Introductory Price Pakistan Home Education Quarterly Jan/Feb/March 2011 Volume 1 Issue 1

PKR 70

HOMEWORKS
AED 5
c

where living is learning

I was schooled, but why

aren’t my children?

How children
learn

What is home
education?

How
home
works
Homeschooling families are
Photography: Mikhaella Ismail

taking learning to new levels.

Find out how, on page 4.
 HIGHLIGHTS CONTENTS & EDITORIAL

CONTENTS
HOME EDUCATION
3 What is home education? All by TRIP TO N’ECO’S Horseback
4 How home works himself riding
Meet Uzair, Homeschoolers Exciting
6 I was schooled, but why aren’t our featured watch at N’eco’s adventures
home- how muffins are of young
my children? schooler...16 made with organic horse riders
8 The ride of a lifetime ingredients...15 in Islama-
bad...19
8 Book shopping
9 Home surfing
10 How children learn

OUR COMMUNITY FAMILY TIME

12 Mentoring success 16 Ahsan Memorial Library 18 Visit to the bull yard
14 Mums & Tots 16 All by himself 18 Goat care
14 Bookworms Book Club 19 Horseback riding
15 Trip to N’eco’s

The Team
Learning redefined
Editorial Team Assalam o Alaikum.
Umm Sofya
Laila Brence Learning has always been a misunderstood term. Often, the only time it gets used is
Umm Musa just before exams, when we have to cram tons of information, which is ‘supposed’ to
help us prepare for the real lives ahead!
Design & Layout
Have you ever wondered, how were great Muslims of the past able to master so many
Umm Muaz
sciences, conquer lands, read and write numerous books by their teens? Perhaps late,
We take pride in the unedited works of our but better than never, we should realize that learning is about living life from the very
home educated children- their innate self-
correcting mechanism will eventually work
beginning with eyes wide open and minds working. It is not about wasting a quarter
wonders in the future. of our lifespan, before becoming productive, nor it is about blindly following a cur-
riculum, meant to feed the material world only. Education founded on materialism is
Get in Touch education anchored in falsehood – it drives us away from living the Quran and emulat-
Join our online community
ing our role models: the Prophet  and his companions t .
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
If children can master walking and talking on their own, why do we assume that later
pakistan-home-education/
they will no longer be able to learn without a curriculum? We welcome you to read
through the first issue of HomeWorks – a Pakistan home education quarterly – and
Write to us
get acquainted with our local homeschooling community. We hope and pray that our
editor.homeworks@gmail.com

“
experiences will show that children are
capable of learning on their own at all
Coming soon
ages, if they are allowed to follow their
www.homeworks.com.pk
curiosity within a supportive and stimu-
Permission is granted to freely print or copy
What we need to learn to lating environment.
any part of this magazine, with the source
credited.
do, we learn by doing. Umm Sofya

2
 HOME EDUCATION INSIGHT

DEFINING HOME EDUCATION is

challenging. Laila Brence delves
into the varying facets of this
rapidly-growing movement.

What is home education?

H
omeschooling, also
called home education
or home learning, is the
education of children at
home, rather than in
formal settings of public or private
schools. In a typical homeschooling situ-
ation, parents assume the responsibility
for educating their children. Although
traditionally, before the introduction of
compulsory schooling systems, children
were educated at home or within a com-
munity, homeschooling in its modern
sense is an alternative to private or pub-
lic educational institutions.
The reasons, for which parents choose
home education, are numerous. Many
parents are dissatisfied with the stand-
ards of education in local schools, the
expenses of the private institutions or
have objections to the social environ-
ment within schools. Others feel
their children will achieve bet-
ter academic results and will
develop better morals
and character by be-
ing taught at home.
Yet others opt
for homeschool-
ing due
to religious or parenting style reasons.
Home education can also be a choice
when living abroad or in isolated areas.
Just like the reasons for choosing home
education, the methods of homeschool-
ing are many and in some countries
even defined by the local laws. Parents
may choose to use a correspondence
school, which provides them with a
complete curriculum and books/sup-
plies to be used. Such approach is often
called school-at-home and stands on the
stricter end in the spectrum of educa-
tion philosophy parents can adopt.
On the other side of the same spec-
trum are those families, which opt for
unschooling or natural learning – an ap-
proach that focuses on learning-on-de-
mand, where children pursue knowledge
based on their own interests and parents
take active part in facilitating their learn-
ing. Natural learning philosophy does
not rely heavily on textbooks; instead,
it focuses on experiences conductive to
learning that children naturally encoun-
ter throughout their daily activities. Be-
tween the two mentioned approaches is
a wide range of others, some of which
are: classical education, Charlotte Mason
education, Montessori method, Waldorf
education, a Thomas Jefferson educa-
tion, theory of multiple intelligences
and unit studies.
It is not uncommon for families, de-
pending on the needs of their children,
to merge several methods of home-
schooling. For example, a family may
follow a local school-based curriculum
in math and English, opt for classical
approach in history studies and use unit
studies for science, merging in the learn-
ing process of chosen topics the scien-
tific with the religious knowledge.
Although in the West home education
has been around for several decades and
is nowadays steadily gaining popularity,
in Pakistan, it is relatively new and un-
heard of. Over the past few years, the
number of homeschooling families in
Pakistan has grown to a few handfuls,
which are mainly concentrated in Ka-
rachi. If you would like to know more
about home education, join the on-line
community of home educating fami-
lies in Pakistan at: http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/pakistan-home-education/
The author is a homeschooling mother of
two, senior editor of Hiba Magazine(www.
hibamagagzine.com) and a freelance writer.

