Teaching Young Children

There is a saying from the salaf which states: ‘Teaching a child, when they’re young, is like making an inscription upon a rock.’ When I heard this in a lecture, I immediately thought of all the things I wish I was teaching my children, but had fell behind in or just left off altogether. I teach my 4 year old that all things are created by Allah, like when she says, ‘look at the sun’, I say, ‘and who made sun?’ And she knows to answer Allah. My 4 and 2 year old know the answers to who is your lord, how many times a day do muslims pray, who’s your prophet s.a.w. And so on, but with islam there’s so much to learn. What bothers me is when they know dora and yo gabba gabba songs word for word, but struggle to recite al- fatihah. I don’t expect them to recite it perfectly, but they should definitely know it better than nursery rhymes.
Today, at jumu’ah, the khutbah was about teaching the children about islam and making sure islam is always in the household. So my mind was thinking of all the ways I could better my family and home with Qur’an and sunnah and the rememberance of Allah. So later we played an islamic jeopardy I made for my 12 year old step-daughter when we got home. And so of course the thought I’ve often got on my mind came up in the course of the fun and learning- should I remove tv’s from my home. I’ve been thinking of doing this for a couple of years, but wonder what the heck I will do all day without tv to entertain me and the kids. I think a little tv is ok if its educational for the kids, but I know I personally watch too much of it. And I watch mostly shows that are of no benefit to my level of knowledge or life. But I don’t know if I can go cold turkey, but at the same time I know if I don’t quit altogether, I will probably never quit. If anyone reading this has quit the tv, please tell me how you did it and what helped you get through it.
I know this probably all sounds like a long rant, but all I’m trying to convey is you are the shepherd of your flock a.k.a. Your children. Allah commands us to save ourselves and our families from the hell-fire. And I personally know letting my kids watch nick jr. All day isn’t saving them from the hell-fire. I need to do more, teach more, behave better and speak better because they will do as I do way more than they will do as I say. My attitude and character is what they truly learn from. May Allah guide all of us who are parents to raise our children in righteousness and grant us and our children jannah. Ameen.

If anyone wanted to make their own jeopardy game go to http://www.jeopardylabs.com. It’s simple and fun.

And just to repeat it because I feel it is very true and a great reminder: ‘Teaching a child, when they’re young, is like making an inscription upon a rock.’