How is my child doing?

Teachers use a variety of ways to communicate with you regarding how your child is doing.

Some use google docs to update you, that you can log into daily and see them updated in real time.

Some teachers use a communication notebook, and write comments in daily.

Some teachers produce periodic assignment lists and send them out to you routinely.

Whichever method your child’s teacher uses, please be consistent yourself. Keep a note of the link to your child’s teacher. If it is through a notebook, be sure your child brings it home. If he/ she does not, please let the teacher know immediately. If it is a link to a good doc, please access it frequently.

All teachers produce three report cards a year, for you to be in touch with how your child is doing. The first one will focus on study habits. This is important in establishing if your child has good study habits, such as organization and adhering to deadlines. The others focus on how well your child has gained the skills needed and learned the curriculum.

Finally, every week, your child’s teacher will send you an email that summarizes what was learned that week, as well as homework for academic studies and Quran. Be sure to read it thoroughly, engage with the teacher, and be aware of what is being covered, how, and when.

How can I help my child?

In Quran, you can help by doing the following:

Work with your child DAILY.

Do not ask your child to go and review somewhere in isolation and expect them to come back ready. Our mind wanders. Sit with them in a distraction-free zone if possible. Use the following steps to help them review new memorization, or older review surahs:

Get your child to read the first aya a few times (between two or five, depending on how well they can read it)
Get them to close the mushaf and read it to you without looking
Repeat the process with the second aya
Then ask them to read both together with looking
Ask them to close the mushaf once again and read them together without looking
Continue in this manner until you have completed the assigned work
It is better if you go page by page, as this is often how students memorize the surah in class, and it is how they retain the information long-term

In addition to the above instructions, please keep in mind the following:

Do not only help your child with daily memorization by testing them on the page of the day. Test them daily on the WHOLE SURAH. If they do not review it constantly, they will forget it and struggle to retain it.
For surahs longer than ten pages, you may eliminate testing of the first page and add a page each day so that your child is reviewing ten pages daily of the new surah, currently being memorized.
Always keep up to date with the review schedule set by the teacher. It is essential and helps cover and review all materials continuously.

Most important of all:

Be patient. Your child will develop the art of memorization and will struggle at times. This is normal and a test from Allah swt. Staying good natured and positive will help them greatly.