There are certain times in the year and in our lives when we renew our intention and goals for teaching our kids Arabic– the beginning of a new year, the beginning of the academic year, and now, Ramadan.  Here are a few tips to infuse more Arabic into your daily life this Ramadan!

We’re delighted that the world is slowly going back to normal, but as moms, we’re working hard to ensure that the summer reading slide, especially Arabic reading, doesn’t affect our children.

If you’re looking for resources to help jumpstart your child’s Arabic language learning journey, we have 15 Arabic children’s books that teach all about the alphabet, colors, and numbers. 

For the past couple of years, we published an annual list of Arabic summer camps in the US, and we were excited to share information for hands-on Arabic language learning opportunities for your children this year as well. 

How do we deal with a prolonged “shutdown” of normal activity in light of a pandemic like the Coronavirus? That is a question parents the world over are grappling with right now. With little time to plan or prepare, we are entering uncharted territory. For many of us, access to unlimited online resources that are being widely shared on social media can be overwhelming. For many, the idea of trying to homeschool one or more children while “teleworking” or managing a home is daunting at best.

Here are five ways you can make the most of this time with your kids at home (and naturally, use Arabic along the way):

For parents of multilingual children, libraries can be a great resource, although non-English titles in North American libraries can be limited. But that's changing, as librarians are becoming more attuned to their community's needs and the increasing diversity of cultures and languages spoken across the US and Canada.  
Arabic children's books are increasingly making an appearance, much to the delight of parents on the hunt for resources to reinforce their children's understanding of Arabic. While some libraries do a great job of advertising these diverse titles, many community members still don't know they have access to multilingual books.

We know that reading doesn’t begin at school or when kids are old enough to spell out the words on a page. Reading begins when a child is just a few months old and reading becomes part of their daily routine, most likely as they cuddle up with a parent for bedtime.

When kids are too young to read or even speak, parents should focus on making reading fun and enjoyable. But what about when kids have other distractions that may not keep them as engaged as they once were? We have found these steps help us keep our kids engaged in Arabic reading. 

When it comes to teaching one’s children Arabic, in a non-Arabic speaking country, and in the face of technology and shortened attention spans, there’s not much in the way of “past experience.” Yes, many of our parents had to teach us Arabic too, but for most, it was their dominant language as immigrants to the US or Canada. For second or third generation Arab-Americans, that is not the case. So the challenge is even more daunting but the desire to maintain one’s connection to their heritage, faith, and culture is strong enough to motivate many of us to stick to it. 

We asked ourselves and other parents teaching their kids Arabic about the mistakes they made in their journey and we found several common answers. Here are the top five mistakes parents make when teaching their kids Arabic, and ways to avoid them (if you’re new to this) or fix them (if you’ve already made some). 

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could get the whole summer off and travel abroad to give our kids an immersive cultural and linguistic experience? If only that was an accessible option for most of us! From juggling work schedules to being able to afford international travel, many obstacles stand in the way of such experiences.

Some of these camps are more Arabic-focused than others, but everyone on this list has at a minimum an Arabic language component. We tried to only include those who had updated information for 2019 camps and had an updated link or flyer. So, if you’re looking for an Arabic summer camp for this year, check these out! If you have others to add, please comment below and let us know or email us at info@maktabatee.com to add to the list. Happy camping!

If you are a teacher based in the US and are associated with an Arabic full-time or weekend school program, you can enter the giveaway by completing the application form at http://bit.ly/ArabicTeacherGiveaway.  

We'd love to hear about your experience and any highlights or memorable experiences of your Arabic teaching journey. How did you become an Arabic teacher? What do you love most about your job? What's the most challenging aspect of teaching children Arabic? What resources would you like to have in your classroom to help make teaching Arabic more fun and accessible? 

If you’ve planned for summer camps before, you know that the time, effort, and investment you make can be a big one. It takes weeks on end to figure out where your kids will go and what camps you want them to enjoy during their summer break. We also know how important the summer can be in continuing kids’ education and is a perfect time for students to continue reading, learning, and exploring. We’re in the midst of summer planning now, and we know many of you are too. Since we couldn’t find a list of Arabic camps in our area, we made one ourselves! Some are more Arabic-focused than others, but everyone on this list has at a minimum an Arabic language component. So, if you’re looking for an Arabic summer camp for this year, check these out! If you have others to add, please comment below and let us know or email us at info@maktabatee.com. Happy camping!

When we launched Maktabatee in April 2016, we knew that we wanted books that could be read in this context, that would allow children to see the beauty of Arabic storytelling, away from some of the old school story lines and graphics that we were used to. Since then, we’ve heard from many community members who are hosting similar programs in their schools and libraries. If you don’t have one in your area, why not start one yourself? If you’ve thought about it, but are not sure where to start, we broke it down for you into five steps, drawing on our own experience as well as tips we gathered from talking to others who have been involved in starting or organizing an Arabic story time in their community.