Recently, several sisters have asked about how to homeschool infants and young toddlers. More specifically, where do you start and how do you know what activities to do with your young child.
The guidelines you will find in this post are by no means hard and fast rules but are merely suggestions.
With infants and young toddlers education begins from day 1. What does this "education" look like? Starting with infants, it may look like this:
- Observing the sunnah of welcoming the new born child
- From day one establish a time/place that you read Quran aloud to your child (short suwar - pl. of surah) - or whatever you and baby are comfortable with. Be aware of baby's tired times and more active times and pick a time when he/she is alert. Try to make this Quran reading time occur around the same time every single day insha'Allaah but do your reading with baby when he/she is not occupied with another task.
- From day one (birth) read the athkar to your child. You can find them here in Arabic, in English here and here in several other languages.
- When you pray, place your child in a spot were he/she can see and/or hear the salat.
- Talk to and with your infant/toddler frequently. Praise Allaah frequently so that your child hears this (i.e. Subhana'Allaah, Alhamdulillaah, Allaahu Akbar).
- Name objects in his/her environment. Pick him/her up or when he/she is near you, tell your child what you are doing. Explain the steps you will do to complete the task you are engaged in (i.e. I am going to bake some cookies insha'Allaah. First I will need a large bowl to mix all of the ingredients. Next, I will assemble the ingredients. I will need flour, eggs, sugar, milk. etc.).
- Be familiar with the milestones for your child's age group and be familiar with what children at his/her age are typically able to do by the Permission of Allaah. This will greatly assist you when deciding on what you want to teach your child and when (i.e. at what stage).
- Decide upon what skills you would like your child to learn and begin with a long range plan.
- Once decided upon, draft weekly plans that briefly outline the type of activities you wish to complete with your infant. The activities may be short in duration and as your child's concentration and ability to focus develops you will notice the duration of the activities may increase. But do not be surprised if your infant focuses on an object for far longer than you expect and when/if this happens, do not break the infant's concentration and do not interrupt. Allow the infant to focus for as long as he/she wishes.
Click on the image for a larger view insha'Allaah |
As you can see, the hours between each activity allow for baby's nap, feeding, and bath times. Your goal is to be as consistent as possible and to decide what you would like to do with your child, when you would like to do it and to verify that the activity is within your child's developmental capabilities insha'Allaah. And a plan such as the example above does not need to be typed out. Something written and placed on the refrigerator will do the job just as well insha'Allaah.
Here is an example of the typical development of children birth to 12 months old (keep in mind that children develop at different rates):
BY FOUR MONTHS | |
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
|
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
|
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
|
|
BY EIGHT MONTHS
|
|
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
|
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
|
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
|
|
BY 12 MONTHS
|
|
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
|
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
|
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
|
IDEAS FOR CAREGIVERS
- Help
infants develop a sense of trust and security by responding to their
cries. Feeling secure encourages infants to try new things. Be
consistent so that they will know what to expect.
- Place babies in new places and new positions so that they can see you and others from different angles.
- Hold
and cuddle infants when feeding them. Even infants who hold their own
bottle need to be held. Being held and cuddled frequently is
extremely important in the development of baby's sense of self-worth and security. Holding and cuddling a baby is also a great stress releaser
for an adult. Do not prop infants drinking from a bottle as it may cause choking.
- Respect
a baby's natural schedule. Most babies will settle into a regular
routine for eating, sleeping, and soiling their diapers, but the
schedule will vary depending on the baby. Some babies need to eat more frequently than some others. Some will sleep more and take longer naps.
- Baby-proof
everything! Store toxic substances such as dishwasher detergent,
make-up, paint, or medicine up high. Put safety latches on
cabinets and covers on electrical outlets. Lower crib mattresses so that older infants can't fall over the rail. Cover sharp corners of tables or shelves that infants might bump into.
- Expose
babies to bright colors and a variety of objects to look at. Pictures,
moving objects, brightly colored or contrasting color toys attract
infants.
- Provide
interesting objects for infants to feel, touch, mouth, and explore.
Square nylon scarves, cold metal bowls, plastic measuring cups,
large wooden spoons, and wet washcloths are favorite household toys. Keep easy-to-swallow objects out of infant's reach. Babies should not be
allowed to play with anything smaller than a half dollar (about 1-1/4 inch).
- Provide
opportunities for infants to smell different smells. Lemon, vanilla,
and apple juice are wonderful kitchen smells. Babies also enjoy smelling
tree bark, dirt, grass, and other natural things.
