First day gone

Alhamdulillah our first day of homeschool had past now. At first I was feeling a bit of pressure. I wanted to make sure everything run smooth and of course it's not as I want. I wanted for all of them to do three subject of academic but ended up doing two only. But, we did in between sit and have a chat about motivation, the important of learning, need to give me corporation and boost their own self.

I get them to sit and write about what they dream of, their target and ambition. Than I get them to write down what they need to do to achieve their target and how. As we chat, I did two way communication where I talk and ask them question and get them to think. A shock answer as AS answer me when I ask about what we need to do to achieve our dream. He answer is' " to listen to ummi and work hard." he's only 5 but pretty much understand the life and what i'm chatting about! He sound pretty much like me. Full of motivation, love learning and know why.

I'm also told them the story of my self where I used to homeschool. My mum only bought me a whole set of distance learning and leave me to it. I had no t.v or computer let alone internet. I had small amount of resource and learning tool but I get a good mark in exam as someone who homeschool and taken 8 subject. Plus all the pressure why I had to stay home from others and my own confusion of why can't I go to school as I love learning...I manage to pull my self every time and very much frustrated when I get my result as I know I'm actually did last minute study and can actually do better than that. Although, the result is not far from my cousin who went to a good school and had a personal tutor come to the house.

I told my children what make me succeed is because I had target and I had full motivation in my self and I don't like to be a loser. For me, every body been given the same brain, it's up to us if we gonna used it or not. If only our dream going to be left as dream or we work on it and let it become true dream. Nor me nor hubby can actually give their dream to come true. I can help them by providing them tools they needed, resource, help from me my self, but at the end of the day, it's their choice. If they want their future to be bright and their dream to come true than they have to wake themselves and show me that they have a courage to go for it. I won't be barge them all the time. It's not worth for me to shout, tell them off and etc on learning. I had nobody did that plus I had no help at all, no tutor, no teacher and not even encouragement from family. But, I want it and I want to prove that I want to learn, I love learning and my courage won't be stop by anything. If we want something , it doesn't matter what challenge been put on us, we will get through it by any means. That's what I've done, and that's prove to me and had become important things when I work.

From only after a year with intention to help financial support and don't have any ambition to step into more challenging role in work place, I been given promotion after promotion. With my veil, my success is only because my courage, my motivation that I have which put me through everything and make me a quick and independent learner, enable to squeeze my self in any situation and more important things is I can easily work under strong pressure. From my experience, it does show me that what employer was looking not qualification or big certificate. But desire to learn, to work hard under any condition and that will make one a success anywhere they go. It did prove to me when I used to work where a person with master degree in electrical couldn't do the work and I had to be call in and been told by manager that I had a nature for the job..which I can understand why. This is not to show off my self. But, this is what I said to my children today when we all sit and have a chat for our first new term for our homeschool.

Of course I want them to be like me. Although of course they will have hubby genetic which is for me pretty much less self motivated. Although he did achieve a lots in term of learning but still there a time where he can't reach me at all and it does give me a hard time to get him to reach me. So, I had to cover where hubby genes is in my children with my genes. But, in a way to do that I notice that I had to give more pushing everyday in term of self motivation. I believe the only one I will struggle is PS. Although I'm sure it's because her transition time now as she reach teenager world. Because she always have a high self motivation but get down below what I expected now. It does give me a shock sometimes when you see your helpful daughter turn to be the laziest person in the house although her room always spotless. But, I'm trying to understand and remind my self about me on her age. Although I have strong self motivation still confusion and laziness did came on me at that time. Handling PS at this time is very crucial and tricky time.

Alhamdulillah, reading others experience, go back to my own experience and understanding teenage world now a days which is differ than mine did help a lots. From time to time, I did see the wake up call as one day she's full of motivation and the other day she looks like lost. But, it her hormone is going up and down and make her confuse on her self sometimes. She will anyway talk to me about anything she feel which is a big good things about her. At the moment, she's not a hard and tough teenager. She is a very much helpful and care person but compare to what she used to be of course I can tell the different. But, I have to accept that she is growing, she change day by day and I have to observe, monitor and guide her as she need and when needed.

Sometimes I did feel lost, lost of how to conduct her, to react towards her action, to understand her feeling or if what I've been doing is right or not. It's a big stress having a daughter. Although she can be trust and she pretty much a good teenager, but I still worried and worried as this is my first experience and it will determine either the way I'd done is working or not. It's a big test for me, and I will not knowing it sooner but it will take couple of years before I know..I just have to wait and see...

First day of our home school ; PS

Alhamdulillah first day homeschool for this new term for PS;

At the moment, looks like PS will have to stay homeschool. I had come to the term that she may just stay home as the late admission to Jamia will lead her to stay for her alimah course longer than she expected.

