How we teach
People teach. People decide.
An online school can be lonely, or it can be a place where a child is known. We build ours around teachers who know each child, small live classes, a day that makes room for salah, and records you can actually read.
In one sentence
Your child is taught and assessed by people. Some lesson text is drafted with AI help; every such lesson says so and names who approved it. No AI ever sees your child's work or information.
The shape of the week
Live classes, self-paced lessons, and offline work
Each week mixes three kinds of learning. Live classes are where a teacher explains, listens, and corrects. Self-paced lessons let your child practice at their own speed. Offline work (reading, handwriting, Qur'an practice from a printed mushaf) keeps the screen off, and counts when a parent confirms it.
| Each week | Grades 1 and 2 | Grades 3 to 5 | Grades 6 to 8 | Islamic Studies Program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live classes, in small groups | 300 minutes (5 hours) Daily reading and math groups | 450 minutes (7.5 hours) | 600 minutes (10 hours) | 90 minutes (1.5 hours) Two evenings, or the weekend |
| Qur'an, live | 100 minutes (1 hour 40 minutes) | 150 minutes (2.5 hours) | 150 minutes (2.5 hours) | 60 minutes (1 hour) |
| Self-paced lessons, on and off the screen | 600 minutes (10 hours) | 750 minutes (12.5 hours) | 900 minutes (15 hours) | 60 minutes (1 hour) |
| Of those, work away from the screen | 300 minutes (5 hours) | 350 minutes (5 hours 50 minutes) | 350 minutes (5 hours 50 minutes) | 30 minutes |
| Islamic studies (counted within the above) | 90 minutes (1.5 hours) | 135 minutes (2 hours 15 minutes) | 180 minutes (3 hours) | 90 minutes (1.5 hours) |
| Advisor | A weekly group check-in | Weekly | Weekly | Monthly |
| Parent or learning-coach time | About 3 hours a day | About 2 hours a day | About 1 hour a day | As needed |
| On-screen time, as planned | About 2 hours 20 minutes a school day | About 3 hours 20 minutes a school day | About 4 hours 20 minutes a school day | About 1 hour 30 minutes a class day |
| Screen-time ceiling (on-screen minutes only) | At most 2 hours 30 minutes on screen a school day | At most 3 hours 30 minutes on screen a school day | At most 4 hours 30 minutes on screen a school day | At most 1 hour 30 minutes on screen a class day |
These numbers are proposed and will be confirmed by our founding faculty. The screen-time ceiling counts on-screen minutes only: live classes, live Qur'an, and the self-paced lessons done on a screen. Work away from the screen (reading, handwriting, math on paper, and Qur'an practice from a printed mushaf) is part of the self-paced minutes, counts toward the school day when a parent confirms it, and is not screen time.
These minutes are our proposal, to be confirmed by our founding faculty. Once confirmed, the live minutes are written into our Terms of Enrollment, and our scheduling software warns us whenever a term's classes fall short of them. A Week at SII shows a sample day for each grade band.
Who teaches your child
A teacher for every course, an advisor for every child
Small live groups
Live classes have no more than 15 students. Qur'an groups are smaller: 10 for Qaida, 8 for reading, 8 for Juz 'Amma, and 6 for hifz. These limits are enforced by the software: it will not add a child to a full group, and a group that meets live, such as a club or an advisor's group, never takes more than 15 students.
A teacher of record
Every course your child takes has a named teacher who answers for it: who grades the work, answers your messages, and knows how your child is doing.
A named advisor
Every student has an advisor, with no more than 25 students each. Full-time students check in every week (in small groups for grades 1 and 2); Islamic Studies Program students check in every month.
Our counselor is an academic and college counselor. SII does not provide therapy or mental-health treatment. If your child needs that kind of support, your child's advisor will help you find a licensed provider near you.
A prayer-aware day
The school day makes room for salah
Live classes are grouped by time zone and scheduled so they do not fall in the first 30 minutes after Dhuhr or Asr begins, or across Maghrib, for any family in the class. Our scheduling software checks each family's own prayer times on every class date, including across daylight saving changes, from the prayer location the family sets once with the device's location, a city, or a ZIP code (kept only as a point about 10 km across). Until a family sets it, classes are kept clear of prayer times anywhere in that family's state (or, abroad, its time zone). Asr is protected from the standard (earliest) time for every family, and from the later Hanafi time as well for each family who records it. When a family's settings or a class's roster change, the software checks the coming classes again and tells the teacher, the Principal, and the family, and we move the class.
- Fridays have no live class from 15 minutes before Dhuhr until 105 minutes after it begins, so every family can attend Jumu'ah.
- Long sessions include a break for salah.
- Your family's prayer location and prayer settings (calculation method, Asr timing, and any minute adjustments your masjid uses) come from your Family Portal.
A Hijri-aware year
The year follows the Islamic calendar too
We plan the year on the calculated calendar of the Fiqh Council of North America. Both Eids, and the day after each, are school holidays, so families who follow local moon sighting are never marked absent on their Eid.
- In Ramadan, the live day is shorter. No test or project is due in the last ten nights or on the Eid days; our software refuses such a due date.
- Religious observance is always an excused absence. No note is needed.
- The calendar shows Hijri dates beside every school date.
Grades and decisions
The machine may open doors, never close them
Computers are good at checking a quiz. They should not decide a child's grade, placement, or attendance. So in our software:
Scores wait for a teacher
A quiz the computer checks shows your child a practice score marked "not yet reviewed." Nothing reaches the gradebook, the report card, or your view of grades until a teacher releases it.
Unlocking, never locking out
Reaching 80% on a check can open the next lesson early. Falling short never locks your child out; only a teacher can decide that your child needs to stop and review.
A person decides, and is named
Level changes, placement, course completion, and attendance each record the person who decided. Late work is handled by the teacher when grades are released, never by an automatic penalty.
We never grade faith
We grade what a child knows and can do. We never grade a child's faith. No salah or fasting log is kept in any school record, and reflections are marked for thought and effort, never for the strength of a child's iman.
Your child is never marked wrong for following a recognized position of the four Sunni schools. Practical worship lessons show the way your family follows. How we handle madhhab and creed.
Keeping up
You will know early if something is wrong
On pace, or not
Every course has a pacing guide. You and the advisor see "on pace," "3 lessons behind," or "2 ahead" for each course, so nobody finds out in May.
Same-day absence notice
If your child misses a live class, you hear the same day. Attendance counts what really happened: live classes attended, active lesson time, and offline work you confirm, in minutes.
A welfare check
If a child shows no activity for five school days and we cannot reach the family, our Safeguarding Lead checks on the child's welfare.
Accommodations such as extended time are applied by the software from a plan a person approves. Learning support explains how.