Ramadan 2025 - Inspired by Qur'an Montessori Prompts

We kick off our Ramadan lessons with the primary purpose of fasting which is to attain Taqwa! Taqwa is to be conscious of Allah by doing the things He loves and staying away from what displeases Him. Taqwa plays an important role in personal and spiritual development and shapes us into becoming better Believers who develop a sincere connection with Allah.

To help illustrate the meaning behind Taqwa, I made a few activities for the boys.

Pic 1-5: We read through our 'Taqwa: The Shield of the Believer' book to understand the meaning using examples and stories from the past. They also learnt how to develop Taqwa and its connection with fasting.

Pic 6: Mr 6 had a play with his discussion based puzzle. The idea was for him to understand what Taqwa leads to. He chooses a puzzle piece, explains it using the picture, and then based on our discussion he eventually places it on the main base.

Pic 7-8: Mr 6 played a game which required him to understand how we develop Taqwa by controlling our body organs. He placed the correct and incorrect way of using organs in ways which please and displease Allah.

Pic 9: I've made them a special shield for them to learn their protection du'aas. The du'aa pictured is:

اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّىْ اَسْئَلُكَ الْهُدَى وَ التُّقَى وَ الْعَفَافَ وَ الْغِنَى.

O Allah, I ask You for guidance and piety, abstinence (from begging people) and contentment. (Muslim 2721])

𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐: 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚 (𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝)

During the past 6 weeks, Mrs 16 was hospitalised and diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APML), a rare type of blood cancer. The boys witnessed most medical procedures, including ECG's and blood transfusions throughout their visits. They had tons of questions that the nurses were kind enough to answer, Alhamdulillah. So I made them a visual of the bodies 'blood cell factory' to reinforce their learning.

Pic 1: The spongy part of our bone which is called bone marrow, produces normal blood cells, including red blood cells (carries oxygen), white blood cells (soldiers which fight infection), and platelets (clot blood). However, in Shaafa's case, her body was producing heaps of immature abnormal white blood cells (neutrophils) which accumulated in her bone marrow. This prevented normal blood cells from being produced, which meant less number of blood cells circulated her body.

Pic 2: A visual of what normal and abnormal bone marrow looks like in her condition.

Pic 3: Our blood is made up of many things, with each cell having its own function. We discussed each function and its importance in our body.

This was a simple introductory lesson. It has been 4 long years since we studied the human body and now that the boys are older, I'm excited to go through it again. This time a little deeper in sha Allah!

Over the past few years, my husband has been teaching our sons the role of a father and husband. From showing kindness and compassion to mummy to fulfilling responsibilities like lawn mowing, the boys have picked up quite a bit, بَارَكَالله فِيهِم. They are currently learning the art of greeting and holding a short conversation with uncles at the masjid.

The boys have been attending Jumu'ah for a few years now, and they have made a number of friends – mostly elderly uncles. I think it's kind of cute! The uncles wait for their presence during Fajr or Jumu’ah and hand them a few lollies. I made some Masjid cards to make this experience even more enjoyable for them.

Each Jumu’ah, one child randomly picks a card, then chooses a prompt to do. I had enough time to make 3. It’s simple and fun, and in sha Allah will continue to attach their heart to the Masjid.

Sending Salawat on the Prophet ﷺ is an act of love and is the greatest way to extend our gratitude to him ﷺ. I made this craft years ago, which serves as a visual reminder to make Salawat on the Prophet ﷺ. Back then, I explained to my child why we needed to make Salawat and taught him a few benefits. He then had some time to memorise it.

Over the years, I explained the virtues of Jumu'ah, and slowly incorporated making du'aa and sending Salawat after 'Asr. Alhamdulillah, it's remained a consistent habit.

The Salawat brings multiple rewards in one's life and is a means of having sins forgiven. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever sends salah upon me once, Allah will send salah upon him tenfold, erase ten sins from him, and will raise him ten degrees in status.” (Nasai)

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ

If I you would love this as a free download, let me know below. Remember to send Salawat upon our beloved ﷺ on this blessed Jumu'ah.

