Five in a Row question

[Tidbits of Learning]

I have looked at FIAR several times. The thing is I have kids in several age ranges. Well, 2 distinct age ranges-girls almost 9 and 10 and boys 7 and 3. I have bought LLATL for the girls and think FIAR might be overkill if I try to do both next year, but the boys I would like to start FIAR or BFIAR. Does anyone know if it is hard to do both at the same time? Do you think it would just be more fun reading if I tried to add Beyond Five in a Row to the girls reading this year?

Is FIAR more reading with the child than having the child read the books? I really like the looks of it and just wondered if anybody that has used it or is using it could answer these questions for me.

Could I start all my biggers 7, almost 9 and 10 in the Five in a Row together and just do Before Five in a Row with my youngest?

I have put in to join the FIAR forum but am waiting approval. I have seen FIAR in some people's siggy's so I am hoping I can get a bit of an idea of what would be good to do from you guys while waiting on approval.

[coffeefreak]

We used Before FIAR and FIAR vol 1 and 2 and loved it. I think it depends on your kids as to what you use.

 

BFIAR works best for preschool age, so it would be great for your little one. FIAR 1 and 2 are good for K-2nd,so your 7 year old would fit well if he likes great picture books.

 

If you like LLATL, I would stick with that for your older girls. We never used Beyond, but I haven't really heard good reviews on it.

 

I tried to get on their boards too, and even e-mailed the site, but they never approved me. Maybe it's me:lol:

 

HTH!

Dorinda

[bbmom]

Take this with a grain of salt as we will not be beginning FIAR until this fall (for K) but I have many of the books already, and I think most of the FIAR books are going to be a bit too young for your biggers. Honestly, I think the 7 year old will be at the top of the age bracket for the FIAR books as well, although I think they would still work for him. There are definitely some that you could adapt for all of your older children and would make a great unit study for all of them (there is one on flight that I am thinking of in particular.) I do think they would all enjoy the books but I wouldn't plan on using FIAR as the sole unit study for the older ones.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Thanks everyone. I am definitely going to get the Before Five in a Row for my youngest. It looks sweet and fun for preschool.

I also have LLATL for my 7 yr old and think that maybe the time to do FIAR with the biggers may have just passed us. I looked at the book list for Beyond Five in a Row and some are the same titles as LLATL so it seems silly to buy 2 book study guides.

It would have been nice to have done some of them together with the bigger kids a year or so ago. I guess my little one will just get the joy of doing BFIAR and FIAR by himself.

[Aurelia]

You might look at volume 4 for your 7 year old. It is more "meaty" than the first 3 volumes, but not quite the level of Beyond. I think you use the books for 10 days instead of 5, as well.

[coffeefreak]

Thanks everyone. I am definitely going to get the Before Five in a Row for my youngest. It looks sweet and fun for preschool.

I also have LLATL for my 7 yr old and think that maybe the time to do FIAR with the biggers may have just passed us. I looked at the book list for Beyond Five in a Row and some are the same titles as LLATL so it seems silly to buy 2 book study guides.

It would have been nice to have done some of them together with the bigger kids a year or so ago. I guess my little one will just get the joy of doing BFIAR and FIAR by himself.

 

It is! When we did "Jesse Bear, What will you Wear?" I found a template of a Bear and clothes for him. I think I still have lesson plans that we did for a co-op we belonged to. It was so much fun and just enough for a little one. I used it for 2 years before doing FIAR for K.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[coffeefreak]

OH Look! I found it :D

 

http://www.daniellesplace.com/images/weatherbear.gif

 

To find the template, go to this page and scroll to the "Links" It's the Bare Bear pattern.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/b4_resources_jesse_bear.php

 

This is the homepage with other ideas for all the books. Makes me want to have another preschooler:001_smile:.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/before_five_in_a_row_resources.php

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[Sue G in PA]

My ds8 has enjoyed the books from even Fiar vol. 1. Some of the activities are young for him, but we beef them up with extras. He just loves being read to so it works well. I like FIAR...just wish we had been more consistent with it this year.

[Tidbits of Learning]

OH Look! I found it :D

 

http://www.daniellesplace.com/images/weatherbear.gif

 

To find the template, go to this page and scroll to the "Links" It's the Bare Bear pattern.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/b4_resources_jesse_bear.php

 

This is the homepage with other ideas for all the books. Makes me want to have another preschooler:001_smile:.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/before_five_in_a_row_resources.php

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

 

Thanks a lot. I am looking forward to ordering my BFIAR to look through.

[mystika1]

You might look at volume 4 for your 7 year old. It is more "meaty" than the first 3 volumes, but not quite the level of Beyond. I think you use the books for 10 days instead of 5, as well.

