For those that DID NOT like FIAR

[sweetpea3829]

Can you share with me what you didn't like about the program? What you thought would have made it better?

[historically accurate]

I tried it with my oldest for K. Love, love, love the idea of it. Just didn't work on keeping planning on my side. Jump into a different history era, geographical area, literary tool each week. Too disjointed for me to keep up, especially since my youngest was very sick that year. We did row several books, and I loved it, but couldn't keep up week after week of planning. One thing is my oldest is quite advanced, so I had to add a lot to the manuals in order for her not to go through the lesson in 4 minutes.

[Jenny in GA]

I really enjoyed FIAR, but I'm glad we stopped using it when we did ... and although we all have some really great memories of our FIAR time, I have some definite critiques which you might find helpful.

 

First of all, I too got tired of the jumping around -- one week you're studying Russia, the next week the Civil Rights Movement, the next week Ohio. Again, I thought that was fine for a while, but after two years I couldn't take it anymore, and I didn't think it was good for the kids either.

 

The LA is weak, I think, especially as the kids get older. There is no grammar (which they admit to). There also is no spelling or phonics, which they also admit to. (And at this point you might be starting to wonder why they bill it as a "complete curriculum," especially when they also say you need to add a math program.)

 

But there is also no real writing assignments. I think our "first foot out" of FIAR was when I discovered WWE and we supplemented with that. The

"writing" in FIAR is stuff like, "Discuss why this book has an interesting title and what makes a good title" or "This book is in first person. Consider writing your own story in first person." But nothing that walks through the writing process, or the nuts and bolts of good writing -- and again, no spelling or grammar.

 

Also, once you get to second and third grade, I just don't think it's enough LA. Supposedly the LA lesson is once a week! And they are things like discussing the symbolism in the story, vocabulary words, or acting out a scene (which my kids just loved). For that to be the LA lesson for the week (and they be told "Get your own grammar program") seems lacking to me. (Although it's just fine for kindergarten, IMO.)

 

And a musician and music educator, I can say the music lessons are very sparse and very weak. I don't know exactly what the intent of them are, but if they're supposed to be comparable to an elementary music program ... well, they are NOT.

 

Finally -- and I think is important -- I don't think I would have liked FIAR at all had it not been for other resources. For example, homeschoolshare.com has some great materials that go with each book -- lapbook components, simple maps of the area being studied, etc. We used these heavily. Also, the FIAR message board archives lists activities and supplementary reading. For example, we made lego eiffel towers for Madeline, and "magic noodle" igloos for another book.

 

But none of that is in the actual FIAR manual, but rather from other homeschoolers using it.

 

If those resources didn't exist, I think I would have been bored with FIAR quickly -- and more than that, felt like we weren't really doing much. It would have amounted to little more than reading a picture book and talking about it everyday -- kind of "advanced storytime."

 

Having said all that, I have no regrets of using the program. It is a very "cozy" curriculum, and we all have fond memories of the books we read. Also, kids learn to really pay attention and "sink into" a book, which is great. And I thought the art lessons were particularly impressive.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[morosophe]

I really enjoyed FIAR, but I'm glad we stopped using it when we did ...

...

 

Having said all that, I have no regrets of using the program. It is a very "cozy" curriculum, and we all have fond memories of the books we read. Also, kids learn to really pay attention and "sink into" a book, which is great. And I thought the art lessons were particularly impressive.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

:iagree: I loved, loved, loved this curriculum for kindergarten. (It may have been okay to go on to first grade with, although the available books get scarcer in Volumes 3 and 4.) But I found it a great balance to do phonics and math separately, and then have this for our "other" lesson of the day. There are loads of programs that do what seems to me to be WAY TOO MUCH for kindergarten, and I'm really, really glad I went with this one, instead.

 

That said, I really can't imagine doing just this much past kindergarten. (Skimpy is the word, here.) On the other hand, having done this unit studies for kindergarten really helped me by giving me a slightly different way of thinking about the books we read for my oldest son's classes now. (Whoops, I'm supposed to be talking about downsides, here. Well, then: SKIMPY.)

[2squared]

I loved our first run with FIAR. I burnt out, though, doing too much planning and fun generating. If I had kept it simple, we would have used it much longer.

