A Look at Home Schooling

Top 2. May 7, 1999 11:25 AM

» Anayat_Durrani - Home school option

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I'm sure a lot of parents agree with you. Home school is obviously not a solution for everyone. Parents can choose from the public schools or the growing number of private Islamic schools across the country which provide Arabic and religion classes along with a standard academic curriculum.

So the options are out there for parents. The purpose of this article was to explore the home school option and provide information for those interested in pursuing this option.

-- posted by Anayat_Durrani

Top 3. May 30, 1999 8:17 AM

» Arnvid - a warning on the cigarette packet

Have to agree with Amr. For me home schooling as *protection* is kind of cheating yourself - that is if you don't want your children to live in a *Zoo* until they are 80 years of age.

Home schooling for Religious reasons are even more dangerous. It is *personalised theocracy* or *family monasticism* - and I did not exactly think monasticism was a part advocated by Islam?

But welcome whoever want to do so - I myself would like to see real children growing up in a real world.

Anayat, you say that *The purpose of this article was to explore the home school option and provide information for those interested in pursuing this option.* And such are good - let Amr and own point of view, just be the warning on the cigarette packet (he, he...)

-- posted by Arnvid

Top 4. Jun 8, 1999 3:27 PM

» Anayat_Durrani - My thoughts.......

Arnvid,

I first heard about home schooling a few years back. When I first heard about it, I thought sheltering a child would not be a good idea. But then I learned more about the different kinds of home schooling available.There are the types of home schooling I described in my article, where kids are schooled at home with their parents as their teachers who also have an option of creating their own curriculums. But there is also charter home schools, where the child is schooled outside the home in a school facility that is made up of small classes.

....Also, I thought back to my days in the public school system here in the United States. My experiences from the 7th grade through the 10th were the worst experiences. I went to some of the worst public school systems in this country. I was in the kind of classes where the kids ruled the class and the teachers were too afraid to do anything about it, especially when the fights broke out. To give you an example,in the 9th grade, a student sitting in front of me used to regularly snort lines of cocaine on his desk with a rolled up piece of paper. The teacher never noticed b/c he was always in the back room either smoking or drinking (I thought he was drinking). In those years, I learned NOTHING, except the cruelty of kids, and the fear my teachers held for these kinds of kids.

In this sense, I would have loved if home school was an option. It was not about peer pressure, b/c all kids at the schools I went to were offered drugs, cigarettes, alcohol. If your parents raised you well, peer pressure should not be a major problem. The home school option is a good choice if your public school is not providing your child with a good education. This is not to say that public school systems are bad, b/c many are very good, like the school I graduated from. Eventually, my family moved and I was fortunate to begin a new highschool. From the 11th grade on, I went to a new highscool and had a very positive highschool experience with quality education.

In my case, I would have taken any option to get out of the schools I was going to from the 7th to 10th grades, whether it be a new school, home school or whatever. So to me, the more options, the better.

-- posted by Anayat_Durrani

Top 5. Sep 20, 1999 8:15 PM

» Fatima - MUSLIMS HOMESCHOOLING

ASSALAMU ALAIKUM, MY FELLOW MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

I AM COMPLETELY AGAINST SENDING MY PRECIOUS MUSLIM CHILDREN TO A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. THERE ARE ISSUES THERE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO FACE THAT ARE TOO BIG FOR ME OR YOU OR ANYONE TO HANDLE. I LOVE ISLAM. ISLAM IS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO ME. I ACCEPTED ISLAM WHEN I WAS IN THE 10TH GRADE. AS I BEGAN TO ASSIMILATE ISLAM INTO MY LIFE, I NOTICED MY WHOLE WORLD TURNING ON ME. THEIR WAY AND MY NEW WAY DIDN'T MIX. PLEASE DON'T TELL ME, " YOU SHOULD HAVE PARTICIPATED MORE OR TRIED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE OR DEMANDED ACCEPTANCE" THE ONLY WAY THEY ARE GOING TO ACCEPT
YOU IS IF YOU CHANGE YOURSELF TO CONFORM WITH THEIR STANDARDS. WE ALL KNOW THAT THEIR STANDARDS ARE UNISLAMIC. THEY WILL CHANGE YOU BEFORE YOU CHANGE THEM! THAT IS WHY I CHOOSE TO HOMESCHOOL MY CHILDREN. NO! THEY ARE NOT DEPRIVED OF SOCIAL INTERACTION! THEY GET TO EXPLORE AND LEARN FROM LIFE, BUT ON MY TERMS ACCORDING TO THE GUIDANCE SENT DOWN FROM ALLAH AND HIS MESSENGER(SAWS). ALLAH HOLDS ME ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE UPBRINGING OF MY CHILDREN AND I TAKE THAT COMMAND FROM ALLAH VERY SERIOUSLY. WE AS MUSLIMS AREN'T SECULARIST. WE DON'T SEPERATE OUR DEEN FROM OUR EVERYDAY LIFE. ISLAM ISN'T CONSIDERED TO BE SUPPLEMENTARY. ISLAM NEEDS TO BE APART OF OUR CHILDREN'S UPBRINGING 100%. THAT INCLUDES IN THE SCHOOL SETTING! I AM NOT AGAINST ISLAMIC SCHOOLS! IF WE HAD AN AFFORDABLE AND STABLE ISLAMIC SCHOOL IN OUR AREA, I WOULD JUMP AT THE CHANCE TO SEND MY CHILDREN. NO! WE COULD NOT RELOCATE TO FIND AN ISLAMIC SCHOOL AT THIS TIME! SOME MUSLIM FAMILIES AREN'T FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE A JOB OR POSITION THAT ALLOWS THEM TO RELOCATE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. I DON'T SEE HOMESCHOOLING AS A BURDEN OR ANTISOCIAL. I SEE HOMESCHOOLING AS A MERCY FROM ALLAH! A SECOND CHANCE TO TAKE BACK OUR LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED BY THIS ANYTHING GOES SOCIETY!
I LOVE YOU ALL FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH, FATIMA!

