Help Us Help Islamic Schools - Ask Me How

Reading the title my first question is: Who is -US-?
Us is every Muslim in the world!
Don't be skeptical, now. We all can do a little something and all those little somethings add up to something huge.
The Big question is the HOW can I (You) Help?
You don't need a lot of money to help. There are many small somethings people: children, teens, and adults can do to Help their Islamic school up to and including building an Islamic school if your comunity doesn't have one. But... I am talking about -small somethings- today and not big somethings like building an Islamic school.
Little Somethings You Can Do-
1. If your present Islamic school doesn't have a library, read my blog article on how to create an inexpensive library, put books in this library, and manage library time for the students and school Administration.
2. Create a Parent-Teacher organization if your present school doesn't have one. Ask the teachers and school administrator what you can do to help your Islamic school. Ask them for a list or take a pencil and paper and write down what they tell you to create a list. Sister and brother Islamic study groups can easily take this on as a group project if you don't have a PTA for your Islamic school.
3. Donate your used books to the Islamic school library. If your school doesn't have a library, read the blog I wrote that thells you step-by-step how to create a library.
4. Volunteer 1 or 2 hours each week to help at the school. This could be as a playground monitor, library assistant (checking in and out books for students), using the copy machine to create student handouts the teachers need. They often have to do this once school hours have ended. The teachers have dinner to cook and families to care for so help them get home just a bit earlier each day.
5. Sponsor a creative writig contest for students. Prizes do not have to be -big somethings-, kids like certificates and a sweet!
6. Organize a field trip to a museum, city hall, a zoo. This means getting the details together for the teacher and helping with arranging transportation and lunches for the students. If you do a -little something- and others do a -little something- for a project like this then you create a -big something- for the kids.
7. Create a study space and stury time for your kids to do their lessons-homework and check their homework to make sure it is comlete. The space can be a corner of the kitchen/dining room table or a sspace close to where the family prays together is excellent. Reminds the student daily of his/her duty to do well in school and appreciate the gift of education Allah is providing.
Reading is one of the most IMPORTANT skills your children can master. Reading and comprehending(understanding) what they have read. Children and teens need books that capture their interest and imagination. Children tell me they want to read books they can identify with... books that are about people and places they see and know in their own daily lives. Schools/State Education Departments require students to read fiction books and study the book: story, characters, point of view of the author, etc. They learn vocabulary words and practice their writing skills from studying fiction books.
In the USA there just aren't sufficient numbers of English language Islamic fiction books for our students.
Why?
Because most Muslim publishers won't publish this type of book written by Muslim writers and most Muslim retailers won't list and sell the books like this that are published... often by the authors or small publishing businesses that don't have the distribution of a large Muslim publisher.
How can YOU Help with this problem?
1. Teachers need to help authors of English language Islamic fiction prepare teacher study guides for books already published and teachers need to suggest topics they would like Muslim fiction writers to address in stories for students (middle school and high school).
2. Parents/Grandparents/Uncles/Aunts/Students need to tell Muslim bookstore owners that they want more English language Islamic fiction books for older students (Chapter books) and novels for high schoolers.
3. Parents/Grandparents/Uncles/Aunts/Students and teachers/Imams need to show their support by buying English language Islamic fiction books (maybe instead of the popular non Muslim authored and published books now used in Islamic school Language Arts programs).
I donate new books/tapes/CDs to two different Islamic schools each year. The number of books-items I can buy is directly related to the number of books I sell. You can Help me by buying some of the books I publish or you can buy other English language Islamic fiction books and donate directly to your own school. Ask at your local bookstore for books in this genre. Check for books at Islamic retail Internet sites. Send messages to these retailers asking for fiction books for middle schoolers, high schoolers and young adults!
Remember your Islamic School during our Eid holidays with a gift of books. If you live in a community that doesn't have an Islamic school, check with your masjid and begin a children's book lending library there so books are available for our Muslim kids.
Remember... it is the -little somethings- that added together make the -big somethings- happen.