in Microsoft Words. When I write there, it will notify me whenever I make spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in my sentences. And more importantly, Microsoft Words will recommend better (or bombastic?) phrases for me to use in my sentences. You can try this too.
Now let's move to speaking. Honestly, there's no other way to be able to speak in English, other than to actually speak in that language. Having good skills in writing/listening/reading English isn't a guarantee that we will automatically be good in speaking. If our tongue rarely speaks English, we will never be good in speaking English, no matter how good we are in writing English. Because writing & speaking are two different skills.
And I have to admit that, my speaking skill isn't as good as my writing, perhaps because I write more than I speak in English. (Only speak in English with my daughter, obviously the vocabularies used aren't as much as those in written texts).
If I don't speak much in English, then when did I actually learn speaking? Since I was small, I really love to read English books loudly. I am sure it helps me to let my tongue get used to say English words. Other than that, it's important too to speak to yourself in English. Not necessarily in front of a mirror, you can even practice it while lying down. Choose any topic that you want, and then talk to yourself in English.
Lots of people say they learn a lot from watching movies & listening to English songs. I am not sure how much it helps, because I don't learn English through movie or songs. However, I don't deny that we can improve our vocabularies and listening skill by doing so. :)
Anyway, another final note to add, for writing, I benefited a lot from my readings. I learn new words, how to construct sentences, phrases, idioms, and many more. As for speaking, listening to other people speaking (in my case, I love listening to English motivational talk or Islamic lectures) helped me a lot in improving my speaking skill. So I guess, these four skills- reading/writing/speaking/listening can't be separated if we want to improve our language proficiency.
Till then,
Bye!
Sunday, March 25, 2018
7 Important Tips on How to Read to Your Baby
Bismillah.
Everytime I share photos of my daughters on Instagram, and it happens that my eldest daughter is reading in that photo, I will get this kind of question;
"What did you do to make her love reading so much?"
And I usually don't have enough time to reply properly every time I was asked that question, because the answer isn't simply in one sentence. So I guess I need to write down here some of the tips that I applied and (Alhamdulillah it worked) hopefully others can benefit from them too.
So, the first thing is; START EARLY. Even when our baby can't comprehend what we say yet, just read, read & read to them. This is one of the most important things that we need to do in order to instill the love for books in our children's hearts.
Since I was pregnant to my firstborn, I had always hoped that 'reading' will be one of my kids' favorite thing & one of the earliest thing that I want them to fall in love with. Why? Because being a muslim, I know that the first revelation from God to the prophet is to read. Definitely there must be a very big reason why Allah asks us to read first.
Okay let me just start with the tips on How to Read So Our Babies Will Listen and feel interested;
1) Put our baby on lap. This is for bonding reason as well as for teaching them on how a book is read.
2) Choose a colorful book with very minimal words. You don't necessarily need to read every words written in the book, you can choose to use your own words, or choose to describe everything in the page. This will help our baby to learn lots of new vocabularies.
3) Read in different tones, but make sure the tone can be differentiated easily. For example, excited tone for happy content/stories and sad/crying tone for sad content. This will make the reading session becomes much more interesting and fun. Plus, don't forget to make the sound of everything possible that you can make regarding the page that you read! (e.g: sound of a car or strong wind)
4) If possible, replace the character's name with our baby's name. This will make them feel more attracted to listen to what we read & they will be more focused.
5) Choose a big book, with pictures that our baby can clearly see & touch, hence feeling excited.
6) Ask questions to our baby regarding what we read, so that there'll be an interaction. For example, ask our baby about elephant; "Can you make the sound of an elephant?" & then you answer it without waiting for them to answer. This kind of interaction can actually help our baby to develop better in the language that we use.
7) Read when our baby is in a good mood (fed, well rested). I think every mother can easily know when their baby is happy, comfortable, and not sleepy. Avoid reading to them if we see that our baby is uncomfortable or even cry when we start reading to them.
That's all for now. Don't feel stress, don't force yourself or your baby too much, try little by little, and eventually it will be worth it. Pertaining to the question on how to make our kids love books, I think I have to make a new blog post regarding it. Because we need to know how to read to them first, before making them fall in love with books & reading. So, till the next time, bye!
