Homeschooling during Ramadan Tips

This year, Ramadan will begin shortly after the school year has already ended for some of us, while for others, there may be an little overlap between Ramadan and the school year.  Regardless, Ramadan is a perfect time to still “homeschool” and teach our children about one of the five pillars of Islam, and the many virtues of this blessed month.

If you are a homeschooler, most likely you have several pairs of hands that can help and participate in many Ramadan activities which will bring the whole family closer inshaAllah. Here are a few ways you can involve your children to help them develop a deeper understanding of this special month as well as make your life a bit easier inshaAllah 😉 .

1. Are you still “officially” homeschooling? Consider lightening the load on other subjects so that your children can dedicate more time for Quran and Islamic Studies. “Layout” a new schedule to allow time, as well as remind your children of the different ibadah they should engage in during Ramadan. You can check out Gilded Dunya’s free printable checklist or make your own inshaAllah for a more customized checklist. 

2. Prepare a library of Ramadan books and use it to supplement the “Language Arts” curriculum. You can also encourage your child to write their own Ramadan stories, or poetry.

3.  Decorate the house for Ramadan with your children.  Let them have a crack at making the decorations whether it is a simple ramadan lantern, or more sophisticated crafts.  MashaAllah, Children have a wonderful imagination, so ask them to come up with some of their own ideas as well.

4.  Alhamdullilah, many homeschool blogs offers Ramadan printables which are wonderful Ramadan Curriculum supplements. I also recently ran into SmartArk’s free printable of a simple but cute Ramadan calendar that suggests an activity your child can do for each day(perfect for the little ones who are just starting out with fasting). In fact, we will be offering many free printables in the upcoming weeks, so be sure to sign up on our email list so that you don’t miss out 😉 Getting all your printouts ready beforehand will help you cut down on running around during Ramadan inshaAllah.

5. Ramadan Crafts offer creative outlets, hone in on alot of developmental skills, and also allow you to “bring home” concepts and ideas that you may be  trying to teach your child. Some of us may cringe when we think about the mess that comes with the package of doing Arts and Crafts, but taking the time to incorporate more crafts this month will help engage your children, and keep their minds of hunger (similiar to a technique which the people at the time of the prophet (s.a.w.) would use to help train young children to fast.)  Search some of your favorite blogs for some ideas and inspiration. We will also be posting some easy, budget-friendly crafts,  in the upcoming weeks inshaAllah.

6. Line up other “novel” activities. As mentioned above, distraction was a good technique used at the time of the prophet (s.a.w.) to help young children with dealing with hunger pangs while fasting. Having “special” activities in place whether it is a new kit or toy inshaAllah will help your children to get through the long days inshaAllah. I like kits such as Snap Circuits, which allows exploration and facilitate independent learning (one of the best ways to learn, in my opinion). 

7. Involve children during meal times.  Let them help with setting the table, getting the dates ready, preparing the iftar, etc. Think of ways on how you can incorporate math and language arts into these tasks.  For example, if your child is in charge of getting the dates ready, ask him/her how many dates they will need, if each member of the family were to get 3 dates each. Another example could be, if each date is 66 calories, how many calories would 3 dates be?  Look out for more exciting “Ramadan Math” and Language Arts worksheets in the upcoming weeks on our blog inshaAllah 😉

8. Encourage your children to find ways to do more good deeds, or incorporate “community service” into the homeschooling experience. Another idea would be to have your child earn and save up money for a charity of his/her choice.  This will help reinforce math skills (counting, adding, etc.), while helping your child learn about compassion and giving (A BOGO deal right there 😉 ).

9. For beginner fasters, you may want to look into a reward system to give them encouragement to fast more. There are also many free printable Ramadan Charts such as this one by Mini Mu’min publications that allow them to keep track of their fasts. 

10. If your children are not already nappers, set time aside in the homeschool schedule to encourage your children to take “power” naps. It’s both refreshing and sunnah 😉