• She read her quran and she still on albaqarah. As others, I will only let her to read one or two new ayah a day. I will make sure she read them with good tajweed before I moved her. She will read from the start until where she is. This is how I used to read when I used to learn my quran and this is how she need to do. Although the lenght of mine and her is big different. where I used to sit for 3 hours Monday to friday for my quran reading since I was 7 years old. Anyway, she also start learning her tajweed at her Saturday school which is a good thing.
• She did her English; Comparing text from her Letts workbook. She need to improve lots of her English as I rarely got to sit with her. I will subscribe her on line tutoring for English and Maths which she needed as she grow bigger and need more serious attention and help on both subject as I got to pay attention on three others.
• Maths she did revision on her Math revision book about numbers, power and roots.
  

First day of our home school ; S

S first day homeschool for new year:

• S did her iqra reading as usual. Like others S also always moved from where she read every day, alhamdulillah. For me, I don't like to get children to moved to new sentence until they grasp the one before and it will always be two line or the most is three line. Although they can do more, but as I want them to say it proper as well, I make sure their pronunciation is correct before they get moved. Especially it's hard when they come to a big quran and they get used with the pronunciation with less correct tajweed. Although she didn't learn tajweed yet, but I teach all my children with tajweed pronunciation since the first page of iqra.
• Than she did her maths which is multiple operation. I ask her to leave the division as some of them come with the big number for her. Her last year homeschool on maths, she had achieve around 95% correct of all her work. And some of the worksheet and work she done actually had reach one level than she need to be. So, she will be doing lots of worksheet to train her brain in maths.
  
• In literacy she did in her grumpy grammar workbook. Which she learn about sentence, phrase and adjective. She always love English and this year I'm looking to improve more on her interest. As she love reading and writing up story and her English is improve a lot by her own reading.
  

First day of our home school ; MS

Alhamdulillah, a new school year for MS.

• MS start with iqra reading. He seems to be reading more clearly now. I think Saturday school did help a bit although it's only 5 hours. But, as he need to do a bit of Arabic and etc, he become more confident as well. He also did a nice azan every time, alhamdulillah.
  
• MS did multiplication worksheet for maths. I gave him 2 worksheet which each contain 64 question each page. He manage to finish one page for one hour session. May be I hope too much for the first day to get a head back. 120 question in an hour? Hemm..may be too much. At first I'm not that happy, but than ask him to continue another sheet tomorrow. Maths is like 'sit up' in exercise, where you have to keep doing them again and again to reach the target. Quick and easy. It's good for brain and it's time for MS to learn doing that. So, it will be more and more worksheet and will also need to time him for each question he did, sometimes.
• On English he did his vocabulary workbook. I love this workbook so much. They easily separated the important bit of English children need to learn. I bought them from Middlesbrough library. There more I need to buy. At the moment, MS had 3 of them which is Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation. There more as non-fiction and fiction writing. Also there's separate workbook for maths for every title they need to learn such as algebra, measurement, space, angle and etc. Also it's follow National Curriculum which make my job easy rather than make the curriculum my own. I can just base on the book which cover what they need to know.
• Behave nicely as well, Help around and listen and can think what life is about.
  

First day of our home school ;AS

We had done a simple and not much as we sit together probably half and hour and he did most of the work on his own.
This is what AS did today:

• Doing addition on a more matured worksheet. Why did I said more matured? Because usually we did used his workbook which of course contains lots of interesting picture. But, as trying to introduce him with a bit of serious learning as he enter Year 1, I printed him a worksheet. He did said that he a bit confuse but get on with it at the end. As soon as I gave him the worksheet, he said to me, " I need a cube." It was nice knowing that he know what tools he did to use. As the worksheet got 64 question, he manage to do half of them and we will continue more tomorrow. At first, as I gave him the paper, he start off and put the answer next to the first number on the top. All his answer is correct apart from where he put them. When I told him..than it's a bit of a grin.." Ahhh..". But he manage to correct his mistake.
• Than he did a worksheet of counting number forward and backward. I give him a bit of a help and he got through it by him self and understand the concept. He will do more of this kind of worksheet for him to practise the counting.

• Than we did a bit of Literacy which is introducing vowel. He can recognise which is vowel and underline correctly. But, while I'm rushing to the kitchen he colour the flower without reading the instruction. He should colour only vowel but opposite of that he colour the whole flower! But, I told him to leave it.
• Than we did another worksheet about missing vowel and of course he did them all correctly without any help from others. Alhamdulillah. That's AS first day on our new year of homeschooling.

Feeling the pressure

Tomorrow we are on schedule to start our homeschool for new year and new term. I try to arrange everything but still plenty more to do. Apart from in and out the house, we also keep receiving guest now and again and plenty more on the list, Insya Allah.

