Grade 1 covers a variety of topics, including Allah as the One, the Creator, and the Giver of Life; pillars of Islam; Iman; performance of wudo; prayer; several sections about the Prophet Mohammad (s); and more. This book also contains fun activities and review sections.

Given the dire need for English Islamic studies material in schools, Darussalam has endeavored to publish an Islamic Studies series covering all grades from grades 1 through 12. This series covers all areas of Islamic studies: tafsir, ahaddith, tawheed, fiqh, sirah, and general etiquette relating to different areas and situations. Given the importance of Islamic knowledge, every effort has been made to ensure that the material presented in the series is authentic. Also, given the importance of Arabic Islamic terms, most are presented in their original Arabic script, transliteration, and translation. This also applies to supplications which must be memorized in their Arabic version. The aim is to help the students read the original text and understand its meaning. Each lesson is followed by exercises with questions about the lesson.
One striking feature of this series is the use of colorful artwork. It is appealing to students and teachers. This is certainly bound to attract young readers' attention, stimulate them, amuse them, and most importantly to educate them.
This series aims to acquaint the student with the teachings of Islam in every aspect: beliefs, practices, and moral conduct. Its unique features fill a gap in the area of English Islamic curriculums, which has long been neglected.
The present breathtaking work was initiated by an expert in the field of education, Molvi Abdul Aziz, who held different posts in the field, including that of senior administrative officer in the Department of Private Education, Ministry of Education, Dubai from 1982 to 2002.

The purpose of this series of Islamic books is to provide young learners with an understanding of their faith according to their age level. The language of the texts, the size of the lettering, the style of graphics, and the types of exercises have all been designed to meet the age-appropriate standards for each level. In addition, the content of the text has been written according to a sequential pattern. For example, only certain information about Prophet Muhammad is included in the first level. More details are added at the second level to meet higher levels of student comprehension. This sequencing is a critical part of a strong educational program, which guides the student through a consistent learning process. Although a textbook series is essential for an Islamic Studies curriculum, it is imperative that educators use these books as a stepping stone for an active learning experience. Student retention of knowledge and love for this subject will depend upon the employment of many creative and exciting teaching techniques. Teachers may plan different projects around a particular unit. For example, when discussing "Show Kindness to Animals," students could paint their favorite animals, write a poem, or write a report on an endangered species. Islamic stories and other literature that emphasize moral values would also complement this program well. This series is intended for students who are 6 – 8 years of age. It can serve as a guideline for an Islamic Studies Program at a full-time or weekend school. Parents may also use this series at home. This Book Belongs to the Student where they will begin to learn more about themselves in relation to their family, their friends, their classmates, and most important of all, to Allah, the One and Only God. This is a book filled with wisdom and knowledge that you will need to lead a happy and loving life. It is a gift to you from your parents and teachers, those who love you and want the best for you. Now, it is time for you to receive this special knowledge that has been passed down throughout generations from the time of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, who lived over 1,425 years ago. You will learn and grow in ways that will be exciting. With this knowledge, you will become a part of the worldwide Muslim community.

At this level, students are introduced to Islam through the Shahaadah (testimony of faith). They learn appropriate care of the Qur'an and engage in memorization and recitation of soorahs from Soorat At-Teen to Soorat Al-Humazah. The life of Prophet Muhammad (s) is introduced. The children are taught the basics of cleanliness and ablution along with the proper performance of prayer. The course ends with lessons on personal hygiene, respect for parents, and respect for the property of others. The material is presented, using a spiral approach, where students revisit each area and study it in greater depth each year. The Student's Textbook contains the subject text of the lessons, exercises, as well as activities.

The ICO project is a distinguished one because:

1. Our curricula meet the needs of the target audience for integrated, coherent, and appropriate curricula.
2. They were prepared according to scientific bases, assimilating the most recent educational and psychological theories.
3. They were prepared by special educationists who are experienced in designing curricula and who are familiar with the needs of the target group.
4. They employed the most recent techniques and educational aids.
5. They went through many quality control processes, which were carried out by specialized committees, and they were enhanced by teachers who evaluated the curricula before releasing them.

The Features and Characteristics of the Textbooks:

These books were prepared by the International Curricula Organization (ICO) and have certain features, which distinguish them from any other textbooks:

First: The Technical Features:

1. The textbooks have been designed in accordance with the international quality standards in all aspects: colors, paper, size, illustration, and printing.
2. They have been furnished with the appropriate illustrations and pictures which match the students’ educational stage and environment.
3. The texts have been distributed and organized in a way that makes the text stand out, paying special attention to the font type and size, and the spaces; and colors were chosen carefully to appeal to the target audience.

