I know this topic has been discussed before but it’s been a while and I need to find out some reasons why it makes sense to homeschool muslim kids. I’ve recently come across 4 women in the community who are homeschooling their kids because they think that they’ll be exposed to too much negative in public schools. They also feel that public school education confuses a child and distracts them from their religious values. Mind you, this is a pretty good school district.
They were tryng to convince me to do the same but personally I feel my children need the interaction with different kids and be exposed to the richness of diversity, and not be so protected. I feel they do have to go to college some day and if they haven’t been exposed to real life situations, they’ll have a culture shock later on.
So we’ve been going back and forth and of course everyone holds their opinion and does what’s best for their kids.
I agree with you...and with due respect,people who say that they are preventing their kids from the 'kharab mahoul' by not letting them go to school,are being unfair to the children.
I have nothing against home schooling when done properly by people/parents educated enough themselves,for whatever reasons that the kids cant go to school.But IMO to say that public school education will make them drift away from religious and/or cultural values is just lame...
A better argument I have heard for homeschooling is that the quality of the education is much better than whats offered in public schools, though this may depend on the surrounding school districts.
I homeschooled my last year of high school because my local school wasn't offering the courses I needed. I guess for me it was different since I went to regular schools through out my school life (public and private). And it was also good because I did it from a certified/accredited school (Keystone National High School), it's online.
My grades were excellent and I was top 10% of my class and I got into all the universities I applied at. It was great. I totally recommend it, just make sure it's accredited and that it has a diploma program. My school is registered as a private school in PA, USA so it's accepted everywhere. The only drawback I can think of is the price. Each course cost around $250.
I know a japanese couple who is/has homeschooled 9 of their kids, and those kids are literally wonder kids. It is not easy to homeshool, needs a lot of patience and discpline. I think if a family decides to home school kids both parents have to be involved, this family I mentioned the father is interventional cardiologist and prof, and still he makes sure he does his part every single day.
Referring to first post in this thred, yes parents can limit the exposure to outside influences, but that IMO, should not be the motivation to HS. HS is just a better and much more focused, and richer method of schooling. Kids CAN get isolated and turn into introverts as a result, it is parents responsbility to expose them to the world outside theri home, and ache bure ki tameez protect karne se nahi aati.
I know this topic has been discussed before but it's been a while and I need to find out some reasons why it makes sense to homeschool muslim kids. I've recently come across 4 women in the community who are homeschooling their kids because they think that they'll be exposed to too much negative in public schools. They also feel that public school education confuses a child and distracts them from their religious values. Mind you, this is a pretty good school district.
They were tryng to convince me to do the same but personally I feel my children need the interaction with different kids and be exposed to the richness of diversity, and not be so protected. I feel they do have to go to college some day and if they haven't been exposed to real life situations, they'll have a culture shock later on.
So we've been going back and forth and of course everyone holds their opinion and does what's best for their kids.
What's your opinion on this?
I agree, Nikki. I work with a teacher (Muslim...very religious) who home schooled her kids. She's young and has 3 children (a son in middle school and two daughters in elementary school). The main reason that she home schooled her kids previously was to protect them from the influences found in public schools. This past year...her kids attended a Muslim school and she told me that it's tough to home school kids.
It's not only that kids would lack the social interaction which plays a role in their development. Another reason is that it's sooooooooooooo easy to get lazy at home.When you're at home....your kid feels tired and you may give them a break. Or you tell your children, "No...I'm too tired today...I've gotta run errands, etc etc.). This can affect the pace of the instruction. A school, on the other hand, tends to....is designed to.....have MORE structure and routine than the home. Kids come into a classroom and they know what they're supposed to do. At this time...you take out your books for math.....when the bell rings you go to your next class.
Also, in a school.....kids learn not only how to interact with peers.....but also how to interact with other adults besides mom n dad. I remember a couple of years ago.............and I got this one student who had been previously home schooled. Her mother was so unreasonably overprotective....and defended her child even when the child was at fault. I remember once I had assigned a group project...and the group had forgotten something. So, I made a general comment that the "group" was being "irresponsible." Mind you.......I never said that this particular "girl" was being irresponsible...I referred to the group on the whole. Mom got super defensive...."irresponsible" was like a cuss word to her. Having taught her daughter at home made her so defensive. The social dynamics of homeschooling and an actual school are so different. This particular student did not know how to connect with adults.......was so super stressed about little things that other students were more calm and mature about. Academically she was fine...an A student.....but socially she was lacking.
