Hi everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone here is teaching their older child who can already read fluently the rules of grammer? I know this is something we all pick up naturally when we hear our parents speaking to us as children but when i went to learn grammer in school I found it quite difficult to get my head around.
Do any of your children write yet? and have you explained when to use to, too and two and there, their and they’re. Do you teach that this word is a noun, verb, adjective and so-on? Or are you leaving grammer to be something that is absorbed with no mention of it when you teach your children?
WOuld be interested to get every one’s thoughts,
Kimba
Dear Kimba,
Are you referring to the English language for rules of grammar?
In Arabic, it is taught implicitly through an understanding or comprehension of words/phrases/sentences in context. Arabic grammar is complicated at best - although there is a logical method to the madness! In a sentence, the gender/number/tense all have to agree. And for verbs, it is very complicated with 11 conjugations, with 9 being used most of the time. It is too difficult to explain the rules of grammar, so, the children and adults learn how to speak/read/comprehend in context; and then learn the actual rules much later in school.
Few people ever master Arabic grammar and can only explain the very basics, unless they have memorized (with comprehension and zero errors!) the entire Holy Qur’an, (Muslim’s Holy Book) which is Classical Arabic at it’s highest form. Modern Standard Arabic and modern textbooks explaining the grammar are based upon the Qur’an. Traditionally, once a young child or younger adult has memorized the Qur’an in it’s entirety, they memorize different poems (1,000 lines or less) that have the rules mentioned in the verses - and you need a teacher to explain the verses because it is a mnemonic device.
The traditional teaching method is taking advantage of the great memorization skills of children and then as they grow older, the explanations of the texts are delved into at the child’s level of comprehension based on age and stage of development. The texts and rules are not fully understood until they are young adults or adults.
I will be satisfied just to read Classical and Modern Standard Arabic visually/pronounce properly and comprehend! I wish that my children will master the Arabic language as their father has, and then then they can teach me! lol
- Ayesha