 

I am wanting to bring it out for #3 and #4. My oldest two passionately love all the FIAR books, and I think we could have some wonderful times as a group with FIAR again.

[Mergath]

We love it for preschool and K, but there's no way I would use it beyond that, especially as a "complete" curriculum. It's a nice introduction for younger kids to a variety of topics, but as pps have said, there's no way in the world that it's a complete anything.

 

Like I said, we're enjoying it now, but some of the book choices do leave me dreading the five days in a row I have to read them to dd. Like Lentil. I honestly do not understand what is so wonderful about that book. It would be great if they would update it once every ten years or so with more modern books, not just give it a new cover. :glare:

[sweetpea3829]

So, do you really have to read the book five days in a row? Because I could definitely see getting burned out with that on say, the third day...lol. I might want to read it every other day as review. Or read it the first day and then the second day bring it back out and review a specific section that relates to what we might be discussing that day.

 

Seems like a good concept...the literacy approach...but I'm just not sure this program is laid out well enough.

[Mergath]

The author seems adamant that if you don't read every book five days in a row, the world will come to an abrupt and fiery end, lol. But we've had weeks that we only read the book three or four days, and it worked out just fine.

[sweetpea3829]

The author seems adamant that if you don't read every book five days in a row, the world will come to an abrupt and fiery end, lol. But we've had weeks that we only read the book three or four days, and it worked out just fine.

 

 

LOL! I've read that the FIAR forum from her website can be a bit, ahem, defensive.

[In the Rain]

The author seems adamant that if you don't read every book five days in a row, the world will come to an abrupt and fiery end, lol. But we've had weeks that we only read the book three or four days, and it worked out just fine.

 

:lol::iagree:

 

I thought FIAR was great for oldest dd's preK time. By K, she wanted more from school and she didn't like the abrupt change of topics every week. I found the ideas gathered from other parents and homeschoolshare.com more interesting than some in the book itself. I didn't use FIAR with 2nd dd, and sold off the manuals. We have fond memories of some of the books we read, but I guess we just weren't a "FIAR family".

 

I think one of FIAR's strengths is the model of education it presents. It helps some parents find a way to have their children interacting with books. This came very naturally to me from my days as a preschool teacher, but I have friends who found the approach "eye opening".

[In the Rain]

LOL! I've read that the FIAR forum from her website can be a bit, ahem, defensive.

 

Yes! That is why I can say we are not a "FIAR family". There are some diehard fans over there. If you look at Heather W's blog, she has great ideas. She uses FIAR very successfully with older kids.

Edited October 21, 2011 by Julianna
added link

[Crafty Mathy Mom]

I liked the idea of it, but it wasn't enough. It is not a complete curriculum be any stretch. For us, it was fine for PreK.

[Crafty Mathy Mom]

:lol: Sometimes we only read a book twice. Life goes on.

[Susie in MS]

The author seems adamant that if you don't read every book five days in a row, the world will come to an abrupt and fiery end, lol. But we've had weeks that we only read the book three or four days, and it worked out just fine.

 

I posted on your other thread as a FIAR lover, but I wanted to agree with the above post! I can see the reasons behind reading a book 5 days. What Jane says is true, HOWEVER if your child gets bored with the book then learning shuts down. We usually ROW a book for 5 days (or longer), but we don't always read it all 5 days. You can open the book and refer to what ever the lesson is about (ex: repetition or shading or any other lesson) without reading the whole thing. So for some rows we may read the book all 5 days and with other rows it may only be for 3 days.

[Penelope]

I really liked it but would not use it beyond K, other than as a supplement (and I mean extremely supplemental, not the main program for any subject).

[JessieC]

I am doing FIAR with my 6yo and almost 4yo. I find it is a bit easier if I don't feel like I have to change to a new book EVERY week. Some days it doesn't get done. We are rowing "The Glorious Flight" this week and using the Magic School Bus flight kit as a go-along and taking our time over about a week and a half. I do try to read the books five times, because even if the kids don't like the book the second time, they tend to love it by the fourth or fifth time, and always notice new things. I just go to the library before the week starts to get a few go-along books, and I put those in a book basket for the kids to explore. I have a tentative plan for each day--some of it comes from the FIAR manual, some from the forum or homeschoolshare.com or blogs, and some just comes to me. I don't think the planning is very time-consuming.

