Internet…

 

Today I spoke with a lovely homeschooling ummi of 8, masha’Allah and we got on to the topic about the INTERNET! Recently, I have been thinking about how much time I spend on the internet. Alhamdulillah, we don’t watch TV, and only use the TV for my daughter’s Arabic and Islamic DVDs/videos. However, is the internet the new TV?!

 I feel like so much time is wasted on the internet. For example, you intend to check your email and end up spending hours on there jumping from one site to the next! I really think we have to discipline ourselves as homeeducators when it comes to the internet. There is so much out there – but we must remember that we are not homeeducating the computer, we are homeeducating our children!

Anyway, the sister I was speaking to does not have the internet (horror upon horror – 8 homeschooled kids and no internet!) and I told her that she shouldn’t get it! Now don’t get me wrong – I wouldn’t be able to write this post and share my homeschooling journey with the world if I didn’t have the internet, however it takes me back to the good ol’ days.

My mother, a graduate in Literature always bought me books when I was younger, our small flat was full of books – fiction and non-fiction and the library was my favourite place as I was growing up. When the internet took its first steps, my father did not allow us to use it and so our knowledge about the world and interests arose from books. Looking back, I could not have hoped for a more enriching experience. I am still attached to books and reading will always be a passion of mine and I believe this stemmed from my upbringing. I want this for my children insha’Allah. So, as a result, I have recently been thinking about ditching the internet (WHAT?!). But, then I thought no, I do need it for other committments. What I need to do is ditch my attachment to it! I want my family – Hubby, myself and my children to have a love for books, an attachment to literature and knowledge without technology. So, when hubby came home from work today, I sat him down – told him all of this and told him of my…sorry OUR action plan. Alhamdulillah he surprisingly agreed and thought it was a fantastic idea.

Basically, we have drawn up a timetable of who uses the computer (not just the internet) for how long and when during the week. And we will insha’Allah aim to stick to it. Once the buzzer goes (so to speak) then the time is up on the computer. I hope that this will create more time for family, more time for other interests, more time for Allah and more time for reading. Lets see how it goes… 😉