Questions for those who have used FIAR?

[Hebrews3:13]

Can I ask you all about FIAR.....did you buy all 4 volumes? Did you buy all the books? What did you do about out of print books? I see some on Amazon. I can look up some of the books on my library website, but wondered if it is just easier to buy them or what you all did. Our library system here is so-so. How long do you need each book?

 

I am having trouble telling some things about it from the website. I just wondered if I could pick your brains. This might be an answer for me with DD next year and I am just trying to figure out what I need to purchase.

 

Thank you,

Laurie

[JessieC]

Hi Laurie,

 

We just started FIAR and I only bought Volume 1 so far. There doesn't seem to be any particular order you need to go in. I haven't bought any of the books--we had a couple already and the rest I get at the library. You need each book for two weeks tops (one week to plan ahead, one week to use with dc). If I come across a book that the library doesn't have, I might look on amazon or ebay, but otherwise I'll just skip that week or replace it with a different book on a similar topic. It's a great program! HTH!

 

jessica

[Osaubi]

The books don't go in any order. I started with volume 1 and got the rest at a later time. You can also use the books in any order in the volumes.

 

Most of my books I got from the library or at the used book store. If I was not able to find it anywhere we just skipped that book. I am still on the hunt for the OP Babar book even though we don't do FIAR anymore. :tongue_smilie:

 

If you do FIAR the traditional way you would read the story everyday for 5 days.

[Susie in MS]

Can I ask you all about FIAR.....did you buy all 4 volumes?

After I rowed vol 1-3 the first time I realized we would be in this for the long haul so I bought vol 4.

 

Did you buy all the books?

We have a poor library system so I bought all of the books. There are two I don't have due to HUGE oop charges.

 

What did you do about out of print books? I see some on Amazon.

I hunted and hunted till I found the oop books that I do have for decient prices. The most I have paid for one book is $25, but I have gotten super good deals on others so it works out. If you have good thrift stores in your area you can find great deals often. I have searched amazon and abebooks for the hard to find ones. I have given up on The Giraffe that Walked to Paris (but Zarafa is a great substitute) and Andy and the Circus as those go for top dollar.

 

I can look up some of the books on my library website, but wondered if it is just easier to buy them or what you all did. Our library system here is so-so. How long do you need each book?

For me it made sense to buy them because of our poor library system and knowing that I was gonna re-row the books.

 

I am having trouble telling some things about it from the website. I just wondered if I could pick your brains. This might be an answer for me with DD next year and I am just trying to figure out what I need to purchase.

There is a different website with MUCH better samples. I am looking for it and will post it when I find it. If you want to have cooking with your lessons then get the cookbook. If you want to use story disk to place on your map for geography lessons then buy the disk. Or you can use the paper ones that come in the manual. If you want Bible character lessons then buy the Christian Character Supplement.

 

Thank you,

Laurie

HTH

[blondeviolin]

We are just starting. For whatever reason, we started with vol. 2. I think because it had more spring/summer themes. I now own vol 1 and will eventually get 3 at least.

 

We used the packages at Rainbow Resource to buy all the in-print books for vol 2 at a discount. While we're rowing vol 2, I'm on the hunt for used/cheap vol 1 books.

[Rivka]

Can I ask you all about FIAR.....did you buy all 4 volumes? Did you buy all the books? What did you do about out of print books? I see some on Amazon. I can look up some of the books on my library website, but wondered if it is just easier to buy them or what you all did. Our library system here is so-so. How long do you need each book?

 

I am having trouble telling some things about it from the website. I just wondered if I could pick your brains. This might be an answer for me with DD next year and I am just trying to figure out what I need to purchase.

 

 

I bought volumes 1-3 first, and then picked up 4 after I was sold on FIAR. I also spent a fair amount of time before we started homeschooling poking around on http://www.abebooks.com looking for the FIAR titles used. I was able to find most of them for about $1-3 plus shipping. I also kept my eye out for FIAR books at thrift stores and library sales, and over the course of about a year I was able to find almost all of them at good prices. The ones I couldn't find, I'm planning to get from our library or ILL.

 

It's nice to have the books a little while before you use them, because it can be easier to choose lessons when you know the book and story. But it's not actually necessary to own them.

 

I write in a lot of detail about FIAR in my blog, so looking at that might be helpful as you try to get a better picture of what it's like.

[CAMom]

I've been hanging around FIAR since 1999 and am now doing it with my 3rd child.:)

 

I love the books so I buy all I can find. I've gotten deals on OOP books over time. Purple House Press has put back into print some of them.

 

I have all 4 volumes.

 

My kids have loved it. My dd is in 9th grade now and she walks by often while I'm rowing with the 5 year old and talks about how that was "my favorite book!" Doesn't matter which book I'm doing with him at the time.;)

 

Oh, one poster mentioned that you'd use the book 5 days in a row. We do that with most books although we sometimes cross over two weeks if we're digging deeper into a topic or two.

[Irishmommy]

When I first started with FIAR, I bought Vol. 1-3. I ONLY rowed the books that I thought would appeal to my son, so we skipped around in the volumes. I LOVE all the books, so I bought most of them at thrift stores or used books stores. When my son was ready for meatier lessons, we moved on to Vol. 4. I am looking forward to rowing some of these titles next year with my littles!

