What every homeschooler dreads to hear....

Yes, you've guessed it, it's:

"Mummy, I want to go to school..."

Assalamo aleykum.

I haven't been updating this blog for a very long time, mostly because I have been too (disorganisedly) busy.

About two weeks ago, while re-organising the children's bookshelf, we stumbled across a folder that was given to us by the Islamic preschool Yusef attended for a year before we moved city. He started flicking through it's pages, where samples of his work were kept with some pictures of him doing it (back then we hadn't a ban on pictures, astaghfirullah) and rather impersonal comments written; while I was thinking of how basic and uninspiring it all seemed compared to homeschooling, Yusef started to longingly caress the pages, looking increasingly depressed.
He said he knew the old school was for small children, but now that he was a big boy we should try a big boy school.

I felt crushed.

I tried to hide my tears as I was washing the dishes.

As soon as I felt like I could hold back I went to him and promised that insha'Allah we would do such wonderful things together that he won't miss school anymore.

May Allah guide me and help me honour this promise.

As a matter of fact I had been slacking and had gone completely off the track homeschooling-wise. But - alhamdulillah - thanks to some lovely fellow homeschoolers (Jazahum Allahu khayran), inspiration was just around the corner...

Rewards of home education

Assalamo aleykum.

Yesterday I taught Yusef the Arabic short vowels (fatha, kasra, dhamma), using some lovely resources available online (which I will post soon with picture of the end result of our efforts insha'Allah), all I wanted to share with you was the sudden thought I had while my son was reading "A...A...U...I...U...": I taught him this, by the will of Allah, and if Allah wills I will gain some rewards EVERY TIME my son - in the course of his life - will pick up a mushaf and read anything from it, as it was me who (by the will of Allah) shared and instilled in him the basic knowledge to enable him to carry out this wonderful act of love and devotion.

 

On top of the feeling of warmth and excitement I experience as I imagine my son that fluently reading the Book of Allah, it makes me extremely happy and it feels me with hope to imagine all my little rewards, millions and millions of them, piling up, jingling like little coins, or better still, immaculate diamonds on the scale of my good deeds. May Allah make it so, may He purufy my intentions and make me a good teacher for His sake. And al of you, of course.

Assalamo aleykum and Welcome!

Assalamo aleykum everybody,

Alhamdulillah, finally I managed to get this blog started!

 

Given all the inspiration that I have got - and always get - from the blogs of other Muslim home educators (that are very talented masha'Allah!) I decided to share the highlights of my journey as a mother and homeschooler, just to pass around some ideas.

 

I have only recently started home educating, as my elder is only 4 1/2, but I have already learned a couple of important lessons, the first of which is: to be a good home educator you don't need formal teaching qualifications or experience, you need a strong motivation.

 

My motivation, as it is probably true for most Muslim home educators, is that I simply don't want my children to attend state schools. This decision is not motivated by personal experience: as a child growing up in Italy, I loved school and, despite feeling that my eagerness to learn and creativity were somewhat constricted by its rigidity, I thrived in the school environment.

 

It is not the academic side of things that I distrust in the UK education system (I don't know much about it anyway), as much as the ethical side of it. I want my children to be brought up with a distinctivly religious education. In the hours spent on the internet researching about home education, I have come across a number of blogs and websites of practicing Christian parents that had gone the same route for the same reason.

 

While I want my children to discover, enjoy and benefit from what is good in this society, I do not want them to feel "different", a "minority", those who don't celebrate birthdays, those that cannot eat such and such meat product, those who cannot get undressed in front of the other children, those who cannot take part in the nativity play, ... the list goes on.

 

I want my children to learn that God doesn't just say "No." In fact, He has said "Yes" to most things!!!  but, how would a child know, when everything around them screams hedonism and carelessness about God's commands? What I want to instill in my children is the Islamic perspective on things, the perspective that God meant for everybody to have in order to be successful, satisfied and happy.

 

Hence, the foundation of their education, as of that of every Muslim, must be the Qur'an and the Sunnah, according to the understanding of no other than the Prophet himself (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all).

 

I hope that this blog may give some useful ideas to all parents, whether they home educate or not, about activity that can be enjoyed with their children.

 

And may Allah the Most High bless, guide and facilitate all parents in educating their children to Islamic standards, it is He who grants every success.