Throughout our lives, we develop one of two mindsets; a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is the belief that you can not change, while a growth mindset is the belief that you can learn and grow. In order for us to flourish, we need to adopt a growth mindset.

Pic 2: The boys and I spoke about the 3 main brain regions and what they do. Mr 6 identified them with his felt model before we moved on to neurons.

Pic 3: I explained what neurons are and what happens to the brain cells when they learn something new. Neurons send messages from one cell to another. If we do the same thing over and over again, like memorise Quraan, they begin to link and eventually form a strong connection (or path). They had a go making some neurons and connecting them to form a pathway. We also discussed the hadith of doing things consistently. Small steps matter, as long as they are consistent!

Pic 4-6: The boys learnt what a fixed and growth mindset looks like. They guessed what language was used in each mindset using the speech bubbles provided. We then had a discussion about what someone with a growth mindset would sound like in different scenarios.

Pic 7: We discussed the power of YET! The next time you feel challenged, try adding the word yet. I can't do it .. YET! It doesn't make sense... YET!

Alhamdulillah for another blessed day.

Muhasabah means to "check oneself." It's about taking responsibility for our actions and intentions, which will be presented before us on the Day of Judgement. Practising muhasabah is an order from Allah. We have to hold ourselves accountable for what we do in this world and what consequences our actions will have on the Day of Judgement. Our goal in life should be to please Allah so that we can see Him in the Hereafter. Everything we think, say, and do should help us get closer to Jannah.

Alhamdulillah, today I am celebrating! I've finally finished my children's reflective journal that I've been working on for weeks! It's a journal that will help increase their awareness of Allah’s presence in their life, and help them become better ‘Abd's (slaves of Allah) and believers to those around them, in sha Allah!

This is something we will do collectivley as a family, in sha Allah.

Tarteel is the art of melodious recitation. The Quraan needs to be recited slowly and calmly, ensuring each letter, word, and ayah are recited with thoughtful consideration.

In order to recite melodiously, we need to understand how to pronounce each letter correctly. My little one has trouble reciting a few of his throat letters. So, with our wooden alphabet disks and play dough, we began practising our sounds to understand which areas of the throat they come from.

Pic 1: Revision - Identifying where each letter comes from while practising his pronunciation.

Pic 2: Playing what doesn't belong with throat letters to solidify his understanding.

Pic 3: Identifying which part of the throat the letters belong to. When he correctly completes each part, he covers the throat with play dough.

Pic 4: Annotating heavy letters on his worksheet.

The universe is full of signs that guide and point us towards the existence and oneness of Allah. One intricate sign is the balanced nature of the food web, which is seen as a testament to Allah's perfect design, knowledge, and power.

Mr. 6 and I made this food chain model to demonstrate Allah's balance. After choosing his animal, the Ostrich, we researched its habitat, food, and diet, and then we got creating our Savannah!

Our food chain model shows a single path of energy transfer. For example, grass (producers) -> grasshopper (primary consumers) -> Ostrich (secondary consumers) -> Hyena (tertiary consumers) -> mushrooms and worms (decomposers).

The food web shows how everything connects through complex interconnected food chains. Yusuf used play dough to point out the direction of energy flow within this food web. He understood that if one of the producers (grass) disappeared, the primary consumers (grasshoppers) population would also decrease from a lack of food. This drop would also cause food to be scarce for the secondary consumers, and so on. The food web has been affected, and the balance disrupted. This is also true if the opposite occurs.

The food web's ability to maintain a balance between all organisms is seen as a reflection of Allah's perfect creation!

Surat Ad Duha is an expression of love that Allah has for His Messenger. In it, Allah soothes Rasulullah's ﷺ pain and replaces it with hope and tranquillity.

