Well, I can assure you that my boys get to see and meet all type of people and they actually like talking to them, they like playing with other kids but they like talking to grown ups. They already know that people have different faiths and cultures (though I was raised with Indian hating syllabus in school but I want my kids to love and respect all the humanity and I think they are better than me at this, alhamdulilah).
Also, my kids are getting elite education without paying thousands of pounds to elite schools. I've chosen classical greek syllabus for them so they are not being educated formally before the age of 7 but my 6 years old has started to read and write on his own already. I got him an encyclopedia of dinosaurs and he has literally memorized it all, he can tell you all about a dinosaur just by looking at its pic or mentioning its name, also they have learned about a lot of stuff about nature that they don't teach kids in schools, and from a young age they get to read or listen to all the classical authors and poets unlike schools, unlike the classroom my kids have the freedom to move around and they don't have to ask my permission before going for a pee.
I don't believe in failures but as a negative point for home education, I think I don't get enough support and sometimes I do get tired and want to give up but then I take a break for few days. Also, I avoid talking to most women because somehow they bring up this topic of education and schools and when they hear about homeschooling they become very defensive or simply just freak out. I didn't like Muslim Homeschooling groups either because they allow 14 or 15 year old teen age boys but don't allow fathers in their group, and I think they were all following some salafi syllabus and also I was younger than all the mothers and I was wearing different clothes than them, so mostly I'm on my own and don't depend on others.
About teaching kids particular subjects in higher classes, at the start I thought about it too, but the whole purpose of Classical Education is that a child learns to teach himself and I'm witness to this.
I'm happy that the new government in UK is supporting schools set up by parents and community.
First 7 years are for play and casual learning(learn through play sort of thing), formal learning starts after their 7th birthday and then they learn particular subjects like English, Maths, Languages, History etc in set hours.
That's a lot of hardwork Hareem. Hats off to you for pulling it off so smoothly. Another question. So when do you teach them Islamic studies such as Qur'an, hadith, etc.? Do you have other days/times for that or do you somehow incorporate it with your regular school time?
^Thanks Niksik. For Islamic Studies, in the mornings I make them read small surahs after me so they can memorize them, then we do Arabic Qaeda to learn the alphabets and vowels etc, and in the late morning I read to them a story from Quran Stories series and a Nature story the next day.
I'll send him to a mosque or hire a Quran teacher after he's seven if I could find a nice qualified teacher(a very hard task, lol).
Hadith, fiqh, aqidah, seerah and arabic calligraphy will be taught after his 7th birthday by me from the syllabus that I'll buy from Kinza Academy inshallah, I bought their preschool syllabus which is for 2 to 6 years old, now I'm gonna buy a new one which is meant for 6 to 7 year old and after that I'll be buying it every year for each grade and I don't need to buy each syllabus for every kid separately except the workbooks so it's quite money efficient.
^Well, I used to be a clean freak but not anymore, if sometimes I need to delay washing or cleaning then I do without feling guilty, I don't invite people for a meal anymore(ok may be twice a year).
I've got 3 different diaries, one is to make a weekly plan, and 2nd one is to make the daily plan and the 3rd one is for writing down all the daily homeschooling activities for the Education board people to see.
Usually when we're doing art or reading, all three of my kids join in so that makes it quite easy too. In short, Monday is for Number&Logic activities, Tuesday is for Art, Wednesday is for science(a topical book called "Discoveries" with small experiments and activities with ordinary things like Apples, feathers, Rocks, Potatoes, Wind, Shoes etc), Thursday is for Gardening and Art again from a different art book, and Friday is for Cooking and learning Aabic and Latin words. And then the daily Quran, Arabic, English and reading stuff.
I also use Audio books for them to listen to when I'm busy doing something and then they watch their cartoons etc for around an hour daily .... on the whole, we work for 3 to 4 hours a day and most of their time they spend in play but ofcourse that'll change as they grow.