Second: The Instructional and Linguistic Features:

1. Reinforce the proper linguistic basis of the non-Arabic speaking students.
2. They build the students’ linguistic dictionary according to their environmental needs.
3. Provide non-Arabic speaking students with a good deal of Islamic vocabulary.
4. Identify the correct articulation of the different sounds through the study of the Glorious Qur’an.
5. Enable the students to evade making mistakes when reciting the Glorious Qur’an through employing the rules of the Arabic language.
6. Provide an integrated curriculum with well-prepared scientific content and vocabulary.
7. Take into consideration the students’ individual mental differences and their diverse linguistic skills.
8. Consider the students’ different cultures.
9. Develop the students’ creativity and mental faculties.

Third: The Educational Content Features:

1. Reinforce the principle of forgiveness and the etiquette of disagreement with others.
2. Develop the spirituality, morality, and values of the students.
3. Help students have good and balanced personalities.
4. Develop the students’ pride in their Muslim identity.
5. Help the caller to Islam to develop a balanced personality that reflects the moderation of Islam.

The Level 1 Islamic Studies book from Weekend Learning is for 5-7 year old children who can read short sentences and write short phrases. Ideally the book is for the 1st grade students. This is their first year in a formal Islamic class. The book uses easy to understand simple and child-friendly languages and sentences. The book has 28 lessons on Allah, the Qur’an, Islam, Rasulullah (S), the Hadith and Sunnah and 5-pillars of Islam and so forth. The idea is to cover the basics of Islam. For example, 6 lessons cover the concepts of 5-pillars, 5 lessons cover short introduction to 5 rasuls and nabis, 9 lessons cover Islamic values and morals.

Each lesson begins with a coloring page. The coloring time helps students settle down and be comfortable in the class before the lesson begins. Attention span of children is small; therefore, short paragraphs introduce two or three concepts. This is followed by in-class review section to allow for short break and reinforce learning. Some homework is included in the book, however schools and parents are encouraged to buy a separate workbook that has many more test questions and chapter-based activities.

The “Learning Islam 1” is planned for students in sixth grade or equivalent setting. It is best for students who studied Islamic Studies through “I Love Islam” series in their primary years 1st to 5th. This volume contains lessons that cover lively character building themes extracted from the Qur’an, Hadeeth, faith, Seerah and other authentic sources. The Islamic themes and concepts are presented in an exciting and creative manner. The book includes five units and around forty chapters and lessons.
The units’ titles are:

1. The Wonderful Unseen World
2. Faith and Miracles: The Story of Prophet Musa
3. Al-Qur’an-ul-Kareem: The Last Holy Book
4. Prophet Muhammad Calls for Peace
5. Pray and Give Charity

Each chapter includes the outlines, relevant Islamic vocabulary, succinct and objective material, and relevant stories. To make the material meaningful and action oriented, the themes of the book are supported by highlighted passages from the Qur’an and relevant Hadeeth of the Prophet. Additionally, the “Faith in Action” sections encourage students to put what they learn in every chapter into actions. Pictures, illustrations and brilliant layout design makes studying Islam an exciting endeavor for students of this age group. The review sections encourage students to consolidate their knowledge and to analyze and discuss concepts.

This is the second book from the Noon wal-Qalam series. The first part in the series deals with Arabic phonics and written aspects of the language. This book complements the first part of the series, following the same methodology but concentrating on listening and conversation skills.

This book’s curriculum is derived from a study of language structure. It illustrates that language is a single structure system, and that separating it into branches is impossible. Thus, separating linguistic skills from their main structure and concentrating on specific skills is not the most effective method for teaching language. Although this book reinforces listening and conversation skills, it also illustrates the relationship between listening and conversation in terms of grammar, structure, and multiple attributes that the Arabic language system is based on.

Additionally, "Function and Context" connections are made apparent by selecting vital contexts the student is exposed to during the initial phrase of learning Arabic, such as: taking the bus to commute from home to the university, shopping, and eating. The concept of "context" can be demonstrated in ways such as using proper words for the proper concept in greetings, and constant idioms that people use in their dialogue. Examples are: "Sabah al-khair” (good morning), “Assalamu alaikum” (peace be upon you), etc. This concept supports using synonyms, translating Arabic into Arabic, to prevent the speaker from using “a middle language” while learning.

The author utilized the concept of separating linguistic sentences to make it easier for the student, and thus, save time and energy. This book does not only concentrate on language itself, but touches on cultural attributes the language possesses, such as Middle Eastern food. Furthermore, this book and the entire series have the characteristics of using “diacritical marks" to learn these marks and improve student language skills. Finally, this is an excellent tool for self-learning, as it uses exciting learning measures in a systematic approach.

