Tips on How to Teach Children to Read Al-Quran For Parents & Teachers

From an early age, children should be introduced to the holy Quran. Learning from childhood will strengthen children’s emotional connection with the Qur’an. However, when there are many distractions in the learning process, starting from television shows, games, smart device games, and others, learning to read the Quran to children becomes full of challenges. Teachers or parents must present interesting and interactive learning so that children are motivated to learn to read the Quran.

 Moreover, reading the Quran is of course quite difficult, especially for ‘ ajam people or those who do not speak Arabic. Even so, it is important for children to be introduced to the Qur’an from an early age. This is because the Quran is the main source of Islamic teachings. In addition, Allah SWT also prepares great rewards for teachers and people who learn the Quran, as explained in the hadith narrated by Uthman bin ‘Affan that the Prophet Muhammad SAW said: “It is best that you learn the Quran and teach it,” (Bukhari) . Then, what the right way to teach children to read the Qur’an? Shaykh Mustafa Fuhaim in Education Curriculum Muslim children (2009) wrote some effective measures to teach children to read the Quran with talking method. details of step- The steps are divided into three stages as follows

I. Pre-learning stage

1. The teacher or parent reminds the child to concentrate and focus on the things to be studied and the Arabic readings that will be studied.
2. Inviting children to pray for grace and blessings from the learning.
3. Before teaching some verses from the Quran, parents or teachers should start a light conversation about the wisdom of the verses of the Qur’an. However, learning to read the Quran, especially for children who do not speak Arabic, should not only recite the passages without understanding their meaning. Therefore, it is the obligation of the teacher or parent to open up topics about the theme and meaning of learning at that moment

II. Learning Stage

1. Preferably, train children to read the Quran directly from the mushaf
2. While teaching reading the Quran, it is also important for the instructor to introduce the children to the signs of waqf and tajwid terms to improve the reading of each verse. The term Tajweed is likemad, idgham, breadfruit , thickening the letters qalqalah , clarifying the makhraj (place of exit) of each letter, hamzah washal, hamzah qatha ‘and so on.
3. Teachers should also listen to recitation of the Quran to children more than once
4. Then, the child is asked to read the verses in the surah together more than once
5. If teaching the Qur’an to more than one child, the teacher can divide the time. While correcting mistakes that have occurred in one child’s reading, he can ask several other children to repeat the recitation of the surah that has been read simultaneously. Then, sent a few other kids, and so on.
6. After that, the teacher asks the children one by one to read the Quran. He can do this by getting one of the children to read the Quran after he has given a sample reading. Then, ask other children to do the same, and so on

III. Post-Learning

1. Teachers should discuss the meaning of letters to children by giving light questions. This is so that the teacher really knows that all children have understood the meaning of the letter well.
2. Teachers of the Quran must instill in the child’s soul that learning the Qur’an is worship. Allah SWT gives a very big reward for those who study it seriously.
3. The teacher should also have a target at the meeting that the child must repeat the verses taught by reading them over and over again.  4. Teachers must pay attention to correct reading of children so that mistakes do not occur. If there are still mistakes, even if they are small, it is possible that they will be brought to adulthood if they are not immediately corrected. For the record, parents and teachers should be sensitive to cognitive development as well as children’s psychology. In this case, the teacher adjusts learning according to the child’s cognitive level so that they can understand it easily and do not get bored easily.