ISLA is honored to highlight one of its newest corporate members, Swords & Butterflies. Swords & Butterflies blends academic rigor with deep spiritual growth for grades 1 to 6. Our goal is to build children’s mastery of English while immersing them in Islamic disciplines. Blending Charlotte Mason with other classical educational models and modern research, our lessons progress gently yet systematically.
By combining vocabulary building with rich Islamic content, children master foundational Islamic knowledge while developing their English skills. This builds confidence and instills a love for both subjects.
Swords & Butterflies combines academic excellence with deep spiritual growth. We are committed to expanding the curriculum, developing new resources, and supporting an active community of educators and parents. Join us on this journey and experience a curriculum that nurtures both mind and soul.
We asked the Founder, Besim Bruncaj asked questions for ISLA’s corporate member highlight and Br. Besim was generous enough to answer these questions to give us a proper understanding of what they do.
How would you describe the core mission of Swords & Butterflies:
Swords & Butterflies seeks to solve a growing challenge faced by Islamic schools: finding clean, values-aligned English material that reflects our faith. Our mission is to seamlessly integrate Islamic teachings with rigorous English Language Arts, nurturing both academic excellence and deep faith. We revive the classic approach of mastering core Islamic subjects, fostering love for Allah and His Prophet ﷺ, while building literacy and akhlaq. The main benefit? Your staff no longer needs to spend time sifting through unsuitable materials from non-Muslim sources.
What makes your curriculum stand out in terms of its design and Islamic integration:
Our curriculum uniquely blends the richness of classic, faith-infused readers with modern insights from the Science of Reading. Historically, societies taught literacy alongside faith, aiming not only to nurture intellect and morality but, more importantly, to instill deep faith and spirituality. We revive this tradition through the seamless integration of ELA and Islamic studies in concise, flexible lessons. This approach frees up time for for either deeper dives into these lessons or for opening blocks of time for other subjects such as Arabic.
Regarding the design of the books, I used my 25 years of design experience to ensure that every single page is crafted to inspire pride in the deen and a passion for learning, providing students with truly exceptional materials to foster an eagerness to learn and a love of Islamic knowledge.
What Inspired the Creation of This Curriculum:
What’s the one thing you want every Islamic educator to know about your program:
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