Alice, you asked about our daily routine so here’s a post just for you :)

When we started out homeschooling, we didn’t have much of a routine. Mars was just an itty-bitty thing then so all I did was read to her a lot. We read just about EVERYTHING we could get our hands on if it was good literature. We would go out a lot and generally talk a lot too :) Since Mars did not attend preschool or kindergarten and since I did not have a helper or babysitter, she would accompany me wherever I went. (She still does only now it is with her sister in tow as well.) I think that this was a positive thing for her as she had contact with people of diverse ages and backgrounds. We did not have a fixed routine until she was about 7 – when she officially fell under the Compulsory Education Act.

Here’s our average day (Monday to Saturday):

5.30 a.m. : Fajr (dawn) prayers
7.00 a.m. : Clean up, change and tidy up the room.
7.30 a.m. : The girls tend to Rocket, their newly-adopted pet kitten. They have to feed and water him and give him some attention and play time.
8.00 a.m. : Breakfast

8.30 a.m. Islamic Studies
9.15 a.m. Arabic homework & Qur’an revision (While Mars does this, Bear and I work on reading and Math)
11.15 a.m. – 2.15 p.m. Study other subjects – English / Math / Science / Geography / History. It varies depending on what day it is. We take a short break for Dhuhr/afternoon prayer in between. They are also expected to spend time with Rocket during any other breaks they take.

2.15 p.m. Lunch (and feed Rocket)

3.00 p.m. Arabic Class at the Institute of Arabic Language
4.30 p.m. `Asr (late afternoon) prayer & Karate class

6.00 p.m. Maghrib (dusk) prayer & Free time (check on Rocket again!)
7.15 p.m. Qur’an class at a neighbou’s home

7.45 p.m. – 10.00 p.m. `Isha (night) prayer and reading, play and bed (make sure Rocket is fed, watered and safe)

As to resources we use for Mars, you can check my page here. We don’t use each and every resource on that page or link listed on the blog each day or week. I don’t feel the pressure to incorporate each and every gem I find into our main curriculum – I’d go mental honestly because there is so much out there :P Our coursebooks form the spines and we use those bonuses as much as we can, but there is no stressing it really.

For Bear, we use the following:

• Reading A to Z and Calvert’s reading programme – I downloaded Reading A to Z’s material when they had an ‘open house’ and Calvert’s is what Bear inherited from her sister
• Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt
• Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching – Mathematics Enrichment Programme
• Living books – we use good literature for Science, Geography and whatever else she is interested in learning :)

If you have a kid who is allergic to Math, you would understand why I am always on the lookout for creative Math resources. I’ve thrown out all the books that have made Mars cry (oh, I kid you not…) and have embarked on The Smarty Pants Math Club :P It’s really just a funny name for our Math lessons (got the idea from Marilyn Burns’ Math for Smarty Pants). We are using CIMT’s Mathematics Enhancement Programme (free! ahem!), living Math resources and worksheets we’ve downloaded online.

Dad’s Worksheets is one of the sites we are using for additional exercises. This dad has reviews of Math books and resources he has used, downloadable handwriting and graph paper, Spaceship Math (oh, my kids love them catchy names :P) and tonnes of worksheets (5,137 and counting!!)… all FREE!

So pay the site a visit… it is really all that and a bag of chips :)

My kids and I are at the F9 park almost everyday of the week. They have their karate lessons and I tag along. I love going going there because I get two hours to unwind after a day of homeschooling and chores. I catch up on some reading or use the time to plan the coming days’ homeschooling material. What makes my evenings there so enjoyable is of course watching the kids as they train. I’ve had the pleasure of watching the younger ones blossom and been treated to impressive shows of the older students’ skills.

Once in a while though, I don’t have a good time. It is usually when I am forced to make polite conversation with … well, the sort of people I really wouldn’t have for lunch. You see, there are some folks, who, upon finding out that we homeschool, cannot seem to get off the subject and keep quizzing me on the whys and wherefores. Every time we meet, I get the same old set of questions or the same sense of incredulity. Last week, a mum saw me jotting down a few notes and proceeded to question me (again).

Lady: So… what are you doing?

Me: I’m just jotting down some notes for tomorrow’s Science lessons.

Lady: Oh… YOU teach your daughter? I thought she went to Roots because your exercise book says so. (I’d already told her we homeschool.)

Me: No, it’s just a book I bought from the store.

Lady: But… why do your kids not go to school?