3
 HOME EDUCATION FAMILY TRIBUNE

How home works

By Atefa Jamal

Photography: Mikhaella Ismail

A
fter the Vietnam War, an
American reporter asked
a Vietnamese immigrant
family, what it felt like
not to have a home. A child replied:
“We have a home! We just don’t have a
house to put it in.” Subhan’Allah! That
is what we, as a new home school-
ing family, aim to do: build our kids a
its members to live in harmony, rules
need to be enforced. So kids do chores,
study, play and argue and grumble, too,
like all kids do; but spending time at
home also teaches them responsibility,
respecting the rights of others, conflict
resolution, problem solving and team-
work – and all that without worksheets
or short term rewards of stickers/stars.
ers, other children at classes, family
friends and relatives.
We plan our days but our lives are
not regimental. We have put away our
books early to tend to our Eid goats,
done extra work on a certain day, so
that we can spend the next morning
with grandparents, or spent all morning

“
‘home’.

Many question our sanity, our ability

to educate our children, and whether
our kids will be able to live in the real
world. They assume by educating at
home we are boxing them in a build-
ing, where we tell them what to do,
choose their friends for them and ex-
pose them to books and curriculum of
our choice only. To these people I say:
“That’s not home - that’s SCHOOL”.
Home is where a child can be himself,
delve into activities of his interest, go
to the bathroom without asking per-
mission, eat when he’s hungry, pray on
time, sleep in when he’s ill, so he recov-
ers quickly, rather than worry about the
classwork and homework accumulating
during his absence at school.
Many people worry that a child, who
spends his time at home, will never
learn to obey authority (but that’s
what parents are there for!) and may
run amok like a creature of the wild,
untamed and ignorant. I beg to differ.
For any home to run smoothly, and for
We are building a home, where our
children are at home with education
and learning, regardless of the house
we put it in.
People disapprovingly point out the we surfing the net for information on the
will (s)mother our children by keeping World War II. Although there are home
them indoors. Our house is not our educators, who follow a certain curricu-
hermitage - we are not hiding our chil- lum, we have chosen to focus on our
dren from the world. We do ‘home edu- children’s abilities and help them de-
cate’, but our children’s education is not velop and polish their skills of reading,
confined to our house, nor are we, the comprehension and problem solving.
parents, their sole educators. Our kids
attend a Quran class, sports groups, a We cannot teach to our kids everything
book club and run errands outside the they want to know, but we can guide
house, interacting with and naturally them, on how to use resources (books,
learning from the real-world people the Internet, contacting people) for ac-
they meet all the time: from service quiring the knowledge they want - in
men, who visit our home, to shopkeep- short, we teach them to teach them-

5
selves. Once they are ready to study for

“
a degree, we plan to look into Karachi’s
ever popular ‘after school tuitions’ as a
resource. As for ‘mothering’ our chil-
dren, I apologize, but I cannot help it
- it is my job title; I am their mother.
I’ve learned how to speak
HOMESCHO
People have marveled at how we to adults now, because I’m
are ‘experimenting’ with our kids, always asked about why
Subhan’Allah! We question: why is
parenting considered an experiment?
I am homeschooled. At a
When a child finds a meal indigestible, scrabble competition, when
it is natural for his mother to switch I told some adults that I’m
him to easier-to-digest meals; if a sto-
rybook is beyond his comprehension, a
homeschooled, they found TEACHER SUPPLIER S

father will find for him one that’s more it mind boggling and won-
suitable for his understanding; if he is dered, if it could even be
well versed in an arithmetic concept, a
parent will obviously introduce him to
done.
another. It’s very natural - no experi- Abdullah, 13 years
menting involved.
SPIRITUAL LEADER PRINCIPAL J
Can a home educated child compete [I like being homeschooled,
with a school-going one? That depends because] we don’t get
on each child’s capability. Home edu-
cation works to provide a child with a
homework after finishing
holistic development, and his academic math.
ability is only one aspect of it. Thus, a Isa, 9 years
home educated child may be well versed
in history, hate algebra, bake wonderful

cakes, perform taekwondo and know,
which plants give goats indigestion.
We, as parents, have decided not to
hand over the responsibility for the
upbringing of our children to a school
nor wait till summer vacations to spend
time together. So to all those, who won-
der what we’re up to - we are building a
home, where our children are at home
with education and learning, regardless
of the house we put it in.
The writer is a Multitasking Organizer Teaching Home-manager Emergency-attendant
Reading-assistant to seven homeschooled children.
I like being homeschooled,
because it’s fun and we can
play with our toys after our
work.
Muadh, 7 years
You can sleep, if you’re ill,
and you won’t get shouted
at by your teacher for being
absent on an important day.
You can eat breakfast com-
fortably without worrying
you’ll be late for school and
not be allowed to enter the
gates.
Qasim, 11 years
B
ack in 2004, my wife
became interested in
alternative education.
This was influenced by
an odd incident, when her cousin
took her months-old child for reg-
istering in a posh pre-school, only
to receive in her face a shame-
ful statement: “You are late. You
should have come, when you
were expecting.” This got my wife
thinking that something was terri-
bly wrong with the whole school-
ing system and even the society
at large. Thus, started her interest
in homeschooling, which she had
come across on the net by chance.
Schooling system is a conspiracy.
Since I was already ‘into conspira-
cies’, I was totally convinced that
the society in general is being run
on very flimsy moral principles.
And regarding education, the
mushrooming private kindergar-

