Five in a Row or Memoria Press Enrichment

[aelllc]

Hi,

 

I have been looking at FIAR or MP Enrichment programs and am having a hard time deciding which way to go.  I would like to add some gentle picture book studies to my daughter's schooling this year as a supplement to her other studies.

 

Memoria Press Enrichment / Read-aloud programs are for JR K through 2nd grade and have correlated lessons with picture study, science, social studies, poetry, and music for one picture book a week.

 

Five in a row has art, social studies, science, literature, geography for 15-20 childrens books a year ages 4-8. 

 

They are both similar, yet incorporate some different aspects.

 

Does anyone have experience with these?  Which aspects did you like/dislike?  How easy was it to actually do each week? 

 

 

[Guest]

Go with MP. The guide is much easier to use. The activites are more active than chatty. We have done JrK through 2nd and loved it. 

 

We tried FIAR, but it felt very scattered.

[craftyerin]

I have spent 2 years in FIAR, and I had no idea that MP's studies had the subjects you listed! Goodness! I would have preferred picture study, poetry, and music along with social studies and science instead of the applied math, art, and LA topics that FIAR includes. Seriously, we only did the social studies and science for most of our rows. Occasionally the we did the suggested art project, but usually we did something cuter off of Pinterest.  The applied math is really weak, IMO (mostly counting something from the illustrations) and the LA topics are fine, but are the sort of thing I'd naturally point out when reading books. ("Did you hear how that cake was described as "lovely, light, luscious" using 3 words that start with an "l" in a row? That's called alliteration!") FIAR is planning heavy, too. I'm leaving it after this year in favor of a straight CM approach (no unit studies) because I want more nature study, picture study, poetry, etc in our homeschool.  I might have liked MP!  Too late for us!  I'm off to browse just for fun, though.  LOL

[fourisenough]

I considered both and decided on MP Enrichment K. I haven't used it yet, so no BTDT experience, but it looked like it would work best for us. I bought the art cards and guide, but may splurge on the books. Even though she is my last child, I still feel like it would be a good investment because I have a new niece and book-loving sister who will treasure any hand-me-down books. Anyway, good luck with your decision.

[nature girl]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I've had MP open in one of my browser tabs for the past week, since someone suggested it here. This is the final push I needed! I'm looking at it for K...Can someone tell me the difference between Kindergarten Enrichment and K Literature & Enrichment Lesson Plans? I wasn't able to find them described. And can it be used as a largely secular program?

 

We did a volume of FIAR and both loved it, very gentle and my DD4 learned a ton, especially when we read other, related books. (I think references to relevant additional books was one of the strengths of FIAR.) But it really was too teacher intensive, I agree the math and a lot of the science were kind of pointless, and we got tired of rowing the same book five times (but I felt guilty not doing five readings...) I also wasn't thrilled with some of the books used in later programs. So many people love it though, we really did have fun with the volume we used, and I don't think you could go wrong with either program.

[aelllc]

The  Kindergarten Enrichment goes along with this set of read-aloud books.  I believe it can be used entirely separate of their Classical Core Curriculum K.  I am not sure about their supplemental Science and Social studies though.

[CherryBlossomMJ]

I'm in love with MP Enrichment. We've used K and I've read over 1st a few times to prepare my thoughts for this up coming year. The Enrichment includes the Art, Music, Poetry, Social Studies, Science and Literature. It can be used apart from the main Lesson Plans (but we love those too).

 

Kindergarten Enrichment is a physical perfect paperback book. The K Enrichment LP are a PDF that is a segment off the the main K LPs.

 

Hmmm... Yes I think if you wanted you could use the Enrichment as secular. There might be a reference here or there that you'd skip, but it wouldn't be hard to remove it... The books are classics. Some are on Saints as related to holidays, but I wouldn't think you'd be offended by the religion in that much.

 

I'd be glad to tell anyone else more. We love MP!

