Please help me feel the FIAR love

[peacefully]

.

[jelbe5]

I have used FIAR with my older dd who is now 14. I am just starting up again with my autistic son who 12. But it is at a level which is just right for him and will hit core "academic" subjects for him in addition to math, reading and the home therapy I do with him. My younger dd (age 9) has not really "done" FIAR but will tag along with her brother and help with her brother. It will be "enrichment" for her as she has time.

 

I think FIAR is a great program, but you do not need to do all the activities in the program. And you might be finding out that you and your ds are not "activity based" or "project based" people. And that is okay.

 

If you are doing FIAR I truly believe the lesson may be as short at reading a book, such as Ping, and then looking on a map or Globe to see where China and the Yangtze River are. That is plenty of social studies for a 5 year old in my humble opinion.

 

If you are really unhappy with FIAR it is fine to let it go. It really, really is. Science and SS for this year may be as simple as going to the library and checking out books on topics your choice or topics your son is interested in. The library will more than likely have many simple experiment books for check-out. The goal is exposure at this age, and reading a few books or watching some interesting documentaries is all that is really needed. Don't forget to explore the world outdoors, which is usually a natural thing for a 5 year old boy!

 

I have a deep fondness for FIAR because I met many kind and loving people on the message boards there. This included a wonderful, seasoned mother of two special needs children who helped me as I began to figure out that my own son had autism. Fortunately, she does not live far from me and we are able to keep in touch, even though neither of us are active on the FIAR boards anymore. I often think that may have been the only reason why I was using FIAR at the time I was using it. As I said before, I will be trying it with my son now (we have been adding in subjects slowly over the past month). BUT, if it does not work I will let it go.

 

Bottom line, it is okay to change, modify, adapt, etc. any curricula. Make the curriculum your servant, not your master.

 

Adrianne in IL

[Free Indeed]

I have been using FIAR now for 9 years with various children. We are not project type people, but the post Jane has on the boards about conversational learning is more what we do. You may want to go to the boards and read, sign up and read the archives. Check out the FIAR blogs, there are several that inspire me. I will try to go and copy them here, but I am running short on time this morning. I love FIAR, and Homeschool Share. There are so many ways to do it, surely one will be right for you. :D

[Aurelia]

We didn't do all of the activities, just the ones that looked like they would be the most compatible. We also checked out extra science and history books from the library and skipped some of the titles that we just couldn't stand (like Who Owns the Sun).

 

 

Is there any way you can change the curriculum this year? Maybe after Christmas? If you are really miserable there should be a way to change.

[Anne]

We did FIAR (back when it was new!!:001_smile:) and we did not do all of the activities - just those that looked interesting. We did not usually read any one book five times in a week, either.

 

So, for the Story of Ping, for example, I would read the book and we'd locate China and the Yangtze River on a map. We'd probably spend some time talking about the map and various places on it. We had relatives living abroad at that time, so we found their locations on the map.

 

We read books about ducks and went to the local duck pond. We might read a book about China and looked at the map several more times. My dd would have drawn a picture or two, and we might have done an activity. We would have read Ping a couple more times b/c it was a favorite. That's it.

 

Hope this is helpful!

 

Anne

[profmom]

My favorite part of FIAR is the geography! So, I made this a focus of every book. We'd find the country on a map, but I would also print out the flag & outline map for coloring (and storing in our FIAR binder). We'd check out library books on that country and try to learn a bit about the culture, especially what it's like to be a kid in that country. Children Just Like Me is a good book to have around for this purpose. When possible, we would try to eat some food from that country too -- especially if it was as easy as going to a Chinese restaurant!

 

For the science, you might check the library for Magic School Bus DVDs on the week's topic. My kids really enjoyed the simple activities from the manual, like exploring buoyancy (with Ping) by dropping objects into a bowl of water to see which ones would float.

 

When I first found FIAR, I didn't expect to love it! I felt like God was leading us to it (over something that I thought would be more rigorous), so I went with it. I was surprised at how academic it really was and how it inspired my kids to love learning and to love books!

