Torn between school and homeschool?

I receive questions from mothers unsure whether they should choose school or home education for their growing family.

 I totally get this dilemma; it's something my husband and I faced years ago when trying to figure out what route we should take for ours.
So what is the right thing to do and how do you discover the answer right for you?

A beginners guide to starting homeschool - a 4 week online workshop

Ever since I began home educating a decade ago, I've always believed that our community could benefit from training days just as teachers receive training days in school. To continue our own "professional development" in the educating of our own children at home and all that entails. It is certainly something I have always craved for myself and absolutely see the value in.
The role of the home educator is probably one of the biggest learn on the job responsibilities that any of us will ever face - and if there is something out there that can help us get started and find our feet, then brilliant!

I am thrilled to announce the launch of our four part online workshop: Homeschooling with confidence - a beginners guide to starting homeschool. 

Registration is open I am genuinely so excited for this; I really can not wait to work with a whole bunch of you on a much deeper level that the general support and information I love offering through the Muslim Homeschoolers Facebook group and Instagram as well as here. There is so much information out there, this workshop aims to give you everything in one place - but more than that, I really want you to walk away completely confident in your ability to start building the homeschool of your dreams that meets the needs of your own family inshaAllah - not mine or anyone else's.

To find out everything you need to know about this online workshop, you can download the Homeschooling with confidence information brochure, or continue reading below (if you download the brochure and want to enrol, make sure you come back to this post and scroll down to the end to join).

Get the kids consistent with reading, copywork and free-writing this year!

If you are looking for something to help make copywork and free-writing a regular habit this year, as well as encourage the kids to read, then I have just the thing....

What do to when your husband doesn't want to homeschool

I have heard this question from sisters; and certainly more than once. You want to home educate, but dear hubby doesn't, so what should you do? 

My goal here is to help you get the individual answers that YOU need...not merely provide a set of generic pieces of advice and hope they will fit. 

And so at the end of this post I've provided a free homeschool coaching page where I turn questions back onto you; helping you discover what it is that you personally need to do in your own unique situation bi'ithnillah. 

Homeschool Planner 2019-2020 designed with Muslim home educators in mind

Edit: This planner is no longer available to purchase. 

Nothing beats the warm fuzzy feeling when an empty homeschool planner presents itself; an invitation to recreate our homeschool just as a fresh coat of paint gives a new lease of life to old tired walls.

I'm super excited to share our updated Homeschool planner for 2019-2020!

This production has truly been a labour of love....truth be told I am a bit of a planning nerd. Although I have to tell you, sometimes the planning is a little more fun than the implementation of it all.

Its specifically designed for the Muslim Homeschooler, with both Islamic as well as secular quotes relating to education scattered throughout to sprinkle a little inspiration when you need it.

Sibling Rivalry - what to do when kids won't stop fighting

Recently I ran a pole over on Instagram, asking if your children ever fight, bicker and squabble. A whopping 82% of you answered "all the time".

This is what I know....when your children are at each others throats, it always seems like they are the only children in the world who don’t seem to be able to get on.

It can also feel at times that they seem to hate each other, which is heart breaking to see.

Firstly let me assure you that your children truly are not the only ones in the world who are always bickering (I personally attest to that!). Secondly, they don’t hate each other - even if it might seem so at the time.

Getting ready for Ramadan

Who else is excited for the approaching Ramadan? I love this time of year and always feel it comes at a much needed time where I feel in desperate need of a boost. 

Something I like to do during this season, is get everything in order at home before Ramadan begins....or at least try to anyway. I will tell you I often still end up running around like a crazy person trying to get everything in place once the new moon announcement has been made (if you know the phrase last-minute-dot-com....well, that is me.)

However, I will generally try to get as much stuff done as I can ahead of time. I always feel I need to gut the house from top to bottom in the weeks approaching Ramadan's arrival; deep clean everywhere and have everything straightened out. I also like to get as much ready for E'id as I can, so that I'm not having to waste valuable time during Ramadan that could be better spent in ibaadah.

Arabic possessive pronouns worksheets

Just a quick post.... 

We've been working on Arabic possessive pronouns this week, so here is a set of four work sheets to help practice writing them; and includes the vocab translation.

Your free 8 step E-Book guide to starting homeschool

I receive questions all the time, asking how to homeschool. From sisters wanting to begin but not knowing where to start. And whist I always endeavor to reply to each one the best I can, I am limited in the time I have. And so it hit me, why not produce a ready-to-go guide, responding to this ever-popular "how to start homeschooling?" question.
So here it is, a completely free, 8-step E-Guide to starting homeschool.

Creating your homeschool space to invite learning

When it comes to crafts supplies and learning resources, so many of us keep them safely locked away in unreachable cupboards or shelves; partly because some things are expensive and we don’t want to risk damage or loss, and partly because we don’t want a hot mess to clear up and we don't trust the kids enough to give them free access. But in doing this, we need to ask what message are we giving to our children about our learning environment?

Something to consider is when things are out of sight, they are often out of mind. 

When we have things hidden away in storage, how often are they thought about? How often do we ourselves make the conscious decision to get them out?

Whether you're reading this as a homeschool or school parent, I know if you're a responsible and interested Mum, you 100% want your children to enjoy learning and discovering new things.

Parenting; from survive to thrive

Some days you wake up, and there is only one thing on your mind: survival. Your goal is simply to get through the day; feed everyone, end the sibling conflicts without anyone loosing an eye, and hope that at least some maths gets done. Survive.

Deep rooted in amongst all the chaos, we know that there is more to this homeschooling life than just survival. None of us are home educating so our family can just merely survive. We want everyone to thrive.

Should I help my child do homework?

There is a consensus that when it comes to homework, this is something which a child should be left alone with unless they really need help. And certainly it should never be done for them.

When I think back to my own school days, I notice that the kids who tended to be at the top of the class and well-liked by the teachers, generally seemed to be the kids who had parents (whether one or two) at home supporting them through their education. They didn't just leave it to the teachers.

Our own mobile phone addiction is destroying our kids

I was asked recently how can we keep our young children away from mobile phones and other electronic gadgets?

You might not like my answer.

Don't use them.

I've seen too many mothers handing their young child a mobile phone to keep them quiet at the masjid, to get them to eat or when they are busy and need the kids to be quiet.

Our children wouldn't have quite the intense reaction they do around these mobile appliances in the first place if we didn't use them as a pacifier to hush or entertain them...and....

….if they didn't see us with them in hand so often.

We have a big part to play in this, because many of us ourselves are addicted to our phones.

Yes, addicted and often in denial.