FIAR--1st day yesterday

[Aubrey]

We LOVED it! (So far...) Ds7 scrambled to get his work done so he could hear the story, then both he & dd4 did the art project (well, I thought). They remembered quite a bit more than I would have expected last night at dinner.

 

The only problem was dd4 following me around the house for the rest of the day wanting to know when we could do more.

 

Fwiw, I've decided to make the focus of our stories be the art. I've chosen one brief art assignment per day, & we talk about the artwork on Mon, so they can look at it again on the following days. (We've never done art, so this sort-of fills a gap.)

 

But if I come back here batty in a couple of days from having read the same story over. and. over.--will you still listen? :o:blush:

[Chris in VA]

I love it when kids get excited about stuff! What was the book you chose this week? Are you doing them in order?

[Aubrey]

I love it when kids get excited about stuff! What was the book you chose this week? Are you doing them in order?

 

We did Ping, because it's the only one we own!

 

My mw is across from a park w a lake & ducks, so I wanted to wait until we'd be going there again...but I tend to try to over-organize & the result is doing nothing.

 

(I also thought about trying to match FIAR to SOTW. Shhh.)

 

I've got almost all the rest of the books coming soon through the library--I haven't even *heard* of most of them. The lady who convinced me to try FIAR, though, said her fav was How to Make Apple Pie & See the World, & that's one of maybe 3 titles my library doesn't have. :glare: Anyway, there are enough there that I can peruse 1/2 P for a while.

[prairiegirl]

Oh, I love How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. That is my favourite FIAR book. Miss Rumphius comes in at a close second. I have such wonderful memories of doing FIAR wth my kids.

 

Enjoy your week!

[profmom]

How to Make an Apple Pie is a favorite here too! I'm glad you had a good day with FIAR. :) I still have that warm & fuzzy feeling about FIAR and look forward to using it once more.

 

 

Here are some links you might like (bookmarked from my FIAR days):

 

http://members.aol.com/dwalheim/fiarchart.html Might help with arranging books chronologically (dates listed).

 

http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/schoolroom/fiar/ Internet resources by FIAR book.

 

http://www.fiarcircle.com./downloads/index.html Downloads by book

 

http://marysmill.ourjunction.com/ Ideas by book

 

http://www.ilovejesus.com/school/handmaiden/index.html

 

 

Have fun! :)

[melissel]

LOL! We are using it too. We tied it into geography study with Galloping the Globe. We're going through GTG and studying one country a week, and then (when possible) choosing a FIAR book that coincides (though we have all three FIAR books). We're not really doing the art projects, though, because my DD balks at guided art projects. Instead we're focusing on the discussion aspects of the story and the art. One caveat--some kids (mine included) don't like reading the same story every day, and don't understand the value. Don't feel like you have to do every element of every story. When we first tried FIAR, I tried to push the same story, 5 days a week thing, and it failed miserably. DD hated the whole thing. Now that we're taking it easier, she's enjoying it much more.

 

Enjoy!

[Free Indeed]

We love FIAR here! We love How to Make and Apple pie here too, but our favorite has been Makeway for Ducklings, or maybe Rag Coat, or Papa Piccolo, or Night of the moonjellies, or A Pair of red clogs, or Ping,or Peter rabbit, or, or...... :lol: How can we choose just one! We even made a FIAR quilt for each of the girls!

[profmom]

When we first tried FIAR, I tried to push the same story, 5 days a week thing, and it failed miserably. DD hated the whole thing. Now that we're taking it easier, she's enjoying it much more.

 

 

After you've read the book a couple of times, you can skip reading it and just refer to the part of the story that the lessons pertains to. For example, in Ping, you could mention the boy floating with the barrel, point out the picture in the book, and then teach the science lesson on buoyancy. This could give you a break from reading the whole story a full 5 times, if you feel you or your dc need it.

[Aubrey]

After you've read the book a couple of times, you can skip reading it and just refer to the part of the story that the lessons pertains to. For example, in Ping, you could mention the boy floating with the barrel, point out the picture in the book, and then teach the science lesson on buoyancy. This could give you a break from reading the whole story a full 5 times, if you feel you or your dc need it.

 

We did this (buoyancy) today. So far, we've just talked about it, with promises of comparing buoyancy in the tub tonight.

[Alice]

LOL! We are using it too. We tied it into geography study with Galloping the Globe. We're going through GTG and studying one country a week, and then (when possible) choosing a FIAR book that coincides (though we have all three FIAR books). Enjoy!

 

Melissa-

I had thought about doing something similar or somehow combining with GTG. I don't have GTG now but had thought about it...I'm still not sure. can you tell me more about how it works for you?

 

Thanks!

Alice

 

Aubrey-

Glad you're enjoying Ping! We're into about our 7th week of FIAR and having a good time. I've found some books work better with reading 5 times than others. I usually try to point out something specific we are studying for that day before we read it...that helps keep him interested.