6
OOL DAD “ If we are the only people homeschooling in
the world, it doesn’t matter. Allah is with us.
Shanze Salman, 6 years, homeschooler

STORY TELLER ENCOURAGER

I was schooled,
but why aren’t
JUDGE & JURY LOAN OFFICER

my children?
By Salman Siddiqui

tens and pre-schools (before the child
actually enters class one) is a completely
wrong concept and has very detrimental
effects. The crucial early education of a
child, especially before the age of seven,
should not be corrupted. Hamza Yousuf
quoted a Muslim tradition: “Play with
your children till seven years and then
teach/discipline them for seven years,
and then befriend them for next seven
years, and then let them go.”
For fully appreciating the joy and wor-
thiness of homeschooling, you need to
believe in it and, once convinced, need
to practice and propagate it. I would like
to end with an interesting fact: if you
research the biographies of great men,
you would be surprised to find out that
at least for some periods in their lives,
they were homeschooled - the system-
atic corruption of their early education
was prevented.
The author is a homeschooling father of four
in UAE and very actively participates in his
children’s lives, Alhamdulillah.

Let me briefly enumerate the reasons, why we home educate or simply go against the tide:
1. Knowing that the schooling system is a conspiracy, our
guards are up.
2. Being close to parents during early education is crucial
and essential for children. All efforts need to be made to
safeguard this golden time of their life.
3. Sending small children, even as young as two-and-a-half
years, away from home environment to be with strangers
for hours does not seem very motherly/fatherly.
4. Books, articles, magazines, listening to home educators and
an appreciative understanding of Islam convinced us that
homeschooling is the right way for the early education of
our child (more so in these so-called modern times – Fitnah
times).
5. In these times, almost everything needs to be challenged at
least once and its other side explored. Alhamdulillah, we are
a bit strong-willed and are able to ‘unplug’ ourselves from
the system. This challenging extends beyond education: our
children are largely un-vaccinated, we question allopathic
medicine, use organic food alongside the regular and do not
give to children powder milk in the first two pristine years of
their life.

7
The ride of a lifetime
By Sabin Mustafa Noor

After more than a year of research, procrastination and oscillat-

ing between self-doubt and a longing for educational freedom,
I finally took the leap of withdrawing my two daughters from
school and starting homeschooling them. We started off a bit
shaky, figuring out a routine, selecting our books and methods,
scrutinizing other families to see how they manage.
Photography: Mikhaella Ismail

Now, it’s awesome! We start lessons at nine or ten in the morn-

ing and still have the comfort of having learnt something spe-
cial in our early hours of frolic. We go on vacations (have done
so twice since homeschooling) and still know that we are gain-
ing knowledge that may not be in books. We revel in learning
from experiences: whether we sing Nasheeds on our duffs, go
to late-night weddings to see different people and cultures or

“
even argue, solve disputes, make mistakes.

We’re early-birds. Hajrah, my five-year-old, loves to be woken

We thrive in our newfound
liberty, learning beyond text-
books and curriculums.
up at Fajr in the dark! We go out, when “the sky is still purple”,
according to Hajrah. There’s an uncle, who brings six kilos of
Bajra (millet) to the Masjid ground every day. Hundreds of our
pigeon friends snack and fly in whirling patterns. We try hard to
figure their leader - they are so synchronised! The eagles have
their own separate assembly. We have a women’s park next to
the Masjid, where the girls go on climbing frames and collect
rocks for the aquarium, feathers for quills, leaves and flowers
for drying and taping to their nature notebook. They talk to
nice old ladies, who are amused to see the frisky pair.

When the girls’ Nana leaves the Masjid after Salat-Adduha,

we join him on the walk home. We have tea and absorb the
knowledge he shares until eight thirty.

Book Shopping
By Atefa Jamal
Books on shelves, on bedside tables, under a pillow and
in a coat pocket - such is the norm for many a home
educating family. We read, because it’s an unquench-
able thirst. So if you need a textbook, a thrilling novel
or unique biography, hunt down the nearest home
educator and let them guide you to their many oases
of books. Here’s a few places we frequent and tips to
keep in mind, when on the prowl:
 Home-surfing
By Noor Bhurgari

