“Our entire school system is based on the notion of passive students that must be “taught” if they are to learn… Our country spends tens of billions of dollars each year not just giving students a second-rate education, but at the same time actively preventing them from getting an education on their own. And I’m angry at how school produces submissive students with battered egos. Most students have no idea of the true joys of learning, and of how much they can actually achieve on their own. “ Adam Robinson
Today’s home school chat is with unschooling mama of three Sumera Luckman. Sumera shares lots of lovely snippets of their home school journey on Instagram. She can be found @unschooling.3cubs
1.Tell us a bit about your family and your child/ children
Asalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. I am Sumera, a mummy to three precious wild-lings. There is Ayman who is almost 7, Jennah 3, and 8 month old Deen.
Both myself and my husband hold a bachelors within science and engineering, however since having children I am a full time mummy, fortunately I get to spend all hours with my children building bonds and happy memories.
2. What was your main reason for choosing to home educate your children ?
Apart from all that is wrong with the education system, the main reasons were time and freedom.
The idea of having my child away from me for most of the waking hours just did not seem at all right or natural to me. I want my children to have an autonomous education and to be able to facilitate their learning.
3. What does a “typical” home school day look like for your family ?
Every day is different. Our morning usually begins slow cuddles in mamas bed until everyone is up then get ready for the day ahead. The older children will play Lego, doctors or whatever else they may fancy while I make the beds and sort the baby out.
Then we decide what we will have for breakfast sometimes we cook together and others they follow me down and play something else while I sort food.
During breakfast we listen to and practice some Quran recitation and make further plans for the day or just see how the day goes all dependent on how we are feeling.
We spend a lot of time outdoors gardening, attending home ed groups, meeting friends exploring nature, parks and getting excited over animals!
Most of our days also involve cooking together, arts and crafts, experiments, gardening, a lot of reading and all kinds of play.
With my eldest we spend some time every day focusing on his reading and writing this can vary each day some days 10 minutes and other days up to 30 minutes. Ayman is very into books and over the last months has shown a lot of interest in reading and writing so I am helping by encouraging him to continue he is doing very well considering he is more or less self taught.
4. What type of a home educator are you ( structured , semi structured , unschooling , classical , Charlotte Mason , Steiner , Montessori etc )
As we do not do any actual schooling and have no structure or routine I would say we are steered in the direction of unschooling.
The children have very limited screen time which I believe is key as they are always looking for something to do, which leads to learning. We also have bedtime not as strict as I’d like but they get the sleep they should be getting.
Although I don’t know each approach in a lot of detail I am into Charlotte Mason, Waldorf and Montessori so we do incorporate them into our home ed journey.
5. What do you love the most about home schooling ?
I love to watch my children explore and play, I love to see their curious little faces and the way they light up when something excites them. I love how much time we can spend together and how I can be so involved in watching them grow and develop from their self directed learning journey. And of course the freedom.
6. What is your favourite subject to teach and what is your least one ?
I enjoy everything we do together. Most of our learning is done through fun activities and play.
We enjoy nature study but I do not like handling bugs, I wish I was as brave as my little ones.
7. What do you find challenging when it comes to home schooling your children?
I am a bit of an introvert so I find it difficult to get more involved in the home ed community and new groups. We do still attend to events and groups of the children’s interest.
I also do not get very much time for me, being there all the time for three little humans is as exhausting as it is joyful.
8. How do you deal with unsupportive family , relatives and friends ?
Both myself and my husband made the decision to be responsible for our own children and give them the education that is best for them. Nothing will change that.
We have been quiet lucky to have supportive family and not have to deal with any negativity. It’s best to just avoid negative people and their negative energy.
9.Where do you see your home schooling journey in 5 years time ?
In 5 years time these three bright and precious little humans will be 12, 8 and 5. I hope that they will want to continue their learning journey with their Mummy and Daddy.
I can see us doing a lot more together including sports and travelling.
10. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start home educating their children ?
DO IT! DO IT! Nothing is easy to begin with especially when it seems out of the norm to want to spend time with and teach your own child but it is the best thing you can do, for both yourself and them. I find so much more freedom and pleasure living the way we choose to.
Let's learn , Mama! 