God-conciousness in Children
Yesterday, for my 3-6 class, I started using the Muhammad & Maryam book from Ad Duha Institute to introduce Tauheed, something that I have not beem disciplined about in my lessons. I usually talk about beliefs when a relevant matter crops up like in our lessons about nature.
I loved how the story was simple enough for the children to relate to, about going to bed and wondering about Allah in this case, yet it was able to present the subject matter of having belief in God.
What struck me was the behaviour of the 5 year olds. They were eager to share what they have learned in the past (linking to prior knowledge) and masyaAllah, when they spoke of Allah they changed their high pitched voices to a gentle and sweet tone. (emotional connection?)
I barely had to talk beyond the text of the book and trying to interpret the children's statements. I do wish I have recorded them but they were generally in the lines of how Allah has made and given us everything and how the children do things He likes like in saying dua and doing their prayers.
I talked about how, though we cannot see Him now, He lets us know Him through His names, Quran and the sayings and actions of our beloved Prophet s.a.w. He has also created so many wonders like the the sun and the earth that we may inhabit and benefit from it.
I do believe, God-conciousness is inherent in children but sometimes it gets lost in the hassle of life and a challenging social environment.
It is one of my deepest regrets that I did not instil more of this important element in my older children, but it is after all not right to say: "If I had done this instead...", hence I am moving on, hoping to do what I can in the later stage of their life and making lots of duas and doing more for my younger kids and their mates.
"So remember Me, I will remember you. And be grateful to Me, and do not deny Me." 2:152
I loved how the story was simple enough for the children to relate to, about going to bed and wondering about Allah in this case, yet it was able to present the subject matter of having belief in God.
What struck me was the behaviour of the 5 year olds. They were eager to share what they have learned in the past (linking to prior knowledge) and masyaAllah, when they spoke of Allah they changed their high pitched voices to a gentle and sweet tone. (emotional connection?)
I barely had to talk beyond the text of the book and trying to interpret the children's statements. I do wish I have recorded them but they were generally in the lines of how Allah has made and given us everything and how the children do things He likes like in saying dua and doing their prayers.
I talked about how, though we cannot see Him now, He lets us know Him through His names, Quran and the sayings and actions of our beloved Prophet s.a.w. He has also created so many wonders like the the sun and the earth that we may inhabit and benefit from it.
I do believe, God-conciousness is inherent in children but sometimes it gets lost in the hassle of life and a challenging social environment.
It is one of my deepest regrets that I did not instil more of this important element in my older children, but it is after all not right to say: "If I had done this instead...", hence I am moving on, hoping to do what I can in the later stage of their life and making lots of duas and doing more for my younger kids and their mates.
"So remember Me, I will remember you. And be grateful to Me, and do not deny Me." 2:152
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