It is indeed a blessing to be able to homeschool, but it is the most difficult path in the short term. We believe that God has called us to take matters literally into our own hands! We try not to look at the short term difficulties, but rather focus on our long term goals of raising righteous individuals who can be leaders and innovators and lead the society to success, and the ultimate goal of Paradise.
The most beautiful thing about homeschooling is the peace of mind that you get. You can choose what they will learn and make sure it is in line with your beliefs and values. You can incorporate your values and information into the lessons. You can select who your children will spend time with. You can select the tutors or small classes that you like. You know where your child is and who he is with all the time.
Homeschoolers are a mixed group. There are some families are homeschooling just one or two of their children while the others attend school. Some families start homeschooling in middle school and/or high school. However, there are also a lot of families that feel compelled to homeschool during the elementary years.
- They feel their child is either falling behind or not getting enough challenge.
- Or they see the child starting to have bad language or picking up bad behaviors.
- Some believe children should not start formal instruction until 2nd grade.
- And for some, the school in their district is low rated and they were not able to win in the school lottery for the school they want.
- Some can't afford a private school or are not satisfied with the Islamic school.
- And for some it is purely just for the child to have more time for religious studies, hobbies, volunteering, time in nature, or flexibility for travel.
Before it used to be that each child could choose which trade to learn and they would go intern with that person, sometimes it would be their father. Or tutors would be brought to the home. Or if there was a school, it was only for a short time of the day. But now we see schools taking up 7 hours of the day, plus the homework/ tests / projects. Education and career is very important but it is not the only thing in a person's life. Our day has to have balance: part for our education/work, part for helping family and friends and community, part for ourselves and to work on our worship, spirituality and our character. If you neglect one of these areas, you will feel lost and depressed. Before it used to be that this was a Christian nation with God fearing families, but in the past 10 years we have seen a major change in the society and it is harder now than ever to protect our children. With that, here are the main reasons for home schooling.
#1 Reason to Home School: The Crisis of Faith that is going on in our youth - we need to preserve the integrity of our children and protect their spirituality and educate them according to our beliefs. There is a serious crisis going on in the youth here and all over the world. Some of us personally went through this and believe it was due to the public school environment that we were in for 6+ hours a day and coming home with hours of studies.
#2 Reason to Home School: to provide the best of a private education in the home - the current educational system is not successful for most children.
#3 Reason to Home School: raise your children to think for themselves - creating a DIFFERENT generation of children inspired through a deep focus on scripture & Religious Studies. You can't expect to be doing what everyone is doing and get a different outcome.
#4 Reason to Home School: to keep and nurture creativity, imagination, and high aspirations.
#5 Reason to Home School: to build strong bonds with your children. When you homeschool, your child can finish their school subjects much faster at home than in a school setting, which gives more time for them to spend with their siblings and parents and community, and more time for scripture and prayer, which leads to stronger families, which leads to a stronger community.
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