Weaving Islam into Your Learning
One of the things I've always loved about Islam is how it consistently connects to so many facets of our lives.
The Qur'an, the Sunnah, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and Islamic history from around the world hold so many lessons for us that we can use to tie into our learning. Seeking out these opportunities can both enrich our children's learning and help keep Islam at the foundation of our homeschools. Whether you're looking for ways to tie Islamic concepts into your everyday lessons or you want to focus on Islamic learning during special times, such as Ramadan, try these out.
Unit Study/ Main Lesson Blocks
Unit Studies and Main Lesson Blocks are educational terms referring to when a specific topic is covered deeply over a period of time. The difference between the two is that a Unit Study will often tie the topic into many different subjects at a time and a Main Lesson Block might tie the topic into only a few subjects at a time.
For example, if the topic is Weather, a unit study might involve learning to gauge and convert temperatures (math), reading and writing about storms (language arts), learning how weather science evolved over time (history), experimenting with barometric pressure (science), and creating chalk pastel drawings of cloud formations in the sky (art). If Weather were the topic of a Main Lesson Block, you might focus on the science, reading and math of it, but not carry it over into all of the other subjects.
Unit Studies and Main Lesson Blocks are great ways to cover Islamic learning because the topics lend themselves well to different subjects. The trick is not making the topics too broad. Let's say you wanted to focus on Islamic History, that's a lot to cover in one unit or lesson block. But if we narrow things down to say...The Golden Age of Islam, now that gives us a specific time period within Islamic History that we can begin tying into the subjects we want to cover at home over the course of a month or so.
A Golden Age Unit/ Main Lesson Block could look like designing tessellating tile patterns based on Islamic architecture (art), learning to calculate angles with an astrolabe (math), tracking the travels of Ibn Batuta (geography), and critically comparing Islam's Golden Age with Europe's Dark Age happening at the same time (history).
Continent of Learning
A Continent of Learning is an approach to mindmapping where you connect different subjects to the interest of your child. Your child's interest or curiosity forms the center of the map and extending out from it are the various subject tie ins that could help expand your child's knowledge into the different areas. Keeping this idea in mind, you can easily make Islamic concepts and lessons part of those tie ins!
Let's say your child is interested in Birds. An interest in birds can connect to lessons about the math and science of flight, various bird species and habitats, tons of reading and writing about birds, and art projects sketching birds that come to the backyard. To keep it Islamic, you might also discuss the hadith comparing taqwa to the birds who go out searching for food in the morning, the story of the Hoopoe bird in the Qur'an, the story of when Allah brought a dead bird back to life as a sign for Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and the long-held tradition of Muslim cultures training falcons to help hunt for food.
Is it starting to sound a lot like a unit study? It's not.
The difference between a Unit Study/ Main Lesson Block and a Continent of Learning is in the prep work. Both Unit Studies and Main Lesson Blocks are planned and prepared for in advance. It's the parent deciding "this is what we will focus on and these are the resources I've gathered for you."
A Continent of Learning isn't planned in advance per se. It's more about facilitating connections for your child as you see their interest flowing in different directions. So IF your child's interest in birds takes them into learning about different species, then you facilitate that interest with a book or other resource on Falcons and use it as a Segway into learning about Muslim falconers.
Connecting Learning to Ramadan
Ramadan is an awesome time for tying your everyday learning into Islam. Here are a few ideas for different subjects you can tie into your Ramadan learning at home.
History:
history of the Quran's revelation and compilation
stories from the Makkan period of the seerah
how Quran recitation become the 10 different qira'at we have around the world today
watch or listen to a series on the early Muslims and their legacies
Math:
tracking fasting hours around the world for different time zones and elevations
collect and tracking monetary donations for a good cause
Science:
understanding the benefits of fasting on the body
learning the health benefits of sunnah foods for suhoor and iftar
exploring and tracking the moon phase each night
explore the scientific knowledge and wisdoms revealed in the Qur’an
Language Arts:
keeping a journal of your thoughts, experiences and duas every day of Ramadan
writing positive messages or letters for others and mailing them out
reading stories of the prophets and the sahaba
Arts:
illustrate a comic book based on a story from the Qur’an
paint the 99 names of Allah
draw a Ramadan mural on a large canvas for your local masjid
weave a textile design and use it as a mini prayer rug for Tarawih
create a photo/video project to help get donations for a cause you care about