After breakfast, we do our lessons. Ouch, that part sounds

http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.
dreary! It’s quite like playtime, really. No rules, except those of
com/
regular good manners. Asiyah, the three-year-old, sometimes
Talibiddeen Jr. is a great blog of
demands her books after her afternoon nap, thinking it’s morn-
a homeschooling Muslim mom
ing! I have a few core subjects: English, Arabic and math. We
of nine children. She shares her
learn concepts and practice as we please.
home education resources, which
she finds on the Internet or
We thrive in our newfound liberty, learning beyond textbooks
makes herself. You can subscribe
and curriculums. Recently, we were discussing opposites. To-
to her blog to receive frequent
day, Hajrah announced: “Synonym is the opposite of antonym.
updates. She has tons of wonder-
Antonym is a synonym for opposite.” Masha’Allah, it took me
ful resources.
a few moments to process this after our usual words like ‘wide’
and ‘narrow’, ‘quick’ and ‘fast’!
http://www.homehearts.com/
Hajrah has a “What I Think” notebook and one for math in-
toolbox/toolbox.html
vestigation, in which she records her number related observa-
Dr. Ruth Beechick is a skilled
tions. Asiyah learns along, as she pleases. We took our telescope
teacher and curriculum developer,
to Khanaspur near Ayyubia for two weeks of stargazing. We do
who happens to think that home
Islamic history; we’ve covered stories of around ten prophets.
is the best place to learn. This
Their father Ahsan teaches them money wisdom. We do social
website is a great place for parents
studies mapping our travels. We rope skip, hula hoop and do
considering homeschooling. It has
kids’ workouts. We plant seeds, build ant farms, make pizzas
an overview of teaching methods,
and cakes.
such as Charlotte Mason, clas-
sical, etc., and includes a lot of
Our daily routine is still evolving and I imagine it will remain
resources on how to get started.
so, as long as there are different ideas we need to explore. We
sometimes skip the day’s lessons to do something special. We
don’t distinguish our weekends too much. After all, every day is
Websites that contain free online
fun relaxing, every day is fun learning!
worksheets:
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
The writer homeschools two children and is a freelance software engineer.
http://www.enchantedlearn-
ing.com/Home.html
http://www.abcteach.com/
ideas.
Defence Sunday Bachat Bazaar: a Stalls near the Expo Center
popular haunt, but we, ‘homies’, go (Gulshan-e-Iqbal): opposite of Bait- The writer is a homeschooling
beyond Fear Street and Dora, the Explorer, ul-Mukaram Masjid, these are open mom of three active and crea-
which are displayed and priced accord- all week, from around 11.30 am till tive kids, 9, 5, and 3.
ing to their popularity, to move around late night. Lots of sifting needed for
the piles of books, uncovering such exciting books, but the stalls’ owners
gems as Beatrix Potter (great for future can easily retrieve more popular books.
veterinarians), old prints of Dr. Suess’s Inform them about a particular topic
beginner books, which are not found you seek (science, geography, mystery),
in local, stores and Horrible Histories - a and they’ll pile the appropriate books in
humorous guide of ancient civilizations front of you. They buy old books too.
for kids. Caution: Book sprees can warp Bargaining is the name of their game,
all sense of time, so do not include it on but even if you do not, their prices are
a grocery trip. reasonable.

The writer is a Library Stockist for her seven potential book-aholics. 9

 HOME EDUCATION INSIGHT

How children learn

By Shirin bint Johari

W
hen I was first given cause I wanted for my children a more sa’s experiments with a portable electric
a copy of John Holt’s generous and fulfilling education than typewriter – she was curious, as to the
How Children Learn, I the one I had had – one that I had be- machine’s inner workings, and learnt,
was loath to give it more come disillusioned with. Why then was I how to make it work and what to do,
than a scant perusal. I had read a few so afraid of reading Holt’s works? Was it when the keys became stuck. Most
articles by and about the man, who was because I had been so conditioned that parents would either put the typewriter
the first to coin the term “unschooling” I could not even entertain anything less out of reach or give the child explicit in-
and generally considered as one of the than complete structure in learning and structions for its use. Holt, on the other
early instigators of homeschool move- teaching? I finally decided to give How hand, recommended neither.
ment, but I had distanced myself from Children Learn a good read, and I have no
reading his works qualms in admit- He maintained that it is better to teach
in depth. ting that it was a children, how to treat things carefully
long time com- and respectfully, rather than to rob them
Born, raised and ing – the book is of an exercise in curiosity. As Holt right-
schooled in Sin- nothing short of ly pointed out: “One of Maria Montes-
gapore, I had had enlightening, not sori’s many valuable contributions to
a rigid education. to mention to- education was that she showed that
As an adult, I had tally in line with very little children could easily be taught
enough of the my aspirations to move, not just exuberantly, but also
adventurer in me for my children. deftly, precisely, gently.”
to wish for an al- Holt’s book is a
ternative for my profound col- He strongly advocated allowing children
children, but still lection of his to experiment, struggle and improvise
a product enough obser vations ,with little interference. Lisa’s younger
of my youth to about how chil- brother Tommy, when about 3 or 4,
feel unsettled dren learn. He for example, “hated to be taught” the
with the ideas of watched with fas- alphabets. Danny, aged 2-and-a-half,
Holt. Let my child cination, as they tore down the models that his father
have carte blanche tinkered with and Holt had built out of Cuisenaire
over what, when, various equip- rods. Holt concluded that when in-
where, how and ments; he played struction and help is unasked for, the
how much they want to learn? Come with them pa- underlying message given to children is
on! tiently, as they created their own games that they are not smart enough to learn
and rules, and he celebrated their every something on their own. Competence
It didn’t sit well with me, though, this achievement with delight. models can sometimes undermine their
prejudice. The very reason, why I had self-esteem, for it emphasises the divide
always wanted to homeschool was be- He was absorbed by 16-month-old Li- between their abilities and those of the

