Hi,

We recently got a new PC so I deactivated my laptop account and installed LR on the new PC. Unfortunately, I cannot download my English or Arabic curriculums.  I just get an error message saying the file could not be imported correctly, do you wish to remove from the import queue? What do I need to do to fix this?

I just tried to purchase the Arabic curriculum with the coupon..but it doesnt give me 25% off, only 10%...

Is it possible to purchse a discount coupon for the Arabic Language Curriculum? (I had a look and Arabic is not listed on the page at the moment...http://www.brillkids.com/coupon-store/redm-brillkids-lr-curriculum.php)

Salaam and JK for the links - will look into it soon iA.

HIfz and children:
I tried very hard to make hifz "fun" for the kids, but at a certain point I needed Hammaad to just sit and concentrate for a session (we have lots of breaks but steadily session times have increased).  It was a struggle for a short time, but now he knows that we do Quran every single day and accepts it, aH. I hope that these concentration skills will help in other areas too. He looks forwards to rewards (Juz parties) and I think there is some satisfaction of performing well at school.

I too think the end goal is to comprehend and act on the Quran, and to develop a true love for it.  However, my view is that we should make the most of their memorisation capability whilst they are young and the hifz is fastest.  As the children grow, their comprehension will also be greater and I intend for them to continue studying the Quran in more depth after memorisation iA.  After all, Quranic studies don't ever stop - once it is memorised it still needs constant review. One also needs to comprehend and study tafseer and so on. 

I think you are right and we just need to go the process from the beginning again - perhaps I can teach Safiyya at the same time iA! Would be great if you can explain how to teach it to him properly iA - I'll contact you by email iA.

re- mistakes in Juz Amma, I have found that despite a regular revision schedule, some mistakes have crept, particularly as he learns more Quran - but aH, Quran is ongoing and always will be iA.

Memorisation technique - so they do the reps with you or independently?

May Allah grant you (and the girls) barakah in your time so that you can achieve everything you want to and more iA.

JK once again

Karishma

Salaam.

They don't teach them any reading as such at the school we attend - hifz is purely by talqeen (repetition) at this stage, and kids normally learn to read at regular schools here, which they start at age 6  (Hammaad is 4).  They do however, give them simple words to write (which my son reads) that are without tashkeel, so I think he sometimes assumes he doesn't need to pay attention to the tashkeel! I have taught him to read using a variety of methods - he is able to read single words/couplets fine, but we when we go to the mushaf it is not accurate enough.  Having thought about it a bit more, he had a similar problem with English before - he would sight read - which was not always accurate, now that his phonics is better it is as though something has clicked and he can read with accuracy.  I hope the same will happen with Arabic! I guess we will have to spend lots of time practicing in the summer, and I might try the ayah cards you mention.

How do the girls memorise? Do you still use the same technique? I would really like to have Hammaad reading independently to aid his hifz - the school we attend is not a traditional cramming school.  It is a tajweed school with classes for children of mothers at the school. Usually children would leave after completing Hammaads class (they are currently on the 28th juz) but because he is younger they have agreed to let him stay on - so for hifz I will need to do the talqeen for him at home...

JK for your input!

Karishma

ASA Ayesha.

How are the girls progressing with their reading skills? Are they able to read independently?

Hammaad is now able to sight read the sections of Quran he has memorised, but independent reading needs a lot more work.  I am also slightly concerned about the accuracy of his reading skills - if he is sight reading, he often just looks at the letters and ignores the harakaat! At the moment, they teach by talqeen at his hifz school, I play the ayat for him at home and recite them for him, and I have him "read" the section he is memorising.   Would love for him to be able to read independently - as the hifz progresses, there will be less talqeen at school, yet I need to free up some of my time to give my daughter, Safiyya, time for her Quran and I have another baby on the way!

Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks

Karishma

Salaam Ayesha.

Have tried to jot down some notes on how they do things at the Quran School we attend here.  We go 5 days a week (3 hours/day), there are classes for mothers and children - so boys usually only go until they are 6 or 7.

Hifz schedule:

As an example, weeks schedule at the beginning of term:
Saturday Al Qalam, Ayah 48-52
Sunday Al Haqqah 1-7
Monday Haqqah 8-12
Tuesday Haqqah 13 -24
Wednesday Haqqah 25-27
Minimal revision of Juz Amma in school

They stepped up the pace towards the end of term though - Mursalat finished in 3 days, plus one day for repetition, and this was the previous weeks schedule (gearing up for exams):

Saturday Insan 6-12, revision of Jinn and Mulk, mothers asked to revise Naba, Naziat and Abasa
Sunday Insan 13 -22, revision muzzamil and qalam, mothers asked to revise takweer, infitar, mutaffifeen
Monday Insan 23 - 27 revision muddathir and haqqah, mothers asked to revise infitar, burooj, tariq
Tuesday Insaan  28-31 revision qiyamah and maarij, mothers asked to revise Ala, Gashiah, Fajr
Wednesday Mursalat 1-19 revision Nuh, mothers asked to revise Balad, shams, layl.