 

It is not a complete curriculum, as others have mentioned. My first grader also has a math and phonics curriculum, and I can see adding a different science curriculum too. However, it really is the heart of our homeschool. The kids so look forward to the "surprise" of a new book and new topic of study, and they've learned so much about geography and art. The lessons really stick. HTH--sorry I don't have much "downside"--I really enjoy this curriculum.

[caedmyn]

We're still using it, so maybe my opinion will change as time goes on, but I'm not in love with it. I think it's not organized enough for me. And some of the activities seem really basic (some of the social studies in particular), while the concepts in others (many of the language arts ones) seem way too advanced for a kindergartener. I got the Bible/character supplement to go along with it but I don't like the layout of that AT ALL. I ended up getting A Child's Book of Character Building and choosing one book to go with each of the twelve character traits. There's 4 stories for each trait so we'll read one or two stories each time we ROW (we're doing three-in-a-row really because of afterschooling!).

 

So right now I'm considering FIAR to be geography, art appreciation, and character. I may or may not use FIAR 2 for the rest of this year, but I know I won't be using it for next year.

[Ummto4]

FIAR is not supposed to be a complete curriculum. You're supposed to add phonics and other LA plus math. It's there in the book, in the website, and in the forum.

[fruitofthewomb]

Like I said, we're enjoying it now, but some of the book choices do leave me dreading the five days in a row I have to read them to dd. Like Lentil. I honestly do not understand what is so wonderful about that book. It would be great if they would update it once every ten years or so with more modern books, not just give it a new cover. :glare:

 

I think this is funny because my family adored Lentil! It is one of my favorite stories!

 

About reading 5 days in a row:

We are doing Another Celebrated Dancing Bear this week and although I love the book, it is kinda long and I have dreaded reading it. My DD though loves reading the book every day. And I have found that the stuff we covered earlier in the week comes alive more when we do read it every day (especially the language arts and art). But if DD didn't want to read it, I wouldn't push it. I do see Jane's point behind it (because I have seen my DD's light bulb go off on Day 4) and have read every book so far every day.

 

Although I love FIAR we will probably only use it for K year. Not that I don't think it can't be great for multiple years-I think I might be a curriculum hopper. I already have my eye on things I would like to try for next year. And not because I don't love FIAR-I really do. But this is my first year to homeschool and there are so many choices out there. I am not ready to settle in to just one yet. I will use it with other children though in K and include my older ones. But it will only be for fun and if they are interested-I think. I am thinking too far ahead :tongue_smilie:

[mystika1]

I love Fiar. I think some people get frustrated reading a book more than once. My dd will bring me books and ask me to read them over and over. Fiar was an excellent fit for her. Some children want to read a book and stick it back on the shelf and rush to the next one. Fiar would not be a good fit for someone like that.

 

At one point I worried that not having chronological history covered in depth would hurt her education. I tried a history based curriculum...OMG! We were all bored to tears! I thought back to my own education and remembered that I never studied history until I hit the 7th or 8th grade. I survived. :D I have girly girls who don't like to stick to the same topic for months at a time. You could easily drop a SOTW cd in the player in the car and have history taken care of that way. It doesn't have to be difficult. The variety and "jumping around" that some people hate about Fiar is really good for kids that really lose interest in the same thing over and over. My dd loved the science. Fiar science was super easy for me as I just got extra library books on the selected Fiar science topic for the week.

 

As someone mentioned earlier....the volumes clearly state that you must add math and LA. I have all of the volumes and have never read that it covers music. When music did come up however...it was for us a little extra bonus topic.

 

I used to frequent the FIAR boards often but admittedly have not been around lately as we are now using a mix of Konos and BYFiar. I have never had anyone act in an unkind way though. I recommend that if you are still interested in the curriculum to try out the forums for yourself as they have some really helpful people there.

 

Fiar is not for everyone. You know your child... if your child likes to dig into a book and savor it over and over...then FIAR is a nice choice. My dd retained so much of the information from our FIAR studies. Everything else we have tried(SOTW, GTG, HOD) has basicly gone in one ear and flew out the other.