- Expose
older babies to a variety of tastes and temperatures in food. Offer
cold sherbet, warm oatmeal, mashed peaches, and chopped cooked carrots.
- Help babies develop a sense of movement and balance by gently bouncing, swaying, swooping, and swinging with them.
- Talk
to infants. Face infants when talking to them so they can see you and
smile with you. Talk about what you are doing, familiar objects, or
people. You may even want to babble back or echo sounds your baby makes much as you would in a regular conversation. Even though an infant cannot understand everything you say, he will be learning many words that will form the basis for language later on.
- Read
to infants. Babies enjoy cuddling on a caregiver's lap, looking at
colorful picture books, and hearing the rhythm of their voice. With
time they begin to understand that words have meaning and can be used to identify objects.
- Encourage
older infants to feed themselves by offering pieces of banana and soft
bread sticks. Give babies a spoon with some mashed
potatoes or other sticky food, and let them practice eating with a spoon. Yes, it will be messy! Be patient. Learning this skill takes lots of practice.
- Play
peek-a-boo. Hide your face behind a blanket and then peek out at the
baby. Older babies will learn to do this themselves and will enjoy this
game for a long time.
- Give
babies the freedom to move around. Young infants enjoy being on their
backs so that they can kick, wiggle, and look around. Older
infants need space and time to practice crawling, creeping, pulling up, and walking. Spending too much time in a walker, playpen, or infant swing may inhibit the development of these important skills.
- Stay with infants when someone new is around. Encourage strangers to approach slowly. Introduce an infant by name, and let him explore someone new in the safety of your presence.
Insha'Allaah, the next email will touch upon homeschooling infants and young toddlers that are between 6 and 15 months old or if there is somethings else that you had hoped to be covered in this post, please leave a comment and if possible, this post will be updated or another supplementary post will be added insha'Allaah.
Barak Allahu fiki sister for this useful post, I enjoyed it very much. Could you possibly cover the age group 18-36 months also? I would need some tips and idea for my 22 month old girl, who's having some delay in speaking. I thank you very much for this precious blog: I love the choice of topics and the Islamic focus of your articles. Please keep up the work, and may Allah reward you greatly for it.
ReplyDeleteAssalamu aliakum wa rahmatullaah
ReplyDeleteWa feki barak Allaah dear sis Umm Yusuf. It may be possible to cover up to 22-25 months insha'Allaah, however, specific delays in speaking would best be attended to by an individual who specializes in this area.
Sis, if you can email me, I may be able to refer you to a site that you may find helpful insha'Allaah.
Jazakillaahu Khayr
Assalamu aliakum wa rahmatullaah
ReplyDeletedear sis i really enjoyed ur post very much .this is very helpfull for my niece .my son is 26months old wat u advice for his daily routine for homeschooling . Please keep up the work, and may Allah reward you greatly for it.
Assalamu aliakum wa rahmatullaah
ReplyDeleteDear sis...i really love to read your every post and grab the tip you stated in your post...very useful and helpful
Before than this i try so msny time to find preschool curriculum for my dear son
But mostly found in curriculum based on bible
Alhumdulillah i came across to your post and found that the right path to teach my ds about islam and other discripline simultaneously
May Allah reward you for your great attemp and help for other muslim family
That can get advantage for your post and resources,
Keep working sis
Waalaikum assalam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh,
DeleteJazakillaahu khayr dear sis Phenomenie for your comment and kind words. Indeed, all of the praise is due to Allaah Alone and all of the good is from Him.
Insha'Allaah, the posts on the blog assist you and your dear son. May Allaah reward you for your efforts and work.
Dear Sist, assalaammu'alaykum warrahmatullaah wabarakatuh!
ReplyDeleteMashaAllah, I love your blog! *smile*
I am a first-time mom of a five-mo baby, and have been interested in Montessori way.
I came across your blog and found out many useful materials for my baby development either using Montessori tools or other. They are great as they are in accordance with Islam, Alhamdulillah! *smile*
Thank you for sharing! Barakallaahufiik, jazakumullaah khairan katsira! *smile*
Waalaikum assalam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh,
DeleteJazakillaahu khayr dear sis Eki Listya Rini for comment. Alhamdulillaah that you have found resources here that you feel may help you.
You are most welcome for the sharing *smile* - it is for the sake of Allaah. May He accept our efforts and work and place them on our scale of good deeds on Yaumul Qiyaamah....ameen.
jazaki allahu khayran sister very good mashallah may allah reward u
ReplyDelete