Qur`aan: New Method

Bismillaah.

After renewed inspiration to get Junayd to be a haafizh (inshaa`Allaah), I am trying to be more disciplined with the memorisation of the Qur`aan.

I remember once reading that many parents expect their children to love the deen, practice it and even memorise the Qur`aan when they (the parents) are not doing so themselves. I believe this to be so true, subhaaAllaah.

I notice that when I regularly recite the Qur`aan out loud when revising, Junayd often follows suit, mashaa`Allaah.

This week’s first Qur`aan session was so lovely, mashaa`Allaah. I did revision of sooraat with Junayd and I think I’ll be taking it one aayah at a time, rather than one soorah at a time. I know this sounds logical, but previously I would do a whole soorah a day – Junayd would get the general jist of the soorah, but being the perfectionist mum that I am, I was always dissatisfied with his articulation of letters. Now we are sticking with Soorah al-Masad until he gets it right, inshaa`Allaah.

I utilise the Soorah charts that can be found here: Tabidden Jr Qur`aan section

While I’m on this subject, when did you all begin teaching the tajweed rules to your kiddies?

~ Umm Junayd.

10 Simple Pleasures

 

So… I’ve been tagged. I hate these things, and have always thought myself privileged to have never been put up to such a task – but now I’m a victim! The rules state that I HAVE to tag three people, so if you see your name below, know that you too are a victim!

I have to list 10 simple pleasures, so here they are. Inshaa`Allaah this post will serve as a little reminder for us to be grateful for all blessings, large and small.

1. Now being able to hear birds tweeting in the morning, rather than cars racing by.
2. Having running water from a tap.
3. Being able to whip up a simple meal when my son says he is hungry.
4. Having a bed to sleep on.
5. Having the freedom to travel by car.
6. Taking my son to the park, seeing him scream with delight as he plays.
7. Watching my daughter crawl around, when we once thought it unlikely.
8. Being able to play the Qur`aan and lectures on my portable CD player.
9. Having sugar, salt and spices to add a little flavour to food.
10. Having a shop just a minute away – what a lifeboat it is when we run out of milk!

Wa lillaahil hamd. We can NEVER recall and list all the blessings Allaahu, subhaanahu wa ta’aala, has bestowed upon us, so we should never cease to be grateful to him.

  Who are my victims?

Iman, Mu7aaribah and… Nadia. By the way, you also have to use that pic at the top of this post!

Reading or Chanting?

Bismillaah.

Continuing on the subject of reading, I got into a conversation with a dear friend of mine who is also a homeschooler, mashaa`Allaah and we were exchanging our experiences on teaching our children to read. We had slightly different approaches and I wonder whether anyone can share their experiences too.

Umm J: Does not show flashcards of words with pictures, stating to the child what the word is – obviously the child will ‘know’ what it is due to recognition of the picture. Umm J prefers to do pure phonectics, working with the sound of the letters and helping child connect sound with letter, then spelling it out.

Umm A: Implements the showing of words (i.e. apple), teaching the child each letter of the word and getting them to learn words through this medium. Her third child learnt his name via this method and now knows not only how to spell his name, but can write it and confidently say each letter.

I personally tend to shy away from showing Junayd words and teaching him via this method as I am worried that he’ll not be reading, but rather he’ll be chanting. I can recall reading in a Montessori book on the subject of reading that parents/ teachers can tell when a beginner is reading and when they are merely ‘chanting’. According to the book, a beginner reader who reads, takes time to decipher the words, while a chanter simple states it outright. Any thoughts on this? I believe this to be true to an extent – when presented with C A T, Junayd will stare at the word and then say “cat”… however, he’s beginning to be a little chanter – is this because he now ‘knows’ the word?

~ Umm Junayd.