as salaamu 'alaikum all,

This is an excellent Arabic language instructional program for teaching children Arabic comprehension and conversation.  It is designed for schools, yet can also be used for homeschoolers who have at least one native speaker in the family - it would benefit the non-Arabic speaking parent to learn the language as well, and help teach/reinforce it at home:

* * *

The mission of the BIAE Arabic Language Program, is to empower the New Horizon School students with adequate Arabic language skills to enable them to read and comprehend the Qur’an. The BIAE believes that in promoting the four language skills (listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing), the students will be able to understand Islam from its authentic sources and interact actively with Arabic as a living language.


To achieve its mission, the Arabic Language Program (ALP), combines the Arabic textbooks in the curriculum with supplementary audiovisual material and extra-curricular activities that enhances the child’s proficiency in the four language skills. This is carried out through various games, role-playing, singing and other activities during the language class.


To correctly recite and easily comprehend the Qur’an is the goal of all Muslims. Learning Modern Standard Arabic is an essential means towards achieving this goal.


Achievements to date include:

Students: Individual assessment of each student and placement according to his/her language level at the beginning of the year, for all grades.

Libraries: Establishment of an Arabic Language section in each school.

Arabic Teachers Development: Continuous training workshops on modern methods of teaching Arabic language skills. Teachers are able to deliver language lessons in an interesting and scientific way.

Pre-Elementary Program: Developed a successful program for Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL). The program is called “Haya Natakalam Ma’a”, which is introduced in the three Pre-Elementary levels. This is a complete program of storybooks accompanied by audio CDs, lessons for teachers, homework, assessment tests, color-in books and songs on audio CDs.


Developed an online Forum for the New Horizon Schools’ Qur’anic-, Islamic Studies and Arabic language teachers to communicate with and assist one another. In this Forum, teachers are able to share their lesson plans, exams, worksheets, projects and supplementary material.



Introductory video
Program information flyer > http://biae.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Arabic-storybooks-flyer.pdf

Qur’anic verses and exercises supporting Oheb al-Arabiya lessons for Level 1

Qur’anic verses and exercises supporting Oheb al-Arabiya lessons for Level 2


Haya Natakalam Ma’a program. “The Teacher’s Guide Book” is composed of two-hundred lessons divided into three levels, including children’s stories and the alphabet. Colorful storybooks accompanied by audio CDs of story narration and song. Color-in books of each story. Homework and Assessment Tests for each level.


“Oheb al-Arabiyya” Level 1 and Level 2 are used in the 1st – 4th grades. Qur’anic verses containing the vocabulary used in the texts, supplementary audiovisual material and library free reading sessions are added to each lesson.


“Oheb al-Arabiyya” Levels 3, 4, 5 & 6 are used in the 5th – 8th grades. Qur’anic verses containing the vocabulary used in the texts, supplementary audiovisual material and library free reading sessions are added to each lesson.

http://biae.net/arabic-education/

Ahlaan.  You can take customized screen shots, saved as images, using this free software:

http://www.picpick.org/

Long at last.  Ready to get started.  Yella bina (let's go!)

I would like to see Dr. Richard Gentry's (http://jrichardgentry.com/) opinions on this, as well as conducting more studies.

    I am in!  Thanks!

Research:  Can babies learn to read? No, study finds

Date: February 25, 2014

Source: New York University

Summary: Can babies learn to read? While parents use DVDs and other media in an attempt to teach their infants to read, these tools don’t instill reading skills in babies, a study has found. "While we cannot say with full assurance that infants at this age cannot learn printed words, our results make clear they did not learn printed words from the baby media product that was tested," authors note. However, there was one undeniable effect of these products -- on parents. In exit interviews, there was the belief among parents that their babies were learning to read and that their children had benefited from the program in some areas of vocabulary development.

continued:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140225111818.htm

I can tell you once I read some more.  I am already familiar with Montessori and enrolled in a teacher trainer program for ages 3 - 6; but need to homeschool my children who are 6 - 9. 

I am certain that it will be good, although I feel a little anxious because I am trying to figure it out.  I have the feeling that I had when learning about Doman method and using it to teach Classical Arabic to my children.  I know I can do it, I just have to read and get organized and make materials.  And it will force me to organize my home!   

Will keep you posted.

Certainly.  I am glad you find it helpful.  And these are a few other resources created by credentialed AMS/AMI Montessori teachers, that are adapted from homeschooling.  Just bear in mind that they have to be purchased, although for a reasonable fee:

* * *
   
Montessori Homeschooling
« on: November 03, 2013, 07:36:25 PM »

Good Evening Everyone,

For those interesting in learning more about how to incorporate Montessori teaching methods into your homeschooling, please refer to these resources created by credentialed Montessori teachers who also homeschool:

Montessori 0 - 3, 3 - 6, and 6 - 9:
http://www.montessorifortheearth.com/

Lower Elementary, ages 6 - 9
http://www.magellanmontessori.com/

~ Ayesha

http://forum.brillkids.com/product-discussions-and-reviews/montessori-homeschooling/msg102017/?topicseen#new

Good Evening Everyone,

This is a wonderful resource for parents to learn how to teach at home using Montessori methods:

http://www.myworksmontessori.com/

by credentialed AMS Montessori teachers.