 

HTH,

 

Penny

[Ellie]

Yes! That is why I can say we are not a "FIAR family". There are some diehard fans over there. If you look at Heather W's blog, she has great ideas. She uses FIAR very successfully with older kids.

On a slight tangent:

 

There was something in FIAR that really bugged me, and although it's a small thing, it's still something that would give me pause.

 

This is from the sample lessons on the FIAR site:

 

As you come to each new Literary Device, a list can be made with examples and pictures. Keep your list in the Language Arts section of the student's notebook. For instance, Personification (giving human qualifications to non human things) might be defined and then illustrated with a magazine picture of the Pillsbury doughboy - a lump of dough made into a person. There are many examples of Personification in such pictures. The other devices can be illustrated as well. Keeping a chart or list of these words makes reviews easy and interesting and can be used by the student as an inspirational list when he is creating his own works.

Um...ok...that isn't exactly what personification is. And don't you give human "qualities," not "qualifications"?

 

I would always just wonder what else might not be quite right that I had no knowledge of. I hate having to correct the professionally written materials I'm using, KWIM?

[kubiac]

So, do you really have to read the book five days in a row? Because I could definitely see getting burned out with that on say, the third day...lol. I might want to read it every other day as review.

 

FWIW, I'm doing a made-up version of FIAR with my kiddo, and I find the daily repetition valuable. My kid seems to discover new words and ideas about the book each day, as he gets more and more comfortable with the story. The reading the book five-days-in-a-row is pretty much the one thing I do consistently, because I think it really makes an impression that a quick run-through doesn't. That said, I totally don't care about Ping anymore by day three, but we muddle through.

[Jenny in GA]

Some responses to other comments:

 

* The FIAR boards are great and full of very nice people, but it is practically verboten to say something negative about FIAR, or even to express problems/concerns you're having. At best, someone might respond to you off-list. I once heard someone describe it as "a FIAR love-fest." That's not exactly a bad thing, but I think it's good to know that going in.

 

* I could have sworn it billed itself as "a complete curriculum, just add math and phonics." (Which I always thought was funny -- kind of like saying, "A complete meal -- just add meat and vegetables!") Maybe I'm wrong. But something must have given me that idea ...

I know I have heard the term "complete curriculum" in reference to it before, not sure where or from who. On the FIAR boards you will hear the mantra "FIAR IS enough!!" over and over again, and stated in different ways, and some people even use it through fifth grade. So while I feel it is too light (even when adding math and phonics), the authors and followers strongly believe that is not the case.

 

* Reading the book five times -- we rarely did that. Many of the people on the board said they didn't always do that. The author does describe in great detail why it's important, and why it should not be boring to do so. I would say that we read each book about three times, maybe four if we particularly liked it. I usually combined Applied Math day with something else, because some of those lessons were ridiculously simple (count something on a page, recite the days of the week) that I couldn't imagine THAT being our "school day" in itself, plus a math lesson and phonics lesson.

[sweetpea3829]

Penny, it's funny you mention not learning about history until middle school, or thereabouts.

 

One of the reasons I am really hedging towards FIAR (or something like it) is because of all of the years that I studied history, or geography or any of the history type curriculums in the public schools, the only history I've ever remembered was when we used a literacy approach turned into a unit study.

 

I can remember studying about the settling of America because my 5th grade teacher had us do an entire unit on it. I don't remember now, which book we read, but I do remember putting together an elaborate project, dressing up as settlers, eating the food that they would have eaten, etc.

 

History, in particular, has always best been taught when it is presented as a story and one that kids can relate to by using a unit study approach.

 

With that said...I could very easily see using a FIAR approach straight up into high school. But it would be a lot, a lot of work to do it correctly.

 

Jenny, I've come across the notion in several areas that FIAR is a complete curriculum, just add math and phonics. Like you said...that in and of itself is a pretty ridiculous statement.

[amyable]

We had trouble with many of the things listed above. Mostly, it just felt forced to me (and my kids). We couldn't stand reading the books more than once or twice in a row. Then, it felt hokey to pull out all these random topics from the book to discuss. Mapping it's one thing, talking about fruit because the main character is eating an orange one one page is something else! :lol:

 

I hated turning good books into unnatural lessons. I'm not an unschooler by any means, but if we are going to read a great book, I want to let the literary, artistic, and life lessons flow naturally from it as we observe and discuss what fits us for the moment, not what the authors wanted to "tease out" to try to cover art/music/history/nutrition/astronomy/basketweaving all from one book. :D I know we could pick and choose what we wanted to cover from any story (and we did) but that left us doing very little!