10

“
We don’t see our children for the passionate and
imaginative people they are and, instead, worry
about their future economic worth.
adult. How many times have we heard
children say frustratingly: “You know so
much and I don’t!”?
Holt believed that children learn best,
when the lessons and work are meaning-
ful. Reading can be facilitated by good
literature, rather than simplistic (and
thus, insulting) books. Art can be pleas-
urable with quality materials. Practical
skills can be better acquired by working
alongside with adults.
Holt’s book should not entail a leap
of faith – we as parents and educators
should already have faith in our children.
They will learn, God willing, if we give
them the opportunity to do so, with-
out fear. They will try, God willing, and
succeed, if we learn to recognise their
strengths and do not despair. Holt gave
the example of a supposed ‘hopeless’
student, who became a successful com-
mercial photographer: when she first
took up serious photography at about
age 14, she “learned in a few months,
because she needed it, all the arithmetic
she had never been able to learn in ten
years of school”. Holt advised patience
and loving guidance alongside this trust
– when children are frustrated, we need
to know when to “draw back, take off
the pressure, reassure them, console
them, give them time to regain – as in
time they will – enough energy and cour-
age to go back to the task.”
Holt presented many examples of chil-
dren working in various settings – some
readers have told me that they found this
a little dry, but I think it speaks a great
deal of the deep interest he had in mak-
ing learning truly fulfilling for children.
What shines through in his detailed and
painstaking recordings is the genuine ap-
preciation and respect that he had for
children, despite not having had any of
his own.
This enchantment he had, I believe, is
something many of us, anxious parents,
seem to have lost in our pursuit to give
our children the best in terms of learn-
ing. We hustle them along, exhort them
to work harder, convinced they can do
better and, in the end, lose track of our
initial good intentions. We don’t see our
children for the passionate and imagina-
tive people they are and, instead, worry
about their future economic worth. Holt
reminded us that children learn best,
when we understand our roles as gentle
facilitators, and when they are free to
make mistakes, without having their self-
worth squashed.
I came away from Holt’s How Children
Learn with a deeper love for and trust in
my children. Trust indeed is what John
“
Holt reiterated in his book. I leave you
I came away from Holt’s How Children Learn
with a deeper love for and trust in my children.
Other books by John Holt:
How Children Fail
What Do I Do Monday?
Escape From Childhood
Freedom and Beyond
The Underachieving School
Instead of Education
Never Too Late
Teach Your Own
Learning All the Time
with a powerful quote from his book,
which sums up, how children learn:
In my mind’s ear, I can hear the anxious
voices of a hundred teachers asking
me: “How can you tell, how can you be
sure what the children are learning, or
even that they are learning anything?”
The answer is simple. We can’t tell. We
can’t be sure. What I am trying to say
about education rests on a belief that,
though there is much evidence to sup-
port it, I cannot prove, and that may
never be proved. Call it a faith. This
faith is that man is by nature a learning
animal. Birds fly, fish swim, man thinks
and learns. Therefore, we do not need
to “motivate” children into learning, by
wheedling, bribing, or bullying. We do
not need to keep picking away at their
minds to make sure they are learning.
What we need to do, and all we need
to do is bring as much of the world as
we can into the school and the class-
room; give children as much help and
guidance as they need and ask for; listen
respectfully when they feel like talking;
and then get out of the way. We can
trust them to do the rest.
Shirin has been homeschooling her 2 book-mad
daughters for 9 years and blogs at http://im-
aan.net/makingmemories in her free time.
11
 OUR COMMUNITY MENTORS

MENTORING
What circumstances and what goes on in schools. And they
A VETERAN HOME- thought processes led you to realized that they are more privileged
move away from traditional than deprived....this realization came to
SCHOOLER & EDUCA- methods of education for each one of my children at the age of
your children? seven years. Look, children miss what’s
TIONAL PSYCHOLO- Rote memorization. The traditional natural. They would miss water, food,
GIST, Rayed Afzal is schooling in Pakistan is good at making
children memorize and reproduce.
play, experimentation, etc., and you are
providing them with all that at home.
father to six home- Are there any lifestyle chang-
Whereas the school is missing all this
so they don’t miss it.
schooled girls. In es involved, when families
decide to take charge of their What activities were and are
an exclusive email children’s education?
Definitely. There are two. You can’t
still a part of your daily rou-
tine with children?
interview to Home- have a very nicely arranged home to
impress others. I mean the crystal deco-
There are three major ones:
1. Readings and writings of Urdu and
Works, he talks to ration and glass table tops have nothing
to do with home education. Our house
English; 2. Arts and crafts;
3. Physical exercise and play. Then
Umm Sofya about looks like a part workshop, part class-
room and part playland. The second
there is math and visits, which are not
done everyday, but they are there.
the home education change is your social life. There’s not
much time to chat on the phone. You What factors did you consid-
journey of his have to get involved and that means
skipping the soap on Zee TV!
er, while designing the cur-
riculum for your
family. At any point in time, did
children?
It is mostly around the
your children miss development of
school or a formal reading
institution of learn-
ing?
Now, that’s an interest-
ing question. I always
thought in the begin-
ning that they would.
But they didn’t. I was
surprised. Then, I re-
alized that they were
happier and more
comfortable listening
from others about