 

Ping was our first book too. We studied buoyancy at the pool. :D

 

Have fun!

[melissel]

Melissa-

I had thought about doing something similar or somehow combining with GTG. I don't have GTG now but had thought about it...I'm still not sure. can you tell me more about how it works for you?

 

Thanks!

Alice

 

Sure! GTG is kind of like Five in a Row all by itself, actually, in that for each each country, they provide you with a list of nonfiction resources, literature resources, Christian/missionary resources, animals to study, a little in the way of science resources, etc. It was meant to pretty much be a standalone curriculum, but that's not how I use it.

 

I use GTG as a guide to which country to study each week, and then where possible, I coordinate with a FIAR book. I own all three FIAR books, which makes it much easier. So, for example, for the week we studied Japan, each day we'd find it on the map, then we'd do a part of our Japan-based curriculum: We read a nonfiction book or two about Japan (A Family in Japan, Look What Came from Japan); we read the DK Children Just Like Me selection about the Japanese girl; we watched a United Streaming video or two about Japan. After the day's geography-based reading, we read Grandfather's Journey (in FIAR vol. 2, and which, by the way, had me blubbering by the end :D) and picked an element or two to discuss. At the end of each week, we either go out to a restaurant that corresponds with the week (hibachi for our Japan week) or cook something that corresponds (this week is Israel, so we're going to make potato latkes).

 

We do a little geography-based work each day, and we average three days of FIAR work each week, I'd say, depending on the interest level. As I mentioned above, my DD5 doesn't love discussing the same book repeatedly, and she's not fond of guided crafts, so we go as far as we can. My main goal is to read and discuss good books, and both GTG and FIAR help us do that.

 

Some people really go in depth with FIAR and/or GTG. I've seen people on the GTG Yahoo! group talk about spending a month or more on some countries. We spend a week on each country and then go on. I'm completely geography-impaired, and I really want my kids to have a better sense of where things are in the world than I did. I love that GTG provides a fun way to do it.

 

My most recent blog entry is our weekly report about our India week, if you want to click through.

 

HTH!

[Alice]

Melissa-

Thanks! Now I may have to think about it some more that looks so great....I'm thinking of trying to look at an actual book at the homeschool convention this summer. Also by then I'll have a better idea of how FIAR is working for us and whether adding something else would be helpful or not.

 

Your blog is great and your kids are cuties!

Alice

[bradandmeplus2]

My DS and I start FIAR in August, and all these comments are making it hard to wait!

[Nojo317]

We used FIAR for about 7 mos last "school year". My kids really enjoyed it for the most part. dd6's favorite was "Cranberry Thanksgiving", but ds9 loved "Papa Piccolo" (I really liked that one too!) We also tried a few titles from Vol 2, and DS9 and I did "The Cricket in Times Square" with the Beyond FIAR. SO much you can do with it. We didn't do much of the art here, focusing more on geography and science.

[Satori]

We had so much fun with FIAR too last year! Wish I had time to do more, maybe I'll find some this year...

 

Feel free to check out my blog, we did tons of activities and took photos of all our FIAR fun. The FIAR menu is up top.

[Susie in MS]

FIAR :001_wub::001_wub::001_wub::001_wub::001_wub:

 

 

It is such a sweet curriculum. We usually don't read the book 5 days in a row. Right now we are rowing Bee Tree. Today is day 2. I will read the book one more day and then just refer to it. But on day 4 (and 5 if we row it for 5 days) we will read from CLP Nature Reader 1 section about bees. And maybe read an online chapter from Parables of Nature that has a story about a bee. So any go-along would be great.

 

I get to planning out my weeks and drool. I look over the next vol and drool. I love FIAR! Now just how far we will go with it as our main curriculum I don't know. I am torn between AO and FIAR. Next year I may change our schedule to include FIAR as an occasional unit, but I don't want to let it go. It is just too good.

[Aubrey]

I was 5mos pg w/ no a/c when this was posted. Looks a little psychotic to me now. Just sayin'.

[Susie in MS]

I was 5mos pg w/ no a/c when this was posted. Looks a little psychotic to me now. Just sayin'.

 

How in the world did this thread get bumped up !!??!! :ohmy:

 

So what is psychotic? :confused:

[Satori]

Lol, this thread is over two years old! :D So you don't do FIAR anymore?

[Aubrey]

How in the world did this thread get bumped up !!??!! :ohmy:

 

So what is psychotic? :confused:

 

If you knew me...the thought of me happily holding FIAR in my lap...might make you have an accident, you'd laugh so hard. It is a *very* sweet curric. I like The Sound & the Fury & read my dc EE Cummings for bedtime "stories."

 

The lady at the hs bookstore here took advantage of the pg hormones & the back-to-back babies when she talked me into buying FIAR, lol. And there are days when I get frustrated w/ myself, & *that* (sweet FIAR kind) is the kind of mom I want to be. Somehow, I was convinced that buying the book would make me be (even help me be, at least) THAT mom.