 

Once I understood what they were getting at with FIAR, I was happy to just "row" books on my own, in bits and pieces as seemed fitting. For example if we got a book out of the library that seemed to attract my children's attention, we might try to reproduce the artistic style and discuss it's main theme, or for another book locate the places on a map and read more into an interesting part of it (say "lupines" from Miss Rumphius)... but that was it. Anything else, and too much at once, just had me and my kids rolling their eyes at the hokey-ness of it all.

 

When I want hokey and unnatural I give my kids workbooks. :lol:

[WeeBeaks]

I tried with my oldest. We ran into the problem that I'm poor at the artsy/craftsy/hands on stuff and my oldest at the time hated to read the same book over and over. He was all about the new and exciting.

[Chris in VA]

I needed a more chronological approach to history, and more help in planning than just "do this! How fun!" w/o any real directions on HOW to "do this! Have fun!."

 

I liked most of the books, tho.

 

I will say I think a lot of folks don't spend enough time with picture books when kiddos are little. We read chapter books out loud, way above dd's level, but we also mixed in classic picture books. I naturally read them more than once--but not with a book extension every.single.time.

[mystika1]

I hated turning good books into unnatural lessons.

 

When we read for example...The Story about Ping I found it very natural to study the Yantzee River and the culture of the people living there.(How people lived on the boats along the river) For science we studied ducks and my dd(then 5yo) had labeled the parts of the duck. She made a duck out of paper plates as a fun craft. I didn't find it forced..and my dd enjoyed and learned alot.

 

For "Papa Piccolo" my dd learned where Italy is located on the map.(She can still show me today)She also learned about Venice gondola races held each year. She learned about the color wheel for art and much more.

 

I hear a lot of people say that the lessons are forced. I just don't see it. I used Fiar like I currently use konos..as a tool to create a rich learning experience.

 

Penny

[sweetpea3829]

I can see how it might at times be very forced. And I can see that it would be a great tool to lead to more literacy-based activities from some great pieces of literature. Just because the FIAR lesson plans for a certain activity, doesn't mean you have to follow that specific plan. It seems like it would be easy to follow your own plans and use FIAR as a base for that.

 

I think I'm going to wait until after the holidays, when our lives settle down a bit. Hopefully by then, the bulk of house-building stuff will be complete and we can really focus on being settled and begin living our lives. Right now, we're still a bit in flux.

[Tracy]

So, do you really have to read the book five days in a row?

 

No, you don't have to read all five days. While we usually did read 5 days, there were some books that just didn't deserve all 5 days--usually because the lesson plans were not what we needed. Other weeks, we were sick or had a holiday or some other family crisis. It is better to move on than to try to finish all 5 days.

 

But you also have to take into consideration what you are doing with the book when you read it. Many of the lessons are what you might call, "interactive," in which you are looking for something as you read (e.g., vocabulary words, literary devices, art techniques, etc.) The interactive nature of a lesson makes it much more tolerable to read five days in a row. We did vocabulary words every week, so each day dd was looking for her vocabulary words as we read. I kept a list, and she loved going back through that list of words and remembering what book each one was from.

[twoxcell]

I have used or attempted to use Before Five In a Row, and FIAR book 3. I personally didn't really care for either. The book suggestions are ok, but many of them I had a hard time finding. The majority of the suggested activities we couldn't do or they were just would have gone over the kids heads. It was all to just too open ended and repetitive for my taste. I also prefer a cohesive study of history and science etc. My dc enjoyed listening to the stories, but reading the same short picture book 5 days in a row just seemed weird. My preschoolers do bring me the same books again and again but that is just spontaneous, for school time I like a bit more than that. With that said I know many people love this program and I don't want to offend anyone just share my thoughts.;)

[twoxcell]

Just wanted to add that my oldest was in K when we used FIAR vol. 3. I just tried BFIAR recently with my 3 year old.

