During my first few years as a mother, I worked full-time and my son was in daycare. If you had told me that in a few years I would be homeschooling, I wouldn’t have believed you. I thought that homeschooling was only for the superhero moms, the moms that gave up everything for their children. Not only that—but I also thought it was only for moms who held a degree in education because surely those of us without a teaching degree don’t know how to teach, right? Wrong. I was so wrong and my views of homeschooling have completely flipped.
The Daily Rush
When my husband and I were both working and our son was in daycare, every day was so rushed. In the morning, we were rushed. Dinner time was rushed. Bed time was rushed. It was like we were getting through each day but not actually living and enjoying it. Our son would meltdown after daycare every day because he was so exhausted from holding his emotions in all day. It was miserable for all of us. For the past year, our son has been home with us and it’s improved our family life drastically. We think that homeschooling will allow us to slow down and enjoy each day without always being in a rush to get to the next part of the day.
1:1 Teaching
I don’t have a teaching degree, but, I am a mother. And as mothers, we’re all teachers. We teach our children more than anyone every single day. Now, this is not to dismiss the value of a teaching degree. Those who hold a teaching degree most definitely possess more knowledge in teaching techniques. But, they don’t possess more knowledge in my child. The reality is—teachers are spread way too thin. They have too many students to teach and not enough resources or time in their day. Regardless of how amazing of a teacher one may be, it’s not possible to give every student one on one time. But I can give my child endless one on one time. I know his temperament, his likes and dislikes, his abilities and his limits. The attention I can give him can’t be replicated in a classroom with 25 other students.
Individualized Learning
Similar to the point above but to take it one step further—as a parent, I get to choose what I teach my child. I don’t have to teach him things that will not be useful to him. I get to teach him things I know will be beneficial for his life. I think back to a lot of the material that I was taught as a child and how much of it did not provide any value to my life or my goals. Additionally, as adults, we can force ourselves to learn something even if it bores us. Children don’t have this ability. If something doesn’t excite them, they will have a hard time learning it. I can use my son’s interests and teach him through those, making it easier for him to retain the material.
Outdoor Time and Physical Activity
The reality is that children do not get enough outdoor time and physical activity. They have a difficult time focusing in school all day— and can we blame them? Allah did not create children to sit at a desk all day with 20 minutes of recess out of a 7 hour day. During 2020-2022, the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was 11.3% in children ages 5-17 years (14.5% in boys specifically) (CDC, March 2024). Now, there is no arguing that some children have legitimate ADHD, but how many children are diagnosed because they can’t focus in school for 7+ hours a day? A big reason we’re considering homeschooling is so our children can play outside and get their energy out every day to the point of exhaustion. I don’t want to pick my children up from school and then rush to soccer so they can release the energy and frustration that has been bottled up all day. I’d rather they spend all day running around outside.
Freedom to Travel
When our children are a bit older, we want to travel the world with them. Traveling is such a beautiful way to get out of our comfort zones and to learn useful life skills. It forces children (and adults) to adapt to new situations, interact with different people, try new foods, and overall, it’s just humbling. With children in traditional school, our travel will be limited to summers and winter break, when prices are high and everywhere is crowded. Homeschooling will give us the freedom to travel all throughout the year for extensive periods of time. This not only applies for international travel, but domestic travel as well. There is so much to see right here in our home country of the United States. We also have family scattered around the country and we would love to be able to visit them for months at a time instead of one week a year.
Our Decision
Our schooling decision has nothing to do with traditional school being “inadequate” or being afraid of our children being “negatively influenced” as these are reasons we hear from many other people. It’s just that because of the sheer number of children in a school, resources will always be limited. And we know that even with homeschooling, our children will inevitably be around people that may not be a good influence. We know that we can’t always protect our children from this and it’s not something that’s affecting our decision. All we can do as parents is make du’a that we have more of an influence on our children than anyone else.
Overall, we think homeschooling might provide a freedom that traditional schooling can’t. Homeschooling is a privilege, for sure, but it’s also a huge sacrifice. May Allah make it easy for all of us and allow us all to curate a lifestyle that is best suited for each of our unique families. Ameen!
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