I don't have any thoughts for or against homeschooling but I have something for the parents who think there kids will be badly influenced at schools... how about you raise them so well that they know how to differentiate between goood and bad? how about you make them exemplary Muslim kids at their school? I think since parents dun believe that they can do justice to their religious upbringing they tend to keep them at home so they will never know how to face issues outside the home once they step out (if ever)..I know one of my 6 years old from sunday school did a show and tell for hijab and her mom helped her with the poster etc.. I think it was a brave step and she will not have experienced that if she was being home schooled.. just my two cents!
^ Totally agree.. imo it's so important that ur kids get to interact with different types of ppl, those who've not had the opportunity tend to be the ones who hold more stereotypes and prejudices and can have difficulty integrating/fitting in with others when they go to college or uni. Not saying homeschooling always leads to this cos obviously it doesn't but if the kid is spending so much time in that home environment he/she may only be mixing with ppl who are similar to his/her own family..
When a parent is home schooling their child purely for a better education, then I think that is fine so long as the child gets some sort of interaction and exposure to the outside world (beyond extended family that is).
However I think people who try to guard their children from the outside world because they don't want them exposed to the bad things in life and don't want their boys/girls mixing with children of the opposite gender are very wrong in their thinking. The day will eventually come when your child has to join the real world - where shock horror there will be boys/girls and heck even people inbetween (transgender etc) and those children will get a massive shock! Add that to the fact that these children will not be very street wise or clued up about the outside world. Makes a bad combo!
I have seen one girl who was home schooled - parents didn't want her to interact or mix with boys. Aged 16 she joined an all girls college - all was going well until they found out she had started missing classes to meet boys. It got worse when she got to university, she ended up dropping out and marrying her bf at the age of 20 and getting pregnant straight away. Parents still think they did nothing wrong by banning any interaction with boys until she married one.
I dont like the idea of homeschooling,I think it deprives kids of gowing up in a kids enviroment,kids learn from one another ,make friends learn about life e.g. sharing, they are exposed to different cultures and it opens their minds for a bigger world.
I think if you are really concerned about religion, you can send your kids to public school for dunyawi studies and teach them about religion at home. Why not homeschool them in Islamiyat? If 7 days a week is a bit much, establish a Sunday school routine once a week and use that time to teach them your faith and how best to follow it.
To top it off, I don't want anything to compromise their academics, and I know there are plenty of subjects where I lack teaching expertise. Teaching is a skill that requires refining and honing. Having the subject materials doesn't qualify you to educate your child.
And it's almost worse when the subject IS your area of expertise. I've seen too many kids paralyzed as students after parents have literally and figuratively taken a red pen to their work.
By the way, in the 21st century, edu at ion is not limited to learning facts and rote learning or even individually focused skills.
There's a huge movement that ehasizes cooperative and interpersonal skills, as well as skills ghat develop personal resourcefulness. That's what the world really demands. Schools are changing and homeschooling will struggle to keep up with this focus.
Wow, a lot of wrong assumptions about homeschooling as well as public schooling. If one is really honest and sincere about finding about homeschooling then he/she’d go to the homeschooling pro scholars or educators. Schools are seen as places for becoming “social” but the increasing anti-social behaviour in schools indicates otherwise. lol …I don’t have time to write much but I’d recommend to listen to this talk by John Taylor Gatto and Hamza Yusuf Hanson.
To top it off, I don't want anythi g to co pro ise their academics, and I know there are plenty of subjects where I lack teaching expertise. Teaching is a skill that requires refining and honing. Having the subje t materials doesn't qualify yup to educate your child.
And it's almost worse when the subject IS your area of expertise. I've seen too many kids paralyzed as students after parents have literally and figuratively taken a red pen to their work.
can we tell sahar was typing with her little one in her lap? :p