They memorise the last few ajzaa first - usually 5-6 I think.

Review at home - For hifz, the groundwork is done at school aH.  If I say the beginning of the ayah, he usually knows the rest so I mainly work on connecting the ayat, and play the relevant ayah for him.  Despite this, I am spending much more time on Quran than before - mainly revision. We go through the surah he is working on, the previous surah, one more from Juz Tabarak and some revision from Juz Amma.  The pace they set is much faster at the school- I would always wait until I was confident he knew the surah before moving on, but here they just go ahead.  I panicked a bit at the beginning, but with repetition Hammaad has managed to learn the suwar.  As I mentioned before I am planning to spend the next month doing revision only to make sure it is more solid.
(Am so glad I taught him to read early so we can concentrate on this! It is sometimes very frustrating - I had planned on homeschooling the English side of things, but after school and Quran revision, we dont manage much - practice some reading and writing and thats it!)

Am pleased with the way they teach though - Hammaad really enjoys school and loves his teacher.  Have sat in a class before, and this is what I have seen of the teaching method:
-talqeen, repeating after teacher
-emphasis on looking at how the teacher recites - when I sat in a class, the teacher went up close to the children so they could see her mouth and imitate
-some basic tajweed teaching - eg they show the makahrij when teaching the children letters of the alphabet
-the teacher wrote out the ayat they are learning on the board - I've noticed Hammaad is really keen to look in the mushaf more
-they explain the ayat (in Arabic, so not sure how much he understands!) but when I have been reviewing with him he sometimes shows one finger for wahid, or shakes his head as in dont do this! 
- Aside from Quran they teach the children to write the Arabic letters and numbers, basic stuff really.  The children in his class are mostly 5 year olds, under 10 students.

Al Hamdullillah, have made a lot of dua for a suitable teacher and programme like this, this is all from Him alone.  I ask that the children continue to learn and retain what they have already learned and develop a real love and understanding of the Quran.  Please continue to remember us in your duas and we will of course be remembering you.

I have checked a couple of the files and they are fine.

Ws wr wb Ayesha,

The ayah sequencing stuff looks excellent - really good idea mA, and I will definitely take a look at using these when we get to that stage...which we are quite far from right now!  Still working through the "Read" book, although we are almost done now.

We started at a hifz school in September.  The pace they set is much faster than I would have at home, and aH Hammaad will finish Juz Tabarak in the next few days iA.  He is nearly 4 years and 2 months old.  School holidays start next week for us, and we'll be away for about a month.  I'm planning on revision only to make sure it is solid enough and hopefully I will have more time to concentrate on his reading skills.

Hi, I used bob books and my son enjoyed them.  I liked the idea of words being grouped to introduce phonics and encouraging my son to read "the whole book".  When I first saw the books, I didn't think the pictures were great, but the children seem to have enjoyed them anyway! 
The first set is quite simple - and might be too basic if you have already been through the phonics programme...

Another reading programme we have used is Oxford Reading Tree - not necessarily phonics based, but all children seem to love the characters and I thoroughly recommend it.  There are some free ebooks available here: http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/

Regards

Karishma

Thanks - it worked this time. Have you prepped any similar files? Or just for meem?

Yep!

AA.  I have tried to open your attachment, but am unable to do so...?

AA

Schedule: We aim for two lines a day, but to be honest in practice in doesn't work so strictly.  I recite to the kids at bedtime (current surah plus next couple of pages to come) and by the time we come to memorising the surah they already know a lot of the content, mA. We go over the surah, correcting at least two lines per day until the surah is learned.  For revision, I ask my son to recite the last surah he has learnt, and approximately 1/8th of the juz.  Reading schedule is more relaxed, a few lines from the book each day.  I wish I had time to create materials in LR, but sadly I don't.  Once we're through with the "Read" book, we'll work through juz amma, and I'm hoping it will be easy as he already knows the juz...if he is reciting and can't remember what comes next, I show him the text and most of the time he can tell what comes next...

@bk87.  I started teaching Arabic way after English - so I don't think he knew the alphabet until he was closer to two.  It seemed very slow at the beginning - both memorisation and reading, but after a while things just sort of clicked and the pace has really picked up.  Keep making dua - He is listening and will surely answer your prayers.