When my eldest was born we knew that State School would not be an option .....but to home school ....no way!
However, when we moved cities, and met the home educating community here, my eyes were opened and it seemed like the obvious thing to do Alhamdulillah!
I remember it took around a year before we made the official decision to take full responsibility for the education of our family. And when we did, it was nerve-racking!
I sit here now, more than 5 years on, with only 1 year left of my eldest's primary school education and I have 2 thoughts......
The first is, I am so incredibly thankful to Allah that we have made it this far! We begun our journey when my now almost 10 year old was just 4 and a half.
Now we are coming near to the end of primary, I feel a huge accomplishment....we actually did it subhanAllah,we are almost done!
Second, is the prospect of secondary level education; the initial worry, panic and self doubt I had all those years ago when we embarked on the prospect of home schooling, are returning.
It feels like I have to now take the decision to home school all over again, as if I am completely new to the lifestyle!
I look ahead to next year, may Allah allow us to reach it, and I wonder; what is the right thing to do? Can we seriously continue to home educate throughout secondary? Is school a better option? Which school? Could we even afford it even if we wanted to! State School is still not an option.
Now my eldest is getting older, I also wonder am I enough? She has greater needs as she reaches early adulthood. Am I enough to give her everything she needs to continue to develop, to grow, to thrive? Can I find enough opportunities beyond me to help her fulfil her highest potential bi'ithnillah?
Could we even let go of home education and the freedom it grants us?
I feel we have to make that choice all over again from the beginning. And that wasn't something I had foreseen all those years ago when we first made the decision to be a home educating family.
So you see, I find myself back in the same place, questioning. Thinking. Contemplating. Can we really do this inshallah?
Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu. You can do it all the way through college if you utilize the many online resources out there such as Khan Academy, Coursera,EdX and many others. There are even Salafi based solutions for K-12 such as http://www.gatewayvirtualacademy.com and http://www.themuslimacademy.org. Also many colleges offer online bachelors, masters, and PhD degrees so that we and our children don't have to be submersed in the moral pollution found on college campuses. We don't have any excuse to not be successful. Put your trust in Allah and take the means to get the job done.
ReplyDeleteI am a Muslim mother who lives in Dubai. Homeschooling is a rare and/or non existing concept here. The idea of home schooling came to me recently. I am a first time mother to a 1 and a half year old son. Schools in Dubai have changed dramatically from the time I was in school. They are becoming Internationally based where Arabic (our first spoken language) is almost too weak to have in these schools. This also includes Islamic studies unfortunately. Therefore , the idea of homeschooling came into my mind. Can you help me with tips and guidance of how I can start? Where did you get your Islamic materials for the little ones? Is there an online homeschool providers for the Islamic faith today? I am in a middle of my research and your blog post was the first thing that came to me in Google.
ReplyDeleteIn another note, excellent job at homeschooling for all these years. I can imagine the "Ajer" you get from "Allah" when being the teacher to your kids.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
As salaamu alaikum wrwb
ReplyDeleteIn sha Allah u can do it sister...tie ur camels and have tawakkal on Allah
Salam im in the UK what resources did you use for primarybeducation?
ReplyDeleteMasha Allah! As a fellow sister, Im so proud of you for taking that step to homeschool and for following it through.
ReplyDeleteDon't doubt yourself. Khair in aha Allah.
I have a month old daughter and am planning to homeschool in aha Allah.
Salamu alaiqum, i have 6 kids, al hamdulillah. Same boat as you... state not an option and private is too expensive. Home ed parent for over 6 years, tge worst mistake i ever made was when i doubted myself (because every one else doubted me too) and i put them in state school... i lasted a year of watching her fade away before i put my foot down and went back to home ed. I wish there were more families i could connect with in my area (loads of home edders but they do their own thing in their own families and beung a revert i am not apart of it!) I am now teaching my 3 rd child, i am teaching secondary level, junior and primary levels, it is hard but insha allah allah will continue giving me the strength to get through it for the sake of my kids insha allah.
ReplyDeleteWa alaikum asalaam WA rahmatullah,
DeleteBarakAllahu feeki. May Allah give you and your family every success in this life and the next. Where abouts do you live?
I understand it's difficult being a revert, everyone is busy with their families naturally Alhamdulillah, so it is difficult when you don't have your own family so much to cling to.
Take comfort in many of the first Muslims, did not have complete family who were Muslim, even the Prophet Muhammad , salAllahu Akashi WA salaam himself and disbelieving family members.
May Allah grant ease in your affairs and guide your family. Ameen.
Salamu alaiqum, i have 6 kids, al hamdulillah. Same boat as you... state not an option and private is too expensive. Home ed parent for over 6 years, tge worst mistake i ever made was when i doubted myself (because every one else doubted me too) and i put them in state school... i lasted a year of watching her fade away before i put my foot down and went back to home ed. I wish there were more families i could connect with in my area (loads of home edders but they do their own thing in their own families and beung a revert i am not apart of it!) I am now teaching my 3 rd child, i am teaching secondary level, junior and primary levels, it is hard but insha allah allah will continue giving me the strength to get through it for the sake of my kids insha allah.
ReplyDeleteAlhamdulillaah ukhtee you have come so far by the mercy of Allaah. I am sure you will do well bi idhnillaah. We are getting into secondary too and now with a little baby it is going to be different I know but a bit of organization on my side and a bit of motivational talk with Maimoonah would make it easy I guess inshaa Allaah. As they grow their interest change too. Sometimes I feel how easy it was to do things with a toddler and how difficult it is to get something done with a 8 or 9 year old. But then again when looking back I see how well we have facilitated the lessons when they were toddlers and how dry the lessons are when they are grown up. So we need to constantly work on giving them things to do in a very interesting manner and secondary is for sure going to be challenging and i am awaiting to see your ideas and methods as usual as they do really inspire me. May Allaah aid us and gives us success as we leap into another adventure by the His mercy. Aameen
ReplyDeleteAsalamalaykum. I have just come to dubai and finding a school seems so daunting. I fear i dont have enough patience to home school my children. Do you know anyone who homeschools? May Allah make our children successful in this duniya and in the akhirah
ReplyDelete