I gave Yaseen some time to reflect on the ayah above. We had a discussion about the temporary nature of this dunya and how everything we do here should be to prepare for the eternal life in the Hereafter. We spoke about what we need to let go of and what 'things' we need to collect to decorate our grave with (adhkaar, Quran memorisation, good deeds, etc.). I emphasised that the reward in the afterlife is greater than any worldy gain.

This dunya is not our permanent home. Rather, it's a bridge we pass to the afterlife. Yaseen decided to make a series of Quran inspired artwork, like this bridge, to remind him about Allah.

Ikhlaas means purifying our motives and intentions for Allah's sake without desiring any wordly reward or recognition.

Last Ramadan, we looked at intentions. The boys learnt about pure intentions vs. evil intentions through a venn diagram. They also learnt about the hack of multiplying intentions to gain extra rewards! I also introduced them to the intention cycle. (I'll share the post in my stories)

The intention cycle was inspired by Sheik Moutasem al Hameedy's lectures about the heart. A pure heart leads to pure intentions, which leads to righteous actions. This increases our Imaan and feeds the heart to do more good. I just love this cycle so much that it's now become a wheel!

Today, we focused on Ikhlaas (sincerity). I made them a fun card, which explains Ikhlaas and intentions.

Sheik Ali Hamouda has a "Change of Heart" video series which I highly recommend. In episode 3, he retells a story of his teacher and his sheik in Yemen. The moral of the story was that the sheik had almost 40 intentions for answering the knock on the door! He intended to assist the guest by not allowing him to stand in the sun, smile at him, shake hands, give the full Islamic greeting, invite him in, etc... Subhan'Allah, right!

The intention transforms actions! The Prophet ﷺ said: "Certainly, actions are by intention, and for each person is that which he has intended..." By renewing our intentions daily, we can turn mundane tasks into acts of worship!

Our deen is comprised of three levels: The highest level is lhsaan, then lmaan and then lslam. I made this '3 Principles of Our Deen' flip book when I first started home educating Yaseen back in 2019 and used it as a guide to help me teach him about our deen.

We used it during this lesson as we discussed Ihsaan. Ihsaan is like the extra effort we put in for Allah to be pleased with us - like adding ice to a cup of water because you know your mum loves that.

I made a little poster to discuss:

1) Allah's Ihsaan with mankind (mainly believers):

Allah has given us the best of everything. We are part of the best nation and have been guided to the best religion through the best book, the Quraan and the best Messenger ﷺ. Out of all creation, Allah chose us, and He has gifted us with intellect to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

2) Ihsaan with Allah:

It is to worship Allah as if we see Him, and even though we can not see Him, we should know that He certainly sees us. It's to stay away from Shirk and to make Him One in everything.

3) Ihsaan in Worship:

We discussed how we can try our best in worship. For example, making wudu' with Ihsaan means using less water, making sure everything part is washed properly and slowing down.

4) Ihsaan with People: This is to treat everyone in the best we we can. This means having good thoughts of them, treating them well, and using the kind words.

Alhamdulillah, the key lesson is to strive for excellence in everything we do because Allah loves it. He appreciates it. He notices it. And that's all that matters. Alhamdulillah.

One of my favourite types of rizq is righteous friends. Righteous friends are those who love you, help you, and remind you of Allah and the Hereafter. They're always looking out for you and supporting you.

Rasulullah ﷺ emphasised the importance of choosing righteous friends, stating that "a person is likely to follow the religion of his friend, so look whom you befriend." (At Tirmidhi 2378)

Alhmadulillah, I'm so grateful Allah sent me a handful of righteous souls that I can share my life with. I made the boys a penpal kit so they too can experience a special friendship for Allah's sake. Their first penpal letters will be sent to the US, in sha Allah. I'm looking forward to watching this journey unfold. Bismillah!

