A large linguistic distance exists between spoken Arabic and the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) the literary language (a diglosia). Novice readers, therefore, struggle with the complex orthography of Arabic as well as the mastering of MSA. Here, we tested whether structured activities in MSA would advance kindergarteners' MSA aptitude by the end of…

This textbook is a first reader that includes exercises on phonetics and word-building, word grouping, introduction of phonic elements, the grouping or indentation of sentences, nursery rhymes, and the letters of the alphabet. Footnotes and references are provided for teacher's guidance.