Advice for Passing O Levels Exams Privately

Quite a few of Karachi homeschoolers have reached the age of their O Levels exams. Zainab has passed a few already (very successfully!) and kindly agreed to share her preparation process with other homeschooling families. Jazak Allah Khair, Zainab! 

 

Assalamualaikum.

 

My parents have been homeschooling me for the past 4 years and I have given 4 CIE O level exams Alhamdulilah. I sat the English and Biology exams at the end of the year 2013 and sat Physics and Chemistry exams at the end of 2014.

 My parents, both of whom are doctors, taught me the science subjects. I went through the books with them once and they helped me understand the difficult concepts (with the help of scientific animations on Youtube). My mother, who taught me chemistry, calls herself a facilitator, not a teacher. That’s because she does not remember a lot of O level Chemistry. But having her around for support, having her there to help me find the answers to my questions on the internet, having her read the book with me once, was very helpful Alhamdulilah. For practicals, I either did them imaginarily with my father, or took the help of Youtube. However, I don’t think this method will be useful in A levels, we will probably need access to a lab then.

As for English, I just read a lot of English books, and did a bunch of its past papers.

2 months before the exams of the science subjects, I started taking notes from the books. By taking notes, I mean rewriting the whole book concisely in my own words. The purpose of the notes was not just to help me with last minute revision but to help me memorize the contents of the book. This process of note-making may take long and may be difficult for school goers as they have assignments, projects, and tests every other day (an advantage of being a homeschooler is, I don’t have to hand in assignments and projects, and give tests every other day J) Anyhow, after taking these notes, I attempted a few past papers, and got an A in all of them Alhamdulilah. The reason I did not get A*s in these early past papers was because I was unfamiliar with the pattern of the papers.
If one is aiming for an A*, they must also do past papers. Not the just read past papers and their mark schemes. The actual, complete past papers are available on xtremepapers.com. Don’t use the redspot past papers, because they are meant to be read only, not done. And in my case, unless I don’t write down answers and correct my mistakes later on, I forget the answers. When doing past papers, always use mark schemes. Sometimes we assume our answers are correct by checking from our textbooks. Little do we know they we lost a mark in the exam because we wrote “Potassium Manganate” instead of “Acidified Potassium Manganate” or because we underlined an answer when we were clearly instructed to circle the answer.  One can prevent such mistakes if they have experience of doing past papers and checking answers from mark schemes.

 I must also emphasize that students should study their textbooks that are endorsed by Cambridge and not teachers’ notes or anything of the sort. Teachers’ notes will make no sense unless one has read the books thoroughly.

 Students should also be mentally prepared about the timespan in which they have to complete a certain chapter, finish a certain book and sit a certain exam.

 Constantly nagging children and giving them a few guilt trips is necessary in order to make them self sufficient so that they can study on their own, without friends:)

 Also, I did not require any tuitions Alhamdulillah. All I needed was help from my parents and the internet.

 I will inshAllah be giving my remaining O level exams (Islamiyat, Urdu, Pak Studies, and Maths) this summer inshAllah. Please pray that Allah grants me success in these exams too.

 Lastly, I thank Allah and my parents for their tireless efforts while teaching me.

 Zainab Moazzam (Zainab Binte Arifa) 

Educating children in their mother tongue

For benefit of a wider readership, br. Ibrahim's Ali response in a conversation about educating children in their mother tongue and the importance of learning Arabic.

 

As Salamu'aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh,

 

My response is a bit long, but I will highly encourage every recipient to read it completely before reaching any conclusion and raise necessary questions. May Allah SWT accept all our efforts.

 

Dr. Irfan Hyder's article rightly stresses the need to educate the children in their mother tongue and I quote an excerpt from his article:

 

"Firstly from educational point of view, there is prevalent consensus among educationists that the best medium for early childhood education is the mother tongue. We see this practiced in all the developed world, whether it is France, Germany, Finland or any other country in Europe, or whether it is Japan, Korea or Taiwan, or whether it is China. Early education is given in the mother tongue to facilitate the process of articulation and comprehension because a child who is armed with the ability to articulate his thoughts and to comprehend complex ideas in his mother tongue can very easily learn a foreign language in few months later on

 

 

 

 

Early childhood is the period of time when a child is in the process of learning how to articulate complex concepts in to words and sentences and how to interpret complex ideas being articulated orally. This process is short-circuited by the imposition of the burden of negotiating through the maze of the foreign language with the result that the child becomes lost in the complexity of foreign words and in the effort of making sense out of them, and looses sight of the more important process of articulation of complex ideas and comprehension of complex ideas. Resultantly we get children who are unable to express themselves freely and to comprehend the complexity of oral tradition."

As an NLP expert, I second the idea that a child definitely has to learn in his mother tongue in his imprint years for developing an extremely confident personality. The very social fabric gets torn if his mother tongue is replaced by other tongue(s) in his/her imprint years, as the child gets disconnected from his surroundings and as result his cognitive development is also hampered. A language is not just utterance of words, rather it is a thought structure, which shapes a person's world view. And definitely English language superiority complex in our society has played havoc and made English culture & proficiency seem the yardstick for a person's status & success. So for children to be brought up as naturally as possible, they should be educated in the language of the masses/society to which they will insha'Allah feel connected and as a result will show some responsibility towards them as they will own them. Our contemporary passion for English over urdu has made children start feeling disconnected from their society as a whole and feeling connected with the English speaking world. As a result, these children start comparing their society with the West and take Western development and Western life style as a standard. Majority of them start turning their backs towards Pakistan blaming the society for the mess they themselves are equally responsible for, and easily get settled in lands of the disbelievers for mere economic benefits not doing any active Da'wah work.

However after developing proficiency in their mother tongue, after the age of 7, children should be taught Arabic language. As there is no doubt, and I second Sr. Arifa's opinion on Arabic being the language which Allah chose for Qur'an, His Messenger Muhammad ( Peace be Upon him) and Islam. If we are to consider ourselves people(nation/ummah) of our beloved prophet (Peace be upon him) we have to own his language as entire mankind whoever follows him will be his nation, as Allah says in Qur'an:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ ۖ فَيُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

"And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of HIS PEOPLE, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them. Then Allah misleads whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." 14:4

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:

The Prophet said, "I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before me.

1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey.

2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due.

3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for anyone else before me.

4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection).

5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation ONLY but I have been sent to all mankind. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 7, Number 331)

 

Allah says:

إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

"Indeed we have sent it down as an Arabic Quran in order that you may learn wisdom." 12:2

 

The point to be noted here is the Arabic structure قرآنًا عربيًّا which is the strongest kind of adjective bonding in Arabic language called مركب توصيفي in Arabic grammar. It means that Arabic is not only the medium through which Qur'an was communicated, rather it is the identity of Qur'an itself. And such a mention of Arabic and Qur'an has been made at least 11 times in different places in Qu'ran in different sentence structures. So Allah definitely wants mankind to notice this relationship, or we would have been allowed to offer our salah in our mother tongues. As Muslims we all believe that Qur'an is preserved in Louh Mahfooz in al Baytul Ma'moor from where Angel Jibraeel used to bring revelations to Rasulullah (Peace and blessing be upon him). Had Arabic been only the medium of communicating Quran to Arab nation, the above mentioned verse wouldn't have been considered part of Qur'an preserved in Louh Mahfooz. So it is clear that Qur'an's existence as a scripture is only possible in Arabic, and the guarantee given by Allah for its preservation till the day of judgement is for its Arabic text. There are tons of linguistic miracles in Qur'an which shook the earth beneath Sahabah's feet the moment they heard those verses being recited to them. Translations in mother tongues do not capture those miracles or beauties which Allah boasts about in Qur'an.

