The short answer: for most elementary-age children in the US, the slot that lasts is a 30-minute class two or three times a week at a fixed clock time, usually between 4 and 7pm in your own time zone. Choose a time your child can keep through fall sports, winter darkness and spring break, and treat it like any other weekly practice.
The rest of this guide is for the parent at the kitchen counter at 3:30pm, working out where Quran fits between the bus, the reading log, soccer practice and dinner.
Why the American school week makes this tricky
Many US elementary schools run from around 8am to 3pm, and middle and high schools often start even earlier. Add the bus or car line, after-school sports, homework, music lessons and an early bedtime for younger children, and the free time on a weekday is often only a couple of hours.
Many families also send their children to weekend Islamic school at the local masjid. That is a good foundation, but a once-a-week session in a group rarely gives a child enough one-to-one reading time to become fluent in the Quran. A short online class on weekdays fills that gap without another drive across town.
Three slots that work for most families
Right after school
Home, a snack, then a 30-minute class at around 4 or 4:30pm. Children are still in "school mode", and the evening stays free for homework and family. This suits children who come home alert. It suits less well a child who needs to run around before they can sit still again.
Early evening, before or after dinner
Many families like the class between 6 and 7pm, after practice and before homework. It also fits parents who get home from work at 5:30. Avoid tying it to "after Maghrib": in much of the US, Maghrib moves from around half past four in December to after eight in June, so a class pinned to prayer time drifts all year. Pick a clock time instead.
Weekend mornings
Saturday and Sunday mornings work well as an extra class, not the only one. If your child already attends weekend Islamic school, put the online class on a weekday so learning is spread across the week. A child who reads only once a week forgets much of the lesson by the next one.
Sample weekly timetables
| Child | Classes a week | When (your local time) |
|---|---|---|
| Age 5, starting Noorani Qaida | 2 | Tuesday and Thursday, 4:30pm |
| Age 8, reading the Quran with Tajweed | 3 | Monday and Wednesday 6:00pm, Saturday 10:00am |
| Age 11, starting Hifz | 5 | Monday to Friday, 6:30am before the bus or 7:00pm |
| Two siblings | 2 or 3 each | Back to back, so one evening covers both |
These are starting points, not rules. The best timetable is the one your child is still keeping in May.
Every US time zone works
Your child's teacher does not need to live in your time zone. Classes at Online Quran Lessons run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so a 4:30pm slot is just as possible in New York (Eastern), Chicago and Houston (Central), Denver (Mountain) or Los Angeles and Seattle (Pacific), as well as in Alaska and Hawaii. You choose the time in your own time zone and it stays the same every week.
When the clocks change
US clocks go back on the first Sunday in November and forward on the second Sunday in March. Many teachers live in countries where the clocks never change, so a class can quietly move by an hour if the academy schedules in its own time. Ask before the first Sunday in November whether your class stays at the same US time. With Online Quran Lessons it does, because your slot is set in your local time.
Fitting Quran around sports, holidays and breaks
- Put the class on the family calendar next to practice and games. If it is not on the calendar, it is the first thing to go.
- Plan around the season. A child in fall soccer may need a different evening from the same child in spring baseball. Moving a weekly slot is easy; dropping classes for a whole season costs months of progress.
- Keep going over Thanksgiving, winter break and spring break. Breaks are a chance to add a class, not a reason to stop. Children who keep reading through the holidays rarely have to repeat pages afterwards.
- Use summer well. Ten weeks without school is the best time of year to finish the Qaida, build fluency or make a start on Hifz, with four or five short classes a week.
- Give five minutes of revision on non-class days. Reading the last lesson's page aloud to you keeps it fresh.
How many classes a week, and what it costs
Two classes a week is the minimum we suggest for a young beginner, three is the pace most children make steady progress at, and Hifz students usually need four or five. Plans are one-to-one, 30 minutes a class, and paid monthly in US dollars: $39 a month for 2 classes a week, $49 for 3, $55 for 4 and $59 for 5. There is no registration fee and a 10% family discount applies from the second child. The pricing page shows every plan side by side.
Try a slot before you commit
Common questions from US parents: what to do when your child refuses Quran class, how to manage Quran learning for siblings of different ages, and how many Quran classes a week a child needs.
The easiest way to find out whether a time works is to try it for a week. Book 3 free trial classes, pick a time that fits your school week, and sit in on the first one. No card is taken. Read more about online Quran classes in the USA, or see the pages for families in New York, Chicago and Houston.