Teaching Children

[Sharif]

As-Salaamu 'Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,

I will be teaching a child of about four or five years how to read the Qur'an, starting from the basics (alif, baa, taa...). Insha'allah, I will also be teaching him about Islam, particularly tawheed. However, this is my first time teaching a child of such a young age.

Can anyone provide suggestions in regards to pedagogical methods for such an age group - such as how to make learning enjoyable but effective?

[abdulR]

repetition, offer treats. attention (they will skip around)
sometimes you will have to be very strict, as they always do not read.
coupled with huge dosages of sabr.

make sure you take it very slow. on the qaidah (alif/baa) spend alot of time on the first page with the letters. do them line by line in the first FEW weeks (anything faster and they will probably not retain). and then go over them backwards, forward, up and down, random, diagonal.

don't focus too much on where the sound comes out of as long as they are in the ballpark. also don't teach tajweed, b/c it really slows the child, the whole problem is they can't understand it, tajweed should be taught after some fluency is established in the mushaf.

as for which mushaaf to use after qaidah? i recommend the single juzz/paraas, in the indian type of script. it contains built in tajweed to a degree, and at this point you just want fluency to develop. the writing is also very BIG in the single juzz. go slow through the Quran from the beginning.

moving to an arabic standard mushaaf early on can be very damaging as it requires a skill to read it and knowledge of tajweed.

make Duaa for your student, and I ask Allah to reward you and make it a means of making your scales heavy on the day of judgement. ameen

[Indefinable]

As-Salaamu 'Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,

I will be teaching a child of about four or five years how to read the Qur'an, starting from the basics (alif, baa, taa...). Insha'allah, I will also be teaching him about Islam, particularly tawheed. However, this is my first time teaching a child of such a young age.

Can anyone provide suggestions in regards to pedagogical methods for such an age group - such as how to make learning enjoyable but effective?

Split the session into half - spend the first half on teaching the letters, pronunciation etc, and the second half on memorising duas, let him/her colour, read a story, and generally answer their questions as they have a lot of questions at that age.

The book I use is 'Studies in Islam, Part One' by Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood - but I can't find it online anywhere. It's really good for teaching children 5/6/7 years old.

Brother above made some really good points, take them into consideration Inshaa'Allah.

[Niqaabis]

You might want to use some ideas from here, they have some good resources

alif ba ta

http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f...810/#post97376

[Sharif]

Ameen and jazakumallahu khaira - Excellent suggestions! I will definitely take them all into consideration.

Are there any other useful tools online, such as videos (nasheeds?), that would be recommended? Not so much as a primary tool, but something as a reinforcement.

[nosherwanh]

wa alaykum assalaam wa rahmatullah!

brother, you can you Yusuf Islam's "Aa is for Allah, nothing but Allah, Ba is the beginning of Bismillah"! and sing along with him/her! :P do make a video and upload it! A is for Allah