Starting to Read #3

Phew finally. Alhamdulillah. March 2013, I can satisfactorily say Kakak completed her Hijaiyah flash card. Except for 2 to 3 letters lagi yang dia ingat on and off. Penat tu pujuk every flash card session.

I think it has taken us a bit more than 1 year for her to remember all, then again, sessions are not consistent, sometimes months went by without consistent sessions (consistent session means everyday in a week; skipping days might mean back to square one, though not completely, if you know what I mean).

Bought hijaiyaah flashcard from Pn Lina

The last three letters still in need of practice

Maybe some tips to share:

1. Before each session prepare the upah siap-siap, and do some serious coaxing using the bait! I usually use either chocs or more preferably, play sessions. "lepas kita buat alif ba ta ni kita main playdoh sama-sama ye.. kita buat masak2.." and then kalau macam tak nak jugak, "kita baca alif ba ta skejaaap je.. sebab kakak dah pandai.. lepas tu kita main lama-lamaa. Baca skejap, main lama, nak tak?" -__-

2. Before starting, some kata semangat is a must. "Kakak, haritu ingat tak? kakak baca laju je kan, semua kakak dah ingat, pandai sangat kakak.. ummi ingat kakak tak ingat lagi, tapi rupanya semuaaa kakak dah ingat kan? pandai sangat. jom kita buat kejap.."

3. Each session cannot be longer than 10 minutes! Or, if she is super cranky at that time (usually bcoz sleepy/tired) abort the session straight away. Don't let it be the cause of tantrum coz she'll grow to dislike the flash card. In other words, if coaxing is starting to sound more like forcing, better stop. Which is why it's important to choose the right 'time'. Fresh, in a good mood, and not in the only-bottle-can-cure-it mood. Once she say, "kakak penat dah," I stop and my brain starts to think of how to coax her in a few hours time.

Of course, at times, she really like her flash cards, and she would do it on her own, or willingly when I ajak her the first time. A few times she even quietly 'teach' it to Safa. But there are times when main is all she has in her mind, hence to suddenly become all teacher and school with her needs some coaxing.

4. At Pn Lina's course I tried all her methods, like hanging the Hijaiyaah letters on the fridge, walls, cupboards, but for this particular little girl it doesn't quite work. Maybe my starting method is wrong, it makes her feel that flashcard sessions are 'study sessions', so masa tengah happy-happy main, takyah tunjuklah flashcard, in no way is she gonna get tricked into thinking flashcard is a game ;p Sigh. Must be my fault somewhere. I ought to make flash card light and fun and part of a game. But once her Abi succeed in making it a game, she had to run across the living room to pick the letter we shouted at them, made her so happy. So there are a lot of ways, it just needs us to be creative, and observative of our child's likes and style of learning. You know, like, visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

5. Consistency is the main rule, obviously. Flashcard is a one-second, repetitive method. Which is a good thing, really. I don't think we have more than 10 minutes of patience anyway, huhu.

And so, in the middle of March, Kakak at 2 years and 10 months, we are able to start al Furqan series Book 1. Alhamdulillah.

And again, it needs a whole lot of coaxing techniques to get thru this book ;)

In making it more fun, we can think of words that makes sense, and using the flash card, build words like this:

But I would need more than 1 set of Hijaiyaah letters, which means I have to do some printing to create our own cards. And later, when she has done with baris bawah (kasrah) and depan (dammah), I am sure she will  love it when when she can spell Pa-Da Sa-Tu Ha-Ri. Ada guna juga all those story telling sessions yang memenatkan tu.

No words can describe the joy of seeing your (first) child read a book by herself, even though its only one syllable sounds with no meaning! I was estatic. Rasa macam nak menangis pun ada. Our baby all grown up and so smart. I'm sure every parent experience this! Priceless kan? (So please bear our over excitedness). Especially if you had to overcome so many hurdles; tantrums, patience, tiredness.

And yet, rasa kerdil sangat when I see other parents, some of it you can see at http://didikanquran.blogspot.com/. Nak fikir tanggungjawab tu banyak sangat, nak ajar hafazan, arabic language, sirah, akidah, feqah.

Tak apalah, we try our best as parents. Allah knows. Semoga kita termasuk dalam golongan ini..

Dari 'Utsman Bin 'Afan ra., ia berkata : bersabda Rasulullah saw : "Sebaik-baik kamu sekalian adalah orang yang belajar Al-Qur'an dan mengajarkannya." (HR. Bukhari)

“Dan orang-orang yang bersungguh-sungguh di jalan Kami niscaya akan Kami tunjukkan kepada mereka jalan-jalan [menuju keridhaan] Kami. Dan sesungguhnya Allah akan bersama dengan orang-orang yang berbuat ihsan.” (QS. al-Ankabut: 69)