~ Ayesha

Good Evening Everyone,

For those interesting in learning more about how to incorporate Montessori teaching methods into your homeschooling, please refer to these resources created by credentialed Montessori teachers who also homeschool:

Montessori 0 - 3, 3 - 6, and 6 - 9:
http://www.montessorifortheearth.com/

Lower Elementary, ages 6 - 9
http://www.magellanmontessori.com/

~ Ayesha

Math Ability Starts in Infancy, Study Suggests

LiveScience.com By Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer
22 hours ago

A baby's sense of numbers at the age of 6 months predicts how good that child will be at math at the age of 3, new research finds.

(image of children > http://news.yahoo.com/math-ability-starts-infancy-study-suggests-190855780.html )

In the study, in which researchers looked at infants' "primitive number sense," or how well they can differentiate between groups of different numbers of items, suggests this skill is a building block for future math learning.

"It may explain some of the differences in how easy children find it to learn," said study researcher Elizabeth Brannon, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University in North Carolina.

As easy as 1 … 2 … 3 …

From as early as the first two days of life, newborns have an approximate sense of numbers, researchers have found. If shown a grid of eight dots repeatedly, for example, babies will look longer than when they're suddenly shown a grid of 16 dots, even if the grid is otherwise identical. Because babies can't talk, infant cognition researchers rely on the fact that infants look at new, unfamiliar objects longer than old ones to determine what babies can perceive. If they looked the same amount of time at a 16-dot grid as a series of eight-dot grids, it would suggest the infants couldn't tell the difference between the two. [Incredible! 9 Brainy Baby Abilities]

Brannon and her colleagues developed a type of baby math test that allows researchers to "score" individual infants on their primitive number sense. In this test, the baby is shown two screens simultaneously. A series of black-and-white patterns made of dots flash across both screens. The difference is that one screen always shows patterns made of the same number of dots — the size of the dots and the arrangement are all that change. On the other side, the number of dots making up the patterns changes, too.

A baby with a strong number sense will notice the number of dots on one screen is changing and will look at that screen longer.

Using this method, Brannon and her colleagues tested the number sense of 48 6-month-old babies. They then followed up with the same children at 3.5 years of age. This time, the kids took a general intelligence test, a standardized math test and a test on how well they understood the words for numbers. The 3-year-olds also completed a grown-up version of the number sense test they'd taken as infants, this time pointing out which of two dot patterns contained more dots.

Learning math

The result? The kids with a stronger primitive number sense as babies did better at all three math tests as 3-year-olds. These advanced math abilities weren't related to stronger general intelligence, suggesting early math sense is specific to computational abilities, Brannon told LiveScience.

Many factors influence how well a child will grasp math, Brannon said. Experience, education and motivation all matter greatly. The researchers "are not in any way, shape or form" claiming that innate ability trumps the importance of exposure to numbers, Brannon said. But it does seem that primitive number sense matters to some extent.

The researchers continue to examine the variables that make math a breeze for some kids and a struggle for others. They hope the new findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will ultimately help improve math education.

"We're asking 'Can you train the approximate number system, or primitive number sense; can you improve it and will this actually have an effect on symbolic mathematics?'" Brannon said.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

http://news.yahoo.com/math-ability-starts-infancy-study-suggests-190855780.html

via ABC News (America)

Whiz Kid, 11, Navigates College Life
By Lawrence Dechant | ABC News Blogs – 1 hour 24 minutes ago

[video available at link below]

He is a regular Doogie Howser, though he probably won't know much about the iconic television character played by Neil Patrick Harris in the early 90s, because he is only 11-years-old.

Carson Huey-You is a lot like Howser in the sense they are both heralded as boy wonders, because both entered college at age 10.

Carson was accepted to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, last year and has already begun his freshman year. According to school officials, he could possibly be the youngest in university history.

"I really, really like school, and in particular solving problems," Carson told ABCNews.com.

He chose physics as his major because he "likes numbers," he said.

"Creating random problems and solving these problems helps calms me down when I'm upset or need to relax," Carson said.

Though he is a big man on campus now, his mother, Claretta Huey-You, said she is constantly at her son's side, making sure he is being taken care of.

"I am sure that any mother knows having children, driving them to and from school, and cooking and cleaning, is very exhausting, but it's a mother's job and we love it and we do what we need to do," Claretta told ABCNews.com. "That being said, I walk him to the door and make sure he enters safely,
and I am never far away. I always have a bird's-eye view of the door and make sure he is okay. I am right there when he exits, and never go into the classroom while he is in class."

