بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Salaam!

Whoa! How long has it been?

Wait! Don't answer that.

Before I go any further, I must apologise for being MIA the past few months. I did have the intention of blogging more often especially about homeschool but as a fairly new homeschool mom, I started to put the idea of blogging on hold.

Why?

To be perfectly honest, homeschool was a bit of a challenge in the beginning. I read a few articles, spoke to one or two homeschool moms and had all these great ideas I wanted to implement.… only to realise, I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was. The overwhelm was real. #informationoverload

I began to doubt myself for a minute and even contemplated deleting this blog. I felt as though I was not qualified enough to share ideas and tips on homeschool when I didn't have a good hand on my own homeschool affairs.

I know it sounds silly... But I'm putting it out there anyway.

So I decided to take a break and continue my research and testing various methods, schedules and routines, experimenting with various curriculums and reading a ton of blogs and articles. Tons. And they were such a help, alhamdulillah.

After realising what works, may work and can never work for me and my daughter, I decided to extend our break.

Hold up! Huh? It doesn't make sense, I know.

But it was so worth it. Giving myself that time to breathe, detox from all the stress and actually enjoy spending time with my child is actually just what I needed.

[Enjoying a snow cone outside of the zoo]

Of course, we did do some studies - mostly Hifz and Islamiyyah, but it was nothing formal.

That long break topped with the beautiful month of Ramadhan was actually just what I needed to start afresh.

Since then, I've reconsidered and made changes to every aspect of our homeschool systems including curriculum choices, timetable, schedule, extra curricular activities, texts and workbooks, planning and recording data. Everything. 

It's only week two but alhamdulillah, I'm seeing all the results already including an extremely excited student.

While I still don't consider myself an expert in the field, a few moms have been asking me to share. So guess what?

Guess!

I'm gonna start blogging about my journey, what we do, and hopefully throw a few updates in the mix from time to time in sha Allah. I will also be sharing some of the most insightful tips, articles, blogs and videos that have inspired and helped me in any way.

I hope these will be of great benefit to you and your family and helps you to make the most out of your homeschool. If you have suggestions for topics or have a specific question, please don't hesitate to send me an email ummddesigns@gmail.com.

See you in the next one!

Love & Du'as,

Umm D

2 Simple Organizational Tools for your Independent Homeschooler

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Salaam!

This is going to be a pretty quick post... I hope!

I know some parents are wondering how I'm managing so far with homeschool - though, it's only been a day! So I've decided to share with you the system I'm currently using. 

And yes, even though it's only been a day, I can easily see this working for me for a very long time...

I would just like to say that, homeschooling is not something you cannot dive right into. You can certainly try, but without a system or plan in place it can become pretty chaotic pretty quickly and both you and your child will become frustrated. And nobody wants that! 

So before I go any further, I just wanted to put that out there...

OK! Now that we've got that out of the way, we can dive right into the good stuff!

First of all, my daughter, Daania, is 7 years old, and she's mature enough (I hope!) to work on her own. I'm a full time student, so while she's at home with my mom during the day, she IS expected to do something.

During the evening is when I would actually teach new concepts or handle the tough topics. In the mornings, after Fajr, we do Qur'an reading and some Islamiyah - but I'll leave my subject/lesson planning for another post in sha Allah.

Besides my lesson plan, I only need 2 simple tools to help her stay organized and on top of things:

1. A folder
2. A checklist

Yeah! That's it!

The folder is used to house all the work that has to be completed for each day. So of course a folder with pockets is ideal for keeping the pages secure.

What about textbooks or workbooks?

Well, I'm glad you asked!

I've decided to get rid of the textbooks and remove the textbook pages or worksheets instead. I simply remove the pages from the workbooks as I need them and stick them in the folder for her. It saves her time from having to look for the pages, and also makes the whole 'work on your own' thing a little less intimidating than if she had go through a stack of books herself.

The thought of ripping pages out a book was pretty scary for me in the beginning as well... But I've worked through my fears, Alhamdulillah.

Back to the folder... On one side I placed a post it with 'TO DO' written on it; this is the work she has to do for the day. And when she's done, she just moves the pages over to the other side marked 'DONE'.

The second tool is a checklist. Now, a checklist can be a little notepad or a piece of paper -  basically anything you can use to jot down what needs to be done. Easy peasy!

I created this adorable little checklist, and Daania just loves them!

This checklist includes a 'To-Do' where I jot down the things she has to do before I get home and a little checkbox next to each for her to tick them off as she completes them. 

There is also another set of checkboxes where my mom or myself will tick to verify that we've seen the task completed and a small space to put the grade and/or comment. 

Finally, there is a space on the bottom of the checklist for her to write her signature - she is absolutely crazy about that as it makes her feel very grown-up! 

Then there's also a space for me or my mom to sign also. These I will be holding on to for a few weeks or so before I discard them in sha Allah.

I'm making this checklist free for you to download and print for your own personal use! Yay! Just click here.

Yep! So that's about it. Just two little things to keep organized on a day-to-day basis.

Like I said earlier, it's only been a day, but I am very confident that these tools will work for us - bi idhnillah (with the permission of Allah) of course!

.

I have spent a lot of time - and I mean A LOT of time - researching and formulating a system that I know will work for me and my daughter, so I advise you to do the same in sha Allah. In the same light, please bear in mind that this system and these tools may or may not work for you -- 

And that's okay! Flexibility is definitely one of the pros of being a homeschool mama!

If you do have any questions feel free to leave a comment or send me an email in sha Allah.

Love & Du'as,

Umm D.