A Cardboard Ceiling Fan

In a conversation I had last weekend with a sister, I brought up H’s cardboard endeavor jokingly, offering her a homemade cardboard furniture. Of course, she took it as a joke too. I started talking about cardboard engineering but she still had this incredulous look on her face, and I couldn’t help but realize that […]

Opossum Playing Possum?

“Ummi! Ummi! We found an opossum!” “Yeah! Yeah! It was bleeding, and …” “It’s so big! Like this! Ummi…” “Its ears, the tips are cut off, and …” “The tip of its tail is cut off! It’s bleeding too!” First of all, I don’t even know what an opossum is supposed to look like, and […]

Navigating the World of High School Transcripts

The high school transcript is one of those things that may trigger anxiety at the thought of homeschooling high school. Fear not. All it takes is educating oneself about it, and seeking resources that can aid in navigating it, especially for college applications. If your homeschooled high schooler is doing dual credit classes at the […]

Teaching Your Child to Read

Read. The very first revelation carries a powerful message for mankind; reading is the key to knowledge. In today’s literate society, being able to read is an important if not necessary skill to survive. Yet, two prevailing questions surround it; when and how do we teach children to read? When It was my mother who […]

For The Love of Learning: Living It

Part 4 Live Learning “Just give me anything,” my oldest daughter said, when I kept asking her about how she wants to approach her high school curriculum. I was fishing for her interests and trying to customize her high school syllabus, but she seemed overwhelmed by the whole process. So I gave her the traditional […]

For The Love of Learning: Start With Yourself

Part 3 Islam shouldn’t be restricted to rituals. It’s a way of life. Similarly, learning shouldn’t be restricted to the classroom. It should be a way of life. We are born with an innate love of learning that is usually crushed in the process of gaining an education because learning has been treated with such […]

For The Love of Learning: Don’t Mind the Grades

Part 2 You will find very few parents who won’t ask their children, “So how did you do on your exam?” Attaining good grades has become the main focus of parents and students, because it has become the means through which perceived good education is achieved. Before there were grades, student evaluation was more individualized […]

For The Love of Learning: Part 1

Part 1 Almost all mothers will testify to being bombarded with never ending questions from their preschoolers and kindergartners, to the point of aggravation. Children are born with a natural curiosity to learn about the world around them. Allah has given human beings the ability, capacity, and most importantly, desire to explore the blessings He […]

Interest or Project Based Approach

You can homeschool without using a curriculum if you wish. One of the ways you can do so is through an interest or project based approach where you involve the students in planning your school year. This approach takes into full consideration the interests of your child. This particular method is best for elementary to […]