Ramadan 1437 Homeschooling “Plan”

Assalamo ‘alaykum.

Not much of a plan really, but here it is.

• Fasting – that comes first, it is the month of fasting. It will not be imposed on the boys, but it will be encouraged. I didn’t look at this year’s timetables yet but last Ramadan we had 19 hour days here in the UK, and a few of those days were very hot too. Alhamdulillah. The boys will do what they can and my husband and I will watch them closely, to make sure they do not overdo it if it becomes too hard for them.
• No secular studies for the whole month (aside from Ramadan, I don’t plan to take any time off homeschooling in the Summer). I think people (all people, not just school age kids) should get on with their work and studies during Ramadan, as the Prophet (salla Allah ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his Companions did (i.e. they did not take a holiday nor did they shy away from doing what needed to be done because they were fasting). However, my kids are homeschooled and one of the perks of homeschooling is the flexibility, hence I choose for them to spend the month of Ramadan fully savoring the Ramadan athmosphere, insha’Allah. Plus, something tells me they won’t spend the days zonked on the sofa, being too weak to do anything….
• We will be using the kids’ beloved Ramadan Mailbox, but this year they will collect “mail” twice daily, insha’Allah, in some DIY string envelopes I had lots of fun making (pattern for the tiny ones here, I copied it by eye to make it bigger. I used an old calendar of landscape picture of Sardinia that my mom got me when she went on holiday to – you guessed it – Sardinia!)
• Every morning Y (8 years old) will find in the mailbox one tafseer card for his tafseer of Surah al-Baqarah activity.
• Every morning B (who’s 5) will find in the mailbox a card from this 30 Days Ramadan activity – Find a Word in the Qur’an. (I just want to mention that I am using this activity but I don’t know anything about the site I took it from nor do I know who created it).
• After the afternoon nap (that I am pretty sure we will all need!) the boys will collect a little treat from their mailbox. Either a collectible card (I chose 2 car themed sets: 1,2) or a few stickers to complete some sticker books (I got a space one for Y and a farm one for B – who is more down to earth, masha’Allah, eh eh…). I thought of the way the Sahabah used to encourage their children to fast and, when it became hard for them, they would distarcted them with a simple toy. This can either work in a similar way or as a little reward for those whose fast is already broken. Alhamdulillah. (I just want to mention how picking the theme for those cards was so hard! animals= needless images, since we already have lots of material covering animals, planes/ships= too warlike? cars = glorification of pointless luxury? footballers = no way. So much wrong with I don’t even know where to start… so I picked the car because -let’s face it – given the way we live, insha’Allah, I think the boys will appreciate the engineering/ mechanical aspects rather than the “got tons of money to burn” one. I strongly doubt they will feel deprived because we cannot afford a Bugatti Whatnot. May Allah protect us) Below, the daily ramadaan treats as well as my beloved envelopes!

 

 

• B will have a Ramadaan themed coloring book (free printouts insha’Allah). Let’s face it, he will see his brother’s tafseer workbook and will want one too. I used these lovely (and FREE) covers for both bound workbooks.
• The boys will probably want to have some crafts AND make some recipes, so I will make sure I have something on standby. I have a lot of materials leftover from last year and there’s always paints, watercolors and paper!
• This is a simplified version of my friend Umm Abdurrahman’s great idea: In case they need extra distraction, I will take out some toys they haven’t played with for ages. I just have to be aware of exactly where they are stored, insha’Allah. If they are anything like last year (out in the garden practically all day, fasting or not) I might not need this one.
• Last but not least, I created a Ramadan 1437 Pinterest board to collect everything I come across and find interesting from crafts to recipes, coloring books to Eid favours for friends etc.

Alhamdulillah, this little preparation was enough to get that Ramadan buzz, masha’Allah. I ask Allah to let us reach this Ramadan and gain maximum benefit from it, ameen!

 

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