My older daughter is very well aware of halal foods now as we tell her from time to time what she can eat and cannot. She is very confident and lets her teacher know. Of course we have instructions in her school saying that she isn’t allowed to eat certain things. They are very respectful of our choices and always communicate with us when there’s a concern.
So we started when she was starting school. We’d tell her that “beta, muslims don’t eat pork and it’s OK if other people do but we don’t so make sure you tell your teacher.” She was perfectly OK with it. Also, we’ve told her about gelatin so she avoids candies altogether because she knows at home she will get whatever she needs.
Some people think we are stressing this too much too early and that we shouldn’t be that rigid, but I think it’s OK because that’s how you let your kids know.
Re: When do you start teaching your kids about haram/halal?
you are absolutely right, we need to instill the concept of halal and haram as soon as possible, even as early as 3, when we're shopping and kids pick up something, you tell them its haram because we are muslims we only eat certain foods which have to be halal. now my 4 year old, asks me if something is halal when he picks anything up whilst shopping or if he is offered sweets at school.
As early as possible is best to stop them getting into bad habits and from experience I know how hard it is to give up haram food once ur used to eating it. I didn't even know about halal food till 13 or so which is pretty shocking but my family weren't religious at all back then..
Re: When do you start teaching your kids about haram/halal?
To simplify it, i would take it as a issue of diet rather than religion/morals.
You want to feed your kids healthy and good foods rather than fill them with junk, and the earlier the better of course, so no i don't think it's too early when they start school. You dont want to be lenient and letting them eat chicken etc, and all of a sudden tell them to stop. So better to never get into the habit of it in the first place
Re: When do you start teaching your kids about haram/halal?
Nice topic Niksik!
Just 2 weeks ago, my daugther who is 3 went for a trip from her nursary to a farm, there they had BBQ for kids and my daugther came home and told us, she had "Wurst" its made out of meat, it can be pork or even turkey, so we went to clarify with the head of the caretaker, as they know very well, she is suppose to be fed vegetarian, meaning no meat at all (which we find is good as she gets enough meat at home from us) .. they insured us she had grilled cheese, (she might have picked that as others were having "wurst") well anyway, now she knows she is not suppose to eat "wurst" and says its bad LOL ... I thought wow such a small kid and already knows she is not suppose to eat it, as she heard us talking about it to ourself and the caretakers.
I also believe that its good to tell them what to eat and what not at early age, when I was a kid in school in USA we eat meat other than pork, but today I only eat zubaha meat but its not the end of the world if my kids eats something like jelly candies with gelatine in it, I dont buy it for her but sometimes they get it in nursary or kids give it to her. She is not a big fan of it anyway.
Re: When do you start teaching your kids about haram/halal?
I think they have better comprehension after 4. My 3 year old relies on us of course. And then I don't really have to worry because she's at home with me and isn't exposed to anyone giving her something to eat.
Nice topic Niksik!
Just 2 weeks ago, my daugther who is 3 went for a trip from her nursary to a farm, there they had BBQ for kids and my daugther came home and told us, she had "Wurst" its made out of meat, it can be pork or even turkey, so we went to clarify with the head of the caretaker, as they know very well, she is suppose to be fed vegetarian, meaning no meat at all (which we find is good as she gets enough meat at home from us) .. they insured us she had grilled cheese, (she might have picked that as others were having "wurst") well anyway, now she knows she is not suppose to eat "wurst" and says its bad LOL ... I thought wow such a small kid and already knows she is not suppose to eat it, as she heard us talking about it to ourself and the caretakers.
I also believe that its good to tell them what to eat and what not at early age, when I was a kid in school in USA we eat meat other than pork, but today I only eat zubaha meat but its not the end of the world if my kids eats something like jelly candies with gelatine in it, I dont buy it for her but sometimes they get it in nursary or kids give it to her. She is not a big fan of it anyway.
Re: When do you start teaching your kids about haram/halal?
I think it a good idea to tell them as soon as possible, my niece is 4 years old and already she knows wat she can eat and what she cant.
once at her school they accedently gave her meat which isnt halal and she herself said to the teacher 'im not allowed to have that',
The other day she was saying how at home she can eat chicken but at school she cant coz its haraam.
Its all down to her mum who has been talking to her about this and making her aware of it.