Noorani Qaida is where almost every child begins. It teaches the Arabic letters, how each letter changes shape depending on where it sits in a word, and how to join letters into sounds and words. Without it, a child guesses at the Quran rather than reads it.
Our Noorani Qaida course is one to one and live, taught by teachers who work with British children every day and who know how quickly a child gives up when a lesson is dull. The aim is not to finish the book. It is to reach the point where your child can open an unfamiliar page and read it.
What is covered
- The 28 Arabic letters and their correct pronunciation from the mouth and throat
- How letters change shape at the beginning, middle and end of a word
- Short vowels (harakat), then long vowels (madd)
- Sukoon, shaddah and tanween
- Joining letters into words, then words into short verses
How the course is structured
The Qaida is not a book to be read from front to back at a fixed pace. It is a sequence of skills, and each one has to be automatic before the next is worth starting.
Stage 1: Letter recognition
Individual letters in isolated form, by sight and by sound, until recall is instant. Children who are pushed past this stage while still hesitating are the ones who stall six months later. Printable Arabic alphabet worksheets are useful between lessons here, and parents who want a gentler starting point often begin with our Arabic alphabet for kids course first.
Stage 2: Connected forms
The same letters in initial, medial and final position. This is the stage most self taught children skip, and it is the reason they can name letters perfectly and still not read a word.
Stage 3: Harakat
Fatha, kasra and damma applied to every letter, then read at speed. Speed matters here. A child who can work out the sound in three seconds cannot yet read, they are calculating.
Stage 4: Madd, sukoon, shaddah and tanween
Length, silence and doubling. Once these are secure, everything on a Mushaf page is technically readable, and the remaining work is fluency.
Stage 5: Words, then verses
Short words first, then short verses from Juz Amma. This is the point at which most parents hear the difference, because the child stops sounding like they are decoding and starts sounding like they are reading.
How long it takes
Most children complete Qaida in 6 to 12 months at two lessons a week. A child who practises for ten minutes between lessons finishes considerably faster than one who only opens the book in class. We will not rush a child through it, because a weak Qaida shows up in every year of recitation that follows.
Older beginners are usually quicker, not slower. A ten year old who reads English fluently already understands what letters and vowels are for, and often finishes in four to six months. Our note on how long Noorani Qaida takes sets out realistic timelines by age.
Who it suits
Children from around age five. Older children and complete beginners of any age start here too, and usually move faster because they can already read fluently in English and transfer the skill.
It also suits a specific group of children who are not beginners at all: those who have been at madrasah for years, can recite a good deal from memory, and cannot actually read. This is far more common than parents expect. If you are not sure which describes your child, the four checks in our guide on testing whether your child is really reading will tell you in a few minutes.
If your child speaks no Arabic at all, that is not an obstacle. Qaida assumes no prior Arabic, and the great majority of our students arrive with none, as our note on starting with no Arabic explains.
How lessons run
One to one, 30 minutes for younger children and 45 minutes from around age nine, live with a teacher rather than a recording. Parents get a short note after each lesson: what was covered and what to practise.
Two lessons a week is the standard pattern and the one we recommend. One lesson a week works but roughly doubles the time to completion, because too much is forgotten between sessions. Three suits children who are catching up. There is more on lesson length and frequency in our lesson frequency guidance.
What a lesson actually looks like
The shape is deliberately repetitive, because young children learn from predictability rather than variety.
- Two or three minutes revising the previous lesson
- Ten to fifteen minutes on the new material, with the teacher modelling and the child repeating
- Independent reading, where the child works through a line with the teacher silent
- A short, easy finish on something already mastered
- A one line note to the parent with the practice target
The independent reading section is the one that matters most. A child who only ever reads immediately after hearing the teacher is copying, not decoding, and teachers are trained to keep quiet through it even when it is slow.
What parents need to do
Less than most people assume, and different from what most people assume.
- Protect ten minutes a day. Short and daily beats long and occasional, every time
- Do not correct pronunciation. Leave that to the teacher and stay the encouraging one
- Set the room up once. Same place, charged device, door shut, Qaida already open
- Read the lesson note. It says exactly what to practise, which removes the guesswork
If practice has already become a nightly argument in your house, the approach in our guide on getting a child to practise without arguing is worth reading before you add anything new to the evening.
How we check progress
Progress in Qaida is easy to fake and easy to measure, so we measure it. Every few weeks the teacher asks the child to read material they have not seen before, at their current stage. That single check separates genuine decoding from memory of the page.
Parents receive a short summary each month covering the stage reached, what is secure, and what is still slow. If you want to know what a straight answer about progress looks like from any academy, our note on tracking progress covers it.
Common difficulties and how we handle them
Confusing similar letters
Seen, sheen, sad and other close pairs are a normal stumbling block and not a sign of a problem. We separate them in time rather than teaching them side by side, and reintroduce the contrast once each is secure on its own.
Reading too fast
Speed hides errors and pleases parents, which is why it is rewarded in group classes. We slow children down deliberately during Qaida, then let speed return on its own once accuracy is reliable.
Losing interest around month three
Common, and usually a sign the material has become repetitive without feeling like it is going anywhere. Introducing short real verses early, even before the book strictly calls for them, tends to fix it, because the child can finally see the point.
A child who has stalled elsewhere
Children arriving from a group class often need to go back further than the parent expects. We are honest about this at the first lesson rather than three months in.
After the Qaida
Finishing Qaida is a real milestone and also the beginning of the useful part. Most children move on to Quran reading for beginners, where the skill is applied to continuous Mushaf pages, and then to online Tajweed classes once reading is fluent enough for rules to make sense.
Children who intend to memorise usually run Hifz alongside reading rather than instead of it. Memorising without decoding is the exact habit Qaida exists to prevent.
Common questions
Can we start if my child is four?
Sometimes, in short sessions and with realistic expectations. Five is the usual floor and there is no advantage in starting early if it turns the subject into something they resent. Our note on what age a child can start goes into the detail.
Do you teach girls and boys?
Both, and female teachers are available on request. All teachers are DBS checked, and you can see what that involves in our note on teacher DBS checks.
Which Qaida do you use?
The standard Noorani Qaida. We will send a PDF before the first lesson, and a physical copy is worth having because children track better on paper than on a screen.
What does it cost?
Pricing is per lesson and depends on frequency, with sibling discounts available. Current figures are set out in our lesson pricing note, and the first lesson is free.
What if the teacher is not a good fit?
Tell us and we will change them, without any awkwardness. A child who does not like their teacher will not learn from them, however qualified that teacher is.
Starting
The first lesson is free and is mostly assessment. The teacher will find out what your child actually knows rather than what their age suggests they should know, and you will get an honest starting point the same day. See how our lessons work.