Is Homeschooling a good or bad idea?

[Rabi'ya]

sis Al Zaara

alhamdulillah British schools are one of the top education systems around the world, however, it does not entail an Islamic education. The culture within the schools I feel is not always the best for the child. Academically yes!! they may be brilliant, but its abot more than that. We have to think of the childs religious wellbeing too.

Even the Islamic schools here leave a lot to be desired(and before anyone shoots me down there are some good ones, but im saying theres still A LOT of room for improvment)

 

[Al-Zaara]

Aleykum selam, sister Rabi'ya

Why can't the time at home be the place to give that need religious wellbeing? Does it have to be mixed? Especially by maybe parents, who cannot give as many different views and different knowledge which a school could give. I myself know I needed to see with my own eyes and handle by myself the culture I am surrounded by.

As a student and Muslim, I am very happy I could have school on one side, were I was "alone", with all what my parents had given me (mainly the values, rules) and growing through others actions and then I had home (family), a place of "relaxation" and where I was deeper taken into religion and spirituality. I am quite happy with how things turned out, I feel content elhamdulillah and I feel there were too many things my parents couldn't have taught me. This balance couldn't have been achieved by only their help, because even they haven't seen it all or met/enounctered all situations which challenge us academically, religiously or just humane.

Of course, I am not everyone else and every one can decide for their own child.

I sense some kind of 'fear' towards public schools because non-Islamic lifestyles are to be found and seen there, because Islam is not taught there. But that is the world, full of diversity.
Teaching a child is difficult. If it is Islam which is of most interest, rather send to an Islamic school altogether or just concentrate your energy at home to teach Isalm instead of doing the job of a mother/teacher/friend and whatnot school and its people can mean to a child. Although the 'fear' is quite understandable, I still think many of those 'dangers' can be prevented if enough attention is paid inshaAllah.

This is of course my opinion, but the main point for us all is that the child get educated academically and inshaAllah is taught to be a good Muslim and continues being that and fins success in life.

JazakAllahu kheyrun.

 

[Rabi'ya]

JazakAllah kheir for your thoughts sis. It really is a huge decision when thinking about educating a child. You are completely right that a child needs different perpectives in order to make their own reasoning etc. I for one am in complete agreement with u. My issue is with certain schools. particularly where I live I have only ever heard things abot schools which initially may not sound bad, but from my upbringin(even as a non-muslim) seem absolutely shocking to me. I went to school in a local village school It was a church school and it was fantastic. They taught morals and manners as standard. I didnt see that when i was observing classes in primary school ehre and from my other reports from friends/inlaws, city schools dont have the time to spend on the kids as the school is so big. There were 60 kids in the primary school i went to thats between nursery and year 6(now i think its approaching 100). Yet the average size for a primary school near me is 300-500 kids!!! Its too much if ask me. Maybe, if i could get my hubby to move to a more rural place it might be better inshAllah as the pace of life is much slower there anyway.

Who knows if my dream of living in the countryside again will come true except Allah and I know He will guide me to what is best for me and my family inshAllah

C'est la vie!!

 

[ragdollcat1982]

While my son is in public schools right now we are contemplating whether or not to teach our son at home. The overall quality of the public schools in the US is poor. Each State is allowed to set their own standards and therefore while some states may excel others are mediocre. Now the focus is to teach the standardrized test that all students must pass instead of teaching children how to think. You ask most young people about US history or even how to count back change and do basic math they cannot tell you the answer. Parents are to be their childrens primary educator. If one does not one to homeschool, but can afford to send their children to a religious school they should. At least then your children will get a good education and be taught morals. They dont teach those here anymore, instead of teaching kids moral and self control, they want to teach sex ed and pass out condoms. I am praying and meditating on Deutronomy 6:7 and wondering if I should teach my son at home instead of sending him back to the public school.

