Hareem and Psyah . I just wanted to take out the time to say that I admire your devotion a great deal in terms of homeschooling your children. Not everyone can do it as it takes a lot of hard work and patience.
In the past I have had mixed feelings about homeschooling. However, the more I learn from the two of you I realize that it can really work if you are willing to put in the time and dedication. A child's education is a huge investment for both the parents and the child.
May Allah bless you both and your children.
I admire you for being able to home-school your children, as it's not everyone's cup of tea. Granted that education is a big part of the child's schooling, but how do you ensure that your children have interaction with other children? I think the biggest reason I'm against homeschooling is because the kids don't get the opportunity to be with other children and communicate/play with them. And I believe that's one the biggest things to a child's upbringing and how they are formed.
Just out of curiosity, how do you work around this hareem?
Smilestar, a child doesnt have to interact with other children within a school setting. They can do so in various ways. They can have playdates with other kids. They can also arrange field trips with other homeschooled children. There are many organizations for homeschooled children and their teacher/parents and a wealth of other resources available to help with this. Also I have seen parents do "group" homeschooling. Meaning parents make it into a group effort.....3-5 kids are getting homeschooled together and each parent teaches a subject that they are strong in.
JazakAllah khair and thanks Mamaof3, AE, Croquet, Smilestar and others for your kind words and support.
Smilestar
At the moment our three kids play with each other most of the time but we're planning to enroll them in physical activitiy and also for Quran Hifz classes. The eldest just turned 5 btw. And rest what AE said. :)
Croquet
Parents who can't homeschool can still supplement their children's education. "Well Trained Mind" as also mentioned by amana is a popular book among homeschoolers as well as non homeschooling families for supplementing classical education for their children. Try to get a hand on this book.
Great to see that some of you are doing this and are certainly going at great lengths to make it successful......I could personally never put my kids to home school....kids lack on social skills, independency, dicipline, time managment and daily interaction with other kids. I cannot imagine comparing myself to many experienced teachers who will teach my kids valuble things. There is a fine line between the role of a parent and school teachers and i prefer to keep them separate.
i know a few home schooled children and they are very bright. it seems to be more common in families were the parents are very religious and/or want a lot of control regarding how their children develop.
but children have a huge capacity for learning and can still learn just as much going to school if the parents put in the effort the rest of the time.
i don't think i would ever consider homeschooling my children, unless the schools available were very bad. i would try to ensure that they go to a school that can give them the most and get the most out of them.
I won't either make my children to be taught at home, where they would get the confidence to encounter and manage different view points and different sorts of people in their career lives!
This is an era of people with competence and intense interpersonal skills, my children won't even be able to get the confidence to talk to others that way!
How does this home schooling thing work really? I mean is there an approved syllabus for home schooling and how does parents keep track of their kids progress as compared to other kids who go to schools. What about ecucational credentials and all?
My parents took me out of school for a while as a youngster because I was very hyper and teachers wanted to medicate me. In that case, I think it was beneficial. I think homeschooling can be ok but it needs exceptional circumstances, ex. sickness, child prodigy, developmental delay etc.
I know that even I give 100% of my attention to my children, I cannot replace the benefits they get from social interaction with a wide array of peers. This is a benefit that you can't see on any quantitative analysis but it surely impacts one's life in a great way. I'm a grown adult with a car and it is hard for me to socialize everyday, let alone every week, so I think it would be much harder for a young child.
No matter what you do, your children will be more American than any other type of culture- their accent will be, their preferred dress will be, and slowly, some of their ideas might be. We have to accept this as a part of living here.
In order to let a kite fly, you have to unwind the rope a bit..
I mentioned before that I supplement, and while I don't homeschool, I am very supportive of the concept. Having worked and volunteered in the public school system, I can assure you that no matter how well the teacher tries to meet the needs of every student in the class, it is impossible. Mainstreaming has become so prevalent and budgets have been cut to the extent that a teacher will spend an incredible amount of time simply trying to bring those students at the bottom of the class up to proficiency in order to avoid state or federal sanctions. This leaves kids who work at or above average at a loss. The kids also spend an incredible amount of time testing. There are state proficiency tests, NWEA tests, and so on. My third grader spent the first month of school last year preparing for the math portion of the state test. Kids need more than they will ever receive in a traditional classroom.
Supplemental education works best for our family, primarily we supplement with a classical curriculum, and we have extra reading assignments. My husband and I both work at a university, so we have access to a lot of resources that many people do not, but even your local public library is a great place to start.
Socialization is mentioned as the biggest drawback to homeschooling, but most cities have homeschool co-ops where homeschoolers meet for library time, at the Y for gym, and even hold classes together. Socialization is not a problem for homeschooled kids in most cases.
I just wanted to add that for many people, homeschooling is not about removing a child from a certain environment, it is about providing them with opportunities that they don't receive at school. I don't think most people are capable of adequately homeschooling, either.