[sweetpea3829]

I think I'm going to give it a try. I can't seem to find FIAR Holiday on Rainbow though. And Amazon has it used at a good price, but expensive new. Any suggestions where else to buy FIAR Holiday?

[Annie Laurie]

We loved FIAR as a book list, there are many great picture books, some quite long and great preparation for chapter books. I enjoyed reading them to the kids. But the guides never worked for me. Like someone else already said, it felt forced to do projects and have lessons based on one small element of the book. I consider FIAR a great book list for preschool and early elementary. And I do think that some phonics, fun math, and lots and lots of stories is plenty for early elementary.

[lorrainejmc]

I think I'm going to give it a try. I can't seem to find FIAR Holiday on Rainbow though. And Amazon has it used at a good price, but expensive new. Any suggestions where else to buy FIAR Holiday?

 

I may be wrong but I *think* FIAR holiday is now only available as a download.....

 

I just checked their website and yes, download only and not as a complete book either. You buy in 2 month chunks for $6 each, except for November and December which are sold singly. It isn't like the main curriculum either.

 

I love FIAR but you asking those who didn't like it. These are the things I don't like:

 

Digital products have no samples available and are generally considered to be poor.

The manuals are never updated and many books are now out of print.

Some of the lessons are only vaguely related to the story, as in a PP's comment about studying fruit because a character was eating an orange.:lol:

 

Then here's what I do like:

 

The kids and I remember what we have learned much better and have those "cosy on the couch" memories.

The stories become like old friends and are requested often, especially ones that remind them of "this time last year"

You can do as much or as little as you like, depending on what else is happening that week.

You quickly learn to apply the FIAR method to other books, we have "rowed" many non FIAR books.

 

Finally, I tweaked FIAR a lot, mainly because my eldest was on the upper end of the age range. We often took 2 weeks or more and used several add on books for science, history and even additional fiction. We added crafts/cooking that I had come up with myself and field trips where possible. I never used the math or LA lessons, except for vocabulary.

 

Actually, we are going back to some variation of FIAR.:o My oldest will be 10 next month and she also does Apologia independently so this is an add on for her. I have 2 younger boys. We are just a unit study type of family and I love planning activities and organizing trips. I also love the freedom to have a quiet week now and again while just covering the basics if we need to. I become stressed if we fall behind in a curriculum that is scheduled for 36 weeks. We tried SOTW and even Sonlight once but not having to choose my own activities and add on books left me feeling bored. I have started a few threads this school year already about this. FIAR/unit studies keeps me excited about homeschooling all year long, because I don't plan too far ahead. I am always looking out for the next interesting topic.:D

Edited October 22, 2011 by lorrainejmc

[ShellChelle]

I used FIAR last year with my son. We would only row the book for about 3-4 days and do a cooking project on the 5th day without re-reading the book. That worked well for us. On day one, I would read the entire book. Day two, we took turns reading, days 3 and 4 DS would try to read the book to me. He is not a strong reader.

 

We only used it for reading/lit last year. I really don't find that it is strong enough as a stand-alone curriculum at all.

 

I shelved FIAR this year, until just this week when DS asked if we could do a FIAR booK! Even at 8-years-old, he still enjoys the picture books and prefers them to chapter books. I let him choose, and he picked out The Story About Ping (again)!

[2squared]

Popping in to say thanks for this thread! It prompted me to dustd off my FIAR manuals and start rowing (again) this week with my clan. All four of the olders loved it, and they all got something out of the lessons. It was fun to see how they grasped the topics at the different levels.

 

I do have to say that there seems to be something magical about reading the book for 5 days in a row. For my clan, the lessons really come together and are cemented in the last day or two. My olders are sharing their memories of rowing when they were 3yo & 5yo, the same ages as my #3 and #4. So sweet!

 

This time I am committed to keeping it simple. The magic in the program (for us) is the simplicity.