Companion CD:
The CD covers the same content of the book which uses short and simple lessons and dialogues in the Arabic language. It covers all the basics, with plenty of repetition and practice; it utilizes the book’s same texts, images and colors. The interactive application included is a useful and interesting self-study tool.

CD requirements:

• Works on all windows versions which are Arabic-enabled; but best for Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7.
• The Audio files (it’s MP3 path) can be played via RealPlayer and Windows Media Player

How to use:
After inserting the CD, the application displaying book lessons can be started directly from the CD by clicking on “1.00arabic” The second option is to install this application through the setup icon and follow the instructions during setup.

Teaching language is a critical tool in communication and ultimately in the development of knowledge. In our quest to provide our customers with quality materials, we are pleased to offer the Learn Arabic series. It employs modern methods of teaching foreign language to successfully teach the Arabic language to students in K-12th grade. This series was founded upon the following three fundamentals of teaching languages presented in an Islamic context:

1. Elements: sounds, letters, phrases, and pronunciation
2. Skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening
3. Linguistic Functions: introduction, greetings, description, requests, and apologies.

Series Contents:
The Learn Arabic series consists of textbooks, workbooks, and teacher’s manuals for levels K-12th grade. The textbooks aim to present basic elements of the Arabic language and their functions, while the activity books focus on enrichment material with special emphasis on writing. The teacher’s manuals offer tips on teaching Arabic efficiently with positive results.

Support Material:
Teachers will be pleased with the full array of support materials available, such as a collection of audio recordings, posters, and cards. These books also include ideas for additional activities, such as chants, competitions, and linguistic plays. All of these materials will help to make each lesson exciting and active for students.

Student Textbook:
The student textbooks are comprised of 24 units: 66 basic lessons of new material, plus an additional 6 units for revision. Each basic unit contains 4 lessons of new material, including dialogue text, expressions, and vocabulary, and communication exercises. These units contain conversations, pronunciations and expressions, grammatical structures, listening, reading, thinking, writing, and extra activities, such as selections of Qur’an, hadeeth and nasheed; where the teacher books include a midterm and final test. Answer keys can be found in the teacher's manuals.

Workbook:
The workbook simply enhances the material found within the student textbooks. They mainly concentrate on writing skills with some review of verbal skills. Each contains many different activities which can be done at school or at home, such as:

• coloring and painting pages
• word matches
• reading letters and sentences
• writing words, letters, and numbers
• and answering questions.

Some of the activities should be completed at home with a parent to strengthen the relationship between home and school.

Vocabulary of the Holy Qur'an is an extremely useful dictionary of the words in the Qur'an, compiled on the basis of their three-letter roots, allowing one to infer the meanings of almost all the different Qur'anic words by recognizing their root meaning. Examples of uses of the words in the Qur'an are also presented. The sister companion to this book, "Learn the Language of the Holy Qur'an," is also available. This edition is a deluxe hardback version, a scholarly and educational book that is designed to last a lifetime.

This textbook has been designed to provide high school-level students as well as general adult readers with a general introduction to Hadith Sciences (‘Ulum ul-Hadith).

This textbook will give students a foundational background to comprehend this oftentimes intricate and multifaceted aspect of Islamic Studies.

As the interest in studying Arabic has increased exponentially over the past decade, the needs of our students have evolved. Rather than learn¬ing Arabic for the purpose of reading sources for dissertation writing, most students coming to Arabic today wish to use their Arabic skills in order to obtain positions in the business world, in NGOs, and in government-related employment. Especially at state universities, the population of Arabic students is composed of undergraduates who are interested in the Arabic of everyday life: every time that our Arabic program has polled students on their goals for learning the language, the primary one had been speaking. However, historical¬ly, AFL teaching materials have lagged behind those of other languages in terms of leading the learner of Arabic from the more basic to the more advanced conversation skills, functions, and topics.

This book represents an attempt to build the Arabic learner's communica-tive skills sequentially, in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and functional skills. It introduces the student to basic topics that are easily accessible and frequently used in everyday conversation, providing in each lesson a dialogue; speaking, reading, and writing exercises; cultural information; and selections from Arabic magazines and websites. The book focuses on developing spoken MSA skills as a way to enable the beginning student to communicate with speakers across a variety of dialects.

We believe that this book presents an exciting new direction in Arabic language pedagogy in the United States. Our hope is that after using the book, Arabic instructors and students will find this to be the case. Best wishes for a smooth and enjoyable journey with the Arabic language!

To access your MP3 files go to: http://altd.sdsu.edu or http://larcmaterials.sdsu.edu/Arabic