Continuing on from Wednesday where we are talking about Ad-Duha’s complete Islamic studies curriculum packages – specifically Levels A and B – we are now moving on to three books. In recap:
Ad-Duha Islamic curriculum Levels A and B come with a few components:
- Teacher manual
- Mini tafseer books
- Book of adiyaa’ (supplications)
- Islamic studies book (Level A and B focused on names of Allah)
- Arabic workbook
Yesterday, we covered the Teacher Manual and the Mini Tafseer books, both of which I am a big fan. Today, I’ll walk through how we’ve used, and what I love about the Book of Adiyaa’ (supplications), Islamic studies book, and Arabic workbook.
Book of Adiyaa’
First, let’s just say how impressed I am about the adiyaa’ that are introduced. It’s a nice mix between some long and short adiyaa’, so it’s not all hard or all easy. Ad-Duha also has posters available on their website (for FREE!) so you can post the relevant du’a near where it might be applicable, such as posting the du’a for eating near the dining room table.
Memorizing du’a has been the biggest challenge for Care Bear in all of her Islamic studies. Honestly, I’m not the most consistent in reminding her to recite her du’a, and given I was only Muslim for about 2.5 years when we started homeschooling, the vast majority of the du’a were new for me as well. If you start with the Mini Mumin books in preschool, the du’a won’t be as new, and I imagine it will be much easier to pick up than starting with it brand new at almost 10 years old (or as an adult!).
Islamic Studies Book – 99 Names of Allah
These books covering the names of Allah are just adorable, and it features stunning artwork from ArtHafez.com (Hubby gave me one of their prints of the 99 names for Eid one year!), adding to the quality of the book overall. Each lesson includes a story featuring one specific name and relates it back to modern day life, stories of the prophets, hadith, or Qur’an story. The books go through stories of one family, starting with a boy going through his grandfather’s attic and finding paintings he started on the names of Allah. In the last book, the boy is now a man with his own grandkids, and his own adult children help him complete the paintings. MashaAllah, what a beautiful story to walk through with your kids!
I especially loved how these topics opened up further conversation for us to discuss, alhamdulilah. Care Bear was older than the intended age for these books, but alhamdulilah, I believe she benefited a lot from reading them and learning more about each name of Allah. I see so often that people have a very skewed idea of Allah, and learning His names helps give a more balanced understanding, in sha Allah. When we first started reading through the stories, we would cover the questions at the end of each lesson, but as Care Bear has gotten older, the questions were too basic for her needs and we improvised.
Arabic workbook
Care Bear has gone through a lot of Arabic work since I’ve become Muslim. She’s done weekend classes, private tutors, and multiple group classes. I’ve become hesitant to start new Arabic programs with her because I feel bad that she’s been tossed around so much! Even with my hesitation, I was very happy with the Ad-Duha Arabic books. Each lesson took less than 15-20 minutes, so it felt easy to process each new letter or concept, practice it, and move on. Care Bear improved her reading and handwriting skills with the practice, to which I am grateful.
The book is set up so the parent does not need to know Arabic themselves, but there is a limit in how far a child can go without a suitable tutor. Everything is very linear, has reviews periodically, and all the elements are there for to teach a child Arabic regardless of if the parent does or not. However, if the parent does not know how to read/write in Arabic, I highly suggest they learn, or find a suitable tutor, for the sake of the child’s Qur’an recitation, at the very least. We have chosen to use the classes at Studio Arabiya to perfect Care Bear’s tajweed until I can make the time to learn Arabic better myself, in sha Allah.
Pronunciation and Review Tool
Levels ALP (similar to Kindergarten), A, and B, all come with a downloadable tool to help with pronunciation of the du’a, names of Allah, and suwar (chapters of Qur’an). It’s setup so it’s easy for even a small child to find their way around and listen to the recitation, in sha Allah perfecting their own.
Summary
The Ad-Duha curriculum is fantastic, and when you take a look at their scope and sequence, you how thorough their program really is. Some of the older grades are under revision and therefore not available, but the scope and sequence can get you started in the right direction if you want to continue the trajectory.
When we started doing Ad-Duha at home, we were using a virtual school for Care Bear’s secular subjects. Our days were longer, less interesting, and it was hard to fit in Islamic studies at all. Ad-Duha’s program is solid, and deserves more time than we were able to dedicate at that point, and so it took us a couple years to finish one curriculum year. In sha Allah when I start doing formal work with Little Miss and Tulip, Islamic studies will come center stage.
Ad-Duha focuses a lot on memorization in Levels ALP, A and B. While it has been challenging to retain all the memorized items (though review is built in to the program), the life lessons learned through the tafseer and stories are invaluable. Truly, I’ve looked long and hard at many programs and just have not found anything that compares to the thoroughness of the Ad-Duha program, mashaAllah.
Do you deliver to pakistan.do you have books in urdu.
You can see the full line up of books at ad-duha.org and contact the seller with more specific questions, in sha Allah.