Family Guide — Session 36: My "Where I Went Today" Diary

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

What we learned today

This is a project session — your child started a week-long picture diary recording places they go. Each day they'll add a drawing or photo and an Arabic caption. Today they set up the diary and learned the words they need to fill it in:

They also pulled from everything they've learned across Level 3 — animals, weather, colors, places, family. The diary is where it all comes together.

Why this matters

Up until now, your child has been learning words in lists. This week, they're using those words to tell a real story about their real life — where they actually went, who they actually saw. That's the jump from "knowing Arabic words" to "using Arabic." It's a big one, and it's the whole reason we built Level 3 the way we did. The diary is small. The shift is huge.

What to do this evening (3 minutes total)

1. Ask them, in Arabic:

"وَين رِحت اليَوم؟" (Wayn riht al-yawm? — Where did you go today?)

Even if the answer is "nowhere, I was home" — that's a perfect Arabic answer:

2. Help them add today's entry to the diary.

One drawing or photo. One Arabic caption. That's it. Don't make it a homework assignment — make it a 60-second ritual before brushing teeth.

3. Tell them where you went today, in Arabic if you can:

"أَنا رِحت عَ الشُّغل" (Ana riht 'ash-shughl — I went to work.)

Modeling is more powerful than quizzing.

What to do this week (the diary itself)

The diary needs one entry per day for a week. Pick the flavor that fits your family:

• The fridge diary. Tape it to the fridge. Add a sticky note each evening with where they went.
• The phone-photo diary. Snap one photo a day. Print them Friday. Your child writes Arabic captions.
• The walking diary. On a weekend walk, stop at three places and say
  رِحت عَ...
  at each one. Take a picture at each stop.
• The teta call. Call grandma (yours or a stand-in) and let your child say
  اليَوم رِحت عَ...
  in Arabic. Teta will melt.

If you don't know Arabic yourself

You can absolutely do this one with them.

• The only sentence you need is
  وَين رِحت اليَوم؟
  — Wayn riht al-yawm? Practice it once in the car. That's your whole job.
• Let your child be the expert. Ask them what their caption says. Heritage or not, kids love explaining.
• If the diary captions are misspelled or wobbly — leave them. A real kid's diary in real kid handwriting is the goal. Not a worksheet.

If you're a heritage Arabic speaker

• Don't write the captions for them. It's tempting. Resist. Wobbly child-Arabic is the point.
• Use Levantine, not MSA, when you talk about the diary. Say
  وَين رِحت؟
  not
  أَينَ ذَهَبت؟
  — we want this to sound like home, not like school.
• Bring in extended family. Send a diary photo to teta, jiddo, an aunt. Let them respond in Arabic voice notes. Your child gets a real audience for real Arabic — which is the whole game.
• Notice the writing. Heritage kids often speak better than they write. The diary is gentle writing practice disguised as a craft project.

What's coming next session

Session 37: Sharing the Diary — Your child presents their finished diary to the class (or to you, at home). They'll practice saying their week out loud in Arabic:

Materials needed: the diary, completed (or mostly completed — we'll finish together if needed).

Questions or struggles?

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

Yalla Arabic · Family Guide · Session 36