Sunday, August 26, 2012

Our Preschool Curriculum

We have been living in Luxembourg now for over a month and have finally managed to find a home, although, we have another few weeks before we can move in. Living out of the extended stay hotel has become increasingly difficult, but has given me time to think about how I would like to go about homeschooling this year. As mentioned in previous posts, Ameera will still be attending the Waldorf school here where she will be, on a daily basis, engaging in free, unstructured play in addition to cooking, spending lots of time in the forests, tending to and caring for animals, and learning French and German. The school day ends at 1pm, so I have decided to homeschool her in the following subjects: Arabic, Quran, Islamic Studies, and English reading and Writing. After reviewing some of the veteran homeschooling Muslim mom blogs, and getting various recommendations from friends and family we will be using the following resources:

1. Ad-Duha Institute (ALP)
http://www.ad-duha.org/html/alp__recommended_for_prek_.html

Click here to see book previews





2. Kinza Academy preschool reading list
    http://www.kinzaacademy.com/

3. Goodnight stories from the Life of the Prophet Muhammad ( seerah & Hadith)



4. Arabicfirst.co.uk ( intro to Arabic letters & numbers & vocab flash cards)

5. Teach your child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons ( reading & writing)



6. TCRWP Writing and Reading Workshop


As a new homeschooler, I still do not have everything figured out, but I feel this is a great place to start. The Ad-Duha program, recommended to me by sister-in law, seems to be the best option for me only because it is comprehensive . There are many other wonderful books to be used, but I need more guidance as I am not that strong in the Arabic language. I hope to utilize the program to learn with my daughter. I am also considering purchasing the mini mu'min program for my son if I find I really like it. Otherwise, my son who is now 15 months old, I will be doing various Montessori activities with him. I have already begun various activities with my daughter which I plan to post little by little along with a reading list of our favorite books.

As of now I still do not have access to a computer, and am blogging on my iPad, which I personally find very difficult. But inshallah I should be in full swing by October.