Reading the Quran is truly a gift. Reading it really gives the reader inner calm and peace. So, many of us are taught to read it at an early age. But like anything else, regular reading and practise is the only way to keep up that skill. I have often come across people who assume because my mother tongue is Arabic, reading the Quran is pretty straight forward. The trouble is that’s not the case at all. Spoken Arabic is totally different to the written form. In addition to that, the Arabic in the Quran is classic Arabic, which isn’t easy either.
Now as a mother with young children I wanted to find ways to help my children learn Quran easily. I wanted to get it into our daily life without my kids seeing it as a chore. We tried lots of different ways and found a few that really helped. They are all super easy and the kids found them simple to stick too.
My children were both under 10 when we used these methods to learn but it can work for older kids too. First of all, I would choose a Surat for that week, we started from the end of Juz’Amma. This is always a good place to start because there are short Sura’s. By the way it’s called Juz’ Amma because Amma, is the first word of the first verse of this section (78:1). Basically, we were going through the shortest first.
I had a children’s copy of Juz’ Amma and photocopied the Surat we were learning that week. I would put that on the fridge door, because if your kids are anything like mine then this was their favourite destination. That way they could have quick look every time they came to the fridge.
Then everyday after homework we would learn 1 Ayah from that Surat for 15 mins, no more than that. Remember the key here is consistency and practise. The next day, we would learn the next Ayah therefore adding an Ayah each day. If an Ayah was longer or more difficult then we would give it an extra day. Then by the end of the week or a little bit longer, we would have completed the Surat. Learning in small sections like this was so much easier for my kids.
I also put a copy of the Juz Amma in the car, so that on the way to school, while I was driving, the kids could read the Surat, we were learning that week, for just a few minutes. Again, this was a gentle reminder. Even if you are not driving to school, you could just read a little as you are walking.
Then at bedtime I would let them listen to the Surat on YouTube. I would play it on repeat for around 10 minutes. My kids loved their gadgets so why not use them to help them learn? There are clips specifically for children and encourage the kids to repeat what they are hearing. Find one that your child likes and listen to it every day. I would just sit next to them and read with them for that 10 minutes. It even helped to perfect my recitation. Apart from the numerous benefits that come from reading the Quran, reading just before sleeping had an added bonus of having a lovely calming effect on the kids.
All these steps were short and simple but really made a difference to my kids learning. Try them out and see what suits you and your family. You don’t have to do all the things we did, just choose what works for you.
My main aim here is to highlight that learning Quran is no easy thing but in small easy amounts, it can be made so much easier. Plus, as I said before the key is consistency. Finally, always remember that giving your kids the gift of being able to read Quran is an act of love to both your children and Allah.
Do you have any tips? Share them in the comments!