 

Good luck to the OP!! :grouphug:

[Joyoflearning]

I have used or attempted to use Before Five In a Row, and FIAR book 3. I personally didn't really care for either. The book suggestions are ok, but many of them I had a hard time finding. The majority of the suggested activities we couldn't do or they were just would have gone over the kids heads. It was all to just too open ended and repetitive for my taste. I also prefer a cohesive study of history and science etc. My dc enjoyed listening to the stories, but reading the same short picture book 5 days in a row just seemed weird. My preschoolers do bring me the same books again and again but that is just spontaneous, for school time I like a bit more than that. With that said I know many people love this program and I don't want to offend anyone just share my thoughts.;)

:iagree: I bought 3 volumes of FIAR before starting HOD. I had the same issues and couldn't bring myself to use it as a main curriculum. I think it might be fun to do them as a light something (in a tweaked format) with the cookbook over the Holidays when we take a break from our core curriculum.

[veggiegal]

I hope FIAR is a good fit for your family. Here, it didn't work as intended (though it was great as a reading list, and put us on to several excellent books I am not sure we would have otherwise come across), and reading through everyone's posts, I think I know why:

 

1 - My oldest was a very early reader. So we'd get the FIAR books from the library, and he's often snag them and read them before I did the read-aloud, and then if he enjoyed them he'd read them again as much as he chose. But he did not like ME reading aloud to him over and over.

 

2 - The 'breadth and depth' of the program was backwards to my son's way of doing things. FIAR does one book in depth, and the breadth comes from tying that book into lots of different activities / subject areas. My son's way of being in the world--and mine too, to be honest--is to focus on one topic in depth, and read a breadth of books on the subject.

 

But like I said, every family is different and I hope it is a good fit for you. If not, tweak! That's what we did, and we enjoyed most of the FIAR books and even did some of the activities. Have fun!

[threeturn]

I am not going to be any help to the OP because we love FIAR. If there is a day we don't feel like reading the book (rare) we just open it to the part we are talking about. I would pick and choose the topics from the manual that made the most sense and we always supplemented with extra activities, math, writing, reading and other language arts.

 

lorrainejmc - I could have written your post above. I went with open and go curriculum this year to "get serious." I have been bored out of my mind and feeling like I have to stick to that schedule. So as of Monday we are back to unit studies (trains next week because we are going to ride Thomas next weekend). I am having fun planning and I know they are going to learn tons next week. And if I need some time off from planning, we will just stick to the basics for a week or two.

 

Some things we are going to add that we did not do last year in K are a history timeline (using the one from Guesthollow) and narrations of the picture book selection and non-fiction go along books. I can't wait until Monday and I feel so free since I made this decision last week.

 

Pam

[Joyoflearning]

I hope FIAR is a good fit for your family. Here, it didn't work as intended (though it was great as a reading list, and put us on to several excellent books I am not sure we would have otherwise come across), and reading through everyone's posts, I think I know why:

 

1 - My oldest was a very early reader. So we'd get the FIAR books from the library, and he's often snag them and read them before I did the read-aloud, and then if he enjoyed them he'd read them again as much as he chose. But he did not like ME reading aloud to him over and over.

 

2 - The 'breadth and depth' of the program was backwards to my son's way of doing things. FIAR does one book in depth, and the breadth comes from tying that book into lots of different activities / subject areas. My son's way of being in the world--and mine too, to be honest--is to focus on one topic in depth, and read a breadth of books on the subject.

 

But like I said, every family is different and I hope it is a good fit for you. If not, tweak! That's what we did, and we enjoyed most of the FIAR books and even did some of the activities. Have fun!

 

This was also us

[sweetpea3829]

I hope FIAR is a good fit for your family. Here, it didn't work as intended (though it was great as a reading list, and put us on to several excellent books I am not sure we would have otherwise come across), and reading through everyone's posts, I think I know why:

 

1 - My oldest was a very early reader. So we'd get the FIAR books from the library, and he's often snag them and read them before I did the read-aloud, and then if he enjoyed them he'd read them again as much as he chose. But he did not like ME reading aloud to him over and over.

 

2 - The 'breadth and depth' of the program was backwards to my son's way of doing things. FIAR does one book in depth, and the breadth comes from tying that book into lots of different activities / subject areas. My son's way of being in the world--and mine too, to be honest--is to focus on one topic in depth, and read a breadth of books on the subject.

 

But like I said, every family is different and I hope it is a good fit for you. If not, tweak! That's what we did, and we enjoyed most of the FIAR books and even did some of the activities. Have fun!

 

Actually, this is one of the reasons I've been hesitant to buy the program (though I did buy last night...lol). Like you, I prefer to choose one topic, study it in depth and read a breadth of books on the subject.

