How these Singaporean women found a fun and engaging way to teach their kids Arabic

Singaporean mums Hanan and Hafeezah Alsagoff simply wanted to find a more engaging and creative way to teach their kids Arabic.

After discovering there were no fun and interactive books in English to teach them the language, they decided to make their own. Much to their surprise, they ended up winning the Best Book Series 2021 by USA-based Daybreak Press.

To learn more about how these hardworking mums took matters into their own hands by creating the best books to learn the Arabic alphabet, theAsianparent spoke with Hanan and Hafeezah.

What inspired them 

While looking for materials to teach their young children Arabic, the two sisters worked on the idea of modernising children’s learning of the Arabic alphabet through stories in English.

While writing the book series, they discovered that there weren’t any ‘fun resources’ to introduce Arabic to children. There was also a lack of books and fun hands-on resources for infants, toddlers, and younger kids.

“When it came to the English alphabet, there were so many resources to choose from,” says Hafeezah. Adding, “Fortunately, I didn’t really have to actively teach my daughter her letters but just read a lot of books and watched videos on phonics and she picked it up easily.”

Wanting a similar experience with the Arabic letters that wasn’t just introducing the alphabet through flashcards and drilling, she came up with the idea of writing the first book. Together, they sat down to write stories that eventually made up the entire series.

Both mums share that their inspiration for pushing the book series was their children.

They tell theAsianparent, “As children, we grew up on stories. We had good storytellers in our family so we remember those days fondly where we sit together and listen to stories being told.”

“We wanted the same for our children and we knew the power of stories - to feed the imagination, to transform, to make connections, to heal and to inspire. We also both enjoy writing and creating fun stories so we actually had a blast creating the characters and coming up with the storyline,” add the two authors.

How the Arabic Alphabet of Huruf Island book series keeps children engaged

1. Introducing the Arabic letters through stories

“The unique feature of our Arabic Alphabet of Huruf Island book series is that it introduces the Arabic letters through stories. We knew how important it is to start reading to children from an early age,” elaborate the two mums.

2. Memorable characters

They also wanted to create characters that children would find memorable. To do so, they personified the Arabic letters into characters and other objects so that children could easily remember them. 

“Children will know the names, habits and other details of the characters as they listen to the stories. That is what we set out to do,” they share.

3. Including universal values

The mumpreneurs tell us, “We also wanted the stories to go beyond the alphabet, by subtly weaving in universal values like gratefulness, honesty, doing charity, et cetera.”

“Children are engaged as each book has its own adventure and captivating storyline- whether it is challenging their friends to a boat race, or a less than delightful encounter with the hissing creature Sin the Snake, there is a story in every book that will make the children want to read more to find out what happens,” they add.

4. Brings the Arabic letters ‘to life’

“In this way, the book series brings the Arabic letters to life. And as most of us with children have experienced, children will usually request to be read the same books over and over again,” explain the authors.

They add, “This repetition is important and through repeated readings of the stories, they seamlessly learn the shape and sound of the Arabic letters.”

5. Different from traditional Arabic learning books

While the most common way of introducing Arabic letters is through the traditional Qirati books or flashcards, the writers say their series is different from such books. 

“And these are mostly used when children have reached pre-school age but we wanted books that can be used even while they’re still infants. Also, the traditional method relied pretty heavily on drilling and getting the child to repeat after the adult,” explain the mums.

“Now, there are more resources and books that have been published for the very young and it is a market that is still growing.”

Best books to learn Arabic: Testimonies from readers 

“We had an Indonesian reader who shared that her three-year-old child was not interested in learning the Arabic letters at all. She had tried many methods to engage him by introducing all sorts of flashcards and videos. Even though the child managed to memorise a song (Nussa and Rara) on the Arabic alphabet, he still showed no interest in learning about the shapes of the letters," Hanan and Hafeezah say. 

''He would close any book related to Arabic letters that his mother tried to introduce to him. She shared that when she finally bought our book set, her child was enthusiastic and very happy to be read the story. She said that it is very pleasing to learn the alphabet through stories that develops the child’s imagination, while also stimulating a child’s verbal skills.” 

Another story that moved them is one that was shared by a South African reader, they say. 

"She started reading Letterland stories to her children when they were quite young and it helped them with English letter recognition and phonics. Her children loved Letterland so much that she remembered wishing for an Arabic equivalent to make teaching Arabic literacy as fun as English.

''She doesn’t know if she actually verbalised the prayer in her heart but God knew. ‘He knew that I was yearning for an Arabic resource that made Arabic appealing and fun for my children. He knew that my hopes and wishes were that my children would LOVE Arabic so that they could have a deep connection with (the Quran),’ she shared.

''She was elated when she discovered our books but the shipping from Singapore to South Africa would cost more than the price of the books. Her sister-in-law who had family in Australia managed to buy the books there and had them brought over to South Africa. Her two-year-old loves these books and her six-year-old and eight-year-old (who already know the Arabic alphabet) still enjoy them too.” 

“There are many other stories that are just as lovely, including several from Muslim converts who shared with us that the books, which we initially intended for children, really helped them to learn their Arabic letters, as all Muslims need to be familiar with the Arabic letters in order to read the Quran,” the two sisters say.

Best Book Series 2021: Awarded for the best books for kids to learn Arabic

With the success of the books, the two mums found themselves winning the award for Best Book Series 2021 by US-based Daybreak Press. The mums shared that they felt ‘relieved’ to win it. 

“It was our first time sending in our book for a book award and we were worried that the judges would think it’s not deserving of an award. So when we first received the email we were so happy and immediately shared the news with our parents,” they tell theAsianparent.

“We were not allowed to announce it publicly till two weeks later so we had to keep our excitement to ourselves,” they add.

The two are now working on an upcoming new title for the series. This time the mums plan to introduce Arabic numbers to children. 

“The book is packed with features that encourage interaction and a tactile learning experience with fun lift-the-flap elements and grooves for children to trace the shape of the numbers with their fingers,” they share.

“Written in rhyme, the numbers introduced will help children make meaningful connections. The book is designed to be versatile, allowing it to be used in many ways,” the authors add.

“Not only will the children be introduced to the Arabic numbers, but it also shows how to join Arabic letters while learning the spelling of the numbers with the help of their favourite Arabic Alphabet characters from Huruf Island,” the sisters sign off. 

You can find out more on their Homely Hammock website here!

This article was first published in theAsianparent.