The past two years- Homeschooling in secrecy

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Hello, world!

It's been two years since I created this blog, and now in Sep 2014 I've finally- FINALLY!- found the courage to open my home and heart to the world and share what I had resolved to do, and have been doing, since 2012.

Two years ago, I officially took the plunge: I pulled my children out of their private school to formally start their home education. I started this blog to document my journey and to explain my reasons and the things that inspired me to this path, but frankly, I feared the reaction I would get.

I have always been the sort to "march to the beat of my own drum" as they say, and I had gotten used to raised eyebrows to many of the ideas and decisions I held most dear. And now I had fallen head over heels in love with something as radical and unheard of (in my part of the world) as homeschooling! And I wanted to blog about it? Naturally, I expected the worst. But, I gathered myself together and took inspiration from a verse I had randomly come across in the Qur'an that day (in my first post), which basically says to be patient with whatever people say...

Unfortunately, despite my first post, I chickened out at the last moment and just decided to keep everything to myself rather than share it online. After all, I really believed in homeschooling- I could see so much potential, as well as immediate, good in it, so why should I justify myself publicly and open my house and home to the judgment and criticism of outsiders? Being an intensely private person by nature I also justified going private by telling myself that I wanted to pour all my energy into homeschooling rather than dividing my energy between that as well as keeping a blog.

But now, two amazingly wonderful years later, I feel like it's selfish of me to keep the benefits I've been enjoying all to myself! I feel like others must be out there who would love the idea of teaching their own children and who might really benefit from my experience, or, who might just be curious to learn more about this lifestyle.

If so, please check back here where I will write about how I reached this decision, the benefits I've enjoyed as well as the challenges, some pros and cons, who this lifestyle would be great for and who would not be a good fit for it, and much more!

Fearfully yet courageously yours,
-Q

(I've been staring at the publish button, still sooo afraid of clicking it! But also excited and feeling like I'm going to hear from someone really unique and amazing who will surprise me with the news that they have been thinking about homeschooling too! If that's you I'd really love to hear from you at kuwaitihomeschooler <at> gmail <dot> com!)