How to homeschool your preschooler: your questions answered with a free ebook

Following my last post on how to homeschool a two year old, I said I'd answer some of your questions that were sent to me through Instagram, relating to home-schooling your preschool aged child. I've gone ahead and converted my answers into a free pdf ebook to make it super easy to pick up and flick through.

Much of my advice stems off the principle that pre-schoolers pretty much don't need homeschooling any more than a preschooler needs school. What they do need parenting. 

They need you dear Mama, not a homeschool teacher. 

How to start homeschooling a 2 year old

One of the most common questions I receive, is asking how to homeschool a two year old. I don't know why age two seems to bring about so many questions, but it does because so many of you ask me about yours!

Rather than constantly rewriting the same suggestions in a briefly summarised Instagram or Facebook message, touch-typed through my mobile phone, I figured it would be useful to have a post ready-to-go answering this question.

Learning Arabic with kids (plus list of online resources)

For non-Arabic speakers, building up Arabic vocabulary with our children is something which may feel unnatural to begin with as new words and phrases are introduced. But with practice and use, they will soon roll off our tongues without any thought inshaAllah.

It simply takes time, practice, patience and the belief that growing our language skills will one day pay off and will become second nature bi'ithnillah. 

People learn second languages all the time. The difficulty we have in the West when learning Arabic, is we are not often in situations where we are forced to speak it, so we don't. We're learning to understand and speak Arabic in a non-Arabic speaking country so its too easy to stay within our comfort zones and not try...even when we meet an Arabic speaking sister at the masjid. 

Learning Surah Fatihah....and free printable worksheets!

It goes without saying, that helping our children to understand the Qur'an is a fundamental goal in their upbringing. We all aspire for our families to not merely recite the Book of Allah as mere lip service, but rather with comprehension, action and desire to please none other than Allah alone.

To help my children's understanding of the Qur'an, we've been taking an ayah a "lesson", looking at its translated meaning and brief tafseer together. Discussing how this relates to our lives before recording it in a small note-book. You can read more about how we're studying the meaning of the Qur'an with kids as part of a morning basket routine....although it somewhat evolved to not always be in the morning!

Increase your productivity and get more done with a morning priority plan

There never seems to be enough hours in the day. From the time we wake up in the morning until the time we lay our heads back down upon our pillows, there always seems to be something we need to do...or something we haven't done.
Although a struggle many of us can all relate to, not everyone does. There are some who seem to jump straight onto the productivity train leaving the rest of us lagging far behind at the procrastination station.
So what is so different about them? And more importantly, what can you and I do as mothers, to get the same inshaAllah?

Dealing with your Local Authority as a homeschooler

One of the first questions which comes to mind when deciding to educate your family at home is what are the legal requirements of home schooling?

Depending on where you are the world, your rights and responsibilities as a home educator will differ. In some countries such as Germany and Greece, home-schooling is illegal. So the first thing you need to do, is establish whether the country you reside allows home education or not. (you may find this chart listing the legality of home schooling in different countries helpful).

Home Schooling in the UK

Since I'm in the UK, my focus will be on the legal rights and responsibilities of a home educator here. This post is not at all professional legal advice, rather just information I've come to understand and learn from my own experience as a home schooler over the years.

Just to note, if you're reading from across the big pond over in America, then know that each State has their own laws and regulations. You can read more about your State and homeschooling here.

Alhamdulillah we're blessed in the UK in that we can indeed choose to educate our families at home, and the law gives us the freedom to teach our children without specifying any particular curriculum, program or learning philosophy. You do not have to follow the National Curriculum.

There is a well known phrase which goes around the homeschool world:

 "Education is compulsory, schooling is not."

You are your child's role model for success

You are the role model for success or failure. Sounds pretty intimidating.
But the fact is that we as a Muslim parent (regardless of whether or not we choose to home educate) are our children's role model.

The most important thing when it comes to Muslim parenting, is wanting to please Allah. To raise our children to know and act upon the reason they were created; to worship the One Who Created us Alone with no partner.