 

I am not denying the fact that Qur'an is sent to convey the message to humanity. And that message has to be understood in ones life time. Translation does communicate that message to a great extent alhamdulillah. And that is why even if our language is not Arabic, we must go over the meanings of Qur'an again and again to stay aligned with the direct expectations of our Creator from us until we master Arabic language. However we should not feel content that since we got the message through translation we need not strive to master the language to have Qur'an shape our perception the way it shaped Sahabas.

 

Sahabi Umer ( Allah be pleased with him) used to say often: تعلّموا العربية فإنها من دينكم "Learn Arabic for it is from your Religion."

 

The history tells us that when Islam reached the Babylonian 'Iraq and the Qibti speaking Egypt, the Sahabah preached those nations Islam by role modeling and teaching them Arabic and quoting to them Qur'anic verses.

 

And the history also tells us that when muslims got distant from Arabic language, they got distanced from Qur'an and started falling prey to innovations in deen. As a result Shah Waliullah had to translate Qu'ran very late even in the subcontinent.

 

Yes, tafseer is an asset, but it should be kept in mind that that is not Qur'an, but a commentary on it to develop depth in it. So even if tons of tafaseer on Qur'an are written in Urdu, it doesn't and cannot replace Qur'anic text for which Allah has guaranteed. It is absolutely wrong to compare translations and commentaries of Qur'an to Qur'an itself , no matter how eloquent they may sound, as the challenge put forward by Allah to mankind is to produce something like its linguistic structure which even mesmerized and still mesmerizes native Arabic speakers. Some people put forward this argument that knowledge of Arabic is no guarantee to Qur'anic understand and impact by quoting examples of the eloquence of Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl. Kindly note that, only when knowledge of Arabic combined with sincerity and Taqwa of Allah SWT leads to Qur'anic impact. Qur'an is speech of Allah and not a piece of literature, and speech cannot be perceived as speech fully if its conveyed in a different language. Arabic is not just a language, it is a paradigm, a thinking structure which according to researched enables a person to use both the sides of the brain.

 

Now the question is not whether Arabic should be learnt or not. It should be that what is the right time/stage to teach it to a child. The answer is simple, if parents don't have command over it, society doesn't have command over it, don't teach it as a first language to the child as he/she would become cognitively misfit not only in the family but also in the society. Use mother tongue to educate the child in imprint years. One he/she has command over the language, within a few months only he/she can acquire proficiency in Arabic. More important than young children being immersed into Arabic, its their parents who should race to master Arabic language and then at the same time engage the child in the process. Practice with the child whatever they learn of Arabic. Give instruction to children in Arabic & Speak short sentences and then switching to longer ones. As Classical Arabic conversation fluency does wonders to Qur'anic understanding since it makes the entire scripture sound as direct word of Allah with personal touch.

 

Even though parents maybe extremely sincere in wanting to have their kids starting learning Arabic from a very young age, it does have very harmful effects on that young mind, until parents them selves have started to learn it and mastered it.

 

Last but not the least, our first language was chosen by Allah so He sent us in different cultures, by His choice and every language is His creation and a community's identity, He will not hold us accountable for the mother tongue, but He will definitely hold each one of us accountable for whatever we decide to learn beyond our given first language. And if we developed proficiency in any other discipline/language at the cost of learning the language of Qur'an first, we should be ready to face the consequences, as Salah(five daily prayers) are not just obligatory for anything. They are to be understood in full spirit by the time they are fardh on the child at the age of ten as his/her accountability begins. In my experience of teaching Arabic language and developing effective Arabic teaching strategies I have concluded that between the age of seven & ten, Arabic should be learnt and not before that in Non Arabic scenarios.And it can start much earlier given that parents and extended family members have command over the language.

 

And Allah knows the best.

Talk on Homeschooling at ERDC conference "Rethinking Education"

An enlightening talk on Homeschooling, recommended to all those who care about education.

Follow the link to view the video: Azeem Pirani on Home Education

Doing things naturally in today's complex world

From an exchange of emails in Pakistan Home Education Yahoo Group:

Assalamu alaikum,

I feel that we should not force learning. But one question has been on my mind. The children of yester-years, they learnt naturally. All around them, work was being done naturally. Food was cropped, clothes were sewn, furniture was made, trade was carried out. The children were aware from start to finish what was going on. In today's world, NOTHING, is done naturally. We don't know,or want to know, the intricate detail of the finished products we consume. Every field has an expert and a gazillion details. How can our children grow up on the Fitrah NOW? Left at home, all they would see (at least in my home) is a mom, who is either cooking, cleaning or reading. Where is the food for thought? I think, the issue is, if i want them to lead meaningful lives, I have to LIVE one. Myself. Taking full responsibility. To ignite the fire that fuels Imaan. To not settle for anything less than the glory Muslims are destined to create.

Some practical framework is the dire need. So far, I agree with the fact that education is building a world view. Deviation from Islamic culture will deviate our minds. The groundwork is laid,... Waiting eagerly for the real thing.

Regards,

Sr. Hanaa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sister, Assalamu Alaykum,

We have taken an unconventional route, and doubts are bound to visit us every now and then. Personally, I feel that given a child's physical and emotional needs - (need for mother, for play, for sleep etc.) and given the fitan of the times, it's best if the child spends his first 7-10 years at home.

Institutional education can wait.

Parents, esp. mother, are the primary educators in these years. But the child can also learn from others (such as Qari/ Qaria, Islamic classes, sports coach, or someone who knows a craft). These early years at home are likely to build a strong base vs. sending him away at age 3/4.

Yes, it's hard work, made harder by the criticism we face, but have conetnement in knwoing that we are fulfilling our responsisbility as parents, and can be hopeful of great ajar and sadaqa-e-jaariah. Don't we read in the biography of some great Muslims that 'Ibtidaaee taaleem ghar pe haasil kee.'' And werent they better Muslism than us?

As for your concern about the natural ways having vanished, I'd say, thank Allah that you live in Pakistan. It's a very rich country. So many crafts and skills are still preserved. Recycling/ reusing come naturally to our people (vs. the drama in the West and West-like Muslim countries whose consumeristic econmies are constantly over-over-producing and then they talk about reduce, recuse, recycle!).

However, this is 2013, and we are city-dwellers. We have to accept the fact that things cannot be excatly as they used to be. It's Allah's will that we born in this time and be city-dwellers. (The Prophet (sa) too was a city-dweller, and we all have our unique role to play in the larger role of the Ummah).

