I love FIAR! For all those of you who did FIAR, what were your favorite activities that you did? Did you stick with the book activities or make up some of your own?

How fun for boys! I will have to keep that in mind!

Ours just has a giant room with multiple chairs which is so nice for being able to see everything. But not so bice when the kid next to you is screaming!

It sounds like your current house is nice!

How cute!

:iagree: I also use a homemade laundry detergent that uses borax and washing soda. I combine this with vinegar(put it into the bleach holder of your machine) and I don't have any problems with smells. (Despite three little boys, one husband, and living in the country!)

What a great thread! :bigear:

Potato skins have lots of great vitamins in them and are not absorbed as quickly, which means your glucose levels won't rise as quickly.

I can't really say anything about B4FIAR. But, I am using FIAR for my 4 year old and he is just loving it. I found FIAR Vol. 1 and 2 for $1 each (I still can't believe it!) at a used curriculum sale and that is why I am using them now. My middle son (who is 2 next month) loves joining in and really loves a lot of the activities. I don't seem to have any problems with them both doing it. Your older children might enjoy some of the fun too! Because I loved the books that FIAR used so much, I purchased a lot of the B4FIAR books even though I don't have the manual. Some of them I was a little disappointed with. They just did not seem to have much content- like Yellow Ball and Snowy Day. My almost 2 year old did not really seem very interested in those as well. Someone on one of your threads talked about the books being expensive. I have found them used in a lot of places and have not really found them to be expensive. There are a few that are out of print and those can be pricey. But you could just skip those sections or find the books at your library. I purchased most of my books from Homeschool Classifieds and Ebay. You can also purchase the new packs of books from Rainbow Resources but I found them much cheaper used. Hope this helps!:001_smile:

Thanks! We love these books too! I have found two of them at thrift stores and all three of my boys just love looking at the lovely pictures!

I remember doing these editing exercises. They used to confuse me so much!

Oh how fun! Thanks!

I love FIAR! I have only the first two books and so far we are just having the most wonderful time with it. FIAR is a literature based program so you are not using a curriculum per say but a living book. Each day of the week you read the same book and then do activities that are related to geography, social studies, languages, history, art, math, and science. Everything all ties together with the book. For example, in Vol. 1 she has you read Madeline by Bemelmans. You study France, learn about goodness and compassion, the difference between steam radiators and other heat methods, vocabulary, architecture from Paris, symmetry and relative size, and health. The author of FIAR has suggestions for all of these just from the Madeline book. If you want an example of what is done each week I would check out this blog. She has great pictures and implements a lot of the ideas so you could actually see what it might look like for you. Check out her B4FIAR and her FIAR tabs at the top. I really like a lot of the ideas she has. Also, check out a lot of the FIAR resources as well. I hope this helps!

Thanks for your blog link HiddenJewel and for the website Apple4. I have bookmarked them and will read them. I am so excited for the information. You have all given me a lot of encouragement and I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for this. It is so encouraging and I really appreciate it! I will look up your guide on Lulu! Thanks!

Thank you all! This has been really helpful. I already have Spell to Write and Read as I got it inexpensively but I did not know that Spalding was the original. I have been reading SWR and have found it a little confusing. I think that I will keep plugging along for now and then perhaps change if I cannot get it.

Hello everyone! I love this forum so much as there is so much information and help for someone like me who is just starting out. I was reading another thread on this forum about Preschool and Sight Words and I had a question. I didn't want to hijack the thread so I just am starting a new one. First some background, I was not homeschooled growing up and learned to read by sight words. Fast forward to today and I am starting to teach phonics to my ds #1. Well, between you and me, I really don't have any clue what I am doing. My MIL used Spell to Write and Read and so I have been using those phonogram cards to teach my ds the sounds. We have just started blending a little and starting to "read" by using the I See Sam free books. My ds is doing well with the saying each sound "SS-AAA-MMM" but doesn't quite blend it all together to get to "Sam". Sometimes, he also makes up stories about the pictures. He will point to the words on the page "I see Sam", reads "I ss-eeee SS-AA-MM" and then says "Help me get out of this hole" or other words that are based on the pictures. I was wondering if this is something that I should discourage as the other thread talked about how guessing and sight words can mess up the child. He does also guess at the words sometimes towards the end of our reading time when he is starting to get tired of it. I just tell him then to try and sound out the word instead of guessing or ask him if the letter in the word sound like the word he guessed. I have just started using the Sam books (we are on Book 3) so I am not sure if I am just being paranoid. Plus, my son is young but really, really wants to read. We have just been working on it about 15 minutes a day or so. But, I guess that I just feel nervous as I am not sure if I am doing things right. Any suggestions?

Could anyone tell me the difference between these two programs? Can you compare and contrast? Which one did you like better? I would appreciate the help!:)

I am planning on using the Saxon K with my almost 4 year old as well. I bought the book and meeting book used and it was inexpensive. Now I just have to find the manipulatives used! I have read through the Teacher's Manual and I really like the way that Saxon lays everything out. It doesn't seem boring at all to me but I do not have any experience homeschooling as others do. It seems like this will be a really great program to teach my son. So far, we have just been using some living math books and various things (counting, addition, subtraction, time, etc.) around the house for math. He has been begging me to "do school" so I think that this will be a perfect match. The teacher's guide seems like it has lots of good instruction for teaching all these new concepts. I don't know if this will help any!:001_smile:

I just read "Warm as Wool" and barely made it through that. Although I am not sure why as it has a happy ending.

Thank you Merry! This was very helpful!

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the differences between Mystery of History and Truth Quest. What did you like/not like about each? Pros? Cons? Other thoughts? I would appreciate your help! :001_smile:

Yum! Yours look good! I will have to try them next time!

I made this one for years and my family loves it! Baking Powder Biscuits 2 cups AP flour (I usually use 1/2 AP and 1/2 WW Pastry flour) 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Mix these together Cut in 1/4 cup shortening (You can use butter too!) Mix in 3/4 cup milk The dough will be crumbly and look like it is not coming together but knead it gently until it comes together. Don't overwork the dough and they will come out really flaky. Roll it out until it is about 1/2 tall. I use my biscuit cutters then and bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown on top. I hope you enjoy it! Lauren

Although I am relatively young (28) I feel like I am a dinosaur as I am not really technologically advanced (no iPOD or Kindle/Nook). I appreciate technology very much but I love books (especially old ones) and have been trying to collect them for my kids. Somehow, snuggling with my three little boys over a computer screen doesn't seem as nice. I think that real books will always hold a special place in people's hearts, especially ones that have childhood memories of hours pouring over that cherished book. A book is real- you can touch the outside, feel the texture of the pages, turn the pages, see the lovely print or illustrations, and it has that glorious smell (both old book smell and new book smell).