So it goes without saying, that we must show through our actions and words what this means to us in our own life.

Using free-writing to hear what your child wants to say

I want to draw your attention to something that you probably haven't paid much attention to, and it will blow your mind when you realise it....it did mine!

As obvious as it is (when you're aware) not many of us actually see it until its pointed out (I got my alert from Brave Writer).

Whether you read newspapers, books or online articles, one thing for sure is we're all used to reading good writing.

 Most of us read the work of professional writers in some way every day. We know what good writing looks like, and we know what it does not.

So when our child steps forward to present before us their humble piece of work, in all its unedited glory, we see how it doesn't even come close to the good writing we are more accustomed to interacting with from professional writers. 

What we miss, is the fact that all the professional writing we read, has been drafted, proof-read, edited, and corrected before we set our eyes upon it. 

And yet we still somehow expect (even without realising we do it) that our child should be able to produce a piece of written work equal in stature, free from misspellings and grammatical errors... on the first attempt.  

Wow, right!

The good news is, once we realise this, there are a lot of fun ways we can help encourage our children to improve their writing skills, and importantly, develop their writers voice. Because lets face it, no matter how grammatically correct a piece of writing may be, it is the writer's unique voice which propels that writing forward and makes it something special.

Embracing Motherhood

My fellow Mama and comrade, my dear sister, we have been given one of the greatest tasks; to raise and nurture our children to know and act upon the purpose for which we were all created. And there is no escaping this obligation, no matter how we choose to educate our family; whether we homeschool or not. 

This responsibility is more than merely the upbringing of our own family. Rather, this upbringing will have an effect on the greater society in which we live, for generations to come. 

Islamic Studies Curriculum suggestions for kids

One of the biggest questions which floats around constantly, is what Islamic Studies curriculum for kids are available?

Whether you're a home educator, parent or teacher, finding a program which is authentic is paramount to our goals to raise children who know for what purpose we were all created.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so in this post I'm going to share with you some English Islamic Studies books in video form, that might help you to find something to suit your needs inshaAllah.

Discovering the world through the art of letter writing - with a free Penpal guide to get your first letter started

Having a penpal gives you much more than just friendship. It's an opportunity to learn about different places, different people, different cultures, and a fun natural way for our children to develop their writing skills. 

If you have ever thought of finding a penpal for your children, read on and download a free Penpal guide for kids, to help write their first letter. 

The end of our Surah Ikhlas study - free printable included!

Helping our children learn and understand the Qur'an so they can act upon it inshaAllah, is important to every Muslim parent. We've been learning about Surah Ikhlas and to conclude our study, I created a small quiz printable as our finale, and you can download it too.

I don't typically test the children, however they are getting older and believe it or not, are asking for tests and grades.

Although I designed our Surah-Ikhlas printable worksheet to be used as a blind test, I aloud the girls to use their books to help them when they got stuck (you can see more of how we're studying the Qur'an as part of our Morning Basket time here).

Dear homeschool Mama, we're all just like you

The purpose of this blog, like my Instagram and Facebook pages, is to help my sisters with ideas, support and advice.

Not because I have all the answers...
Because I don't.

I'm like you.
With the same struggles.
The same problems.
The same worries.
The same doubts.
The same questions.
The same dirty dishes, piled up laundry and burnt food.

Using copywork to develop penmanship, grammar & punctuation...and having fun whilst doing it!

I was introduced to the practice of copywork maybe three or four years ago when I stumbled upon the World of Bravewriter, and I've been hooked ever since. 

It really is such a simple activity which packs a powerful learning punch, yet is often so undervalued or misunderstood.

Copywork is so much more than just the art of copying text....it offers a multitude of important writing skills, helping budding writers work on not only their penmanship, but also gives opportunity to analyse some one else's writing, work on spelling, punctuation and go through the inner-mechanics of grammar.

The 5 Pillars of Islam activity with guided instructions for kids

We've started chapter 2 of the book "The Correct Creed for Children" which covers the 5 Pillars of Islam, the 6 Pillars of Iman and Ihsan.