With positive, out-of-the-box thinking, we can make the best use of our situation. Below are some examples of reviving the good, old ways (not theoretical examples, but things I have done/do myself). I'm sure others would have more to contribute:

*** It's easy to make ghee and butter at home in Pakistan, and so nice to see the malai turning into butter/ghee before your eyes. (People also make yogurt at home.) I tell the kids it's healthier than bazaari one, almost free-of-cost, and the ghee's fragrance is amazing. I point out Allah's great qudrah in milk and how it gives us different things. Making these things at home teaches us self-reliance - the old way of life ruined by capitalism - today's dominant econiomic system, which even wants you to purchase water and LimoPani from them!

***As your son grows older, send him alone for ba-jamaat namaz and bringing sauda. This will teach him to be brave*, to deal with people, to do hisaab kitaab. (Dont we see these qualities in the children of poor people?) * Mom also grows braver with this.

*** We used cotton nappies mostly, instead of disposables, for the youngest. (Imagine how put-off and surprised our grandmothers and great-grandmothers would be to know that we use throw-aways every single moment of the child's first 2-3 years, and the child remains unclean all the time.)

*** Whenever the electrician, plumber, carpenter would come over, kids would nautrally be interested in their work. Plus, I woud specifically ask my son to stand next to them and 'supervise'.

*** I have seen people in Pakistan growing veggies in small spaces outside their homes. One can easily plant dhaniya etc. in pots. We planted raai, and beautiful leaves came out.

*** Our mothers and grandmothers knew stitiching, knitting, crochet and embriodery. It's not impossible to revive these highly useful and interesting skills. With our girls at home, we have the opportunity to have them learn these skills again. Quite possible, some famile member or domestic helper could teach them this or another skill.

Rest assured, in an institution, the envioronemt is generally even more articfical . So lets think positive, and make the best use of our situtaion.

Wassalam,
Sr. Umm Shanze

Preschools: The seeds of time

By Nimrah Waseem

Source: "Dawn" (http://dawn.com/2013/03/31/preschools-the-seeds-of-time/)

 

Macbeth is told by a friend,
“You can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me …”

The symbolic use of the word ‘seed’ by William Shakespeare is embedded with several meanings. The quality of seeds is important but crops do not solely rely on it. Water supply, weather conditions and manure also play a role in obtaining a handsome harvest. Seeds symbolise children. We need to provide them with favourable conditions to grow.

Parents want to provide the best they can for their children. In order to give them a fine start they look for the best Montessori school in town. And in doing so they accede to pay illogically hefty fees. Some parents feel social pressure when the child’s cousins and other children in their neighbourhood are already going to a preschool. But most parents who seek admissions for their children in such institutions are rather ignorant of the physiological, social, emotional and academic needs of the little ones.

Karachi has numerous preschools; some of them claim to have foreign affiliations and promise to provide international standards. Others enounce that after passing out from their institution the child will get admission in the desired elite school.

In fact, only a couple of institutions in the city have an educational philosophy. Most of the preschools have only one Montessori directress and the rest of the teachers are just girls who hardly possess a Higher School Certificate. The school administration has nothing to do with education as they are there only to mint money.
These preschools do not hold a single standard procedure of admission. There is an admission test for the young buds along with their parents’ interview. To exhibit their so-called standards, they have an inflexible policy regarding the child’s age. Most of the schools open up admissions for 2.5-year-old children. A well-known Montessori school admits only 18 months old children while another admits children at the age of 2.3 years. But only those whose mothers registered with them when they were seven months pregnant are lucky to get into the school.

It is believed that early schooling will help children win the race in today’s competitive world. Parents do not realise that it can also have long-lasting effects on the future of their family. To decide the right age to start preschool, we should understand the needs of the child in the following domains of development.

Motor skill development

Motor skills are subdivided into two types; gross motor skills and fine motor skills. According to psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget, these skills develop at a certain age and cannot be acquired before time.

Gross motor skill development is related to the child’s ability to use large muscles. Most importantly, a child should have the physical stamina to join preschool. Then, he must be potty-trained. Along with that, a child should be able to follow simple directions, walk in a straight line, eat his lunch and wash his hands without assistance. A majority of our children admitted to preschools do not have fully developed gross motor skills. This makes them unfit for the tough schedule and demands of the preschool as most of these schools are merely preparatory centres for further education and not proper montessories.

Fine motor skills develop more gradually. This is related to the child’s ability to use small muscles, specifically their hands and fingers, to pick up small objects, hold a spoon, turn pages in a book, or use a crayon to draw. A child having fully developed fine motor skills is able to handle scissors, dress up himself and tie shoe laces.

Children are unable to perform these tasks at the age of two-and-a-half years. They have slower reflex actions, lower level of distance judgment and hand-eye coordination. As mentioned already, these skills develop at a certain age and pressuring a child to perform these tasks would be disastrous.

For example, a child of 2.5 years can only use a crayon because the fine motor skills of his fingers are not completely developed and a pencil could damage some of them permanently. The hand-eye coordination also takes time to become perfect. When a child is pressurised by the teachers and parents to improve his handwriting and colouring, it simply builds on stress because he cannot perform better than that. Children under four have difficulties in the playground and at the swings for the same reason. Motor skills can become impaired in a variety of ways, including injury and illness. Later in their lives, they may have problems in riding a bike, in sports and making the right decisions when driving a car.

Speech and language development

A child should have the ability to clearly communicate his needs and understand others. For the purpose, a child should see himself as an individual and understand his place in the world. He must be able to join simple sentences together to describe an action or experience and hold a conversation. His language and cognitive abilities should be developed to the extent that he can participate in group activities. He should begin to understand that a story has a particular sequence, beginning, middle and an ending. One can easily guess that a child cannot do these things by the age of 2.5.

Cognitive development

As far as cognitive development and performance is concerned, Elizabeth Dhuey, a Canadian researcher, believes that “kids who begin classes later often perform better on tests later and are more likely to attend college.”

Social and emotional development

Let’s look at the most neglected area of social and emotional development. Parents think that their child will grow more sensible socially in the school environment. It is true but not for a child under four years of age. Actually, emotional development comes from the child’s interaction with his parents and family. Going to the market or outing or visiting relatives with the parents are experiences that not only add to the social and emotional intelligence, but expand the IQ as well.

Early schooling can be a risk factor because it asks so much of the kids. Preschool is not good for children under four years of age. Play groups are stressful no matter what as kids are stressed by the sensory overload, noise, difficulty of making their needs known to teachers, competition for grabbing attention, necessity of accommodating their own needs to the schedule, etc. Kay Margetts, a professor of early childhood studies at the University of Melbourne in Australia, says that if a child is not ready it could have “… devastating effects on his self-determination and progress.”

Children temporarily “transfer” their attachment focus from parents to the teachers. However, this relationship is not a secure attachment because of its “impermanent” nature. A child in parents’ company develops security and optimism whereas temporary separation from the mother during school hours may develop insecurity and mistrust. This mistrust exhibits itself mostly in teenage or sometimes even later than that.

Moreover, research tells us that children who are in preschool all day have high levels of cortisol and other stress hormones by the afternoon. Sometimes a child keeps himself composed during school hours but as soon as the parent appears after school, he bursts into tears. It reflects that he was passing through an emotional trauma earlier. Many early beginners compensate for the stress in other ways; they regress, they hit their siblings, they have bad dreams or they get clingier. Likewise, youngsters sent to day nurseries before the age of two are more likely to show signs of anti-social behaviour towards their teachers.

