My boys, My heroes

Today is 26 Nov 2013, and my babies have grown into a 13 and 4 year old teen and pre-schooler respectively. I love them deeply - they are the light of my life, the purpose of my life.

Afzal has grown into a young man, looking rather handsome here on his13th birthday where we spent the day at Snow City before a family dinner at Earle Swensen, Vivocity. He is introverted and reserved at times but yet he makes good and loyal friendships with friends from his primary school days. He loves being in the company of his like-minded buddies and his awesome cousins. Grounded in civic-consciousness, he is dependable and reliable. For now, he is still discovering his strengths and figuring out his ambition in life.

Aqil is a precocious little nursling who enjoys a good adventure, loving every new experience that he encounters. His fearless spirit made him embraced the snow slides and the iciness of snow without flinching an inch. He is social, a good conversationalist and contributes his thoughts and perspectives on any topics. He can be the life of the party and superb in connecting people and forming meaningful relationships.

My hopes for my boys are that they grow into fine young men - healthy, happy, confident, resilient and successful in all their pursuits - worldly and the hereafter. 

I hope they have the wisdom and perseverance to navigate their life in the right direction, strengthening their hearts, minds and souls in Islam. The Quran and the Sunnah shall be their compasses in life, shining the path of khalifah-ness and intellectualism for them. Imams to their own families, loving and supporting brothers to each other and the source of constant prayers and duas for me and their father.

I love them both to the moon and back.

Ameen.

Flowers

At 4 years, 20 days old, Aqil drew four flowers. The flowers have petals, stalks, leaves and probably the buds or pollen.

'You put a seed, you cover with a dig one (showing hands gesture of digging), then the water goes in. You wait first and then flower come out from the hole in the dirt.' 

From what he says, he seems to show an understanding of the process of how to grow a flower, starting from a seed. He showed a knowledge of sequencing as well as the very basic materials that one may need to grow a plant or flower. He is still developing in his vocabulary, thus more authentic exposure to the plants, parks and gardens will help to enhance his repertoire of vocabulary.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

My boys in the car

Today's life lesson

Change your Words, and change your World.

An important lesson on the power of words - it can either boost or burst your self-esteem. 

Reflecting on education especially of learners that seemed to be struggling. Educators and parents will have to make a paradigm shift - view these 'struggling learners' with a growth mindset rather than a deficit mindset. How we view others and use the words on them will impact the way they will learn - our teachacy impact their learnacy. 

Praise effort instead of intelligence. It will go a long way.