Everytime I share photos of my daughters on Instagram, and it happens that my eldest daughter is reading in that photo, I will get this kind of question;
"What did you do to make her love reading so much?"
And I usually don't have enough time to reply properly every time I was asked that question, because the answer isn't simply in one sentence. So I guess I need to write down here some of the tips that I applied and (Alhamdulillah it worked) hopefully others can benefit from them too.
So, the first thing is; START EARLY. Even when our baby can't comprehend what we say yet, just read, read & read to them. This is one of the most important things that we need to do in order to instill the love for books in our children's hearts.
Since I was pregnant to my firstborn, I had always hoped that 'reading' will be one of my kids' favorite thing & one of the earliest thing that I want them to fall in love with. Why? Because being a muslim, I know that the first revelation from God to the prophet is to read. Definitely there must be a very big reason why Allah asks us to read first.
Okay let me just start with the tips on How to Read So Our Babies Will Listen and feel interested;
1) Put our baby on lap. This is for bonding reason as well as for teaching them on how a book is read.
2) Choose a colorful book with very minimal words. You don't necessarily need to read every words written in the book, you can choose to use your own words, or choose to describe everything in the page. This will help our baby to learn lots of new vocabularies.
3) Read in different tones, but make sure the tone can be differentiated easily. For example, excited tone for happy content/stories and sad/crying tone for sad content. This will make the reading session becomes much more interesting and fun. Plus, don't forget to make the sound of everything possible that you can make regarding the page that you read! (e.g: sound of a car or strong wind)
4) If possible, replace the character's name with our baby's name. This will make them feel more attracted to listen to what we read & they will be more focused.
5) Choose a big book, with pictures that our baby can clearly see & touch, hence feeling excited.
6) Ask questions to our baby regarding what we read, so that there'll be an interaction. For example, ask our baby about elephant; "Can you make the sound of an elephant?" & then you answer it without waiting for them to answer. This kind of interaction can actually help our baby to develop better in the language that we use.
7) Read when our baby is in a good mood (fed, well rested). I think every mother can easily know when their baby is happy, comfortable, and not sleepy. Avoid reading to them if we see that our baby is uncomfortable or even cry when we start reading to them.
That's all for now. Don't feel stress, don't force yourself or your baby too much, try little by little, and eventually it will be worth it. Pertaining to the question on how to make our kids love books, I think I have to make a new blog post regarding it. Because we need to know how to read to them first, before making them fall in love with books & reading. So, till the next time, bye!
Sunday, February 18, 2018
7 Reading Tips for Busy Moms
Reading is not merely a hobby. It’s a need! We read not only for leisure, but to help us to improve ourselves, improve our lives, as well as to gain more knowledge regarding the situation or responsibilities that we currently hold. I keep getting this one same question on how do I find times to read?
So I wanna share here some of the tips that I’ve found & been practicing since a few years back in order to make sure that I have time to read everyday.
1) Read when your kids are asleep. For example, spend half an hour in the morning to read before they wake up. Believe me, it’s the the best me-time moment to be spent with reading. Or perhaps you can read at night after the kids are asleep. Just a few minutes or pages won’t disturb your sleeping schedule. And it’s a bonus if you breastfeed your baby, because you will have longer time to read. Stop scrolling your instagram/fb feed & start flipping pages to read.
2) Always have your books in scattered areas around the house. Put a few books at the dry kitchen, a shelf in the living room, a stack beside your bed, or 10 stacks on your working table. This can help you to read at any time even for a few minutes. For example, while waiting for your cupcakes to bake, you can enjoy reading a chapter or two from any books available near you.
3) Never go out without a book in your handbag. If you really want, you will definitely find time to read books. In the car (if you’re not driving), in the train, while waiting for the grab/uber, while waiting for your foods to arrive your table, or while queueing to order your favorite coffee.