On the contrary, older children are able to manage their emotions. During play, they are able to take turns and engage in cooperative activities. The peer relationship skills help them to be socially active like entering a group of playing children.

According to famous psychologist Erik Erikson, the period of 18 months to four years is quiet critical for the child’s social and emotional development. “The well-parented child emerges from this stage sure of himself, elated with his new-found control, and proud rather than ashamed.” On the other hand, if a child is mishandled it, could lead to “… a psychological crisis that includes stormy self — will, tantrums, stubbornness, and negativism.”

Sociologist and psychologist agree that empathy is the most important social skill in terms of family bonding and social integrity. One becomes empathetic only if he is being treated empathically. No one can be empathetic more than a parent, not even teachers. So the most important social skill empathy is acquired in the parents’ company, not in school group situations. If this time is lost these young buds tend to be apathetic towards their parents and siblings later in their lives and we wonder what is wrong with our younger generation.

The writer is lecturer at the English department at the Federal Urdu University for Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi.

Fear of Allah and His Punishment

By Saood Hashim

 

A few weeks back I had an interesting conversation with my elder daughter (of 8 years) with reference to some anger that I had shown to her that day due to some undesirable behavior of hers, and as a punishment not taking her to a decided outing. As a result she got a bit upset. But when her mood was back to normal I asked her whether she or her younger sister (of 3 years) feared me?

She immediately said, "No. We do not fear you."

I asked her the reason for it. She replied, "Because you are very nice and we love you and we know that you love us too".

But then I asked her the reason as to why they are not fearful of me even though I sometimes get angry on her and scold her much and even give her punishment. She couldn't give me a proper answer.

So I changed my question and asked her whether she thinks I will ever abandon her or her sister or let her be alone on the road or put her in some fire or give some other punishment just because I like to give punishments? She replied in the negative and then she started getting the feel of why she did not fear me even though I get angry on her. She realized that I get angry not because I like to get angry but because she does something bad which displeases me. And then I put it this way that "You do fear me, but that fear is NOT because I am some Jinn Bhoot etc. that will eat you up. You fear me because of our mutual LOVE for each other and therefore you do not want to make me unhappy. This Love asks you to be conscious of me. This consciousness tells you to do things that please me and to avoid things that displease me. Your fear of me is actually your consciousness of me. And your consciousness of me is because of this LOVE". She seemed to understand the difference between fear and consciousness (not completely though).

Then I asked her, "Are you fearful of Allah (swt)."

She said, "Yes."

I asked her why?

She said, "Because if I do not do something like Salah, Quran, etc., He will put me in fire."

I then asked her, "Do you think Allah likes to put you in fire?"

After some thought she said, "No."

"Then why do you fear Allah but not fear me even though both of us do not like to punish you?" I asked her. She remained silently thoughtful and did not come up with a ready answer.

I then explained to her that Allah is much much more loving than I am towards you and He will really dislike it very much to put any of His beautiful creation in Fire. Like you donot fear me but are conscious of me because I love you very much, donot fear Allah but be conscious of Allah, because He really loves you very much and we donot want to make him Unhappy by doing things which will displease Him.

Then I asked her what does she fear most - my displeasure or my punishment?

She said, "Your displeasure."

I asked her why? She said, "Because I don't want you to be displeased with me."

I said this goes same with Allah (swt). We should be fearful of Allah's displeasure more than his punishment. Because Allah many a times does not give any punishment even though it is already due because He LOVES us so much that he does not want us to be punished. But that does not mean that we should displease him by doing bad things again and again. It is only those who do bad things again and again that Allah will punish. For others, whoever repents and stops doing those bad things, Allah will become more loving.

I know my daughter has not yet understood this subject completely and she will have to take more lessons on this subject but I felt this conversation style was a good way to teach her about Allah and our relationship with Him.

In this context, it reminds me of the word "Taqwa". Generally the word "Taqwa" and "Muttaqi" are translated as "Fear of Allah" and "God-Fearing". I found a few translations of the Quran, for example Mohammad Asad and Sahih International which translate the word as "Consciousness of Allah" and "God-Conscious". I felt the later are better translations of these words. Fear of Allah at times tends to gives a negative meaning. Mohammad Asad has this to say when he translated the word "Muttaqi" as "God-Conscious"

"The conventional translation of muttaqi as "God-fearing" does not adequately render the positive content of this expression - namely, the awareness of His all-presence and the desire to mould one's existence in the light of this awareness; while the interpretation adopted by some translators, "one who guards himself against evil" or "one who is careful of his duty", does not give more than one particular aspect of the concept of God-consciousness."

Homeschooling Means....

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

- Home-schooling means biting your tongue/lip to stop yourself from smiling every time someone sees your children use HUGE kitchen scissors to comfortably cut up things and exclaims with horror, "Don't use those! They are dangerous for children!"

- Home-schooling means not speaking openly about your children's earlier-than-usual milestones and abilities and letting people assume they are lagging behind their schooled counterparts.

- Home-schooling means truly putting your trust in Allah, because your children's intelligence and achievements are not judged by standardized tests and report cards that "rate" the progress and academic excellence of a child on the faulty "cookie-cutter" system. You might not have report cards and numbers to satisfy you as a parent about your child's progress, but you DO have your own maternal instinct and gut feeling that lets you know via simple observation how intelligent your children are.

- Home-schooling means always remembering the things you disliked in your own childhood, and ensuring that these things don't happen to your own children. E.g. taking permission to go to the bathroom in front of the whole class, red-faced with embarrassment to announce your nature-call to the whole classroom; using a filthy school washroom without a door-lock, wishing no one comes in while you "go"; the immense hurt and burning tears caused by being scolded harshly in front of 25 other kids and kicked out of class because you were making an artistic card for your teacher whilst she was teaching something else (which you found very boring); being forced to go to school when you are sick, when all you want to do is stay in the comfort of your home with your mother and play with your toys.

- Homeschooling means never forcing your children to study the Quran when they want to do something else. Result? They come after you, asking you to teach them the Quran (as well as other books, e.g. Science books!).

- Home-schooling means having a child with an open book/pencil standing at the kitchen counter next to you as you chop vegetables and cook at the stove, giving them directions and checking their work. Through this experience, the child simultaneously learns about cooking and your recipes. :)

- Home-schooling means feeling a rush of emotional "pride" and tears of joy well up in your eyes when, on coming out of your room, you see your children lined up, with one loudly leading a "mock" salah (with perfect recitation ماشاء الله لا قوة الا بالله), and the other following willingly (May Allah reward the people at Al-Huda for making the "Thank You Allah" cassette, in which Asma Zubair has taught the salah in a way that is fun to learn and so easy to memorize) - and secretly observing them perform this salah perfectly as a part of their "play", without anyone forcing them to.

- Home-schooling means enjoying your children's childhood and letting them enjoy it too; enjoying their company to the full, knowing that one day they will be all grown up and gone; remembering that your house will then be empty and they will insha'Allah be in their own homes, enjoying blissful matrimony with their own spouses and children (may Allah grant them every blessing of this duniya and the next, ameen).

