Mommy and Zaid on a mission:)

so it's been around 2 weeks since i started helping Zaid memorize some Quran. The idea just came one day without planning for it subhanallah! He was holding the Quran and i came and showed him the smaller surat that he already knows, "look you know this one, and this one, oh my god and this one.." the more i showed him, the more his smile got bigger habeby =) I asked him with amazement I think you can know all of them, do you want to? and he said yes. and from that night he kept the Quran next to him in bed and we started memorizing the following surat after reading the bed time story.

I just feel so proud and happy that he is excited to do it. The other day i was turning the Arabic channels and Shykh Sha3rawy was on, may Allah have mercy on his soul, amen. I immediately asked Zaid with such enthusiasm, "do you see what this man is holding? it's the Quran, you know Zaid this man knows all of it he memorized it all". The look on his face was priceless habeby, and i told him your gona know the Quran just like him inshallah.

wallahi if that happened, I'm going to be the happiest mom ever and i pray that this day will come.

Of course in order to help him, i need to be very aware..because I'm helping him memorize during bed time i have to be careful not to push him too much; if i feel that he is tired, or I'm tired to know when to stop..when to repeat, how far to go. some nights we memorize 3 ayat, the next we keep repeating just one ayah over and over and it is ok. I have to keep in mind that some words are hard for him to pronounce so it takes more time. I have to keep it fun and positive, sometimes the way your voice, high or low can make the difference to catch his attention more..etc. I have to say, at the beginning it seemed easy but sometimes i feel like i just wana kiss him good night and leave to be just by myself lol. May Allah give me strenght to continue and see my Zaid a Hafez ya Kareem, amen :)

When Ammar went to camp, Zaid asked if he can sleep in our bed...i thought for a minute and said yes habeby you can..i was sitting on the computer and subhanallah i remembered that Bayan sent me a website a while ago that repeats the ayat u want to help the kids memorize! so i found it, turned it while zaid in bed. Too bad he can't sleep in our bed everyday ;)

here is the website: http://harfkids.com/quraan.aspx

I also noticed that Zaid really loves it when the teacher gives him a sticker everyday for things they did inside the class, and i just thought how can i use the same idea to help him do other things. Usually parents use the Behavior charts to help kids follow the rules, clean up their room..etc i never really liked it cus the kids seem to do what they are asked just for the prize not understanding the work itself, and i could be wrong. Any way, so today i went and bought a calender with cute baby animals pic and showed it to zaid..he LOVED and was soo happy to know it's a calender..he said just like Miss Igner's (his speech teacher), i explained to him that i will give you a three stickers if you do three things everyday and he was lisitining carefully:

1- copy 4 lines from any Arabic story.
2- copy 4 lines from any English story
3- whenever you see me praying, pray next to me. (I'm hesitate about it but i would like to try it)

I also wana put a star shaped sticker next to each surah he know, but I'm keeping this for later.

I see him writing and reading English everyday and it is so amazing to watch, and it is time to start with the Arabic. Yes he goes to Sunday school every week but it is not enough..kids need to practice it just like in school..and i really hope this will work, im so excited :)

if anyone is reading and have some good ideas to help zaid, plz share it :)