Ships in the Quran, and a boat that worked

One way we reflect on the Quran is by theme. Instead of going through a surah from start to end, we pick one or two things the Quran talks about and gather the verses that mention them. Ships was one of those themes.

A sheet of verses about ships

For this sheet we gathered verses about ships making their way across the oceans: from Surah Luqman, Surah Al-Baqarah, Surah Ar-Rum and Surah Al-Isra. The verses are on the sheet in the picture, with line drawings of ships and an anchor. This is how thematic reflection began for us.

The verse from Surah Luqman also has its own worksheet, from our early days of the 3-I.

Qoyis's boosted boat

Qoyis is our youngest, and he was not homeschooled. Even so, over the years we set up the house and the learning materials so that he could experiment on his own, sketch things out, learn from his brothers and sisters, and try out his own ideas.

In his early primary years he made a boat. First he planned it in pencil. Two bottles: bottle A lies on its side with a weighted driver inside it to balance the ship, and bottle B stands up with baking soda wrapped in toilet paper inside. Vinegar goes in, and straws at the bottom of bottle B give the boost.

Then he drew it again in marker, with the parts labelled "to balance", "booster" and "vinegar + baking soda", and across the top he wrote: "It worked!"

Back to the verses

The boat was the Investigate part. We linked it back to Islam in person, by talking it through, rather than on paper.

To make a theme sheet of your own, choose one thing your child is already curious about, such as ships, rain or bees. Look up the verses that mention it in a translation you trust, print them on one page, and read them together a few at a time.

If your child likes building things, try giving them a theme from the Quran and a simple material, like bottles, and see what they come up with. Talk about the verses afterwards, while they are still excited about what they made.