- Home-schooling means passing by huge brick buildings and feeling grateful to Allah as a family that my little treasures are not "trapped" inside it 5 mornings a week against their will, but rather, are "free" to wake up when they want to, have a leisurely breakfast, and to know that their mother is nearby always to run crying to, and to play all they want! I can list many negatives as well, but I am thankful to Allah that for us, the positives of homeschooling by far outnumber the negatives.

- May Allah grant us protection from harm, and even more fruition and barakah in our endeavors. Ameen

-- By Sadaf Farooqi

The White Tiger

My 4-and-a-half year old son Sabeeh is constantly talking about this “white tiger”, along with his sister and cousins who had accompanied him at the mini zoo (…ok, a micro-zoo) somewhere in Nazimabad, Karachi.

But there is something about this white-tiger that the kids are not easily forgetting! I looked it up and found that this white-tiger is usually smaller in size than the original tigers that Sabeeh has seen on documentaries before, he has also seen other animals… doing things that are very exciting for kids to remember and they’d talk about it for at least a day or two… and then forget about it.There was a moment when…t hey were all standing by its cage…and turned their back towards the cage for a moment and it tried to… either attack or just jump on the grill and some of kids had a mixed feeling of fear and excitement along with a chorus of screams and laughter, they really loved it!

May be its THIS particular event that they are not letting it go. “Baba… uss nay AISAY jump kiaa… aur wo… AISAY bhag raa thaa!”…You know how 4 year olds like to do the…s how and tell… the exciting tone with almost ALL body parts giving their share of gestures!

It made me wonder why this experience has so much impact compared to the very interesting documentaries they had been watching. Why this event is SO… interesting to remember when so many times in so many documentaries… so many animals have jumped on the camera… have done amazing things that a child doesn’t easily forget!

A discussion with some friends… experts of communications, school teachers made me conclude that it’s basically the effect that a REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE leaves at a person, the combined impact of all the 5 senses (or at least 4 in this case, as the children didn’t ‘taste’ anything at the mini-zoo :]) and the deductive ideas generated by input given by these 5 senses within that situation leaves an impression that is incomparable to that of a documentary by even the best multimedia system today.

The urban lifestyle today have kept us away from some of the real life experiences and I am now looking for ways for kids to learn from real life…also, because I realize its actually EASY, and because its…well…REAL.

A small experiment to work on children’s vocabulary using a door, yes… a door! In my house proved to be pretty successful…I just took them to one of the doors in the house and showed them the “handle”, “lock”, “frame” and kind of made up a small story to keep using all the vocabulary about the parts of the door and it was pretty easy for Sabeeh and his Sister to later recall these things ... I’d say…I didn’t have to do practically ANY effort to make them remember it!

I’m now planning to take the kids to a relative’s house at the “University of Karachi” that happens to have some trees…well…whatever’s left of it after expansion of different cemented structures, some small gardens (in fact I have heard a great deal of a garden near the Botany department…obviously!) where…I’m thinking of trying to teach Sabeeh and his sister “colors” in different plants and their flowers, work on their “vocabulary” by SHOWING them the things they read about.

I’d like to know what the experienced home-scholars have to say about this to a newbie, anything and everything that may add value…?

wassalamalikum

Umair

The Positives and Negatives of Home Schooling

Re-posted from: http://dalishah.com/2012/05/15/the-positives-and-negatives-of-home-schooling-by-safiyah/

By Safiyah, a homeschooler in Islamabad (Safiyah is 12 and is a gifted writer and all-round awesome human being. She loves horseriding and can read a book in world record speed.)

POSITIVES OF HOMESCHOOLING

In my experience of home schooling there are many, many positives next to almost no negatives, so to me, home schooling is the only option I would willingly accept.

No exams – Take away that horrible stress and the overwhelming struggle not to just look over at someone else’s sheet for the answers. The feeling that your insides have suddenly become an endless void is gone, and you don’t even have to worry about teachers patrolling with their creepy eagle-eyes.

Focus on your own character – I know I used to wonder whether I should act more like the other kids in class. I didn’t make many friends because I was a little strange, and if I did it was because I was from Australia. In home schooling, you don’t need to look at other kids wondering if they’re better than you; just look at yourself and appreciate it. I find myself enjoying the qualities of myself that my old schoolmates found weird because it means I’m not the same as everyone else.

You can pay attention – Did you ever find it hard to focus on what the teacher was saying while all the kids were either trying as hard as you were, finding ways to keep themselves busy, or trying to communicate with their friends? I know I did. There was a rare time when I understood a whole sentence the teacher said, and I’d struggle later to figure it out by myself. I wouldn’t bother asking the teacher to re-explain it, since she’d only get mad and ask why I didn’t pay attention. In home schooling, you don’t have to be afraid of saying you didn’t understand, and there aren’t any kids to distract you (except if you have annoying siblings like me!).

Think for yourself – At school, we used to copy the answers to the questions in our books off what the teacher wrote on the board, then memorize it for the exams, and not actually use our brains. But now, my mum makes us do whole projects by ourselves, getting the information off the internet and reading it over carefully to understand. This way, we have to understand it, because you can’t put together a project without understanding what you’re doing.

Use your creativity – I remember, we used to have to draw something exact for the teacher and if it wasn’t good enough, she’d tell us to make another one. The good thing about projects is that you can decorate it yourself and use your creativity to make it into something beautiful to make it more enjoyable to read.

No more worry for homework – Now that I don’t have homework anymore, I find myself being able to do so many more things! Computer games, yes, but even computer games get boring after a while. So I practice my drawing skills, my writing skills and I read a lot.

NEGATIVES OF HOMESCHOOLING

There are a few slight downfalls of home schooling, but they don’t matter to me much.

Comforts – At school, you didn’t have all your comforts around you; couches, TV, beds, laptops, etc. So, it’s kinda hard to get into the groove of ignoring how much you just want to relax and get on with school.

No schoolkids – Without all your fellow classmates, you get pretty antisocial, or, for people like my brother who need friends, you go crazy. I was never a very social person, but now home schooling made me prefer to stay in my room even when my sister leaves because my family’s slightly boring to talk to, since they know all the things I might talk about; which is why it might be a good idea to live near friends.

Your mother as a teacher – If your mother is your teacher, it’s kinda hard to take her seriously sometimes. I found myself more afraid of teachers than my mother, because my mother’s just so familiar while they’re almost like strangers telling you what to do. It takes some getting used to.

Distractions – You may think all the distractions will be gone, like the kids and the horrible working atmosphere, but you could be wrong. You actually find yourself looking for distractions. Get a glass of water, torment the cat, act like you’re not listening, they’re all distractions that my siblings and I try. Of course, there’s no fooling your mother…

So, that’s all the majors (let me tell you, there are not many minors), but we’ll end it here so it doesn’t get too long. Thanks for reading!

Homeschooling for Purpose

Re-posted from blog of a Danielle Ali Shah (a homeschooling mom in Pakistan)
http://dalishah.com/2012/05/20/homeschooling-for-purpose/#more-282

Why do we take our kids out of school? The most common reason I have heard is that schools do not treat our children as individuals with their own learning paths… they produce battery chickens who are all fed the same thing and produce homogenous learning.

So if this is the case, how do we nurture that individualism of our kids at home? Of course we will be with them more so can see their own strengths and weaknesses, but if we are just teaching a standard curriculum at home as well, how is it better than school?

