A Muslim Homeschool: A DAY IN THE LIFE

A typical day in our Muslim homeschool, doing Reception (Kindergarten) and Preschool with three small children.

M is 5 years-old, A is 3 years-old and K is 7 months-old.

‘MUMMMMMMMY! I WANT ICECREAM!’ I crack open one eye, to find
A has crawled into the bed in the night and seems to have kicked his dad out.

‘MUMMMMMMMY! I WANT ICECREAM!’ Before he wakes the baby, I slid myself out of
bed, eyes still half-closed, and shuffle downstairs.

He gets grapes. I get
coffee.

Feeling slightly more human, I feed the cats and then have some
cereal.

K wakes up. I nurse her and head back downstairs to finish
my cereal.

It‘s gone soggy.

My husband needs to
drop off his car at the garage at 8am today, so the kids and I need to go in my
car to give him a lift home. So I do the unthinkable….I wake up M!

He’s not
happy.

After putting a load
of nappies in the wash, I make the beds and then give the kids breakfast. It
just cereal and juice this morning, and a baby puree for K.

Then I quickly scan through my emails on my
phone.

After a lot of whining, we get everyone into the car … still
in their pyjamas. I throw an abaya over mine and jump in the car.

On the way to the garage I see kids already dressed,
presumably having eaten something, bags packed, and heading off to school.

How
do their mum’s do it?!?

Superwomen no doubt!

I can’t help feeling a little smug
though as we all drive home in our pyjamas for a second breakfast!

When get back from the garage, my husband leaves for work on his bike.

A is unusually grumpy so I feed him. The cats are complaining to, so I feed them.

I remember that I need to post something on Instagram that
morning. 

Whilst typing on my phone, K starts crying. So I  finish writing the photo caption one-handed, bobbing her up and down on my hip. 

The cats start meowing that they want
to go out, M starts reading out facts from a dinosaur book, and K is still
crying.

K starts to settle down, so I grab my chance to clean the
kitchen.

A falls over and hurts himself, M is still reading
aloud (very loudly) out of his dinosaur book and K starts crying.

I give up and take K
upstairs.

I finish cleaning up the kitchen.

I take out our ‘workbox.’

We settle on the living room floor and read from the children’s Quran the story of Qarun.

Next M reads to me from his ‘I can read’ easy reader book, and A listens.

9.40

I take the meat out of the freezer for tonight’s dinner
and write a to-do list for the day, making sure to write down the things I’ve
already done, and then tick them off!

K wakes up. I bring her downstairs, and find M is angry because
he can’t do one of the Maths questions.

After diffusing the situation, I take M upstairs to get changed. This makes him angry again!

10.30

All the kids are out of their pyjamas…I am not.

I go downstairs
to discover a cold cup of coffee that I forgot about.

I cut some fruit for the kids and then feed the cats again.

M picks up some of the tissue paper that A left on the kitchen
table and starts to make a ‘buttercup picture’. A wants to join in, so I have
to get more art supplies out.

A gets bored after two minutes and demands a
story. K starts to fuss.

At the kitchen table I read to them from yet another
dinosaur book, whilst nursing K.

11.05

We start getting ready to go out. We had planned to go
on a nature study today, but the weather is bad, so we’re going to an indoor
play centre instead.

Not nearly as ‘wholesome’ but it’ll have to do.

11.15

Start getting the kids shoes on and get them into the car to leave.

11.35 

Actually leave.

We stay at the play centre for two hours.

The boys find a
group of kids to play with and I hardly see them whilst we are there,
except when they want their lunch!

I even get to read for ten minutes whilst K
naps in her car seat.

2.00 

Get back home.

A has fallen asleep in the car. K has not.

M goes straight
into the house, opens up his dinosaur books and starts reading and making
notes. I put a ‘Peter Pan’ audio-book on for him.

I get K out of the car, and leave her in her car seat,
whilst I carry A from the car to his bed.

K start crying. After nursing, I try to rock her to sleep.

It does not work.

After praying Dhuhr,  we come downstairs and I give her an apple slice to chew
on whilst I clean the kitchen again and empty the vegetable scraps into the
compost bin outside. 

2.45

M takes out his Atlas and starts seeing where in the
world dinosaur fossils were found.

                M:
“Mum, you know Kazakhstan?”

                me:
“Ummmm….”

                M: “Is
it under Russia?”

                me: “Ummmm…..”

                M:
“Yeah, I think it is.”

                me: “Ok
then.”

2.55

K starts to fuss, so I carry her on my hip and hang out
the wet laundry with one hand.

3.00 

M decides he wants to ‘do’ his calendar now.

3.20 

After changing K’s nappy, I put her in the door-bouncer
and start preparing dinner (lamb curry and rice).

Whilst that is cooking,
I wake up A.

3.30       

                me: “What
country do you want to learn about today?”

                M:
“Zambia.”

                me:
“Zambia?”

                M: “Yes”

                me:
“Which dinosaurs were from Zambia?”

                M:
“Actually, lets do Morocco.”

                me: “OK
then.” 

After collecting all our different atlases and social
studies books, I read from them the pages about Morocco whilst they draw and
colour the Moroccan flag.

We talk about Moroccan food, architecture, how the
families live, the capital city, the landscape and…what dinosaur fossils were
found there!

M decides to start a notebook called ‘Dinosaurs around the world.’
I find a few short documentaries on Youtube about Morocco, and fold laundry
whilst the boys watch them.

4.30 

M plays ‘Dino Dan game’ online for having a ‘good
attitude today.’ A is happy watching.

4.45 

K nurses and falls asleep.

4.55 

I clean the kitchen again.

5.05 

K wakes up and happily watches the boys wrestling in
the living room.

Their dad comes home from work.

5.25 

Dinner is served.

The cats are hungry again.

5.40 

I clean the kitchen again.

6.00 

I make a cup of coffee again and fold laundry again.

6.10 

We all get in the car and head back to the garage to
pick up my husband’s car. The boys go in to ‘see how they fix the cars’.

6.40 

We get back. After changing A’s and K’s nappies, I
finish folding the laundry, and then tidy up all the toys in the living room.

The boys pretend to help and I’m too tired to make them.

6.55 

Once all three kids have had a bath and are in their pyjamas, I pray
Asr.

7.40 

Their dad occupies the boys in the living room,  so I hoover the upstairs
of the house.

8.00 

I feed K some baby porridge, nurse her and put her to
sleep. (Sigh…one down, two to go!) 

8.30 

I need another coffee, but its too late. I make a mint
tea and grab some biscuits instead.

8.45

After some gentle persuasion, I brush the boys teeth, read
them two stories, and sit with them till they fall asleep.

10.00 

They are finally asleep. (phew!)

After praying Maghrib, I put away all
the folded clothes, tidy up all the toys that are littered around the house,
hoover the living room, and take a chicken out of the freezer for tomorrow’s
dinner.

10.40 

The rest of the evening is spent reading some Quran, praying and watching
Youtube.

Before bed, I scrawl down a quick to-do list for tomorrow, and throw a
load of clothes in the washing machine to wash overnight.

12.30 

Sleep!

Baby K wakes up twice in the night.
A wakes me up at 6.30am.

Writing this has made me realise that:
(1) I drink WAY too much coffee
(2) My cats eat a lot
(3) Half my life seems to be spent cleaning my kitchen!

How does your day look as a homeschooling mum? Is it similar to mine? I would love to know. Please leave me a comment below.