If you are like me, who think that how we nurture our children will affect their acadmic progress, you are in a some rude electrifying shock, my friend. I got quite a shock after reading it. If you did not watch yesterday's in parliament or read this morning's Straits Times, then you better sit down when you are reading this. Hmmm, did I scare you? No? Maybe I didn't do quite a good job. 8P

Brace yourself....Here goes. If you think that by staying at home, reading to the child and by taking her to museums will make your child perform better in school, think again, my friends. Think again.

An intensive study called, The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, was carried out by the United States Department of Education in the late 1990s. It aimed to measure the academic progress of more than 20,000 children from kindergarten to fifth grade. The study also measured whether parenting behaviour had an effect on school performance. Now, some surprising results : it DOESN'T matter whether the mother worked or stayed at home, whether the parents read to the child; took her to the museums; or allowed her to watch frequent television. All these made NO difference to school performance.

SO what does? Another surprise for me. What did make a difference were things like socio-economic status of parents. Educational level of parents was correlated with the child's school performance. A baby with low birth weight (and presumably poor parents) is more likely to do badly in school.

Quite shocking right? It seems to suggest that it doesn't matter what the parents do, it's what they are (rich and educated, or poor and uneducated) that makes a difference to how well their children do in school.

Whether we want to agree or disagree with the study is up to each of us to decide. Afterall, this is a scientific study and like any scientific study, there may be some assumptions to the rule. But the point is, we or maybe I, do not believe that parents should nurture their children just for the sake of academic excellence. Of course, we want our children to be intelligent but we mould our children more to become wholesome individuals, with the right attitude towards life, a healthy conscious of what is right or wrong, individuals who care for others, not one who is just intelligent but unfortunately is self-centered and lacks respect for others.

Like any parent, I hope to give my children the best, the best academically and spiritually. That was the main reason why my late father and I decided to start a business providing educational materials that enable parents to provide their children with a holistic education. That was in 2001 but we had to suspend the business we fondly called as Raihan's Angels when I was pregnant with my 4th one. I was not in the best physical position to help him with the business and we decided to put the business on hold after I gave birth. But as fate has it, 5 months after I gave birth my father passed away and his dream of seeing Raihan's Angels grew bigger seemed to get buried to0.

But last Saturday, I received some very some good news and made me decide that this may be time to take Raihan's Angels out of the closet again, in loving memory of my late father. Maybe now, the least for me to do is carry on his dream of sharing educational materials to fellow muslims.

Thus, I introduced you to the first Islamic board game ala trivial pursuit is here in Singapore. The Quran Challenge Game is the 1st of its kind. It has been a bestseller in UK and USA. Now, it comes in 3 versions, English, Malay and Arabic. I love this game because it allows you and your family to have fun and learn more about the quran. So it is not like sitting through lessons. You learn and play.

There 2 types of Quran Challenge Game; One is the Junior Challenge for Kids between 5-10 years and the other is catered to 8 to adults.



This is the Junior Quran Challenge Game. RP S$39.90 (Suitable for Ages 5 -10)

No of players 2-4

There are 200 questions are taken from the Quran. They have been creatively worked into this game and children will enjoy answering them. This game can be played at school or at home with all the family members. The questions include :
> Stories from the Quran
> Prophets of the Quran
> People of the Quran
> Places of the Quran



This is Quran Challenge Game. RP S$39.90 (Available in English, Malay and Arabic) (Suitable for Ages 8- Adults)

No of players 2-4

It is creatively designed to provide hours of fun for the whole family. Containing 600 questions grouped according to themes of the Quran, the sirah of the prophets, the names of Allah, the people and places mentioned in the Quran, with answers provided.

Contains 600 Questions on the following topics:
- Quranic Knowledge
- Prophets in the Quran
- People of the Quran
- Places of the Quran
- Message of the Quran

The size of the game is almost as big as the monopoly. If you are interested, please email ani0403@yahoo.com.sg.

As it is the beginning of Raihan's Angels comeback after 2 years of absence, we are having a promotion from now till 31 Aug. Delivery is free for purchases of 2 or more plus you get 10% discount off from the total purchases. For purchase of 1 box, delivery will be done to anywhere in Singapore at a minimal charge of $5. There'll be no charges for self-collect.

And if you want to see it, you can email me and set a time and date to come over my place where we can chit chat more , with tea or coffee to go and even play the game together - before you get one to share with your loved ones. 8)