-- posted by Fatima

Top 6. Sep 21, 1999 10:34 AM

» Anayat_Durrani - WOW

THANK YOU FATIMA! It's always nice to hear every perspective, and yours was well said.......Oh, and we love you too!

-- posted by Anayat_Durrani

Top 7. Sep 22, 1999 4:56 PM

» Fatima - Palmetto Muslim Homeschool Resource Network

ASSALAMU ALAIKUM, EVERYONE!

IF ANYONE IS CONTEMPLATING HOMESCHOOLING AS AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO TRADITIONAL LEARNING, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CHECK OUT OUR LOCAL HOMESCHOOLING RESOURCE PAGE AT http://www.community.webtv.net/PMHRN/PMH...
THIS WEB PAGE IS UPDATED REGULARLY!

SINCERELY,
FATIMA

-- posted by Fatima

Top 8. Sep 23, 1999 6:18 PM

» Fatima - PALMETTO MUSLIM HOMESCHOOL RESOURCE NETWORK

HERE IS THE CORRECT WEB ADDRESS FOR PALMETTO MUSLIM HOMESCHOOL RESOURCE NETWORK http://community.webtv.net/PMHRN/PMHRN

SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE!

FATIMA

-- posted by Fatima

Top 9. Jan 16, 2000 7:05 PM

» thanaa - KNOWLEDGE IS THE ANSWER

ASALAMU ALAIKUM SISTERS AND BROTHERS!

I JUST READ THE ARTICLE ON HOMESCHOOLING AND ALTHOUGH IT IS NOR FOR EVERYONE IT WILL BE AN OPTION I EXPLORE. I THINK THAT I WILL HOMESCHOOL MY CHILDREN EARLY AND LET THEM DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT THEY WISH TO CONTINUE THAT METHOD OF LEARNING. KNOWLEDGE IS THE ANSWER FOR EVERYONE TODAY BUT IF YOUR CHILD IS UNHAPPY THAN AS A PARENT I CAN NOT EXPECT THEM TO GET EVERYTHING FROM ANY EXPERIENCE THEY DISLIKE BECAUSE THEIR HEARTS WOULD NOT BE IN IT...JUST A THOUGHT. I WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO GO TO PUBLIC THE WHOLE TIME AND I DIDN'T. I WENT TO A SPECIAL SCHOOL FOR ACADEMICALLY ACCELERATED KIDS. YUCK!! I HATED THAT. THEN I WENT TO COLLEGE AT 16 BECAUSE I HAD FINISHED PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM. YUCK! I WISH MY PARENTS HAD THOUGHT TO TEACH ME AT HOME THOSE LAST TWO YEARS! AND PROBABLY THOSE AWKWARD PUBESCENT YEARS TOO!! I THINK THAT AS CHILDREN PROGRESS THROUGHT DIFFERENT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT THEY NEED DIFFERENT THINGS--WHO WOULD KNOW BETTER THAN A PARENT WHO WAS THERE WITH THEM ALL OF THE TIME?? THAT WAS OF SPECIAL CONCERN TO ME BUT NOT FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS (WHICH SHOULD DEFIINITELY BE CONSIDERED!) BUT BECAUSE HE HAD DOWN'S SYNDROME. NO WAY I'D A PUBLIC SCHOOL GET THEIR HANDS ON A SPECIAL CHILD AND SLOW HIM DOWN AND KEEP HIM FROM OBSERVING HIS RELIGION. THAT IS NOT PROTECTION OR SHELTERING..IT IS TEACHING YOUR CHILD WHAT IS IMPORTANT, TEACHING HIM CULTURE, AND BEING THE FIRST HAND MONITOR OF WHAT HE IS EXPOSED TO AND HOW. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT MORE PARENTS SHOULD BE MORE CONCERNED AND MAYBE WE WOULD HAVE THE DEVASTING TRADGEDIES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS TODAY. WELL, I THINK I SAID ENOUGH. AND THANK YOU FATIMA FOR THE LINK.
SALAAM, THANAA

-- posted by thanaa

Top 10. Jan 17, 2000 4:37 PM

» Anayat_Durrani - Yes knowledge is the answer.

I think the choice to homeschool or public school is a decision that should be well thought out. Whichever type of schooling a parent chooses, Islamic and Arabic school should be included in their child's education. Even if this means only weekend school, a child needs to get a head start on Arabic and grasping the foundation of their religion. I am completely for sending children at a young to Islamic and Arabic schools and plan to do so with my children.

-- posted by Anayat_Durrani