I try to do what I can in between not well to cope and feeling fresh. I believe, to be able to homeschool four children in which are all need to be in serious learning, the key for success and stress free is organise...organise and organise. Although it's will always something in between and things not going well as it should, we still be able to take control on it rather than lost. I'm always believe planning, scheduling and organising is the part that take so much time rather than teaching and learning it self. Learning don't have to be too much or too long or constantly nagging on learning, learning and learning. But strategy to meet the target that we set, to know where we are and where we should be is the important learning process that I want my children to learn. As long as we set the target, it will be the start to kick off our motivation on learning and it will than will work it self to reach the target we want.

As my children are growing and changing from day to day and months to months, I believe it's now a crucial time for me to teach them some of the most important subject they need before they reach the out side world. To improve communication, team work, differentiate, research, handling pressure and all aspect of different skill needed. All this will be deliver in the learning process which will and have to take time during their learning. If before, I got them to do lots of worksheet and work book to get them practise and strengthen their basic skills of English, Maths, Science especially, this new term will be more challenging for me and fun for them as I need to start to give them more challenging course work, explore more and get them to be more independent in their learning process.

By only writing this, I can start feel more pressure in my head! The pressure start to fill up since a week a go. It's not a bad pressure, but it's a challenging pressure, it's something that we all looking forward to and just thinking about how much I need to do is enough to make me feel...oooo..I'm going crazy..! But, as I love challenge and hectic life..here we go....

Our new school year will begin tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to teach and learn from each other more and more as the day past by...

Hope this will work

Right! Here we go again. I will from now and in the future, hopefully to continue recorded my children homeschool journey and our day to day routine and experience. Starting this year, it will be more challenging to me especially as PS still at home and looks like will continue to homeschool for the time being apart from three others.

As PS getting bigger and need a serious learning then before, as she grow bigger she need to experience and start to explore more challenging issue and learn some of thing more formal, in other words for me, more organize and get in to adult learning style, I find my self pretty much need to get in to it first. For me it's not about what she going to learn, it's not about knowledge, it's not just about calculation, how to write and etc, but how to organize, filing, doing research on her own, making her own schedule, try and error, learn with open eyes to try all sort of method and may be the most important among all is to learn the way of thinking.

Now, I just realize when I used to be homeschool. May be my parents didn't involve in my learning at all. They just bought me the whole curriculum and me my self have to figure out everything from making my own schedule to register my own exam by my self. At that time, may be I did felt like they don't just care much. But now I feel really glad as that happen. It's actually had teach me to learn how to organize my self, to motivate my self, to choose the way of study by trying all sort of method, how to do a research, to work smart not hard and etc.

All the experience I got now is actually come from the basic experience I had before. Being and become independent had teach me a lot. I'm also find that the important thing for me to teach my children and something that I'm always talk to my children especially PS and MS is if you want to learn, you will find the way. And even without guidance, it will turn out better because we learn how to and the experience we got is such a better way for us as we actually facing it in reality.

Our homeschool for this term is not starting yet. I'm planning for us to get back in to routine on 20th of October. Honestly I'm not sure if that going to happen or not. I'm just started to work on it. Started to organize the curriculum, schedule, subject, activities and etc. For me, it's not easy as I had four in different key stage. I don't want to do one thing with everybody all together. I find out that they ended up being less matured than they should or more matured than they should. For me to be able for them to just right on their age is to used the method which is only appropriate for their level of thinking.

Also with people coming and going, and the rest of the time without anybody I was ended up tidy up the house to get back to normal before I receive another call. As that, at the moment I really struggle my self to work bit by bit everyday in organizing our homeschool and hopefully we will get back on track on time.

At the mean time, although we not in our homeschool routine and children been let run errand to do what they want, learning is still happen everyday. AH nearly completed his memorization on his 10 surah from the back of the quran. I didn't have a time for him, so I bought him Mp3 and transfer one surah after another for him to listen. Of course he love it and bring his Mp3 all the time with him. For others, S always with her art and craft. Also playing while learning in the computer games. Also all my paper had gone because they always wanted to do something as making card, writing story and etc. All that happen without my direction or getting involve. Alhamdulillah, teaching them to become independent learner have giving me and them such a huge advantage. AH reading had gradually improve so much with out me teaching him at all. So does his numeracy and other knowledge. AH had become more and clear example how teaching children to become independent by providing them learning tools and by not telling them how important learning is and keeping them with learning all the time is the best way that work, at least for me. Although I believe this can also work with others. But, of course the important trick is do not worry too much.

Anyway, hope fully this time, this blog will keep moving with all the record of our homeschool. Somewhere we can come back and look at and see how and what we have done. I can't guarantee how this gonna work. I just try and pray may Allah help us to make things easy..Insya Allah.