Me: Mars has a compulsory exam to sit for in Singapore in 2013, so it’s just easier this way. (I can no longer be bothered to give an honest answer as to why we homeschool. Let them believe in the long arm of Singapore law *S*)

Lady: Oh… can they sit for an exam if they don’t go to school?

Me: They study and prepare for the exam at home.

Lady: (looking quite unconvinced) Oh… I’ve always thought children would not study at home.

Me: (smile becoming a tad forced by now) No, they do just fine.

Lady: (still with the disbelieving smile) I mean, you know, if they don’t go to school, then it can be hard to control or encourage them.

Me: No, not really.

The conversation went on a little longer and by the end of it, I was really at the end of my patience (even though I did not show it). It was not just the interrogation. It was the fact that she really was not interested in my answers because she kept fixing me with a doubtful stare. It was all I could do not to retort sharply, but I realised not a little too soon that I should not have harboured any resentment towards her. Homeschooling is practically unheard of in Islamabad. Many women here live with their in-laws and have a great deal of responsibilities. They would not have the luxury of being able to home-educate even if it was something they had heard about. (Yes, I say it is a luxury because I think it is a blessing that I am able to learn with my children.)

Perhaps my irritation stems from my own feelings of anxiety. While I believe that homeschooling is the best for my family, it has its stressful episodes. We have good days and bad days just like any other family. My kids have trouble with their lessons and sometimes act up too. I find myself having to fight the impulse to make them perfect to legitimise our homeschooling. It is really silly of me – I don’t homeschool my kids because they are geniuses and I certainly don’t need to prove anything to anyone. My kids don’t need that kind of pressure. I should just take criticisms in a positive way by using them to improve myself and my methods.

At the end of the day, what helps to make things bearable is – and it is strange coming from me, a loner who seems to prefer her books and computer to people – good company. I thank Allah for always putting inspiring people in my path whenever I start to slacken or to doubt myself. I got to know the one other (yes… ONE!) mother who homeschools her 3 daughters in Islamabad. I was initially nervous about meeting her – social events intimidate me! – but I gleaned so much about her family from just a couple of visits that put me at ease. She had friends who would help out and hang out at her home – I thought it was lovely how hospitable she was ma shaa Allah. It is also such an ego-booster that her kids practically pounce on my kids like they have been waiting for them forever the moment we enter the gate! Meetings with her revive me considerably – it isn’t just the good food she serves us :) It is also her strong belief and determined effort in home-educating her kids.

Another friend I met homeschools her 7 kids in Karachi. We crossed paths in person at a time when I really needed the encouragement. She was visiting Islamabad and I spent several hours just nattering with her. What struck me most about her was her strong sense of tawakkul – full trust in Allah. She embraced the many changes in her life – the arrival of a new baby, reconstruction to her home and pulling her kids out of public school – with perspective. She pushed on and seemed undaunted, believing in her children’s abilities and in her duty to home-educate.

Maybe the next time someone asks me about homeschooling, I won’t have to fake patience in the face of incredulity. Maybe I can just smile and tell them, “You know, I am not alone in this…”

I know … this is meant to be a homeschooling blog but the home-ed categories show precious few entries.

I’ll post some lesson plans on butterfliesnext in shaa Allah but I will confess. The reason why I stopped posting for a while was because I felt like a fraud. What I mean to say is that I do still firmly believe that for us, homeschooling is THE road to take. My methods were another story altogether *S* Ms Muffet was (and still is) doing alright alhamdulillah but I began to crumble. I had a list of goals to achieve and wanted to do everything *just so* but this is not always possible when one has a little baby to care for at the same time. I was getting overly anxious – will I ever get the Singaporean out of me? (You’d have to live there to know what I am talking about *S*)

The beauty of home education is that it is flexible. I don’t mean to say that a parent can put in next to zero effort, let a child run willy nilly and then say that homeschooling is flexible. I mean that education is not just about and through books. There is more to a child/person than that. While I was fussing about lessons still undone, my daughter was doing some learning of her own. She learnt to help her busy mum, to share unreservedly, to give way to her little sister without resentment and to be independent.

Sometimes lessons are best learnt when you put the books aside and speak straight from the heart. Some you can’t TEACH – they can only be learnt through plain and simple LIVING.

A sister told me to relax and to breathe… another told me to just love my child and place trust in Allah .

They are right *S* There is so much room for improvement where I am concerned. So we will try to do better each day but we are doing OK alhamdulillah…