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Getting a young child ready for classدليل الأهل

A six-year-old on a video call is not a small adult on a video call. Almost everything that decides whether a young child enjoys an online lesson is set up in the ten minutes before it starts, and almost all of it is in your hands rather than the instructor's. Here is what works, step by step.

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A parent outdoors with two young children

The ten minutes before classقبل الحصة

Six steps. The first time takes ten minutes; after a week it takes two.

1

Pick the spot, and keep it the same

A desk or table against a plain wall, with the window to the side rather than behind. A window behind turns your child into a silhouette and the instructor cannot see their mouth, which is most of how pronunciation gets corrected.

Use the same spot every week. Children settle into a routine far faster than they settle into a room, and a corner that means "this is where Arabic happens" does a surprising amount of work.

Avoid the bed and the sofa. Sitting upright at a table changes how a six-year-old behaves on a call more than anything else on this page.
eye
2

Raise the screen to their eye level

A laptop flat on a table points its camera up a child's nose, and they spend the lesson looking down. Put it on a stack of books until the camera sits level with their eyes and the screen is about an arm's length away.

It sounds trivial. It is the difference between an instructor who can read your child's face and one who is teaching the ceiling.

3

Headphones, every single time

Without them, the laptop speaker feeds back into the laptop microphone and the instructor hears their own voice echoing half a second late. They stop being able to hear the small errors in your child's Arabic, which is the entire point of a live class.

Any wired pair works, and wired is the safer choice here — it keeps going for the full ninety minutes with no battery to think about.

Check the volume before class, not during. Set it with the instructor's greeting, not with a video your child has queued up.
4

Put everything they need on the desk first

A notebook, two pencils, the printed worksheet if the instructor sent one, and a glass of water. A child who leaves the chair to fetch a pencil is usually gone for four minutes and comes back somewhere else mentally.

For Arabic specifically, paper matters: letter forms are learned by the hand, not the eye, and we would rather your child wrote them badly on paper than neatly with a mouse.

5

Sit with them for five minutes, then move away

Settle them in, say hello to the instructor, make sure the sound works — then move to a chair across the room where you can still hear, but your child cannot see you. Stay in the room for the first few weeks if they are young.

Children perform for a parent at their shoulder. They guess at answers to look clever, or they go quiet to avoid being wrong in front of you. Neither helps, and both make it harder for the instructor to see what your child actually knows.

Please do not prompt the answer. A wrong answer is information your instructor needs, and a corrected mistake is worth more than a right answer you supplied.
6

Ask one question afterwards, not ten

"What was the new word today?" works better than "How was it?" and far better than running through everything they got wrong. One specific question gives you something concrete and gives your child a small win to report.

Then use the word at dinner. A child who hears a word they learned that morning come out of a parent's mouth that evening remembers it for good.

What you see during the termما تتابعه

You are paying for it, so you can see all of it. Nothing about your child's progress is held back until the end.

The syllabus, before you pay

Twelve weeks laid out week by week, with what your child will be able to do by the end. You read it before you decide, not after.

Graded homework, returned

Marked with written comments each week rather than a tick. You can see exactly where your child is strong and where they are stuck.

An honest mid-term word

If the program is too fast, too slow or the wrong fit, your instructor tells you in week five or six, while there is still time to move. We move the fee with the student.

Questions parents actually askأسئلة الأهل

How young is too young?
We teach from around age six. Below that, attention on a video call tends to run out well before ninety minutes, and the money is better spent later. For young children we often split the session into two shorter weekly meetings instead, which is agreed with you before the term starts.
My child understands Arabic but answers in English
This is the most common thing families bring to us, and it is a different problem from starting at zero. Your child is not a beginner — they have the comprehension and are missing the production. Say so when you get in touch, and we will place them where the work actually stretches them. A heritage speaker put in the right class moves very fast indeed.
Does my child need to already read Arabic letters?
No. Marhaban starts at the alphabet, and My First Sura teaches Quran reading to children who cannot read a letter on day one. Transliteration support is available on request for either.
Can siblings share one place?
Not in a one-to-one program, because the pacing is built around one learner. Two siblings at a similar level are usually better served by a small group cohort, which is also the better value per student. Tell us both ages and levels and we will say which makes sense.
Can I sit in on the whole lesson?
You are welcome in the room, and we would rather you were not in the frame. See step five — children answer differently when a parent is visible, and your instructor needs to see what your child knows rather than what they can guess under supervision.
What if my child really does not want to do it?
Tell your instructor rather than pushing through it. Sometimes it is the time of day, sometimes it is the ninety-minute block, sometimes it is the program. All three can be changed, and usually one small adjustment is all it takes. A child who looks forward to the hour learns faster than any syllabus can account for.

Not sure which program fits your child?

Tell us their age, what they already understand and what you want them to be able to do. We will tell you honestly whether it is a fit yet.

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