I believe that one of the huge benefits of homeschooling can be that we have a unique opportunity to nurture our kids to grow into their PURPOSE.

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Purpose is a divine thing… and something that 99% of people travel through life without grasping. I am blessed to have my husband as my teacher in this, and he says that we all have glimpses of our purpose when we are young but that life, parents, expectations etc crowd in upon this and so often we lose touch with it. But it is always there … a longing like the longing for the sea that Saint Exupery talks of. My husband says, and I agree with him completely, that once you know your purpose, you don’t need to do anything else but wait for the opportunities to come to live that purpose. And they will come without effort or stress. When you know your purpose, life will flow.

So as homeschooling parents what can we do to nurture our children to find their purpose? Well what we shouldn’t do is add our own values and expectations on our children. This is where unschooling comes into its own I think. It is a way that kids can go in their own direction with love and support.
I found this great article below and am thinking about developing some activities around this with my kids… perhaps some drawing and writing. The challenge is always to nurture without directing, so let’s see how it goes! I would love to hear your thoughts about how we can nurture purpose in our children.

http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/life-on-purpose-15-questions-to-discover-your-personal-mission/

Homeschooling the ‘not so still’

Re-posted from a blog of a Pakistani homeschooling mother:
http://javeria.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/homeschooling-the-not-so-still/

Young kids 2 -6 year olds are very restless, have very low attention spans and get very very easily distracted. I am talking about majority of the kids this age, there are,however always a few exceptions. So HOW to homeschool such kids.

This was one the major issue which I faced and was the only factor stopping me from taking the homeschooling plunge.

At home, my daughter hardly stays still, is very easily distracted, talks ALOT,would speak to complete strangers who came into the house.. electrician.. plumber, would confidently speak and ask questions from complete strangers in shops, clinics and every where she went…she would throws things, tears up books at times, she couldn’t stand any poster/ paper etc put up on walls, fridge magnets never stayed on the fridge, toys and books never on the shelf..in one word.. everything would be on the floor.( Alhamdulilah some of it has changed now)

But when she went to school for four months… Viola!she turned into a totally miss goody two shoes, listening,obeying and following instructions, she was reserved, calm and quiet and hardly spoke..she was considered under confident.

So why this completely opposite personality in school and at home? I was perplexed. John Holts book How Children Fail and How Children learn made me realize the fear factor of schools, which I realized, must be greatly amplified for kids soo young. As Saffiyah…a 12 year old homeschooler who recently began her homeschool points out

“I found myself more afraid of teachers than my mother, because my mother’s just so familiar while they’re almost like strangers telling you what to do.”

So when a 12 year old could be more afraid of her teacher ..how much fear would be in the hearts of a young little 2.5 year old! Just imagine..sending them to school would be cruel!

When I was unable to make my daughter sit still, grab her attention and make her do her school workbook , coloring inside the shape, remembering numbers etc I was upset and asked other mothers and did a lot of research on the net and this is what I have realized.

Young kids don’t need a rigid routine nor a fixed set curriculum, they need not be taught how to add, read or write and this article hits the nail on the head! More over, our deen ..which provides us instruction in every area of life,guides us regarding teaching the Salah to children, that it should be started at the age of 7 . There is also a saying attributed to Ali (r) [I couldn't find a reference] that :

Play with your child the first 7 years, Discipline Your Child the next 7 years and then Befriend your child the following 7 years.

So according to our deen, the first seven years are for play and fun without a rigid routine/curriculum or forced teaching of complex things. However, most schools these days take in children at the age of 2.5 and subject them to forced routine of waking up early,travelling to school, being punctual, even when they are unwell (flu, fever, cold) which is likeley to be most of the time! then by the age of four they are expected to read, do math or other complex stuff.

Interestingly in this article titled ‘Much to Early’, the author argues that very young children need not be tutored to understand complex things, because children are only able to do ‘concrete operations’ such as multiplication, addition subtraction at the age of six or seven and reading is a much more complex process than arithmetic, so forcing them to recall alphabets which are merely abstract symbols is like placing a tough burden on them. Surprisingly in this article, a behavioral and developmental Pediatrician explains that the brain only gets ready for reading between the age of 4-7 years! she explains the physiological reasons why we should not be teaching pre-school children to write, read, and spell at such an early age as it will create learning problems in the future. This article really is a MUST read as it gives us the underlying reason for not ‘schooling’ children at such a young age.

So parents of such young children should ‘chill’ and relax and not worry if their child is not reading or counting or adding or even if they dont know their alphabets. Just have fun with them, play games and do things they like doing. If they don’t color inside the shape…give them blank sheets to color where ever they wish, they want to color the sky red.. let them..they dont want to read…leave them alone..they dont want to count..leave them alone, let them be kids. Every child develops at a different pace, they each learn to flip over, crawl and walk at their own pace, the parent needs to find out when their child is ready for structured learning of complex things, try it out and if you find our child anxious, more restless and not enjoying the activity.. leave it and do what they enjoy doing. There is joy in learning, not jitters. I am going to quote two very important paras from this paediatrician.

Children can’t learn and neurological pathways can’t form as easily when children’s nervous systems are experiencing stress. Forcing children to write, read, and spell, and giving them “standardized” tests before they are developmentally ready, will stress their nervous systems. Furthermore, children will dislike reading and will not want to go to school. If we insist on pushing writing, reading and spelling before the children’s minds are ready, we will continue to create an epidemic of behavior and learning difficulties, especially in our boys.

Activities like imaginary play, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, walking the balance beam, playing circle games, singing, playing catch, doing meaningful chores, painting, coloring, playing hand-clapping games, doing string games, and finger knitting will strengthen their minds for learning. Children need these healthy, harmonious, rhythmic, and noncompetitive movements to develop their brains. For it is the movements of their body that create the pathways in their mind for reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, and creative thinking. (Susan Johnson,M.D, Teaching Our Children)

About Curriculum

For any parent embarking on homeschooling, "what curriculum to use?" is a daunting question. Here's a overview on some curriculum options:

- Textbooks: Most families begin their journey with textbook used in most schools. This is easy to do in Karachi at least where one can go to any stationary shop and ask for the textbooks of your chosen subjects at a chosen school. Most textbooks also have an accompanying teachers guide. This allows you to view a large selection of books and chose which is appropriate for your child. Its usually a good idea to speak to relatives with schooling going children to view their books prior to visiting a shop.
Paramount Publishers allows you to view and purchase books from their website (http://www.paramountbooks.com.pk/index.asp).  Oxford textbooks (http://www.oup.com.pk/shopdisplayproducts.asp?catid=326&id=328&parentID=20) can be bought online but unfortunately their entire book list is not available for viewing online and they are slow at delivering. Both places have a cash on delivery option for Karachi.

- Curriculum  in a box: This is an option used by many homeschoolers who would like a structured curriculum where textbooks, worksheets and even day to day activities and study plans are provided.The providers of this are abroad so it helps if you have a way to receive them at a relatives house and then brought to Pakistan (so it can be very pricey) To use these one must register online and pay a fee and the box is delivered to
you. Some of the more popular providers are :

Calvert School; http://www.calvertschool.org/

Kinza Academy (Hamza Yousuf): http://kinzaacademy.com/index.html

(I am not recommending either, but simply letting you know what's out there). Be aware that many online curriculum in a box is Christian based and often made in accordance to state regulations; in many countries there are laws where homeschoolers have to make a portfolio of their children which is evaluated by Councillors and must sit for state funded standardized tests. In Pakistan we have the freedom to chose our curriculum of our younger children and for matric or cambridge papers we can register as private candidates to purchase syllabi and for examinations.

