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| The portrait of Nurbani, who shares tips on how to teach children to fast. (Photo by Yafi PR of UMM) |
Fasting is one of the charities which can benefit in terms of health, social, and spiritual. To help children get those benefits, parents play an essential role in guiding children to fast. Nevertheless, there is no less important spiritual value of fasting: piety.
Dr. Nurbani Yusuf, M.Si., the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FTTE) lecturer at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang, explains that being pious is someone’s awareness of Allah’s existence — including the effort to live based on His teaching. In the context of fasting, piety can mean the attempt to improve self-awareness and desire-controlling so that fasting can run correctly with full of awareness.
Parents must notice piety value and teach children how to fast appropriately so that fasting not only becomes a routine or a habit.
“Parents must give a clear definition of fasting and the values contained therein,” emphasizes Nurbani.
Additionally, Nurbani also states that a good example must be imitated. Parents must be a good and consistent example of fasting well and sincerely. They must also pay attention to and support their children to be responsible and disciplined in performing charities.
“However, it needs to know that not all children can easily instruct to fast. Very young children or those with certain health conditions may still have difficulties in fasting. Therefore, parents must adapt to individual children’s capability and suitable teaching methods,” asserts the FTTE lecturer.
Nurbani shares several tips and strategies so that children can fast well and excitingly. Firstly, it starts with a fasting schedule suitable for children’s capabilities. Parents can begin by introducing fasting on particular days, like Monday and Thursday, or only for several hours.
“Then, parents gradually improve the fasting duration and frequency based on children’s capabilities,” says he.
Besides, parents must support their children morally and motivate them during their fasting process. It can be by giving compliments, rewarding, or illustrating good examples of fasting.
The last tip is to apply a proper schedule. Fasting children need enough sleep and balanced dietary habits. “Ensure our children get enough sleeping time and consume healthy food when breaking the fast and having the pre-dawn meal,” he orders.
Also, the values of fasting need to explain, like piety, patience, sincerity, and generosity. Then, they can be good-mannered individuals and perform religious obligations seriously and sincerely.
“In Islam, fasting is mandatory for adult Muslims. Usually, those who have been through puberty are in the age range of 12-15 years. Nevertheless, parents can already have instructed their children to fast before that time by taking into account to these things,” ends the FTTE lecturer. (imh/rul/wil)
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