Pakistani homeschooler Sadaf Farooqi

Laila and Majnun at SchoolPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons **Two links by and about Sadaf Farooqi, a homeschooling Muslim mother and well-known blogger.

Home is where the school is – The Express Tribune:  “Homeschooling does not set them apart from the real world — schools do,” rebuts Laila. “In schools, kids are grouped into unnatural age-wise segregated situations, which never occur in the real world. Homeschooled kids experience the reality of this world — they deal with their family members, household issues, relatives and friends of different ages. And, of course, as kids grow older, we will look for opportunities for them to do more things outside of home — sports activities, workshops, etc.” ...  "When they get older, I don’t mind that they face difficult situations and people on their own — I hope by that time their own internal values will be developed enough to withstand peer-pressure, bullying and other negatives of our society,” she explains."

Happy, Havocked HomeFront: Riding The Home Education Wave and Lovin’ It | Sadaf's Space:

Sadaf writes clearly about what it takes to get kids off to school daily, the many small ways a parent has to not listen to their child and force the child to school. We don't talk much about this.

"I disliked the whole school routine, but mutely acquiesced to the delusion that it is a “vital” part of every mother’s life: ironing the uniforms, laying out the clothes, shoes and socks at night; packing the bag according to the timetable; forcing the child to finish off her homework; making and packing the lunch in the mornings, forcing a few mouthfuls down a reluctant mouth, then sending off a sometimes mildly sick, or screaming toddler with a tear-ridden face, to school with a heavy heart and a shackled mind that never “dared” to question the necessity of this so-called “must-have” system of education."

Unschoolers will recognize her insights about learning:

So when I stopped teaching my daughter according to a set time-table with fixed learning slots for different subjects, I witnessed how often she returned to her books, picked one of them up, and approached me for basic guidelines about what to do in a specific chapter. Also, here is the clincher: she ended up reading, studying and poring over many morebooks and materials (such as storybooks, newspapers, magazines, grocery lists, bills, and receipts) besides her official grade one curriculum books!

There is also a link to a Pakastani home education magazine with an article on John Holt's How Children Learn.

** Page from a manuscript of the Laila and Majnun of Nizami, dated 1432; Timurid; Afghanistan (Herat)

background posts

homeschooling in Pakistan