Claretta said she home-schooled Carson until he was 5 years old and knew his educational fast track was imminent. By the time he was 2, he could add, subtract, multiply and divide, she said.

"By the time he was 5, he could do algebra. And it was a challenge because I knew this was coming and it happened very fast," Claretta said. "After I home-schooled him for five years, I enrolled him in a private school and he went straight into the eighth grade."

To aid in Carson's success and also provide guidance and a safe haven, Dr. Magnus Rittby, senior associate dean and professor of physics and astronomy, has been appointed to guide Carson in his latest endeavors.

"When people worried about him going to college at this age, my response is, 'What else would he do?'" Rittby told WFAA. "I think students will learn from him. If an 11-year-old can stand up in the classroom and voice his opinion about things, maybe that will encourage them to do the same thing."
Carson said his fellow students have been very helpful, receptive and welcoming. And being in college has been "exciting," he said.

"Just being on campus, learning new material, figuring problems, everything in that area is great," Carson said.
Claretta said her son will embark on the normal four-year track to obtaining his bachelor's degree.

"I am not rushing him because he has a lot of time," she said. "I wanted to make sure this experience is the best of his life. He is going to be in the chemistry club and science-based clubs so he can have some fun time, but during this four-year period I do not plan on rushing him, but then again, I have not been able to halt or stop him."

Watching Star Wars and playing video games with his brother and friends is his favorite pastime, he said. But he manages to balance both school and fun, saying he has "the best of two worlds."

As for his future, Claretta said Carson is determined to earn his Ph.D. in physics and wants to do research to "discover something huge that will impact our way of life and better our planet."

"We understand his gift is a big responsibility," she said. "But even though he has this gift, I want people to know first and foremost that I am so proud of him and that he is a good little boy. He is very humble, very kind and caring and yet he is truly intelligent. Even though he is in college, I just really want people to know what a good little boy he is and what a great big brother he is as well."

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/whiz-kid-11-navigates-college-life-213150241.html?vp=1

Dear A_BC and Skylark,

Ramadhan Kareem and 'Eid Mubaarak!  Ahlaan! 

Hmmm - I am thinking to work on the present tense (active voice) verb conjugation using Classical Mommy's 'Arabic Verbs 1' ppt as a guideline, while I prefer these meaningful sentences as found in page 12 of this pdf:

http://www.readandunderstandthequran.com/images/files/grammar-1.pdf

And I want to use the most commonly used verbs from these books:

http://www.amazon.com/201-Arabic-Verbs-verbs/dp/0812005473/

http://www.amazon.com/501-Arabic-Verbs-Fully-Conjugated/dp/0764136224/

http://www.amazon.com/Frequency-Dictionary-Arabic-Vocabulary-Dictionaries/dp/0415444349/

and instead of listing each 'verb table' conjugation, I want to use only 1 pronoun/conjugation at a time with different verbs.  For example:

He sits on the chair.  He reads the book.  He drinks juice.  He eats an apple.  He watches television.  (etc.).

Or I may do two contrasting pronouns/verbs, as done in Classical Mommy's Arabic Verbs 1 ppt, and in this video series: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/AskAnArab/videos .

And then the 'pattern's will become more obvious, and then referencing a table makes more sense.  I also want to use all tashkeel, and then simplified tashkeel, sort of like training wheels on a bicycle, until sarf can be studied and mastered as later stages for both my children and myself. 

What do you think?  Can we work together on this, please? 

EDIT (Sat., 08.31.2013 PM) > I began making flashcards in an http://www.omniglot.com/language/srs.php called http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ that will accept Arabic text (font:  Arabic typesetting), using the pdf sentences on page 12 (present tense, active voice, right hand column):

http://www.readandunderstandthequran.com/images/files/grammar-1.pdf

I will try to create 1 set of 15 sentences/conjugations using 1 verb per day and then we can start copying/pasting into ppt and save as images to be uploaded into LR and add some images for the children.  And perhaps you can record the audio in fusHaah?  And this verb conjugator shows the Qur'anic references as well:

http://www.verbix.com/webverbix/Arabic/skn%5Ba-u%5D%3AI.html

What do you think? 

JAK
ASA
Ayesha

Good Morning everyone,

I want to type in Arabic within LR, and am unable to do so within LR itself - what is the solution, please?   

Thanks

Ayesha

Good Morning,

These two books are very insightful on how to raise bi/multi-lingual children:

http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061246562

http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/pricing/isbn/item1113942/?site_locale=en_US

and more are listed here:  http://www.multilingualchildren.org/shop.html#refbooks

With regard to Doman materials in Spanish, there are some here:  http://www.childandme.com/ideas/teach-your-child/foreign-language/

And a few Doman materials in Arabic are here:
http://www.theclassicalmommy.com/arabicbits.html

However, I would begin with reading the first book listed, to understand the best way to achieve your goals in the most efficient and effective methods possible.

~ Ayesha