[Susie in MS]

I have no experience with MP, but I have used FIAR for years. There is nothing my dd and I don't like about it.  She is finishing up the 3rd grade right now and has told me that she is ready for another FIAR row! (We have been using and loving Portraits of American Girlhood and HOD Bigger.) So I have pulled vol 4 back out to row another book. We have also rowed 3 Beyond FIAR books. I find it to be an excellent curriculum, but I cover the CM stuff (like picture studies, etc) separately. 

 

The math is not supposed to be a stand alone as it is only just applied math. It does increase in difficulty with other vols.  When you read what FIAR suggest-- they say to add math. 

[AimeeM]

I have the same question as Anna's Mom. *all ears*

[AimeeM]

I'm in love with MP Enrichment. We've used K and I've read over 1st a few times to prepare my thoughts for this up coming year. The Enrichment includes the Art, Music, Poetry, Social Studies, Science and Literature. It can be used apart from the main Lesson Plans (but we love those too).

 

Kindergarten Enrichment is a physical perfect paperback book. The K Enrichment LP are a PDF that is a segment off the the main K LPs.

 

Hmmm... Yes I think if you wanted you could use the Enrichment as secular. There might be a reference here or there that you'd skip, but it wouldn't be hard to remove it... The books are classics. Some are on Saints as related to holidays, but I wouldn't think you'd be offended by the religion in that much.

 

I'd be glad to tell anyone else more. We love MP!

 

Does the MP enrichment incorporate the science/social studies packet of books?

 

[WahM]

I love FIAR. I love how rich and meaty the program is. I'm not sure why on this board so many seem to think of it as a light program, or lacking, or only for K-1st??? I use B4FIAR for K and FIAR vol 1-4 and BYFIAR vol 1-3 from 1st-5th. So much is covered and the depth/retention has been wonderful. I love that there are so many activites for each topic that, for me, it's impossible to do them all in one week, and leaves the option of going back and rowing again, and still learning new things! The MP Enrichment guiedes do not seem as meaty or do not seem to offer as many options per book. Either one I'm sure would be a great choice, FIAR is just our preference. I also have not found it very teacher intesive.

[CherryBlossomMJ]

Yes Aimee, here's a sample: http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/first-grade-enrichment

 

MP lower grades is 1 read aloud literature book per week with usually 1 history/social studies book related to the read aloud literature choice and usually 1 science related as well. There are 33 weeks. The Enrichment here sometimes has craft/cooking suggestions but it is more so discussion and a spring board for more research. That is my preference.

[Susie in MS]

I was just thinking about the art lessons in FIAR. As I mentioned above, I have no experience with MP to compare. I can only try to paint a picture of FIAR for you. My oldest dd (now married with a family of her own) is an artist.  She has been impressed with the art lessons she has seen her little sister doing with FIAR. My youngest dd has learned how to do hatching, make wind currents, different facial expressions, movement, blending, recognize and use various mediums, make shadows and light, show a side view (most kids do overhead automatically), split view (like above and below water) and so much more. 

[EMC]

I tried FIAR and couldn't make it work. I still think it is a great program. I wanted to love it, but I didn't. 

 

I have purchased the MP Kindergarten enrichment guide. I have spent some time reading through and I think it will be a better fit for us.

 

The things I like about MP Enrichment vs FIAR:

The layout is in outline/check the box format. FIAR is written as paragraphs. I kept losing my place and felt very disorganized using FIAR.

The history and culture and science sections offer less choices. (This may be a drawback for some). I felt overwhelmed by the choices in FIAR. 

MP includes a poem, picture study and music study each week. This is great for us. This is something that is important to me to include in our day, but I have difficulty pulling it all together myself. 

 

[CherryBlossomMJ]

In response to Art.

 

Its art study.

MP had art cards and the enrichment is more an art appreciation than skills taught. Discussion of the time period, method, mediums, name of work and where it's now located as well as artist biography. One could probably go a step further to try the skill (like in COAH's printable curriculum) but that is not addressed in the MP Enrichment.