Arabic Letter of the Week: a 28-Week Plan
For kindergarten teachers and parents: ten minutes a day, one letter a week, a free worksheet for each
Giving each letter a whole week works because young children learn a letter by meeting it many times in different ways: hearing it, tracing it, spotting it in words, playing with it. One letter at a time also keeps the look-alikes apart — ب, ت and ث arrive in three separate weeks, so by the time ث comes, the only new thing is its three dots.
Every letter below has its own free page: a free PDF with a tracing sheet and a colour-and-find sheet, the four shapes, words with pictures at the start, middle and end, and pronunciation help for parents who do not speak Arabic.
How one week works
Five days, about ten minutes each.
- 1Day 1 — Meet the letter. Hear it in the letter game, say its name and sound together, and count its dots.
- 2Day 2 — Trace it. The worksheet's big letter and first tracing rows: finger first, then pencil.
- 3Day 3 — Find its four shapes. Look at the picture words on the letter page: is the letter at the start, in the middle or at the end?
- 4Day 4 — Play. Trace it on screen in the tracing game, or tell it apart from its look-alikes in the dots game.
- 5Day 5 — Review. Finish the empty boxes on the sheet, hunt for the letter around the house, and add it to the alphabet wall.
Games: letter game · tracing game · how many dots? · memory match
The 28 weeks
Tip for a school year: add a review week after weeks 7, 14 and 21 and the plan fills 31 weeks.
- ا
- ب
- ت
- ث
- ج
- ح
- خ
- د
- ذ
- ر
- ز
- س
- ش
- ص
- ض
- ط
- ظ
- ع
- غ
- ف
- ق
- ك
- ل
- م
- ن
- ه
- و
- ي
Questions about letter of the week
What is 'letter of the week'?+
A way of teaching the alphabet one letter at a time: the whole week is about one letter — its sound, its shapes, words that start with it. With 28 Arabic letters it takes 28 weeks, which fits inside a school year with time left for review.
In what order should I teach the Arabic letters?+
Most schools follow the alphabet order (alif, ba, ta, tha…), which is what this plan uses, because it matches the alphabet song and the books children see. It also groups letters that share a shape: ب ت ث come in three weeks running, so the only new thing is the dots.
How long should each session be?+
Ten minutes a day, five days a week, is enough for ages 3–6. Stop while your child is still enjoying it; the next day goes better.
What age is letter of the week for?+
Ages 3 to 6: preschool, KG1 and KG2. Three-year-olds can do the hearing, colouring and game days; from four, add the tracing.
What comes after the 28 weeks?+
The short vowels (fatha, kasra, damma), then reading letters with them. The harakat and letters-with-harakat packs pick up exactly where the alphabet ends.