Dervish

Even before Yasmin was born, Abu Yasmin and I discussed homeschooling. It’s not that we are averse to schooling as such, but simply most schools do not live up to our expectations for what we want for our daughter. So… the plan was that I would most likely homeschool Yasmin once I finished my PhD. Because submission isn’t until April 2009, we have been thinking that we would send Yasmin to a year of prep in a school. After all… what damage can a year of prep in a normal school do right? Prep isn’t that different to kindergarten, and she already goes to a Muslim private school kindergarten (which she really enjoys).

So, we have been looking around at different options. Because we pass by the local primary school regularly and from the outside it looks pretty grim, we didn’t even bother considering it. Not many expectations there, besides the government standardised testing gets up my nose.

If you attend public school, with rare-ish exception you have to go where you are zoned, which depends on where you live. And we–by choice because it is a) multicultural b) not too expensive, and c) nearish my work–happen to live in a low socio-economic area. So, that leaves private schools.

The ‘posh’ private schools are all far away (not in our low socio-economic area) and besides what is the economic sense in shelling out $12,000 for prep? You might as well invest that money so they can use it to pay off their future university fees.

So, I looked at Muslim private schools. There are a few out our way. Yasmin attends the kindergarten of one, but they are pretty limited with their resources. The other two are ethnically concentrated. I am a big believer that early exposure to people from different cultures, ethnicities, religions etc., coupled with positive messages about multiculturalism, can help innoculate kids against racism. I am not peachy keen on the idea of sending Yaz to a school where nearly all of the kids come from one background - whether that is Anglo, Lebanese, Turkish or whatever.

So, on a whim I decided to check out the grim-looking local primary school. Oh my goodness, by a complete quirk of fate (well… as a believing Muslim I don’t actually think it’s fate, but really the hand of the Almighty) we are zoned in the catchment of an absolutely fabulous primary school that is five minutes walk away.

The principals of the school are visionaries. My mum and I went and had a look at the school and the deputy principal showed us around. We just could not believe our eyes. They have been inspired by the Regio Emilia approach to education. This approach has at its core the ideas that:

• children must have some control over the direction of their learning
• children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing
• children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore
• children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves

Furthemore, parental involvement is encouraged, not just as babysitters to drag a bunch of kids through a reader or to fundraise (sometimes useful as these are) but through sharing their expertise and knowledge with the children.

The environment of the RE approach is also very important, and at the local primary school they have done away with classrooms. Instead the buildings have been re-designed into various zones and spaces for learning. The teachers move and spread their time across groups or with individual kids as needed. But one of the most wonderful features is how they implement autonomous learning.

The kids take on responsibility for their learning ‘journeys’ (more and more as they get older) and nominate the types of projects they want to undertake for a day, a week, or even a year.

I nearly wept when I saw the school. I couldn’t believe that what I wanted to give my little girl through homeschooling, was being offered to me through a normal government-funded school and because my Yaz is such a sociable character, she would be able to learn with other children around her. When I told her of the school, her first words were “I could make ten friends!”

Subhanallah, we are so blessed and excited. I would *move* to be able to enrol Yaz into this school, and yet we are five minutes walk away! And it just goes to show - don’t judge a book by its cover. It is almost as if the school has poured every penny into the inside of the school (providing equipment, resources, and fabulous internal design and architecture) and just kept the outside shell to a bare minimum. Walhamdulillah.

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