4) Read lots of books at once. Meaning to say, you don’t have to wait till you’re done with one book in order to proceed with another one. (But if you’re reading novels, the game might be a bit different since leaving the book for a long period of time will make you forget the flow of the story). If you ask me, I rarely ready novels or fictional books, so it doesn’t affect me much if I don’t read a certain book continuously till the last page.
5) Read the topic that you really want to know & can apply right away. Hey, do you know that you don’t have to read a book from cover to cover? You can simply look at the content and choose the topic which is new to you, or important for you to know. It will be much better if you read about the stuffs that you can practice right away. Let’s take a parenting book for example; you are in need to know the correct way to deal with your kids tantrum. You can read the topics that are related to your situations or needs only. Because, admit it, you won’t remember the whole book even at the moment you finished reading the last page of it.
6) Make a reading log/diary. Have a list of your “want to read”, “read” & “currently reading”. You can make it online (eg: make an account at Goodreads) or offline (buy a book to jot down your reading journey). Why? Because when you have this log, it can help you to be more motivated to read books. Sometimes it’s not that we’re so busy to read, we just haven’t found the motivation to do so.
7) Find the books that you’re really passionate about. Don’t buy a book just because it’s a bestseller. Buy it if you love it & really excited to read it, doesn’t matter if it’s not a bestseller book. As for me, since I am mompreneur (mom + entrepreneur), my most favorite genres are parenting, entrepreneurship & motivation. So when we already have the book that we really love available near us, it’s not so hard to actually spend time to take the book and read it.
Hope these help! 😄 If you have any tips to add, feel free to drop it the comment section.
So I wanna share here some of the tips that I’ve found & been practicing since a few years back in order to make sure that I have time to read everyday.
1) Read when your kids are asleep. For example, spend half an hour in the morning to read before they wake up. Believe me, it’s the the best me-time moment to be spent with reading. Or perhaps you can read at night after the kids are asleep. Just a few minutes or pages won’t disturb your sleeping schedule. And it’s a bonus if you breastfeed your baby, because you will have longer time to read. Stop scrolling your instagram/fb feed & start flipping pages to read.
2) Always have your books in scattered areas around the house. Put a few books at the dry kitchen, a shelf in the living room, a stack beside your bed, or 10 stacks on your working table. This can help you to read at any time even for a few minutes. For example, while waiting for your cupcakes to bake, you can enjoy reading a chapter or two from any books available near you.
3) Never go out without a book in your handbag. If you really want, you will definitely find time to read books. In the car (if you’re not driving), in the train, while waiting for the grab/uber, while waiting for your foods to arrive your table, or while queueing to order your favorite coffee.
4) Read lots of books at once. Meaning to say, you don’t have to wait till you’re done with one book in order to proceed with another one. (But if you’re reading novels, the game might be a bit different since leaving the book for a long period of time will make you forget the flow of the story). If you ask me, I rarely ready novels or fictional books, so it doesn’t affect me much if I don’t read a certain book continuously till the last page.
5) Read the topic that you really want to know & can apply right away. Hey, do you know that you don’t have to read a book from cover to cover? You can simply look at the content and choose the topic which is new to you, or important for you to know. It will be much better if you read about the stuffs that you can practice right away. Let’s take a parenting book for example; you are in need to know the correct way to deal with your kids tantrum. You can read the topics that are related to your situations or needs only. Because, admit it, you won’t remember the whole book even at the moment you finished reading the last page of it.
6) Make a reading log/diary. Have a list of your “want to read”, “read” & “currently reading”. You can make it online (eg: make an account at Goodreads) or offline (buy a book to jot down your reading journey). Why? Because when you have this log, it can help you to be more motivated to read books. Sometimes it’s not that we’re so busy to read, we just haven’t found the motivation to do so.
7) Find the books that you’re really passionate about. Don’t buy a book just because it’s a bestseller. Buy it if you love it & really excited to read it, doesn’t matter if it’s not a bestseller book. As for me, since I am mompreneur (mom + entrepreneur), my most favorite genres are parenting, entrepreneurship & motivation. So when we already have the book that we really love available near us, it’s not so hard to actually spend time to take the book and read it.
Hope these help! 😄 If you have any tips to add, feel free to drop it the comment section.
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