[Susie in MS]

I kept searching and searching for the website with the excellent samples and never could find it. So I back tracked my post here to see where I had linked it before and when I clicked on the link the website had changed. No wonders a search wasn't pulling it up. They no longer sell FIAR there and had gotten rid of the samples. These were the best ever! I am very sad that the are gone. Sorry about that.

[TxMama]

I own Vol 1-3.

 

I bring my booklist to the library and typically check out 8 books at a time. 1 book per week means I only head to the library for FIAR books once every 2 months.

 

The booklist is still on the website. I print it out and know exactly which book is at my library. I skip the books that are oop or not available.

 

HTH

[Susie in MS]

I own Vol 1-3.

 

I bring my booklist to the library and typically check out 8 books at a time. 1 book per week means I only head to the library for FIAR books once every 2 months.

 

The booklist is still on the website. I print it out and know exactly which book is at my library. I skip the books that are oop or not available.

 

HTH

 

You can keep library books for 2 months! You must be in a great system! :D

We have 2 weeks and can recheck only if no one has requested the book. I don't think they let us recheck for 2 months though.

[Julie Kirkwood]

Can I ask you all about FIAR.....did you buy all 4 volumes? Did you buy all the books? What did you do about out of print books? I see some on Amazon. I can look up some of the books on my library website, but wondered if it is just easier to buy them or what you all did. Our library system here is so-so. How long do you need each book?

 

I am having trouble telling some things about it from the website. I just wondered if I could pick your brains. This might be an answer for me with DD next year and I am just trying to figure out what I need to purchase.

 

Thank you,

Laurie

 

I bought the first vol., then later the 2nd. We row completely out of order and skip around. I love owning the books because my kids usually get very attached to them and want them read after we are done rowing. All the books are really great quality and good to have in your collection, IMO. Although you only need the book for as long as you are rowing it. Sometimes we row for one week, sometimes two.

For the out-of-print books, I either get them from the library or skip them. I am always on the lookout for FIAR books at used book stores and curriculum sales.

The best prices I got on new books was at a homeschool convention in the vendor's hall. The books were about a dollar or two cheaper per book than on Amazon and no shipping costs.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I think you have gotten your questions answered... I just wanted to add that we LOVED FIAR! We have 1-3, the bible supplement, and the cookbook ( I would highly recommend the cookbook SO MUCH FUN ) and if you are christian the bible supplement is a great one too. I would love to do #4 but I feel like we have so much else going on now. I miss our FIAR days. We had "Tea Time" and would sit on the couch with our FIAR book, any go-along books, and a snack and tea. I don't think my kids will ever forget it.

[kolamum]

We bought all Volumes and balanced them over K-3. We started to use Vol. IV for Grade 4, but found it just wasn't enticing us for a variety of reasons and I regret that I put off using it for so long. ;)

 

We own nearly all the books. We purchased from places like Goodwill & other second hand shops. Ebay. Half.com Amazon, etc. Most books I didn't pay more then .50 cents for, but a few I paid more for.

 

It doesn't matter what order you do the books in, but you need all of the Vol. 1-3 books for 5 days and the volume IV books for 10 days unless you only row for one week. Many people stay on the same book for 2 weeks with Vol. 4.

 

Honestly, we did 4 books from that volume before deciding it was time to move onward a bit and only 1 of those books really warranted 2 weeks of study. That said a second one would have if we hadn't all ready planned to turn the science aspect into a nice summer long study. ;)

 

Personally, I'd buy the manuals. I'd purchase books my library didn't own first. :D That's how I started with it and found it worked quite well. ;)

[Erika in TX]

Couldn't help but chime in here. I am another enthusiastic lover of FIAR!! I've used it from the beginning and have no plans to stop any time soon. I would encourage you to get all the volumes if you're able and collect the books over time. I own almost all of them and when I find the OOP ones at the library I check them out any way so that the library won't sell them in their sale they have every year. I want them to be available for other FIAR's to come. ;)

 

You will not be disappointed in choosing FIAR!:D

[Tracy]

I own Volumes 1-3. The first 2 volumes took up an entire school year (including our breaks, since dd wouldn't let me take a break from FIAR). We started Vol. 3 over the summer, but we didn't finish it. I loved FIAR so much, but it was time for us to move on.

 

You only need each book for one week. I was able to get all of them through our library. I always ordered 2 at a time in case one didn't come. The lessons are not in a strict order, although they are meant to go with the seasons and holidays. So you will find fall/winter themes in Vol. 1, spring themes in Vol. 2, and summer themes in Vol. 3. It is really not a big deal if you can't get a book, especially if you have 3 or 4 Volumes. The first 3 Volumes were intended to be used for an entire calendar year, assuming that you wouldn't be able to get every single book. So if you did get every book, it would take up slightly more than a calendar year.

[Swirl]

We used FIAR for Kindergarten only, but I was able to find a couple of out of print books super cheap on eBay. I typed the title in the search field, but also checkmarked the Include description field. Sellers often sell books as a lot and only list the individual titles in the description, not realizing they've included a rare book in the lot.