Classes
Each grade group has its own classroom. The school day is the same for every grade, and Friday ends early for the midday prayer.
Kindergarten and grade 1
Arabic letters and sounds every morning, and a read-aloud after lunch.
Grades 2 and 3
Arabic reading begins with short texts.
Grades 4 and 5
Islamic studies and a first research project.
Grades 6 to 8
Round-table seminars and lab days.
Class size is the most students in one class. The office confirms it at the visit.
Sample programs.
Subjects
Arabic and Islamic studies sit beside the subjects every school teaches, in the same school day.
Taught every day, from letters and sounds in kindergarten to short readings and conversation in the upper grades.
Prayer, the Prophet's life and the Qur'an, taught by grade, with time for questions.
Reading groups, writing every week and a class library each student borrows from.
Math in grade-level classes, with number games in the early grades and problem sets in the upper grades.
A lab day each week from grade 3, and a science fair night in the spring.
Drawing, geometry in tile patterns, and recess and a field day outdoors.
Grades 6 to 8
Middle school students meet at a round table twice a week to read, argue and write about one text together. A teacher keeps the table and asks the questions; students bring theirs. Math and science are lab-based, and a study hall closes the day for students who stay.
Two seminars a week, in Arabic and in English.
Lab days in the science room.
A study hall after the last class.
Spend a morning in a classroom and ask the teachers what a week is like.