We began teaching the boys how to pray (indirectly) from an early age. They mimicked our actions, climbed our backs, and rolled over in sujood - literally!! I really miss those times. My youngest is now 6 years old and is currently learning about Salah through hands-on methods and role playing. When my life goes back to somewhat normal, I'll be sharing our Salah Unit - the hands-on stuff - as well as the nurturing that went along side it. I'll also be sharing content and advice, which helped us establish this important pillar in our home.

As for now, Shaafa resumed her chemo. This means we will be visiting the hospital on weekdays for the next 6 months or so, in sha Allah. Some days, the boys will tag along. So I thought I'd continue Yusuf's Salah studies with his new Salah busy book.

Alhamdulillah, I really hope he enjoys it!

In the meantime, remember, Salah nourishes our soul, just as fasting purifies our body.

Plants are regarded as one of the countless favours of Allah and have been mentioned in the Qur'aan numerous times - in particular, the date palm (al nakhla).

The Prophet ﷺ said, "There is a tree among the trees which is similar to a Muslim (in goodness), and that is the date palm tree." (Bukhari 5448)

In today's lesson, we discussed the shared characteristics between the believer and the date palm.

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 - The date palm is strong and thrives in harsh conditions, such as heat, drought, and storms - yet flourishes providing fruit in abundance. A believer is also strong in faith and is resilient, enduring life's challenges. We do not grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges. I asked the boys to reflect: Recall a time when you were facing a challenge. How did you show resilience and strength?

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 - The date palm provides food, shade, and other resources, demonstrating how a believer should always strive to be beneficial to others through their words and actions. They should also seek knowledge to impact others positively and become more useful members of society. I asked the boys to reflect: How can you benefit others - in our home, in the community, and in our Ummah?

𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 - Every part of the date palm tree is useful. The fibres can be woven to make carpet and wall coverings, as well as practical household items like brooms and baskets. The trunk is used as constructive building material for housing and roofing. The palm fronds can also be used for roofing and as fuel and nutritional feed for livestock. Similarly, a believer should strive to be useful in all aspects of their life. I asked the boys to reflect: What talents do you have that can help fellow Muslims?

Alhamdulillah, we should strive to be believers that have Imaan deeply rooted within so others may benefit from our words and actions.

We made a Baraqah Tree two years ago which helped the boys learn about barakah and where it comes from. This Ramadan it has been converted to a Shukr Tree. I asked the boys to think deeply about what they're grateful for during this month. Their response: my sister, playing together, tasting food.. and a peaceful ramadan.

Alhamdulillah, you and I have so much to be grateful for. I do not say this lightly.

To be able to (freely) practice our deen, in a safe country, with our family and community is a blessing from our Rabb.

To be able to break fast with fresh food and clean water with loved ones is indeed a favour from our Rabb.

To be able to know our Rabb is one of the greatest blessings.

Slow down. Reflect. And sincerely thank Allah for every single gift.

In order for our children to love the Quraan and make it their life-long companion, they need to see mum and dad prioritise it daily. They need to see the whole family interact with Allah's words, whether it's through recitation, memorisation, journalling or studying, etc.

Alhamdulilah, over the years, my children have been exposed to the Quraan in a variety of ways (which I will share after Ramadan in sha Allah). Today's activity is designed for the whole family to learn Allah's Words in a fun way. I call it the 'Quraan Wheel'. Spin the arrow and follow the prompts. I've added 4 main areas to touch on different skills: Speak, Read & Write, Arts & Crafts, and Play. For each area, there are several prompts to make learning with the family more enjoyable. This will be added to our game night in sha Allah!

Alhamdulillah, our 2025 Inspired by Quraan Montessori Prompts, has come to an end. JazakumAllah khair for sticking around. I pray you benefited as much as we did.

May Allah fill the remaining days and nights of Ramadan with immense barakah. May He accept our worship and allow us to finish off this blessed month stronger. May we witness Laylatul Qadr and be amongst those who have gained His forgiveness. May He liberate Bilad as Sham and accept our brothers and sisters as shuhadah. Amen ya Rabb. Please remember my family and I in your du'aas.