Keeping it simple and sunnah

By Ozma Um Omar

There are so many thoughts that come to mind when homeschooling... Am I doing it right? Will my kids be ok? Will they miss out on things we did? Will they be able to integrate later? and so on.

I must admit, it puts one into a dilemma at times.

But, as I have learnt from peers, one has to have a firm belief in what one does. This firm belief doesn't necessarily stem from one's educational background or lack of it, nor from one's management skills etc. it actually stems from one's knowledge of one's deen or way of life.

For us, our way of life is the sunnah of our Prophet SaliAllaahu aliyhewasalam.

Our deen lays emphasis on preparing for the journey of parenthood, even before the child is born. The parents need to 'educate' themselves on the art of bringing up kids in the way wanted by Allaah swt, through the sunnah of His Prophet SaliAllaahu aliyhewasalam.

There are rules to follow throughout the birth and upbringing of children. When they start talking, their first words need to be the Kalima.. We teach them the names of Allaah, tawheed, and the sunnah ways of eating and drinking and using the toilet etc. These are the things that are going to mould them into successful individuals.

The books, writing, skills and activities etc will all fall in place when the foundation is strong. They remember to say Bismillaah before starting, they pray to Allaah when they don't understand, or when they need anything.

They see the signs of the Creator in studying history, geography, science etc.

The sunnah ways of keeping healthy and clean supersede all that they can learn in pdhpe. Addition and subtraction are based on concepts of good deeds versus bad deeds.

They learn to live by the Quran and Sunnah, and not only end up memorising some or the whole Quran.

They grow up to learn that they are not meant to achieve skills for themselves, but they are meant to use those skills to get others closer to the deen of Allaah.

I could go on, but I think I have crossed the word limit.

In the end, when one works for deen to get Duniya, even his deen will be considered duniya. Whereas when one works in duniya for the sake of akhirah, all his efforts will be considered for the akhirah. May Allaah help us and our children reap the fruits of the akhirah.

Um Omar

Ozma