Bismillah,
I was trying to teach Zen letter Jeem yesterday. I did it like it'd typically teach her all the other letters beginning first by showing common household objects that begin with the letter. I ask her for the sound that this object's name begins with. Then "writing the sound"on white board nice and big and also the words that begin with jeem showing where jeem is in the word then asking if she can point it out herself. Alhumdulillah she does it most of the time. After that we trace the letter with her in my lap and this is her favourite part. She likes working in my lap because of all the kisses she gets as she works :).
I was trying to teach Zen letter Jeem yesterday. I did it like it'd typically teach her all the other letters beginning first by showing common household objects that begin with the letter. I ask her for the sound that this object's name begins with. Then "writing the sound"on white board nice and big and also the words that begin with jeem showing where jeem is in the word then asking if she can point it out herself. Alhumdulillah she does it most of the time. After that we trace the letter with her in my lap and this is her favourite part. She likes working in my lap because of all the kisses she gets as she works :).
That's pretty much the first day and we do more letter related activities in the following days. I was really surprised and happy at the same time last night when she told me all by herself that jelly also begins with /j/. We didn't cover jelly. I totally forgot to do so and jelly is one of her favourite treats. Before this one time she wasn't able to recall words on her own if I asked what else begins with /j/ but would only tell me the initial sound if given a word. I hope this shows progress in her learning.
Homeschooling is a constant battle not only with people in our culture who consider sending children off to school mandatory at age 3; it's a battle with myself, too. I keep trying to tell myself that I can do this. I can teach my children. It shouldn't be rocket science to teach the alphabet and how to count plus more but this other voice keeps scaring me with the "what ifs". What if I fail? What if my kids don't love to learn which is the reason I chose to homeschool. I want my daughters to love learning and seek education for the love of it. Then use that education to help themselves and their fellow Muslims. I want them to grow in the Deen of Allaah, knowing Him and seeking His pleasure. All of this isn't happening with the traditional school system we have set up in Karachi. So, I took it upon myself to do it. I'm not an expert but I know my children and I hope to be able to use that to my advantage and teach them good.
