Cathrynlyn Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 In planning for high school a second time, I'm would love to incorporate FIAR or "rowing" techniques into a subject or two. Have any of you done this in your homeschool and how did you implement it into your curriculum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 If you could please tell us what you mean by "rowing"? Maybe some of us are doing what you are looking for, but are not familiar with FIAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathrynlyn Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 regentrude, thank you for the suggestion. www.fiar.com Five in a Row curriculum uses literature and a unit study approach; and has levels for K-4, maybe more. The term rowing can refer to mimicking FIAR techniques with other books. The literature is always illustrated and the same book is read each day for five days. Directly after, a subject from the lesson book is chosen and presented. Subjects include Social Studies, Geography, Language Arts, Applied Math, Science and Art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathrynlyn Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 "rowing" refers to mimicking the FIAR technique with other books or curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 The literature is always illustrated and the same book is read each day for five days. Directly after, a subject from the lesson book is chosen and presented. Subjects include Social Studies, Geography, Language Arts, Applied Math, Science and Art. So the main idea is to teach subjects in an integrated way? That can be done in high school. Literature, history and art are easy to integrate. Science and math - rather not. But reading the same text five days in a row? Not sure how this would be feasible or what it would possibly accomplish. (Of course the student would spend a number of days on the same book, because selections are longer.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Have you looked at Beyond FIAR and the other higher level offerings? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 We rowed many years ago and those are fond memories. The most similar thing I can think of is an integrated literature/history curriculum like Roman Roads, Omnibus or Kolbe. Of the three, RR has the most rabbit trail type topics that explore interesting details. I'm saying this based on having given RR and Kolbe a serious look for next year's history curriculum. I eliminated Omnibus based on the very specific sectarian nature of that program. I haven't used any of them and there may be more curricula that take this approach that I just didn't review because I wanted to do Greek and Roman historians to complement a Greek and Roman lit class. For science, I'd look at something like Quarks and Quirks: https://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/ Math is math. It can be more discovery based like AOPS or more explicitly explained, but you have to sit down and do the work everyday to master it. It's not that awesome in the preschool FIAR either, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 If you mean reading the same material five times, I wouldn't recommend it. The technique is intended for preschool development and really isn't appropriate for high school aged students. Full disclosure, I believe the FIAR technique becomes overkill for any student past the age of seven or so. There is a lot of material to work through as a child progresses through grade levels, and at the very least you won't have the time to read the selections multiple times in high school. The focus should be on synthesizing and analyzing longer and more complicated material. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delighted3 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 If you mean reading the same material five times, I wouldn't recommend it. The technique is intended for preschool development and really isn't appropriate for high school aged students. Full disclosure, I believe the FIAR technique becomes overkill for any student past the age of seven or so. There is a lot of material to work through as a child progresses through grade levels, and at the very least you won't have the time to read the selections multiple times in high school. The focus should be on synthesizing and analyzing longer and more complicated material. I believe the FIAR technique moves past reading the same material five times in Beyond Five in a Row which is meant for ages 8-12. I think trying to mimic this kind of learning and make it challenging enough for a high schooler would require a lot planning. Joy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathrynlyn Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 The most similar thing I can think of is an integrated literature/history curriculum like Roman Roads, Omnibus or Kolbe. Of the three, RR has the most rabbit trail type topics that explore interesting details. I'm saying this based on having given RR and Kolbe a serious look for next year's history curriculum. I eliminated Omnibus based on the very specific sectarian nature of that program. I haven't used any of them and there may be more curricula that take this approach that I just didn't review because I wanted to do Greek and Roman historians to complement a Greek and Roman lit class. For science, I'd look at something like Quarks and Quirks: https://quarksandqui...ology-hs-level/ Chiguirre, Thank you for the suggestions! I've been looking at RR also, most likely for grades 10 and 11. Will look into Quarks and Quirks, thank you. I do have Biology planned for 9th, so I could use some of their suggestions. For some subjects, it might be nice to supplement with a few picture books each week to make strictly textbook learning a bit more interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Chiguirre, Thank you for the suggestions! I've been looking at RR also, most likely for grades 10 and 11. Will look into Quarks and Quirks, thank you. I do have Biology planned for 9th, so I could use some of their suggestions. For some subjects, it might be nice to supplement with a few picture books each week to make strictly textbook learning a bit more interesting. The Q&Q main bio textbook, Exploring the Way Life Works, has amazing illustrations. It's truly a living textbook. Instead of picture books, I'd look for National Geographic and Smithsonian articles both for their wonderful photographs and their more age-appropriate content. It's easy to add in a study of relevant art and architecture to history studies. Some curricula will do this for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 If you mean reading the same material five times, I wouldn't recommend it. The technique is intended for preschool development and really isn't appropriate for high school aged students. Full disclosure, I believe the FIAR technique becomes overkill for any student past the age of seven or so. There is a lot of material to work through as a child progresses through grade levels, and at the very least you won't have the time to read the selections multiple times in high school. The focus should be on synthesizing and analyzing longer and more complicated material. Yes, developmentally, I think most teens would find this really frustrating. Classical Conversations does this with their Latin in the A, B, and I levels, getting further each time in the Henle I book. And the teens I know who have done that really complain about it, especially those who are strong in Latin and want to move on. FWIW -- one of my kids HATED having the same book read over and over to him past the age of 5. He didn't like anything that repeated something he already knew. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathrynlyn Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 The Q&Q main bio textbook, Exploring the Way Life Works, has amazing illustrations. It's truly a living textbook. Instead of picture books, I'd look for National Geographic and Smithsonian articles both for their wonderful photographs and their more age-appropriate content. It's easy to add in a study of relevant art and architecture to history studies. Some curricula will do this for you. Yes, magazine articles would be a great addition to curriculum. Art and architecture for history is a great idea too. Thanks so much! My daughter is definitely ready for more complicated subjects, however many times a visual element is missing with curriculum. For instance, she's reading Treasure Island for Kolbe Jr. High Lit. One day she looked online for images of many vocab words pertaining to boats and sailing; this exercise absolutely added to comprehending certain elements in the story. Sometimes a few rabbit trails are needed, but not an entire unit study on one novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam L in Mid Tenn Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Wonderful memories of beloved Five in a Row! :) No suggestions, but thanks for the post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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