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Parents’ Orientation Day 2023

Alhamdulillah, Parent Orientation took place on the 5th of February 2023 at Masjid An Nahdhah (Level 1). After conducting orientation via Zoom due to the pandemic, we were blessed to welcome the parents to the masjid this year. Kickstarted with opening Qirath from the Boys’ level on Surah Luqman. The opening address was given by Ustazah Aisha Banu who gave us an important reminder on seeking knowledge. Thereafter, Ustazah shared the 7 programmes in our Central division.

 لَّمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى ٱلتَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ ۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٌۭ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُوا۟ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُطَّهِّرِينَ

Certainly, a mosque founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy of your prayers. In it are men who love to be purified.1 And Allah loves those who purify themselves. 

Surah At-Tawbah 9: Ayah 108

Thereafter, each level representative came up to share key highlights from 2022, level initiatives of 2023 and lesson flow breakdown. Alongside, the parents were engaged in 2 exciting interactive activities conducted by Middle Primary (MP). The first gas was, “What’s in the Box” where Player 1 was blindfolded to find out objects by following player 2’s instructions. Whichever team finds the object within 15 seconds gets a chance to answer, if players have answered questions correctly they are rewarded accordingly. The second activity was “Aim It”. Players will have to match the English numerals shown on the screen with the Arabic numerals and have to aim it with ping pong balls correctly to receive a point.

Following MP level sharing, Upper Primary to Tertiary girls level presented their games  Masha Allah, where each table was assigned a number and randomly a table number was called to select one of the given four categories (Al-Quran, Hadith, Prophets and Sahabah) and the level of difficulty.

Right after that Parents’ class had a short sharing of their madrasah journey and a representer from parent class officiated a Qirath reading for all. That led to their warm invitation to join the Ummi class. Before the Asar prayer, Hazarath shared some reminders of parents’ roles in supporting their children’s learning.

After Asar prayers, Ustaza and the P6 Boys Ustads had a sperate sharing with parents to share about their plans for their boys’ journey in Madarasah this year. They shared about the various areas they were looking to develop the boys in like in Quran, character and knowledge. The parents also learnt about why Islamic knowledge was so important as they were referred back to the ayat where Allah (SWT) says in Surah Az-Zumar,

قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” None will be mindful ˹of this˺ except people of reason.

Surah Az-Zumar 39: Ayah 9

The parents also learnt about the ways in which boys will be able to grow this year through both in-class learning and experiential learning. They were also told the boys needs through the example of a learning curve.

Moreover, the parents were called to assist the Ustad and Ustazah in the development of their boys by making sure that the boys’ relationship with the Quran and the Madarsah is sustained. The parents were introduced the ‘Super Heroes Challenge”, where their boys would read the Quran for 15 minutes at the start and end of each day, essentially starting and ending their days with the Quran!

As this year is also an important year for the P6 Boys as they will be taking their PSLE, the parents were assured that during Madarsah time their boys would be given time and help to prepare for it as well while staying connected with the Madarsah!

Now, let us break down a special segment on Experiential Learning – Where each level conducted hands-on games for parents to try out.

Alhamdulillah! Middle primary level segment was about Arabic Calligraphy. Parents were provided with paper, calligraphy ink and brushes and they had to attempt to write the word ‘Allah’ in Arabic calligraphy on paper, with their child. Many of the parents were hesitant to try at first but after a few strokes, they managed to write Arabic fluently. Parents were proud of their kids after learning that their children learn how to write Arabic in madrasah during Arabic classes. This provided parents with a platform to encourage their children to participate actively in madrasah events.

For Upper Primary to Tertiary Girls level, Experiential learning was based on 2 activities. One of which iPads were set up to showcase different modes of testing on Quran, Fiqh and Arabic. This will show the understanding of each child for the specific topics as well.

The other activity was on the 5 pillars of Islam that were introduced to parents. Representative ustazah explained that lessons are usually conducted with a hands-on activity which eventually leads to the lesson for that day. Parents had hands-on experience with how lessons are delivered to the students. Parents do share that experiential learning is a good learning method for the students to grasp the key takeaway of the lesson. Overall parents enjoyed the hands-on activity.

As for Boys’ level, there were a couple of activities that parents were able to participate in. 

For P6 boys,  students have to present what they have learned during their ‘Seeds Of Ilm’ lesson to their parents. This is done to increase the students confidence and their knowledge. The 2 topics they presented was Tree & Making Right Choices.

Tree as Imaan –

For the presentation on the tree, students had to understand the benefits of a tree and link it to a believer’s Imaan. When presenting, students must be able to say the benefits of a tree and how it can be interpreted as Our Imaan. Students also remembered key ayats and hadith and wrote it down in paper.

Ashabul Muminin work
Ashabul Muminin and Ashabul Mualimin presenting together

Making Right Choices –

For this presentation, students have to present about making the right choices in learning. The students wrote the Dua for increasing knowledge and several hadith on the benefits of learning on an A3 paper.

Students presentation work

Parent Activity 

After the wonderful student presentation, parents and students were given a crossword puzzle based on their team. Each team Ustad would equally split the crossword question between the parents. Once the student-parent duo are done with the puzzle, they will report to the ustad to see if the answer is correct. If it’s correct, students & parents will be rewarded with cupcakes and the student portfolio. They will also be called to take a photo together.

Secondary and above boys’ parents were engaged in “Picture Puzzle Depicting” how the students prepare for the upcoming Ramadan in advance. Parents had an engaging session with their kids in producing the final image for the puzzle pieces.

The second activity was an “Ayah Connector”. Whereby a surah model was given and the parents were required to piece the surah together. The objective of the activity was to show the importance of the children’s  memorisation of surahs and parental support at home to ensure their children come prepared.

Memorisation should take place while students are looking at the Qur’an and orally practising the ayahs as well. Parents realised it is a challenge as some phrases appear several times in the same surah or other surahs as well. This gave them a heads up to prep their kids at home. Parents had engaging time bonding with their child and were proud after their masterpieces were completed.

Masha Allah, Orientation 2023 was fruitful for parents to experience the learning environment the kids are exposed to. It was a great introduction for parents to meet their child’s Ustads/Ustazahs and a chance to better convey any concerns or expectations of their kids. All praises to Allah (swt) who gave us this opportunity to communicate face to face with our parents. May Allah (swt) shower us with much more opportunities to groom the little ones into future leaders. Ameen!