:iagree:Volume 4 would be a good place to start for the 7yr old. Beyond Fiar is excellent and covers chapter books instead of picture books. It is also meant to be used for a longer period of time than the FIAR volumes. I would join the boards as the people are wonderful there. I have all of the volumes(B4Fiar, FIAR, BYFIAR)except Above and Beyond. My daughter is too young for BYFIAR so I can't say much about it but I have looked through the manuals. You could download a unit from Fiar Digital to see if it will work. I have enjoyed our time with FIAR as it is easy to use. I have purchased lots of curriculum and ended up selling the majority of it all but my Fiar materials will be treasured until the pages fall apart.

 

HTH,

 

Penny

[Diana B]

If you like the idea of FIAR for the older kids, but the books are too young, check out the listing of books at Homeschool Share! They have a ton in all age categories, not just FIAR books. Many units written in FIAR style but different books. If you join the forums, they can also help you with doing the same book on many different levels (according to them - it can be done).

 

htttp://www.homeschoolshare.com

[Tidbits of Learning]

I tried to get on their boards too, and even e-mailed the site, but they never approved me. Maybe it's me:lol:

 

 

 

They emailed me back and they want your first name as your registered user name. So if you don't have your first name, then they consider it a handle even if you use your last name and the word family it is considered a handle and not personal enough.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I guess you could use your last name and the state you live in also or something of the like, but you can't have anything that resembles a handle or they won't approve you. It is in their FAQ's with some examples.

[coffeefreak]

They emailed me back and they want your first name as your registered user name. So if you don't have your first name, then they consider it a handle even if you use your last name and the word family it is considered a handle and not personal enough.

 

I guess you could use your last name and the state you live in also or something of the like, but you can't have anything that resembles a handle or they won't approve you. It is in their FAQ's with some examples.

 

I tried several different user names within their perameters, and they didn't accept any of them. It's OK though, that was over a year ago, when we were using FIAR for K. I didn't realize they were going through so many changes at that time. That might have been it.

Thanks!

Dorinda

[Jenny in GA]

We're big FIAR fans here. My daughters are 6 and 8 and we've been doing books from FIAR volumes 1 and 2.

 

Here's lot of photos of projects and things we did here.

 

I will say -- I think I would find FIAR a little boring, or "not enough," if it werent' for the archives on their message board, AND homeschoolshare.com. There you will find many lapbook components, maps to color, suggestions for go-along books, websites to go to, etc. [see my posts at the link above and you'll see what I mean.]

 

What's nice about FIAR is that it is so very flexible. For example, if nothing else, you could read it on the couch and spend less than five minutes discussing one of the topics. So it's not like adding on another huge thing. But then again, it can be bigger if you want it to be.

 

Good luck!

[Tidbits of Learning]

What's nice about FIAR is that it is so very flexible. For example, if nothing else, you could read it on the couch and spend less than five minutes discussing one of the topics. So it's not like adding on another huge thing. But then again, it can be bigger if you want it to be.

 

Good luck!

 

See I was kind of thinking about using FIAR or Beyond Five in a Row as our read aloud together time for the biggers.

[zantoc]

I am using both Beyond and FIAR and we love them. Beyond is for my 9 and 11 year old boys and FIAR for my almost 5 year old daughter. There is some very rich stuff in FIAR and there are some mamas who do FIAR with all their kids and just beef up the lessons. We also do LLATL and we won't drop that as we love that too. They are different...Beyond is more History/S.S./Science.

[KristenS]

Mine are 8 and 5, in second and pre-K. We are using FIAR, and for sanity's sake I keep them in the same book. :) Right now we're using some from v. 4 and a few from the earlier volumes. Next year we'll finish up v. 4 and start on Beyond.

 

So far we love it. We do add other things to fill out the day ... but that's because we want to, or because I found I kept skipping certain parts of the manual. But if you do all the suggestions, and have fun with rabbit trails, it is more than sufficient! (Plus math and phonics, anyway.)

 

And the forums are awesomely supportive.

 

You do read the books to the children. That way you get to cuddle, and discuss art styles, and things like that. Your olders might like to take a turn reading aloud, especially at the end of the week, and sometimes we even use the Scholastic video books for a reading or two (things like Snowflake Bentley were really cool to see as video as well as read in the book).

[Tidbits of Learning]

I am using both Beyond and FIAR and we love them. Beyond is for my 9 and 11 year old boys and FIAR for my almost 5 year old daughter. There is some very rich stuff in FIAR and there are some mamas who do FIAR with all their kids and just beef up the lessons. We also do LLATL and we won't drop that as we love that too. They are different...Beyond is more History/S.S./Science.

 

I am seriously thinking more about it now that you said you do LLATL too. We are doing LLATL red, orange, and purple next year. I think I am going to get Before FIAR for my toddler and Beyond FIAR 1 for my biggers.