- Online resources: Alhumdulillah the internet has allowed us access to a variety of online resources- free and some at a cost. Its hard not to get overwhelmed, so do try to focus on your child's abilities and needs when selecting what to use and try your best to ignore the rest!

Some popular sites are:
http://homeschool4muslims.blogspot.com
http://talibiddeenjr.blogspot.com
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/index.htm

Most of these sites provide curriculum, free online books, links to useful sites as well as advice on how to get started.

-D-I-Y curriculum: Most families begin by buying a host of textbooks and then eventually settle for a mixture of books, online resources as well as sending their children to tutions and afternoon classes for more tricky subjects. Often informative story books, nature study, kitchen chores and outdoor sports all come together to build a families holistic curriculum. Families also adopt a number of homeschooling approaches or a mixture of several approaches to suit their children, family values and even lifestyle and that's the beauty of homeschooling, its flexibility.

To learn more about homeschooling approaches, websites, articles on curriculum and those worrying questions such as "how will I know my child is learning?", "what about tests?" "socialization?" you can browse through the various links provided by our list at :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pakistan-home-education/links

and to read more about how various families are homeschooling do look out for Homeworks magazine as well as read up on our blog:
http://pakistan-home-education.blogspot.com/


Its important to stay focused on your child and families goals  when planing your homeschooling life, there's a wealth of information out there so make lots of dua, stay focused, research and enjoy the experience.

Homeschooling Parent admits she misses school!

WHAT I MISS ABOUT SCHOOL!!!


Yes its true, as a homeshooling parent I miss school!!! There i said it! I've revealed my guilty secret..... " But what could you possible miss?" you ask.....well .....

- sleeping in once the kids have left for school (though isn't it wonderful to sleep off that time used for rushing the kids off to school?)
- not having to argue with one's daughter about what she will wear the next morning... no arguments involved when having a uniform (admitted she's now developing a fashion sense of her own rather than simply going with the flow)

- when a teacher appreciates the effort you put into improving a child's reading/ writing skill (though you feel guilty knowing that you didn't do anything; your child just seemed to take the initiative because he was now ready for it)

- when mothers of schooled kids complain about current school trends/ teachers/ curriculum now you don't have anything to complain about!

- when your child says something unexpected you can't blame his classmates!

- you can't blame a bad teacher for something your child doesn't know because guess who his teacher is?

- watching your kids march around a stadium for sports day (though your friends envy the fact that you child doesn't have to spend the weeks before sports day in chilly winds or the hot sun preparing for sports day along with term assessments and class assignments)

- attending library day (though we have now further developed our own library without trashy novels cluttering the shelves and my hubby loves the fact he doesn't have to rush to school to attend it and we can read to the kids at anytime instead of being compelled to do it at a given time with a cranky baby along side and i'm glad i don't have to polish white shoes which don't stay white till the end of the day or having the kids bring home unfinished snacks in their lunch boxes, or worry about school bags which look like ragged sacks before the school year is out or...... ............er....um.. I guess i don't miss school as much as I thought....)

Reviews of HomeWorks online

Reviews of HomeWorks magazine by our readers:

In Saudi Arabia: http://ummisubhana.blogspot.com/

In Malasia: http://cahayarumahku.com/homeworks-islamic-homeschooling-magazine/

HomeWorks at Karachi Book Fair

Alhamdulilah, HomeWorks quarterly will be available at the Karachi International Book Fair at the following location:
Dawah Books
Hall no. 2
Stall no. 38 and 39

All four issues of 2011 will be available individually at a 10% discount.
You can also buy an annual pack that will be at a very special price: four magazines for the price of three - Rs. 300 instead of Rs. 370!

Here are the details for the book fair:
Karachi International Book Fair 2011
Venue: Karachi Expo Center (Hall # 1,2 & 3)
Dates: Friday, Dec. 16 - Tuesday, Dec. 20
Timings: 10 am - 9 pm

The First Year of "HomeWorks"

Alhamduillah, "HomeWorks" magazine has completed its first year of publishing! For ordering your copies, write to order@homeworks.com.pk

Home is Where the School is

The Express Tribune / Sunday Magazine Feature  
By Naureen Aqueel
Published: October 9, 2011

In a society where the educational rat race is so intense that parents begin registering their kids in the best primary schools before they’re even born, some trailblazing parents have taken the road less travelled.


While harried moms in her neighbourhood rush to pack off their kids to school every morning, Sadaf Farooqi’s day starts on a relaxed note. Her six-year-old daughter A’isha Irfan rises early, makes her own breakfast and starts the day by unleashing her creativity using pencils, colours, water colours, scissors and paper. A’isha later switches to reading one of the books from her curriculum set, going to her mother for questions whenever she feels the need. Her four-year-old brother Abdullah Irfan soon joins her; he scribbles with colour pencils, experiments with Lego and peppers his mother with numerous questions throughout the day.


A’isha and Abdullah do not go to school, for them their home is their school — a place where they are free to learn in a natural setting. But that’s not because they have special needs or couldn’t get into a ‘normal’ school. Sadaf, a freelance writer and blogger, has been homeschooling her kids for over a year now and says she prefers this unconventional approach to schooling.

She follows the official Oxford University Press curriculum with books for Maths, English, Urdu, Social Studies, General Science and Islamiat along with daily Quran lessons, but prefers to let her children choose what they want to study. She says this approach hones the children’s natural inclination to learn.

Sadaf’s not the only one who has decided to opt out of the system. The Irfans are part of a community of like-minded parents who are choosing to homeschool their children. The concept, though relatively new in Pakistan, is gaining popularity among families who are dissatisfied with the traditional schooling system and prefer being more involved in their children’s education. Parents like the Irfans got together and formed the Pakistan Home Education group which consists of an online community with approximately 150 members comprising homeschooling parents and those interested in home education. They also launched a quarterly magazine focusing on their activities and various issues related to home education.

The group, comprising of roughly 20 homeschooling families, also holds regular social events where moms and children get together for combined social activities and support. Such meetings are held every second Monday of the month at someone’s home where kids play with each other and moms discuss problems and solutions, and Bookworm’s Book Club is held weekly and consists of story-telling followed by craft activities and snacks.

Laila Brence, a Latvian convert to Islam and a former teacher herself, was the pioneer of the Pakistan Home Education group. “I feel that I am more in control of what is going on in the lives of my kids than I would be by sending them to school,” says Laila, who is currently in her seventh year of homeschooling two kids with a third baby in line. “The schooling experience has greatly changed since I myself went to school. These days, kids don’t have the time to be kids any more. Society puts so much pressure on them to become high-achievers that their own life gets lost somewhere in the rat race.” Laila says that she is glad her kids are getting plenty of time to do the things they want to do and enjoy doing. “Even boredom is a great opportunity for creativity and spontaneity — they always invent new games to play and come up with endless art projects of their own.”