12
 “
SUCCESS
and writing skills and creativity and
fitness. Individual differences come
with the kind of things you’d like to
read and write, your favorite medium/
material for arts/crafts and the way you
do physical exercise. Just one example
related to exercise. One of my children
likes yoga, the other enjoys running
up and down the stairs for twenty
minutes, while the third takes interest
in aerobics.
What skills did you make sure
your children acquire, in or-
der to become self learners?
There are three: reading, reading and
reading. Well, let’s have physical fitness
at numbers four and five. Most people
don’t realize, but many children today
are not self learners, because they are
not fit physically.
At what stages do you test
your children?
At the end of class three and then five.
Basically, you keep checking on the
quality of reading, writing and math-
ematics, till they reach class eighth level.
Then, they start preparing for ‘O’ levels.
Some people are of the view
that parents need to be highly
educated to home educate
their children. What do you
think?
My wife is intermediate-pass, and she
barely made it with passing grades. She
got some training on how to develop
reading, writing and creativity of chil-
dren, and that’s about it. From class
three onwards, you don’t interfere - they
are learning independently. Each of
my children has language proficiency at
least five times better than their mother,
Masha’Allah. And their mother is proud
of that fact.
Is there anything I’ve left out,
which you’d like to share with
the prospective home educa-
tors?
The most important component of
homeschooling is a library. Our library
has 650 books and growing. My eldest
one, who is fourteen now, has read each
one of the 650, Masha’Allah. Another
thing to keep in mind is traveling. My
children have traveled across the coun-
try by road, and I’m not talking just
about looking out of the car window.
They have stayed long enough at vari-
ous places to observe and reflect.
Umm Sofya is a homeschooling mother of a
three-year-old girl.
Safia Rayed,the eldest
daughter, shares her
thoughts about her education.
At what age did you realize you
are going through a different
process of learning?
At the age of six. That was when
people were surprised that I am
being homeschooled. I went to
school till class one, but after the
summer holidays, I left the school
and started home education.
Did you ever miss going to
school?
Sometimes....because of friends,
but then I enjoyed reading any-
thing I liked.
Have you been following a strict
curriculum throughout?
No, I did not. I have been reading
different books. Every new book
is tough in the beginning, but after
a few days, I begin to understand,
and it becomes easy.
Which areas of learning did your
parents stress on the most?
When I was five, they used to
stress on cutting and pasting,
but, when I was ten years old, my
parents’ emphasis was on reading.
Now, I am fourteen and am free
to do and learn from whatever I
feel like.
What keeps you busy these days?
I am doing ‘O’ levels in sociology,
which keeps me busy most of the
time. I do not take tuitions, but
the Internet is a great help. Next, I
plan to do ‘A’ level psychology.
How do you think being away
from school has benefited you?
Homeschooling has benefited
me in many ways. I got the time
to learn many skills, such as pot
making and yoga (I am teach-
ing yoga, too), we opened many
engines and electronic items with
the help of my parents. We don’t
have summer or winter vacations,
so learning never stops.
13
 OUR COMMUNITY UPDATES
Mums & Tots
By Sadaf Farooqi
Nothing works more in favor of any
budding homeschooling community
than an active support network, which
provides reassurance, solace, feedback
from other families and answers to any
questions that members might have.
Mums & Tots is a biweekly activity held
within the home education commu-
“
By getting together
casually, without any
scheduled activity or
meeting agenda,
mothers get the
chance to interact in a
homely environment...
A toddler unleashing her creativity at a
Mums & Tots session
Bookworms Book Club
By Laila Brence
On Wednesday mornings, our home fills
with little people, eager to hear the next
story we have in store for them. They all
are members of Bookworms Book Club – a
weekly gathering of five to ten years olds,
who come together for enjoying a story
and doing an arts and crafts activity.
Bookworms Book Club was founded in
January, 2010, and has been successfully
running ever since. The weekly session
lasts from 10.30 am till 12.00 pm. Some
children get dropped while others are ac-
companied by their mothers and young-
14
nity of Karachi. As the name suggests,
mothers and their children get together
at a family’s residence on a weekday
morning for two to three hours, bring-
ing along a light snack for munchkins to
munch on. There is no age limit for the
children - even babies are welcome!
By getting together casually, without any
scheduled activity or meeting agenda,
mothers get the chance to interact in a
homely environment, whether they are
active homeschoolers or simply home-
bound new mothers, looking to socialize
with other mothers and have some fun.
Through Mums & Tots gatherings, I have
met many lovely Muslim sisters and their
wonderful children. After each session,
my children feel rejuvenated and happy,
thoroughly enjoying the company of
children of different ages and the dot-
ing love they receive from the attendees.
Since everyone brings along a snack,
the hostess is not burdened more than
providing her home as the venue of the
session. After the session culminates,
er siblings. There are about ten to fifteen
regular members, with some others visit-
ing from time to time. During summer,
the number grew substantially, as the
school-going kids could also join in. For
a few sessions, the book club even had
visitors from Bangalore (India) – Uzair
and Umair, who spent their school vaca-
tion with their Nani in Karachi!
Initially, the stories were read to children
by Umm Uzair. However, as the time
passes, kids themselves take more and
more charge of the book club - nowa-

mums and tots help clear up the food,
books, toys or other materials, teaching
the young minds the fruit of teamwork
and compassion.
As opposed to a controlled school en-
vironment, where children cannot be
themselves and are clustered into the
same clothes and same-age groups un-
der tight scrutiny, arriving and leaving at
fixed times, with their teachers cleaning
up after them, when they’re gone, the bi-
weekly Mums & Tots session provides a
wonderfully relaxing learning and bond-
ing opportunity in a natural, real-life en-
vironment. Children learn to get along
with people of all ages.
So, when are you and your children at-
tending our next Mums & Tots session?
Sadaf Farooqi is a homeschooling mother of
a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy based
in Karachi, and also writes freelance for a few
Islamic publications.
days, even a line has formed, as to who
would be reading the next story to his/
her friends. From time to time, some of
the bigger kids volunteer to write the
summaries of the stories, which Umm
Uzair then uploads to the book club’s
blog (http://www.karachi-bookworms.
blogspot.com). After the story, kids do
an arts and crafts activity, which is fol-
lowed by snacks and some play-time,
until it’s time to leave.
The author is a homeschooling mother of two
and senior editor of Hiba Magazine.
TRIP TO N’ECO’S
By Zukhruf Adil Osawala, 10 years, homeschooler
A trip was organized by the
home education group to
N’eco’s cafe and store which
begins from the organic store
where there were natural and
organic items shampoo, per-
fumes, soaps, room sprays,
flour, desi eggs sun flower
seeds etc.
Marium aunty who was the
incharge of our trip told us
that organic means in which Watching the chef make muffins.
no chemical pesticides and
chemical fertilizers are used,
only grown with natural
fertilizer and pesticides like
tobacco are used, which
doesn’t harm to our health.
Then we marched up and
headed towards the kitchen
and met with baker and chefs.
After that we made muffins
and we scooped them in the
baking tray.
Our treat of a cupcake and chocolate milk.
In the end we had a treat of
cup cakes and tinny glass of
chocolate milk, which we re-
ally enjoyed.
Photography: Sadaf Farooqi
Organic products on display at N’eco’s Natural Cafe.
15