The first part of the new chapter lists the 5 Pillars of Islam, and so last week we came up with this craft activity to show what they are before copying the text into our Islamic Studies books (see video below)

Creating a Morning Basket routine in a Muslim homeschool

We've added a new practice to our homeschool this week: a Morning Time Basket ...our interpretation of one anyway.

I wanted to find something that would bring new energy to our new homeschool year, which typically begins after Ramadan.
However this season has been a little slow to get started. More than slow actually, Ramadan ended more than 2 months ago.

Perhaps we needed that time to help us make things different.

I've seen our homeschool efforts have been a little stale for some time, and I knew we needed to make quite a few changes to bring back a sense of excitement and zeal we've lost.

One of our changes, is the introduction of a "Morning Time Basket".

As I contemplated starting this, I wasn't sure if my children would be a little old. When I've seen other home-schooling families online who implement something like this, they seem to be younger, so I thought perhaps I'd missed the boat on this little home-school practice.

However, I decided to give it a try with my version of one, and I'm so glad that I did alhamdulillah.

My child is behind

As the summer holidays begin to draw to a close, many of us are getting ready for the start of a new school year.

Whether that means buying new school uniforms or new pyjamas homeschool books, we're looking ahead with anticipation of a fresh start in mind. 

We're standing on a new day, and have another year in front of us, if Allah permits us to live. 

Whatever has happened in the past, whatever we feel our children have missed or we have neglected to teach, let it go; we can't change what has been and gone. 

Helping our children develop a positive growth mindset

As cliché as they may be, inspirational quotes can go a long way in helping to change mind set when heard often enough. 

They are the little reminders which cheer you on to keep going, when everything else inside of yourself is trying to tear you down and make you stop.

Right now, the internet is flooded with a wave of information set to help children develop a positive growth mind set. And I can see the value in this.

How our children see their own capabilities can have a huge impact on what they actually go out and achieve. And so it is important to help them develop an inner self belief, which tells them that they can reach sucess, if they don't give up inshaAllah.

So many kids write themselves off as failures, because they don't understand something straight away, or they made mistakes, or something they are working on isn't perfect. 

They see the mountainous challenge in front of them, and don't believe they can ever climb over it.  

Its that little niggling inner voice of self sabotage that we want to silence inshaAllah. 

They need to know, sucess doesn't occur by random chance to some people. Rather, those who are successful in their game have worked hard, made mistakes, and kept going to get to the top.

Tawheed project for kids...with parents lesson guide!

Calling all home schoolers, parents and teachers....here is an easy mini project you can work on this summer with the kids.....learning all about the three categories of Tawheed (and did I tell you, it includes a suggested lesson guide).

30 days of Ramadan ahadith to read aloud with your family!

I wanted something simple to use through-out Ramadan, that will help my family to pay attention to some of the benefits and practices of this month, whilst spending time together. 

...And so from that thought, I've put together some simple little cards; one for each day of the month.
Each card shares a hadith relating to Ramadan that can be read as a family, pondered and discussed together, providing a nice short 5 minute daily activity inshaAllah.

Home schooling during Ramadan: what is a Mum to do?

Ramadan is weeks away, and for many of us, we start to wonder what shall we do about home schooling during this special month.

To give you my two cents, I think this will be something individual to each family, just as the general home school goings-on, day to day through out the year will differ from one house-hold to the next.

However, with that being said, this seems to be a hot topic of conversation at this time of year and so I thought I'd put a few pointers together to try to some-what answer this question.

Join the sisterhood; Muslim home schoolers

It's hard to believe this blog is over 7 years old...almost as old as my youngest child and I probably treat it like my youngest baby truth be told!

I try my best to nurture it; feeding it with articles and resources to keep it alive...perhaps at times allowing it to get a little too hungry; but I'm sure that just helps develop the appetite.

This has been my project, and over the years since its birth, I've seen the numbers of Muslim home schoolers rise as more and more of us jump on this rocky, wobbly road of home education Alhamdulillah.

