Has anyone used this literature based curriculum? Our current curriculum is not working for us. I have a 5 1/2 yr. old & a 4 yr. old and am looking for something that can include both of them as much as possible . Looks as though Five in a Row does this , but would like to hear feedback from others that have used it. Tips? Ideas ? Thanks!
We kind of use FIAR here. I have a 4 yo and 6 yo. Yes, you can use it for both and it is great for doing so. Have you gone to http://www.fiveinarow.com/forum/index.php and looked at what people have to say about it there? It's a great informational forum with very helpful inviting people, just like here. My tip would be: Don't get so excited that you buy everything you can for each volume before you try it to see if you like it. Ask me how I know. Do you have any other questios you would like me to try to answer?
I think I'm about the only person alive who doesn't like FIAR! But that's just me! You might see if the library has it first. Ours did. I was glad to be able to get hold of it and decide against it without having bought it first. One thing to keep in mind is that you pick and choose the activities. You do NOT have to "do them all"!
I used FIAR with my youngest while doing kinder. We both liked it but the only problem I had was finding the books to use with it. Our library would either not carry the title or have a huge waitlist on the books needed. I gave up after awhile.
In all honesty, it's been too long ago for me to remember. I tried it with Rachael, and she's now 17, then again with Faythe and she's 15. Both times I only did it for a few weeks and quit.
I used it for several years, and I loved it. I stopped because I had three in different levels and the amount of activities for three (plus one at the high school level) became too much. Now I use a MFW, because I can at least use it with all three of the younger ones. Your children are close enough in age, you could easily use one book for both. Unless you plan to buy all the books, you will want to make sure your library has most of them. My library at that time allowed 3-week check-outs. I'd check to see if they were available about a month out. If not, I'd put them on hold, so they would be there when I needed them. Also, you do not have to go in order. If one book is reserved for weeks, use other ones until it comes in. You also do not have to do all of the activities. Homeschool Share is an AWESOME resource to use along with FIAR. If you lapbook, it'll be you new best friend.
I have been loosely using FIAR with my 6yr old and 4.5yr old this year. I LOVE the concept of the program, I really really do. LOVE the unit studies based on books. BUT for ME I also have a 3yr old and 18 mo old and well it's just chaos trying to balance all four kids, carry out the lesson plans for the unit as well as creating the lesson plans for the unit. The buffet style unit approach appealed to me which is why I went with it for this year but in the end it's been a huge headache trying to stay consistent in it. We've been doing one book for two weeks and that has been working out pretty well actually. I'm doing unit studies from homeschool share that appeal to me and will maybe be more appealing to all three of my boys and not just the older one or two in addition to the selections from FIAR. We won't be doing FIAR as our main content curriculum again in the future but I might pull a unit out of it here and there as I see fit. TBH I much prefer the books in the BFIAR booklet and will be pulling a few of those to do unit studies with all three of my boys as well.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR ALL OF YOUR THOUGHTS & IDEAS !!! I found some sites that have FIAR resources that look great. I am not worried about our library - I checked the library's catalog for the FIAR book lists - only a handful were not located. We have 13 branches that are all inter-connected, I usually get a reserved book within 2 weeks. Maybe I am fortunate with the library system that we have . Sounds like that could make or break one's experience with FIAR.
When my kids were younger, we used Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row. I really loved it! My kids enjoyed it as well. It was very layed back for us and not stressful. We supplemented it with a math program. When I moved a few years ago, I had to downsize in all the curriculum and resources I had. I now wish I had not gotten rid of this resource. I had nearly all the books which went with the program as well. I could be using it with my youngest now...
I have a 4 year old and almost 8 year old. Would this be something that would work well for them together? i looked at the site but I'm not sure how it all works. What are you actually paying for besides the literature?
I'm perusing the FIAR website--am I correct in assuming that to use this for preschool you just need to purchase the Before Five in a Row book?? And then you can obtain the individual stories via the library, etc?
Jenna - yes that's correct. What you are getting is an " outline" of ideas to do with each book that's on the FIAR list. You can use your local library , hunt for the books used at garage sales, library used book sales or on eBay. You don't have to do the list in any order...whatever books are available at that time. I found a wonderful place that has some great FIAR supplement ideas! Its homeschoolshare. I'm still new here so I can't put the actual website. But look them up, it will be of great help.