AML
Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder
Ahsan Memorial Library’s (AML)
vision is to be a catalyst of change
for success in both worlds through
the development of a network of
knowledge based institutions (www.
ahsanmemorial.org).
On Sundays, AML holds Learn to
Learn (L2L) club sessions, which offer
to children activities at the science
corner, skills center, arts corner and
hyde park. During L2L sessions, AML
holds workshops for parents. Compu-
ter and science labs, workshop, library,
play area, auditorium, meeting rooms
and lecture halls at AML form an
excellent Learners’ Resource Center
for alterntive schooling.
Workshops for youth Inspiration to
Leadership and Excelarating Growth
Consultants focus on career vision,
personality development as well as
leadership and communication skills.
The Quran Society holds regular
events for spiritual nourishment,
while The Society of Iqbal Studies
organizes workshops by Khurram Ali
Shafique, Iqbal scholar, writer and
researcher of Iqbal Academy.
Huzabra Farms in Islamabad, a future
project of AML, will offer to families
outdoors experiences, bringing them
close to the sources of sustenance.
The writer is a leading educationist with a
vision to drive the nation towards excellence
in professional and personal achievements.
Books, puzzles & a microscope placed in shelf
16
OUR COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
All
By Laila Brence
W
hen the coolness set
in and I took out from
storage woolen socks,
Uzair added a new game
to the endless list of his own invented
entertainment. As soon as I was out of
“
sight, Uzair with his sister Hafsa took
off the socks, threw them at the ceiling
fan, until they got stuck up there, then,
switched on the fan and ran all over the
room catching the flying socks. What a
Eight-year-old Uzair fun it was! Then just like all Uzair’s other
games, also this one got a name: Sock-
is always overflowing catchers 2.
with ideas for new Eight-year-old Uzair is always overflow-
ing with ideas for new games. And not
games. And not only only games – he enjoys writing his own
stories, making illustrations for them and
games – he enjoys working on art projects. In his outdoor
playtime, Uzair likes to collect seeds
writing his own stories, from the neighbors’ plants and secretly
poke them into the soil of our pots,
making illustrations for leaving me later on wondering, what
those new tiny sprouts will turn into. He
them and working on has time for it. His day is not planned
out for him till every last minute, as it
art projects. often happens with the school-going
kids. We have chosen to educate Uzair
and his sister Hafsa at home.
In the morning, Uzair sits down for a
couple hours of studies. We usually start
with a history or science reading, fol-
lowed by activities based on them. Then,
Uzair picks his English or math work-
books, which he insists on doing “all
by himself ”, because “he is big enough
and doesn’t need anybody to teach him”.
by himself
English grammar is a smooth sailing for
him, as he has developed love for the
written word. Uzair himself selects the
books for his silent reading. He turns to
me, however, with questions, if some
math concept is beyond his reach. He
does not have any homework. He does
not have tests. His consistent progress is
a good enough proof that he is manag-
ing well.
As Uzair grows older, we are happy to see
him take more and more charge of his
own studies. In fact, our goal is just that–
to see him responsible for his own learn-
ing, with us remaining in the background
as his guiding mentors and advisors.
In the afternoon, Uzair has his Quran
studies. Both kids have also their own Is-
lamic studies journals, where they record
the topics we discuss. Two evenings per
week, father works with them on their
Urdu – they read together storybooks,
learn new vocabulary and work on writ-
ing exercises. At bedtime, kids never for-
get to ask me to read a story for them.
And that’s how the day ends.
Although we have defined certain educa-
tional goals for Uzair, the load of studies
never weighs on him too heavy. We do
not want to kill his natural inquisitive-
ness by unnecessary drills - when stud-
ies become a chore, the real learning
gets hindered. We hope that sooner or
later Uzair will discover, what exactly he
wants to do with his life; then, we will
help him go in that direction.
Besides studies, Uzair’s days are also
filled with practical activities, as we want
to see him develop into a balanced and
confident person. Uzair has his own
house chores, and his father guides him
in dealing with the reality outside the
home: they go together for vegetable
and meat shopping and visit the local
drycleaner, milk shop and Roti bakers.
Uzair especially likes to work with his
father on carpentry projects. As a fam-
ily, we built and painted for kids their
very own sandbox. Whenever a carpen- Uzair learning science through experience.
ter visits our home, Uzair is always busy
experimenting with nails, different tools
and leftover pieces of wood. Even the
kitchen affairs are not alien to him. Be-
lieve it or not, Uzair can make his own
Roti, which does blow up in cooking! He
helps also with cleaning green-peas, cut-
ting Bhindi and peeling boiled eggs and
potatoes.
Living in a joint family home with
sometimes endless streams of guests
has helped Uzair to learn interaction
with people of any age - he can equally
well entertain visiting babies and elderly Making illustrations for his own stories is
aunties. I see this as one of the most Uzair’s passion.
positive sides of homeschooling – since
he has not been confined to sitting in a What would Uzair want to be, when he
classroom with his own age kids only, grows up? He has plenty of ideas on
his playmates are kids of any age. Due to that! First of all, he would like to have
spending the entire days with his sister his very own restaurant called Pizza Pie,
Hafsa, he has developed a really good re- where along with pizzas he would sell
lationship with her. Although sometimes the most delicious pies. He would also
they do fight, just like any other brother like to be a ninja, a writer and an artist.
and sister, most of the time, they are As parents, we hope and pray that some
great play-buddies. day all his dreams do come true.
17
 FAMILY TIME ACTIVE LEARNERS

