Asalamu’alaykum ladies, how are you? Personally, I look forward to Tuesday’s because it’s mid-week for us, meaning things get a little less intense from Wednesday onwards, Alhamdulillah.

Onto today’s topic, staying close to our home in our muslim homeschool.

Well – all I mean is making our home, our circumstances, our children, our family structure, at the forefront of any decisions we make in our muslim homeschools.

Now, you would think that must be an obvious thing to do, because it is homeschool at the end of the day, we are with our children most of the day, we teach them largely at home, we do so much together; but actually, if we don’t make a conscious effort to do this, it’s easy to lose sight of what we have in front of us, especially when we are bombarded with so much information around us.

Which Alhamdulillah is of course a wonderful thing, but at the same time, we have to be mindful of what, if anything, we do need in the first place.

So, reminding ourselves to stay close to OUR home in this day and age especially is so important, and really a good reminder to pin or save at this time of year, because it’s likely that you’ve just begun a new homeschool year, or even if you’ve homeschooled all year round, you’ve had at least some time, or school hasn’t looked the same because you’ve been enjoying the summer.

So, at this point in the year, it’s likely that you’re feeling pretty focused, clear in your homeschool vision, and mentally and physically you and the kids are raring to go and eager to get back into your homeschool routine right? For homeschool mothers, there’s only so much time you have off before you and the kids want to dive back in!

But often what CAN happen is, that as the initial excitement wears off and things settle down, and as you begin to see and hear what everyone else is doing, it can sometimes make that initial clarity foggy, and we can start to think that perhaps…

we’re not doing enough.

we’re not doing what they’re doing so we might be doing something wrong.

we don’t HAVE enough resources.

or that we need to BUY more to make our homeschool more fun etc.

We can begin to feel like our own Muslim homeschools are deficient in some way- and really actually belittle all the hard work we put into planning when we had time off to curate a homeschool that had OUR families at the forefront.

And this is when the initial urge to leave our homeschools, and to wander off to fill those voids can start.

So, you might pop over to someone else’s homeschool, be it virtually, and take ideas on what they’re doing which actually interfere with your families’ priorities.

Or you feel like you’re homeschool is not rigid or thorough enough so you head over to the public school and find out what they’re up to, injecting that into your homeschool, which makes it feel like school at home, not homeschool.

Or you might end up on Pinterest and get lost in a sea of boards and pins which once you’re in, is hard to climb out of!

Right!

But I want to remind myself and you ladies – that seeking inspiration for our homeschool, or ideas for our homeschool, needn’t stem from a place of feeling our homeschools are not good enough.

Because

you know your children like no one else.

You know the ins and outs of your families needs.

You know YOUR unique circumstances.

You know ALL these things. And so when you planned your year, month or week, which was likely not long ago, you had those things in MIND. They didn’t suddenly just disappear out of sight – you planned for YOUR family!

So we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss all that hard work.

And so, if you are starting to feel like what you’re doing isn’t good enough – go back to your plans and the reasons WHY you chose what you did.

Because…

Maybe you didn’t choose that fancy new curriculum that you saw another sister using, because it was too fussy to put together in a season of life that’s already full.

Or you don’t start academics till the afternoon because Islamic studies and Qur’an take morning priority.

Or your kids don’t even enjoy crafty things though they look cute!

Look into now what you choose – but your REASONS for why you chose them.

And the reason I’m mentioning this now is to be mindful of falling into this trap a few weeks into your new year.

Where you feel the urge to replan your ENTIRE year.

Or start buying this you really DON’T need.

Or even that habitually start your day off by looking at what everyone else is doing, rather than being fully present in your own life.

These are all signs that you’re wandering away from your own homeschool – and that you probably need to come back and stay a little closer to home.

Because ultimately, we should look for ideas and inspiration from a place of enrichment not always filling a gap. Because our homeschools are usually wholesome enough already in sha Allah.

And if after you go back to the drawing board and you still feel something could be improved upon in your homeschool which is fine too – find out what it is first before you seek that help.

What do I mean by that? I mean don’t let social media, a blog post, or an article decide that for you straight away in an instant. Pinpoint it first by taking some time to reflect.

Once you’ve pinpointed it, then go ahead and look for those solutions.

Because when you’ve looked internally, rather than started externally…

You’ll know what you need, so you’ll look in the RIGHT places in sha Allah.

You’ll know how much you need, so you’ll be mindful to stop when you have enough.

You’ll be clear about what you need, so you’ll choose something knowing it will work for your family in sha Allah.

In a nutshell, keep your homeschool simple and enriching by recognising that you have plenty Alhamdulillah, And remind yourself that your time, energy and even finances were at the forefront of YOUR mind when you planned so your plan is uniquely customised already.

And that even if things aren’t quite going as planned – find out what you need first instead of falling into the trap of letting someone else decide that for you.

Share your thoughts and reflections on this post by leaving a comment below, and we’ll catch up soon in sha Allah.