How Do I Start Homeschooling?
Anas
educating your loved ones. With this in mind, you can feel confident
that Allah SWT is proud of you and that His help is with you.
Alhamdulillah, the law in the UK makes this option very easy for us. In
Leicester alone, there is a very large number of Muslims as well as non
Muslims who home educate, so support is always near. Many families help
each other with practical as well as moral support, giving each other
that necessary encouragement.
Home educating your children is a major act of Ibaadah (worship). The
best teacher for a child is his/ her mother. Teaching our own children
is a natural instinct which all parents have been blessed with. It is
extremely rewarding, challenging, fun and an Islamic duty.
Children respect and listen to their parents more than they do
teachers. Home educated children are known to be more responsible, more
keen to learn and more mature than school kids.
There is no one method of running a successful business or home, nor is
there a single method of home education. Schools need strict controls
and routines due to the high number of pupils but homes do not have
this limitation.
If a child has already been to school, the parent may find it easier to
first use a similar formal approach to educating their child at home.
This method will make the home into a classroom with the parent as the
teacher. Such an approach is not very natural but may be necessary at
the beginning. Schools are not best able to encourage pupils to be
confident in making decisions as to which routes to take in learning,
as with so many children, the teacher is forced to make all of the
decisions themselves.
When children choose a subject to learn about, whether it be about
worms, cooking or outer space, the parent can learn and explore with
the child, incorporating aspects of maths, English, science and Islam,
with a little use of the imagination. You will find that on some days,
the child will not want to do anything but don't worry on others they
will wear you out with their enthusiasm. Don't forget that school
children take longer to learn simply because they have to share one
teacher with so many other children.
You don't need books or the internet, although of course they can be
very useful. Local libraries can be visited as well as bookshops. You
can even borrow other parents books. UK law does not ask home educators
to follow the national curriculum, just as long as they learn. So to
start homeschooling, all you really need is Dua (supplication) and the
desire and the rest is easy.
Education is not a science, it is natural, a common human instinct.
Home education is not new, in fact, it is much older than school
education. Inshallah you will always find local, national, global and
of course Divine support.
May Allah SWT continue to command His Malaikah (angels) to spread their
wings under your feet.
Yours
Anas
Assalaamu alaikum
Anas
If your child is currently registered with a school, you will have to
inform them that you have made other arrangements regarding your
child's education. They will then inform the L.E.A. (Local Education
Authority). The L.E.A. will then contact you to make sure that things
are O.K.
Al-Hamdulillah it is very easy.
If your child is not registered with any school, then U.K. law does not
ask you to inform anyone, as it is your legal U.K. right as a parent to
teach your children at home.
A sample letter and other advice can be found at; Education Otherwise.
http://www.education-otherwise.org/Publications%20Files/Leaflets/Contact.htm
Yours
Anas
Assalaamu alaikum