Visit to the Goat care

bull yard By Ibn Piranis, homeschoolers

By Musab Adil Osawala, 8 years,

homeschooler

The night before going to

the bull yard my father told
me so I was very excited be-
cause it was the first time for
me to go to bull mandi. My
mother make a bag for me,
she put biscuits for me to eat
and a bottle for me to drink
water. Then I did breakfast
then at 8 o’clock me and my
uncle started our journey. We
went to the halwa-pori shop
as my uncle and every body
else who were coming with us
hadn’t done their breakfast.

Then we went to my father’s

cousin’s house and took him
and then went to the bull
yard there we saw there a
complete set up for cows and
bulls. There we saw black and
white bull and different types
and color bulls. The size of
the bull and cows also vary
some were giant some were
small and some medium.
Some cows and bulls have
very big horns; one of them
was injured and was white in
color. There I also saw a cow
being milked and
that was the spot
where I liked
one bull and I
bought it and
we brought
the bull at
home in
a big
van.
Illustration by Imaan Kazmi, 9 years, homeschooler
As Eid has just passed by, Isa (age 9), Muadh (age 7) and Hibatullah (age 5) have nar-
rated the following observations to keep in mind when caring for your sacrifical goats:
1. Do not give them light green leaves to eat, otherwise they will
get motions.
2. You should give them dal (pulses) and then after two hours give
them water, (you can feed them again after an hour) but do not
give it to them together otherwise they can get sick.
3. Do not put the really big chains around their necks because the
big ones are for cows.
4. Take them out for some sun.
5. Take them for a walk in the evenings.
6. Don’t lose them, sometimes they run very fast and sometimes
they are slow. They can trick you; they can act like they are not
running and walk slowly and then when you leave the rope they
run away.
7. Hold the rope tight but do not pull it hard.
8. Do not let them eat plants from other people’s gardens, other-
wise they will get angry.
9. Be careful not to hurt them.
10. Don’t lose the goats.
11. Don’t let them see other goats being sacrificed because they get
scared. Our Prophet Muhammed  did not like us to cut an
animal in front of another.

18
Horseback riding
By Haadiyah Sajid, 8 years, homeschooler
I
am Haadiyah Sajid, a horse
crazy homeschooler! Would
you like to know how I devel-
oped my fantastic riding and
my extreme love for horses?
Well, here’s the story!
It all started from small fun rides at Is-
lamabad zoo where me and my younger
sister Aymun used to ride together at
the same horse. We were 3 and 2 years
old at that time.
Two years later we found about a small
riding place. It was rough and simple.
Me and my sister faced some tough
situations there. Still, we were very
eager to learn! My dad, being a rider
himself, tried to coach us. Then
luckily we found out about Islamabad
Riding Club – a professional place.
Photography: Raimi Radzi
With proper riding kit, we started tak-
ing regular lessons there, going through
different stages of training. We learned
to trot, canter and gallop. There were
some scary moments like when Ay-
mun’s horse threw her on ground, but
we never gave up. Soon our little sister
Hanaa also joined us. We made friends
with horses feeding them every time.
Now, me (8) and Aymun (7) can ride
alone. Hanaa (2 ½) still needs a lead
rope. We all love horses. Did you know
that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) also
liked horses? We’ve made a poster of
Ahadis regarding horses. And we loved
learning Surah Aadiyat too!
Being a rider is awe-
some! You learn
to be brave and
strong and to be kind to animals when
they misbehave. Most of all, it’s enjoy-
able and useful - what if one day there
is no fuel for cars? Or we have to join
a battle?
We ‘ve collected loads of books on
horses and have loved learned about
them … breeds, grooming, health, fit-
ness, races, behaviors. We also made a
stable with all facilities for our rocking
horse Leeza ! It’s so much fun pretend-
ing the horse play with our friends!. Re-
cently I started a club called PonyLove
for new learners – we have books, post-
ers, models and drawings – even Pony-
Love quizzes, badges and certificates !
In future, I wish to start a riding school
for Muslim girls – where my mom has
promised to be my first student !
19
 Labeled slow, Thomas Edison had to leave school.

Furious at the teacher for calling him slow, Mrs. Edison pulled her son out of school and decided to
teach him herself. Obviously, then everyone thought she was stupid for defending a poor student.
Edison probably didn’t foresee the bright future either.

At a later stage, one of the most prolific inventors said: “My mother was the making of me. She was
so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”

Imagine what a loss it would be to the world, if Edison had stayed on in school and believed what his
teachers said. The world may not have seen the light of many great inventions.

HOMEWORKS is part of the education revolution that’s creating pioneers. Leaders. Geniuses.
HOMEWORKS might not have an Edison in the making. But something even better.

a support and resource group for home education

HOMEWORKS www.homeworks.com.pk