Question: Is there a Halachic requirement for children to pray three times a day, namely, Shacharit, Mincha, and Arvit?
Answer: The Mishnah in Masechet Berachot (20b) tells us: “Women, slaves, and children are obligated to pray.” Rashi explains that since the purpose of prayer is to request mercy from Hashem, our Sages instituted it even for women and children. This means that although according to the law it would seem that women should be exempt from praying as it falls into the category of “Positive time-bound Mitzvot” from which women are exempt (as Shacharit is prayed in the morning, Mincha in the afternoon, etc.), nevertheless, the Sages obligated women to pray since they are also in need of Hashem’s mercy just like men, and thus, there is no good reason to exempt them from this Mitzvah.
Based on this, children, who are also dependent on the mercy of Hashem, are also obligated to pray. Just as it is a Mitzvah upon adults to educate and train their children regarding all other Mitzvot, it is also incumbent on adults to educate them regarding this Mitzvah, for regarding all Mitzvot, whether Biblical or Rabbinic in nature, one is required to train his children to perform them so that they may become acquainted with them, and the Mitzvah of prayer is no different.
Since, regarding the Mitzvah of educating one’s children to perform the Mitzvot, there is no distinction between Torah and Rabbinic commandments, it would thus seem that although the Torah obligation is to pray only one prayer daily, and indeed women are only required to pray once daily, nevertheless, young boys should be trained to pray three times daily: Shacharit, Mincha, and Arvit.
This was indeed the custom of Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef Shlit”a who would educate his sons to pray all three daily prayers as soon as they learned to read (Yalkut Yosef, Tefillah, Volume 1, page 508).
Girls should be trained to pray at least once a day, preferably the Shacharit prayer which includes in it the Birkot HaShachar (morning blessings), Keri’at Shema, and the Shemoneh Esrei prayer. (When reciting the Pesukei DeZimra and the blessing before and after Keri’at Shema, they should omit the name of Hashem from the blessings in these places.)
Nevertheless, we must point out that if the father notices that this is overburdening the child, he must be exceedingly careful not to make the child revolted by prayer. A parent must always consult with wise and experienced educators as to how much a child should be expected to pray; starting with one prayer in the beginning, then two (meaning Shacharit and Mincha), and only then should he start training him to pray Arvit.
Regarding the age that one should start training his children to pray, the Peri Megadim writes that it is from the age of six or seven. What this means is that every child must be individually evaluated based on his intelligence, talents, and maturity, for not every child can handle praying three prayers a day immediately upon being taught to read. Every child must be judged by his own abilities, characteristics, and level of understanding, until he reaches a point when he can be expected to pray three times a day through happiness and serenity.
