Family Guide — Session 26: Weather (الطَّقس)

A one-page guide for parents, after-school caregivers, or co-teachers. Plain English. No teaching experience required.

What we learned today

Your child can now talk about the weather in Arabic:

They also met the letter ط (Ta) — a strong, deep "T" sound, made by pressing the tongue flat against the roof of the mouth. It's the "T" in taqs (weather).

Why this matters

Weather is one of those topics that comes up every single day without anyone planning for it. You open the door, you feel the air, you say something about it. That's exactly why we teach it: your child now has a handful of Arabic words that can ride along with daily life — at the bus stop, on the balcony, walking to the car. Three weeks from now, barrd! (cold!) should pop out of their mouth before "cold" does, at least sometimes.

The letter ط shows up in tons of useful words — taqs (weather), tabkh (cooking), tayyib (okay / delicious). Worth knowing.

What to do this evening (3 minutes total)

You don't need to drill or quiz. Just do these three tiny things:

1. When you step outside tonight, say:

"الطَّقس بَرد!" (At-taqs bard! — "The weather is cold!")

Or harr if it's warm. Let them feel the word match the air.

2. Look out the window before bed and ask:

"في هَوا؟" (Fee hawa? — "Is there wind?")

Yes or no answer is fine. Even a shrug counts.

3. Tomorrow morning, check the sky together:

"شَمس وِلّا شَتا؟" (Shams willa shata? — "Sun or rain?")

That's it. Three weather moments. Under a minute.

What to do this week (5 minutes total)

Pick one of these:

• Make a weather chart on the fridge. Draw six little boxes — sun, rain, snow, wind, hot, cold. Each morning, your child circles or stickers what today is, and says the Arabic word out loud.
• Weather report at dinner. One person each night gives the day's "report" in Arabic: Al-yawm harr. Fee hawa. (Today is hot. There's wind.) Two sentences. That's the whole show.
• Play "weather around the world." Pull up a weather app. Pick three cities — Beirut, your city, grandma's city. Say each one's weather in Arabic.
• Snow/rain dance. When the weather actually changes — first rain, first hot day — everyone shouts the Arabic word. Silly is good. Silly sticks.

If you don't know Arabic yourself

That's completely fine. This whole course is designed for parents like you.

• Listen to the audio file with your child. Say the six weather words together once. That's the whole homework.
• Use the words even if you mispronounce them. Harr and bard are short and forgiving. Your kid will correct you, and that's a gift — it means they are the expert in that moment.
• Tie it to real weather. You don't need to invent practice. The sky does it for you. Just point and name.

If you're a heritage Arabic speaker

• Use your dialect, whatever it is. If you say shitee instead of shata, or bared instead of bard, that's the real Arabic of your family. Tell your child: "We say it like this at home." Both are right.
• Talk about weather where your family is from. In Lebanon, snow on the mountains, sun at the beach — same day. This is the kind of detail your child will remember forever.
• Let them write the letter ط for you. Heritage kids often speak well but haven't held a pen to Arabic letters. The writing piece is where they need backup.

What's coming next session

Session 27: Seasons (الفُصول) — Your child learns the four seasons in Arabic, plus the letter ظ (Tha) — the cousin of today's ط.

Materials needed: nothing new. Just bring this folder.

Questions or struggles?

Email: dabagh_safaa@smc.edu Or visit: https://learnwithoutwalls.com

Yalla Arabic · Family Guide · Session 26