 

There was a day, forever recorded here, that perhaps it did. That day is gone. :lol:

Edited June 18, 2010 by Aubrey

[Susie in MS]

Oh my, bless your heart! I am sure you have found what works for your family by now. :)

[1bassoon]

The lady at the hs bookstore here took advantage of the pg hormones & the back-to-back babies when she talked me into buying FIAR, lol. And there are days when I get frustrated w/ myself, & *that* (sweet FIAR kind) is the kind of mom I want to be. Somehow, I was convinced that buying the book would make me be (even help me be, at least) THAT mom.

 

There was a day, forever recorded here, that perhaps it did. That day is gone. :lol:

 

It's never too late, girl.

 

I drooled over FIAR for YEARS and YEARS. Never did it, until this past year, with my youngest. Read the books, did some lapbooks, called it FIAR. No cookbook, no Christian character supplement. . . . in other words, about the polar opposite from how I would have handled it about - oh - 13 years ago. (Just typing that made me cringe - 13 years?! And I have 12 left??? Oh. My. Word.)

 

It was fun. Me. The little. Snuggled on the sofa. Reading.

 

If only I didn't have Literary Analysis, Algebra, and Outlining to deal with.

[Aubrey]

It's never too late, girl.

 

I drooled over FIAR for YEARS and YEARS. Never did it, until this past year, with my youngest. Read the books, did some lapbooks, called it FIAR. No cookbook, no Christian character supplement. . . . in other words, about the polar opposite from how I would have handled it about - oh - 13 years ago. (Just typing that made me cringe - 13 years?! And I have 12 left??? Oh. My. Word.)

 

It was fun. Me. The little. Snuggled on the sofa. Reading.

 

If only I didn't have Literary Analysis, Algebra, and Outlining to deal with.

 

See, that part I like. Now that the kids are getting big enough to ask deeper questions, study Latin, have interesting math problems (rather than counting), school is getting fun.

 

We should split them up. I'll teach Lit & Alg; you do the snuggling & reading on the sofa! :D

 

But what really sent me over the edge w/ FIAR was finding all the glaring grammatical errors followed by a speech about how we should beat good grammar into our children. I might be...exaggerating a little, lol...but it was pretty appalling.

[1bassoon]

See, that part I like. Now that the kids are getting big enough to ask deeper questions, study Latin, have interesting math problems (rather than counting), school is getting fun.

 

We should split them up. I'll teach Lit & Alg; you do the snuggling & reading on the sofa! :D

 

But what really sent me over the edge w/ FIAR was finding all the glaring grammatical errors followed by a speech about how we should beat good grammar into our children. I might be...exaggerating a little, lol...but it was pretty appalling.

 

Let's see. . . . .

 

"Honey - I need to budget plane fare to DFW for 3 kids. . . . . it's a school expense, dear. A School. Ex. Pense."

[truebird]

I did FIAR this year with my 7yo, 2 5yos, and (when she felt like sitting in) my 3yo. We just finished volume 1 a few weeks ago. It was by far their favorite part of school this year. (And mine.) :)

[melissel]

Let's see. . . . .

 

"Honey - I need to budget plane fare to DFW for 3 kids. . . . . it's a school expense, dear. A School. Ex. Pense."

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Amie]

This thread is hilarious! I clicked on it because I'm just "trying" FIAR (borrowed) and thought I'd check it out. I didn't even realize I was reading an old thread until it took a turn for the hilarious! Just had to say...

 

(Thanks for the laugh.)

[musicianmom]

I borrowed FIAR to try it out. Thank goodness I didn't buy it!

 

As much as I'm committed to homeschooling, I'd rather send them to school than do FIAR. Just. Not. Me.

[Rivka]

If you knew me...the thought of me happily holding FIAR in my lap...might make you have an accident, you'd laugh so hard. It is a *very* sweet curric. I like The Sound & the Fury & read my dc EE Cummings for bedtime "stories."

 

The lady at the hs bookstore here took advantage of the pg hormones & the back-to-back babies when she talked me into buying FIAR, lol. And there are days when I get frustrated w/ myself, & *that* (sweet FIAR kind) is the kind of mom I want to be. Somehow, I was convinced that buying the book would make me be (even help me be, at least) THAT mom.

 

There was a day, forever recorded here, that perhaps it did. That day is gone. :lol:

 

Uh oh. Am I supposed to be sweet? Is FIAR... wholesome?!

 

I may be in big trouble here with my curriculum of choice. :lol:

 

FIAR as we're doing it is less about sweet cuddles on the couch (we try, but the baby objects when I cuddle the big girl) and more about running around like kids in a candy store, going crazy over all the cool stuff there is out there to learn.

 

I see where you're going with the sweet thing, though, and it's possible that I am secretly sweet but in denial about it.