Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Visual Quran: Surat Alfil



Here you will find the link to the visual Quran Series. Below is the link for Surat Alfil. 


Please note that I do not own the copyright for the illustration:

http://www.4shared.com/account/file/TkqF_eNh/story_of_the_elephant_surah_an.html


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Habit Training: How does it work?


When I first started looking at habit training with my kids, my first thoughts were I like the concept, but how does it actually work?

I found that the key point in habit training is: Take one at a time. 



Choose one habit and focus on it for six to eight weeks. Then just keep an eye on it while you select another habit to focus on.

This is my favourite quote on how we form habits:
You have neurons in your brain. Those neurons talk to each other. And if you have certain neurons repeatedly talk to each other in a certain sequence, your brain starts to make note of that sequence, or route. The more times you mentally travel down that neuron route, the closer your brain gets to running on auto-pilot.”

The more we practice and go through certain actions with our kids, the more it will become an automated habit that they will do unconsciously. I remember starting to teach my daughter the adab of the bathroom when she was about 3 years old. Every time she would enter the bathroom we would stop, put out her left leg and say the duaa. Now at 4 and a half she does it automatically, and even reminds me when I forget :) 

Al Ghazali talked about habit training in his book 'Golden Principles of Raising Children'. He talks about many habits that parents can build in their child through proper training. These include etiquettes of eating, dressing, sleeping, respecting elders, patience and many more. You can find a translation of the book and accompanying note on this blog InshAllah (Jazahom Allah Kheir).

http://alhidayastudent.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/goldren-principles-of-raising-children/


 

Habit Training for Kids

Assalamo Alaikum. 

I'd really like to begin my blog with the topic of habit training. Al ghazali said, “if good habits are ingrained in the child and if he/she is instructed in knowledge, then the child after gaining such excellent upbringing, achieves the real success of this life and of the life hereafter. And if bad habits are nurtured in a child and he is left unattended like animals, then he/she gets destroyed after becoming ill mannered.”

The fact is you can train your child by helping him form a habit in anything you want. A well known educator said, “The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children.”


So the more you work on forming habits when they are still young, the easier it will be for you when they get older. The habits that we are forming are an investment that will benefit them in the future InshAllah. Think of all the habits that you wish you had learned as a child and how much they would have made your life easier now.

Now the question is, what do you think are the most important habits we should work on...
Don’t limit your habits to routine acts that you want your kids to perform, brush teeth, comb hair, make the bed etc. Think of habits that will actually better their character.

I will begin the list with some of the most critical for me and would love to hear your ideas.
obedience
Cleanliness
Kindness
Neatness
Generosity

Patience
Respect
Thinking
Personal Initiative
Health

InshAllah I will attach a full document with different habits under different categories that would be beneficial to work on with our children.