Muslims craft their own curriculum

Every morning, Fatima Saleem's two children get up and go to school at the kitchen table in their Columbia, S.C., home.

In between math, social studies, and English, their mother - who doubles as their teacher - mixes in lessons in Arabic and Islamic studies.

The Saleem family is part of a small but growing number of American Muslims opting to teach their children at home. As do home schoolers of other faiths, Ms. Saleem says teaching her children herself ensures they absorb a strong religious identity.

But since Sept. 11, she says, a newer set of fears is pushing Muslim parents toward home-schooling: Concerns about their children's safety in public schools and, on the flip side, the possibility that they'll be exposed to extremist views in private Islamic schools.

"I'm scared for my children," she says. "Any of our children can get caught in someone's rhetoric."

Muslims account for only a fraction of the million-plus children currently home-schooled in the United States. "At this point, it's a phenomenon, not a movement," says Scott Somerville of the Home School Legal Defense Association in Purcellville, Va.

The few thousand Muslim home schoolers include roughly equal numbers of three groups, Mr. Somerville says - Caucasian mothers who converted to Islam after marrying Muslim men, African-American converts, and Muslim immigrants born into the faith.

In a religion where women often play a less dominant role, Somerville says, these mothers may have a stronger influence in shaping this next generation. "Applying this new mode of learning to an old mode of worship may yield unpredictable results," he says.

Saleem, who converted to Islam as a teenager, says she didn't consider homeschooling until her first child reached school age four years ago.

Most classmates and teachers at her own Pennsylvania school were understanding when she covered her head with a scarf and stopped dating.

But when it came time to enroll her first child in school, Saleem says she wasn't satisfied by either the education offered at local public schools or the new Islamic religious school near her home. The religious school, she says, charged high tuition and employed unproven teachers.

During four and a half hours of instruction each day, Saleem bridges secular and religious subjects. She divides the day up into blocks for each subject. In addition to English and math, her children learn religious principles and ancient Arabic letters needed to read the Koran.

Saleem says she's careful to explain disagreements within Islam and to provide both religious and secular perspectives. Teaching the children herself, however, ensures that an Islamic perspective is not omitted.

During the December holiday season, she included Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, when adherents fast during daylight hours. If the subject of families comes up, she explains the role of mothers and fathers according to Islam.

When her elementary-school-age children reach high school, Saleem says, she won't rule out enrolling them in public school.

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