Our storyFrom the archive
From 3-I to 4-I: how Investigate joined our approach
We began with three steps: Inspire, Integrate and Impart. Investigate became a step of its own after we attended workshops on the 5D thinking framework by professors from UTM.
Today every IqraSaurus programme follows four steps: Inspire, Investigate, Integrate and Impart. We did not start with four. We started with three.
The first worksheet
This worksheet is the original IqraSaurus approach. Step 1 asks the child to choose a verse that inspires them. Here it is the verse in Surah Luqman about ships sailing on the sea, printed at the top. Step 2 is Integrate. Step 3 asks how the child can Impart, or spread, the message to others.
A child filled it in by hand. Under Integrate they wrote "Allah controls the ships", "To be patient" and "Be thankful". Under Impart: "Be thankful" and "go to Be famous and tell people".
Look closely at Step 2. It says "Integrate (investigate and practice)". Investigating was already there, tucked inside Integrate. It just did not have its own step yet.
The intent behind the three steps has not changed. We wanted children to take a verse or an Islamic value to heart while they are young, carry it into their daily lives, and share one or two simple things with others whenever they get the chance. Done with every verse and value they meet, on their own and in a group, the steps become a cycle and a habit.
Teaching parents the 3-I
On Sunday 1 January 2017 we ran two workshops for parents, educators and caregivers. The first was on the learning environment, with an introduction to Quran reflection and journaling. The second was on the 3I: Inspire, Integrate, Impart.
Science, and the 5D workshops
Our first step into science was a set of worksheets about clouds and rain, made while we were still using the 3-I. There were rhymes, tracing and small activities: colour ten raindrops, trace the Arabic word for clouds and colour its three letters, trace "Rain is rahmah".
Then, on 27 August 2023, we attended workshops on the 5D thinking framework, run by professors from UTM. Much of that work is about science, and we found a lot in common with what we were already doing. We shared our work and findings with them, and we were very much in line. That is when we began consolidating everything we do into the 4-I, with Investigate as a step of its own.
We are careful about what Investigate means. Science does not prove that Islam or the Quran is right. It is one of the many signs Allah has shown us. In Investigate, children look at the creations of Allah, compare them with the things people make, and think about the difference.
The 4-I, written down
This handwritten guide for educators comes from our Quran Investigator Module. It says we want the Quran to be ALIVE for children: a Living book, Inner speech, Visionary, and an Evaluation tool. Beside it are the four steps, each as a plain question. Inspired: choose a verse you are inspired to know about. Investigate: what is Allah trying to tell me? Integrate: how do I apply it in my life? Impart: how can I share or spread this value or lesson to others?
We also made the Quranic Learning Environment action workbook, a printable for parents to use at home. It shows how to set up small pop-up spaces around the house for Quran reflection, journaling and display. Our printout of it is dated 1/12/2017.
