What I learn from 'Al Fateh's Maulidur Rasul (The birth of the Prophet) celebration'.

As I was picking up Al Fateh from school yesterday, he told me that he was excited for tomorrow. I knew earlier from the teacher that he was to wear full baju Melayu - the Malay traditional costume, to school as the pre-school classes are going to celebrate Maulidur Rasul. I asked him casually, 'Are you looking forward to wear your baju Melayu?' 'No, I want to answer all questions for the class quiz!'

I must admit that I was impressed and proud of him.

'But you need to help me revise, Ummi. The quiz will be about the Prophet!' 

And with that statement, I was positive that I, myself, needed to do more revision! I realised that this would be a challenge to make the history of the Prophet meaningful to my son, who's going to be 6 in July. Yes, to make my son learn about the Prophet, get to know more about him, teach Al Fateh to love him and ultimately to live following his sunnah.

Among the lessons learned from our 2 minutes walk from the pre-school to the car park are, firstly, as a mother, I need to be knowledgeable so that I can teach my children the precise facts in regards to whatever topics they are learning at school, and in this case, it is about my Prophet. 

Secondly, it is important for the children to learn in a simple, yet effective and meaningful way (well, theoretically, not just the children, but anyone in the world!). It does sound simple, but believe me, it's not! Story telling and songs, and relating the simple lessons of the Prophet (i.e. always telling the truth and being called Al-Amin) with his day to day life (i.e. The Prophet spoke only the truth, and everyone trusted him. Hence when we lie, we can lose people's trust.).

Thirdly, it is essential for parents to take part in whatever learning process/subject/matter that our children are facing at school, so that there will be continuation at home, which, insha Allah will ensure better and clearer understanding. My son did ask a lot of questions to me as I told him about the early years of Rasulullah, and it showed that he's thinking deeper regarding this matter, since he repeatedly hear (then understand, hopefully) about the story of Prophet, both at school and at home.

wallahu'alam.