 

[BlissfullyJaded]

Academically, sending your child to a public school in California is pretty much tossing their education down the drain. Our colleges and universities are great, but as far as K-12 goes we're 47th on the list, meaning we are the 3rd worst state in the nation. It makes sense, because our teachers don't teach with the passion they're meant to. They teach to drum in test material to the students, just so that the children can pass the state tests and the school will get the state and federal funding. So, yeah, public schools are useless. The only other option would be private schools, but that is expensive.

I'm not sure how home school systems work elsewhere. But there is a curriculum that is followed, and we still learn the things at the same pace of what a private school would be teaching. There still are teachers monitoring progress, and there still is state testing. It is all according to state standards, but with a individualized approach. And lastly, it's already been said, but I'll say it again: homeschooling does not equal isolation! We do have social life, it just doesn't comprise of going to school from 8am-3pm.

 

[Rabi'ya]

yeh sis I totally agree with the socialisation thing. in fact as a home schooled child they probably have a better social life.

Oh and in UK "public school " means "private school" lol what ur referring to as public school i think is what we call state school lol the government one which is free, right??

 

[ragdollcat1982]

I'm not sure how home school systems work elsewhere. But there is a curriculum that is followed, and we still learn the things at the same pace of what a private school would be teaching. There still are teachers monitoring progress, and there still is state testing. It is all according to state standards, but with a individualized approach. And lastly, it's already been said, but I'll say it again: homeschooling does not equal isolation! We do have social life, it just doesn't comprise of going to school from 8am-3pm.

My son has ADHD and homeschooling offers parents more options to tailor to the learning needs of their children. I never did that well learning in the traditional class room enviorment. I am the type of learning that just wants to take the book and read it myself. My son seems to be more of a hands on type learner. Also lets not forget the immorrality that is being taught in schools today. Homosexuality is being taught as an "acceptable" alternative lifestyle and normal. Premarital sex is encouraged by passing out condoms. I have pretty much what I need to start my son homeschooling. It need not be expensive. There are many free things on the internet and one should make use of their public libraires. Thrift stores even have some cast off text books. I found 4 McGuffesys readers that I want to teach with because of their moralty tales. These were the reading textbooks in America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I have also found that some older editions of elementary public schools textbooks are really that bad.

 

[BlissfullyJaded]

what ur referring to as public school i think is what we call state school lol the government one which is free, right??

Yep, yep.

ragdollcat, aren't there any home school programs in your area? There should be. I remember some national programs. I'll try to look it up if you want. I say this, so that you could at least get some up to date, nice textbooks and school stuff to help you better.

 

[Al-Zaara]

yeh sis I totally agree with the socialisation thing. in fact as a home schooled child they probably have a better social life.

It all depends, no guarantees anywhere regarding socialisation.

Oh and in UK "public school " means "private school" lol what ur referring to as public school i think is what we call state school lol the government one which is free, right??

Oh? In my earlier post about Finland I did mean state school, the free kind. If I am right, private schools ain't allowed here. Though private Kindergartens are.

 

[ragdollcat1982]

Yep, yep.

ragdollcat, aren't there any home school programs in your area? There should be. I remember some national programs. I'll try to look it up if you want. I say this, so that you could at least get some up to date, nice textbooks and school stuff to help you better.

No sadly there are not. As far as textbooks go some things do not change such as reading and literature. I can go to the public library for those. There is a home education assistance program based in Florida that helps out low income (and we fall into this box) that offer textbooks that the public schools no longer use free of charge. Most of what I have gotten so far the oldest edition is 2001. That is really not that very long ago and most of the books are in decent condition. The McGuffeys readers are classic and reading does not change . I will of course have to make sure science and history text are current as they are the subjects that constantly change as events happen and discoveries are made. But reading, math and grammar are pretty much the same. If we decide to do this I will make use of the free resources on the internet, many homeschooling families are doing this as one does not have to buy an expenisve pacakaged curriculum or even just books in order to homeschool. It is about creativity. There are some resources online that are geared toward homeschooling for little or nothing and in this economy creativty is more important than ever.