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

We used and LOVED Five in A Row way back "in the day". We did not read each book for five days in a row ALL the time. Sometimes we did a couple of the activites in one day, sometimes we just read the book. After I "rowed" 5 ot 6 books, I began to understand the types of activities that could be done with a book. Many times, I saw a different connection and did my own activity. The best thing about FIAR is the vast scope of ideas that are presented. It is MEANT to be a "peg" in the brain on which to "hang" a depth of information on later. It is MEANT to be the first introduction, not to fully teach in depth.

 

You can always just read the books and do an activity or two (your own activity maybe) and still benefit greatly! Now, if you don't like reading the books... that is a different matter!

[AngieW in Texas]

I really wanted to love FIAR. It sounded great. But once I started using it with my dd, I didn't like it. I made it through one volume and stopped. It made a decent preschool program for my 4.5yo, but it wouldn't have been enough for K. We also didn't read the books 5x. I read the book to my dd one time and then she read the book to me a few days later (very early reader). We did some of the activities, but not all that many. The one that my dd enjoyed the most was the shoe store activity.

 

I still recommend FIAR to people starting out with 4-6yo kids. It's an inexpensive way to find out what you're looking for. I found out that I wanted an actual schedule rather than a list of ideas, that I wanted a lot more in the way of academics, and that I really liked the literature-based aspect.

[Devotional Soul]

I'm using FIAR right now, and it has given me ideas of things to discuss that I may not have thought of on my own, but I'm also not finding the way to do the extended activities. http://www.homeschoolshare.com has helped with printing activity sheets and lapbook stuff.

 

I had also planned on using FIAR for social studies and science, but I think it's not enough for us. So, I have just added Galloping The Globe, which focuses on world geography and animals for science. To go along with all of that, I got the Complete Book of Animals and lots of library books for each subject, magic school bus, etc.

 

For more science, I'm considering getting Evan-Moor's Giant Science Resource Book

 

Good luck finding a way to make it work.

[prairiegirl]

I have used FIAR with all of my kids when they were in K. We loved it, but we picked and chose our activities. We also did not read it every day -- overkill, imo. If I couldn't find enough activities in the manual then I perused the archives on the FIAR board for extras. To use the archives, you have have to be a member of the FIAR board.

[...................]

We've done almost all of Volume 1 and some of Vol 2. The thing aBout FIAR is that it's a gentle educational experience. Both of my kids liked it better just doing it as a discussion based program rather than lapbookng or crafts. They do like some of the art assignments, and anything related to hands on Science.

 

I think with FIAR it's important to realize that half the beauty of the program is not the facts, or the academic excellence or rigor. FIAR is about learning to NOTICE all the beauty, art, morality, and other things thst make excellent literature- and how to teach children to take the time to notice and appreciate such things.

 

If you can look at it as a gentle cozy experience together you may like it.

 

And as long as you are Also reading lots of other library books your son will get plenty of science and social studies for a 5 year old! :)

[nd293]

We loved the book choices, but I also never got into the activities (dd was 4). Personally I felt that, although the books were perfect for her, the activities were too advanced / not designed to interest her age group. Could this be an issue for you?

 

Do you have enough time to research and replace activities? If your son likes worksheets or online games or hands-on crafts, you might be able to find something that covers the same information (or area of information) as the FIAR activity, but that appeals to you more. Then you're covering the bases, but in your own way. It's what I'd do, but I can also see that it might be too much work.

[elfgivas]

we started with BFIAR when they were little. they loved it. we curled up in bed each morning and started our day reading. i also put the books in a basket and frequently they would bring me old favourites to read. then we did FIAR. we followed the same pattern, except by day 3 or so, i'd read at breakfast rather than before. we always did the art project, and then often other things as well. i did supplement science.... someone suggested magic school bus and that helped us a lot, too.

 

but the thing is, just because many of us treasure it, doesn't mean that its the right thing at the right time for you. try tweaking it and see.... if not, read the books, do an activity, move on.... or just.... move on. that's the beauty of it.

 

ann