And that's awesome for all of us, because as our community grows we gain more and more support; learning from one another's experiences and benefiting from the wisdom of those who have treaded upon this path before us.

For quite some time I've been wanting to take this project to the next level; to be more than just a blog to share information, to somehow actually help make a difference inshaAllah.

Building the Muslim home school of your dreams inshaAllah!

Alhamdulillah home education is growing, and within our Muslim community, it's gaining popularity fast!
With so many of us turning to educate our family our selves, we jump in head-first; trying to find our way through a misty fog as we figure out through trial and error how to do this inshaAllah.

Even when we do find our feet, it is easy to be left scratching our heads as the demands of being a home school mother and all it involves takes its toll.

For those of you in need of a sprinkle of inspiration; whether you are new to home schooling or have been deep in the trenches for some time, I have an exciting announcement to share....

Stories of the Prophets time line printable

Whether you are a parent or a teacher, help your family or students study the Stories of the Prophets with this awesome time line resource pack...all you need is the card and the printer ink.....the pack is free!

Each Prophet from Adam عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ to Muhammad  صلى الله عليه وسلم has their own page where each story can be recorded in the children's own words, and put together to form a giant 31 page time line!

The Prophets are ordered as mentioned in the chapters of Ibn Kathir's book "Stories of the Prophets". You can use this book or any other authentic work to help complete this task.

Although Ibn Kathir doesn't mention the Story of Muhammad in this particular book, I have included a page for his story to show the end of the Prophets.

Printable Arabic alphabet flashcard / posters, with harakat.

If you're like most Muslim parents, helping your children learn the Arabic alphabet is important to you. These fun colourful Arabic alphabet cards are just the thing to help inshaAllah.

 The internet brings to us a wealth of information and resources to our fingertips like never before Alhamdulillah.

No longer do we have to scour the high-street searching for what we want to find. With a few clicks of a button, we can discover what the world has to offer us.

I remember when my children were younger, all I had to teach the Arabic alphabet was a large poster hung up on the wall and one or two poor quality board books.....which I treasured!

In just a short few years, as more and more of us are deepening our desire to nurture our childrens curiosity and engage them in their learning adventures, more and more of us are turning to the internet to find awesome resources we can print at home, saving us £££s.

These Arabic alphabet cards are something I created that I would have loved to have had when my children were pre-schoolers, as I believe it would have helped tremendously in teaching the Arabic alphabet and early development of Arabic reading skills, and Allah knows best.

So, what is it exactly?...

Homeschool Mum: You are the best one for your kids

I want to invite you to believe and know from the beginning, that you are the best one for this job Alhamdulillah.

Yes you.

Do you know how I know you are the best one without even meeting you?

100 reasons to homeschool for the Muslim parent

Whether you are exploring the idea of home education, or you are already down in the trenches in need of some inspiration, here are 100 reasons to homeschool, broken down into categories.

Learn the attactched Arabic pronouns with this free printable game!

Help your kiddos learn the possessive attached pronouns with this free printable game pack, which includes a reminder poster or cheat-sheet to help.

Learning Arabic past tense verb conjugations with games

Make learning the Arabic past tense verb conjugation more fun with this free printable!

Match the basketballs with their hoops to help memorise this system insha'Allah. You can play by yourself, or with others. Set the timer to beat the clock or turn the cards upside down to play memory snap.

Naming Nouns... a free Lapbook

Whether you are looking for something to teach nouns from scratch or do a little review, this lapbook is just the ticket and will take you through common, proper, collective, concrete and abstract nouns all in one place.

Getting to grips with Atoms and Elements - a free lapbook folder

If you are looking for a simple introduction to what science teaches about Atoms and Elements, you might like this folder printable, which can be made into a lapbook or put into your interactive notebooks.

Before I continue, I just want to interject with a sort of disclaimer here .... much of science is based on theory, not always proven facts.
And so when teaching our children different branches of scientific knowledge for their academic school studies, it's important to explain this to them, especially when scientific thought contradicts or opposes the Qur'an and Sunnah.