For Sadaf, one of the big motivations of opting for homeschooling was the whole school routine, which involves, “ironing the uniforms and laying them out along with shoes and socks at night; packing the bag according to the timetable; forcing the child to finish her homework; making and packing the lunch in the mornings, forcing a few mouthfuls down a reluctant mouth, then sending off a sometimes mildly sick, or screaming toddler with a tear-ridden face, to school with a heavy heart and a shackled mind that never ‘dared’ to question the necessity of this so-called ‘must-have’ system of education”.

Despite these misgivings (which other parents might share as well), she didn’t seriously consider homeschooling until she met a few mothers who were educating their children at home in Karachi.

Homeschooling does not come without its fair share of critics. From the incredulous stares that these parents get every time they say their children are being educated at home to the reasonable arguments in favour of formal schooling, homeschooling families do get a lot of flak. Critics fault the system for isolating children, reducing confidence levels and limiting their interaction to only like-minded people and groups.

“Homeschooling does not set them apart from the real world — schools do,” rebuts Laila. “In schools, kids are grouped into unnatural age-wise segregated situations, which never occur in the real world. Homeschooled kids experience the reality of this world — they deal with their family members, household issues, relatives and friends of different ages. And, of course, as kids grow older, we will look for opportunities for them to do more things outside of home — sports activities, workshops, etc.” Laila finds that homeschooling gives her children an advantage as she can choose the people they interact with. “In the formative years, it is of utmost importance to have good role models around, which would help to strengthen their core values. When they get older, I don’t mind that they face difficult situations and people on their own — I hope by that time their own internal values will be developed enough to withstand peer-pressure, bullying and other negatives of our society,” she explains.

Atefa Jamal, a homeschooling mother of seven, says her kids get a fair share of interaction with the outside world. The four boys are attending Taekwondo classes thrice a week, the elder two also participate in scrabble competitions and during the summers, the kids get to choose from a wide variety of summer camp activities. This summer, they chose to take Arabic classes and swimming classes. “I also send my older kids out to buy groceries,” says Atefa. “They meet a lot of different people and learn to deal with bakers, butchers, the driver or the man down the street who comes for groceries at the same time they do. It’s a misconception that you are isolating them, that you will choose their friends. That doesn’t happen; you can’t control your children’s lives. My kids go out to bike and play in the park; they are attending swimming, Quran and Taekwondo classes. I think they actually end up meeting more real people in everyday roles and interact more realistically.”

But what about the absence of a formal curriculum? Do institutes not know what they are doing when they invest great amounts of money and time in designing a curriculum? And are parents skilled in all subjects that are required to be taught?

“There is a misconception that homeschooling means you have to do it all by yourself and that you have to do it all at home,” says Atefa. “There are so many books available and it’s not like tuitions are not an option. Homeschooling merely means that the parents are more actively involved in their children’s education. If you feel you can’t do something you can always try to learn it yourself and search on the internet or you can get tuitions for your child for a particular subject.”

Every few days, Atefa sits down and draws up a plan of what she and her husband want to achieve with the children. Atefa is quick to say that the learning is flexible and that there isn’t any fixed schedule. “The learning is more need and situation-based,” she says. “For example, when we got a kitten, we researched how to take care of it. When the kitten died, which was a traumatic experience for the kids, we discussed death, souls and the hereafter.”

As the children grow older, some parents prefer making the routine more structured with fixed slots for studying different subjects as in school. Many homeschooled children appear as private candidates to get the required certifications of O and A levels or matriculation after which they choose a college for formal degrees. Zahra Omer, who is currently in the second year of her textile design degree at Indus Valley, has passed successfully through a homeschooling experience and is in no way behind her peers. Zahra, along her with her two brothers, was homeschooled till Class 6 after which she was enrolled in a mainstream school. During her homeschooling years, Zahra developed a reading habit that kept her well ahead of her peers. She ended up with seven As and three Bs in her O levels and straight As in her A levels. Asked if she had any problem adjusting with conventional schooling when she joined in Class 7, Zahra says “I didn’t have a problem adjusting. Everyone was very nice and cooperative. In fact, when I went to school it was a step back from the level I was at. Even when I gave the entrance test I faced no problem. I never felt my base was weak in any subject except for Urdu which we weren’t taught at home regularly. But I was given extra attention at school for Urdu and I caught up by the next grade. The only difference I encountered at school was the competition among students. At home, there was no competition.”

Homeschoolers say home education nurtures the natural genius and focuses on passion over requirement as children aren’t forced to study subjects they have no interest in, nor are they made to feel dumb if they can’t achieve certain targets.

Maintaining discipline may be a challenge at times, but parents like Sadaf view the naughty “pranks” as disguised learning through “experimentation” with different materials. “I do not have a TV at home and I do not live in a joint family, so I have no problem in ‘controlling’ the amount of television viewing or other distractions. Our home is crawling with children’s books, materials and toys, so my children get to unleash their creativity without restraint.”

Anila Omer, Zahra Omer’s mother, however, says she never had a problem maintaining discipline at home despite having a television. “I would choose which movies or cartoons to show to my children and we would watch those,” she says. “Since they were homeschooled from the beginning, there was no outside influence that would make them disobedient or naughty.”

However, the idea of homeschooling is still unfathomable to a majority of parents. Kamila, mother of four-year-old Orhan and a teacher herself, expressed surprise when told that families were opting to educate their children at home in Pakistan. “I wouldn’t choose to homeschool my child, not in this country,” she says. “Schools offer children a routine and exposure that they don’t get at home. You can’t keep your kids in a bubble. I want my kid to get the kind of exposure that school gives because life isn’t easy. When you are at school, you get different perspectives through different teachers. When you are studying from only one person your mind is stuck in a rut. I don’t want that for my child.”

Although mothers are more involved in the homeschooling process (with many moms having given up full-time jobs to homeschool their children), support from fathers is considered a necessity. Atefa’s husband Azeem Pirani says his focus is to give time to his children whom he calls his “team”. His time is utilised in discussions about current affairs at meal times, regular visits to the swimming pool with them, involvement in matters relating to vacations, events etc, guidance and coaching in academic matters requiring further support and being part of the audience or judges for any presentations they may be working on.

Azeem feels the fact that homeschooling is less expensive allows the family to spend on more beneficial things like family vacations, getting books or materials from abroad and getting memberships for clubs allowing better access to sports facilities etc. “The educational value of visiting new places is many times greater than sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher who is there just because she needs a job and not due to any desire to impart knowledge to our children,” he says.

Azeem feels the decision to homeschool his seven children has been a very positive one. “We have been able to interact more as a family. The children are able to have their lives revolve around their family rather than around their schools. This in and of itself means a strong and close-knit unit.”

However, homeschooling is not for everyone, warns Laila. “Schools are very much necessary for families that for various reasons cannot homeschool. I always advise new families not to take this step, unless they are sure they are ready for it. Excitement over the advantages of homeschooling may push families to go for it when they are not ready — this way, they may end up disappointed. Researching about home education and evaluating the situation of your family is necessary before taking this step. It is also important that both spouses agree on this mission — if only one is for it, the tasks may prove to be very difficult.”

If all parents homeschooling their kids in the country possess the same spirit and vision as these families, we might just be witnessing the beginnings of a new movement in education in Pakistan.