Reviewing with Children

Lack of motivation is a common problem when memorizing. Although we really want to continue memorizing the Qur'an and desire to have the words of Allah preserved inside our hearts, we still struggle with the portions we have already memorized and need to review. I have noticed this lack of motivation in myself, my children and other students of the Qur'an. Following are some tips which I have used to make reviewing with my kids easier. Try whichever ones you feel will work; sometimes different methods work on different days.

1) Make du’a for Allah to put the Qur'an in the hearts, minds and actions of your child and for it to be easy for her. The only way anything happens is first, with the help of Allah, and then with consistent and persistent effort. It’s amazing how strong and effective du’as are.

2) Let your child see you when you are reviewing. The biggest motivator for a child to perform a behavior is seeing her parents do it. Reviewing is no exception. When your child sees you reviewing, she will internalize the importance of review.

3) Talk to your child and remind her about the importance of review. Memorizing without maintaining review is like carrying a bucket of water with a hole in it; eventually everything will be lost. I find that even though my daughter knows the importance of review, this reminder is needed often.

4) Do the hardest review first. Save the easier review for the end when the brain is more tired. For my children, the hardest review is usually what they memorized in the last 3-6 days, followed by their weekly review. We do the remainder of the recent review in the end.

5) Make Qur’an first on the to-do list. The brain is freshest and least cluttered in the morning. Use the morning freshness to your advantage and knock review off the list. Often my kids will do their most recent review and their new before having breakfast. On days they’re too hungry, they do it immediately after breakfast.

6) Schedule a break. My children complete their cycle of old review during the weekdays, so on the weekends they only have recent review and new memorization. This break allows them to rest their brains but still move ahead in new memorization. There have been times where we took a day of the weekend completely off, but that’s rare.

7) Snuggle during review. I have a friend who listens to her son’s review with her head in his lap. I often review with my daughter in my lap or snuggled next to me, even though she is 10 years old! It brings us closer together and makes her feel like it’s her special time with me. 

8) Be gentle. When your child makes a mistake, don’t get frustrated, and don’t get angry. It may seem strange that she is repeating the same mistake multiple times, but when the mistake is solid, it is difficult to fix. Remember that it is difficult to review, but it is even more difficult when the person listening to you is upset with you. When your child fixes an old mistake or completes a portion without mistakes, give her a thumbs up or another gesture to indicate she did well; speaking to her when she is doing well may throw her off and cause her to make a mistake.

9) Review in a distraction free area. My children often review in the car, because there is nothing around to distract them. Sometimes we review in the garage or in the office with the door closed if there are other children around.

10) Set a timer. Set a fixed time to concentrate and see how much can be finished in that time. I used to set a 30 minute timer for my daughter, and that really helped her focus on getting done as much as she could without getting distracted in between surahs. Often she would finish all her review, even though she though she anticipated it taking much longer. Caution: Ensure your kids are not reviewing fast. Reviewing too fast compromises tajweed.

Which of these methods have you tried before? What works for your children?