 

That said...I think FIAR will lend itself pretty easily to doing it that way anyways. I can take a book...Ping, for example, and study a topic from the book in depth and then incorporate a bunch of other books that tie in and relate.

 

But...that's a lot of extra legwork and I'm trying to stay away from that this year. I know I just don't have the time and will burn out easily.

 

So we'll see how it goes. I really do love the literacy approach this program takes. I could see adapting this to different grade levels and with chapter books, so on and so forth. We'll see...can't wait for it to arrive!

[basschick]

I didn't read all the replies (okay...I didn't read any of them...) but FIAR did not work for us because my boys found the repetition boring. They didn't like reading the same story 5 days in a row and they didn't like talking about the same story 5 days in a row either. Of all the curriculum I have used for my kids, FIAR was the most disliked, which surprised me. Too much repetition. My boys love the books they use though, just not every day for a week.

[Susie in MS]

 

lorrainejmc - I could have written your post above.

 

Pam

 

I could have too! and it is good to know that I am not alone. I actually enjoy making plans according to my child's interest and abilities. :D

[Susie in MS]

That said...I think FIAR will lend itself pretty easily to doing it that way anyways. I can take a book...Ping, for example, and study a topic from the book in depth and then incorporate a bunch of other books that tie in and relate.

 

But...that's a lot of extra legwork and I'm trying to stay away from that this year. I know I just don't have the time and will burn out easily.

 

 

 

There are actually a lot of us that do this very thing and truly enjoy it. But like you said you can burn out if you have too many other irons in the fire of life. The good thing is this: when you are overwhelmed with life and its responsibilities row a simple book that will not take much of your time. But when you have extra time and you want to delve grab a book that you can spend more effort on.

 

A few weeks ago we spent 3 weeks on Zarafa cuz we wanted to study Egypt, Joseph and the Plagues (this was all extra). We did extra hands on projects and dd made a poster with the plagues on it. But then when I was too busy to search for extras we rowed Lentil. Sweet story and learned about taste buds and did a project with lemon juice. Of course we did more than just that, but it was all simple. I think we rowed that one for only 4 days.

 

Another thing that has helped me tremendously (no matter what curriculum I have used over the years) is to do the next thing next. I don't look at a schedule that says Mon do such and thus and Tue do the other, etc. It is day 1 and day 2, etc. So it doesn't matter when little Jimmie gets sick and we can't do school. Our schedule is not ruined and we don't have to play catch-up. We will just pick up where we left off no matter what day that falls on. :D

 

Which vol of FIAR did you get? Just curious.

[honeymommy4]

We are using this now and it is our second time after using it then selling it, now having it again!

 

I think the main reason for me the first time was burn out. Also this time around if I am not careful I want to do everything in the book and get burned out. My kids are all little, under age 8. So it IS all about the planning. I am trying to pick and choose the activities we'll like best. Also I DON't do them in order. I get out a few books at a time, related books or also books of the same author. Make a few weeks' plans at once (because the wheels are already turning) and then decide the week before which one we'll do. I do some of the suggested activities and then others I think of myself or modify what is in the guide.

 

Also, some of the stories won't be a favorite. maybe for my older boys they are too girly, etc. So we'll not focus on those so much. We are only doing FIAR as a supplement to our 3 R's and doing it 3 days a week. I think it works best if we do the big cooking project by itself, then a day for art, a day for science... a little discussion after reading the book each day - choosing out of the guide what to discuss. but only reading the book 3 times.

 

And we, too just plan Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and can do them in any order. I am trying to be VERY flexible because these TYPES of books are dear to my heart!! and I want this program to work for us!

 

it's working I just have to be really careful of the burn out! ;)

Edited October 24, 2011 by honeymommy4

[sweetpea3829]

Susie, I bought Vol. 1, the Christian supplement and I'm really trying to find the Holiday edition without spending gobs of money (and I don't want to buy the digital edition).

 

If I can get a list of the holiday books, I might just row them myself. I love holiday books and there's so much that can be explored with holiday studies.

 

LOL, I had planned on holding off on formerly starting until Jan. But I think I may end up starting sooner than that.

 

And I like the idea of doing Day 1, Day 2, etc.

 

I use to be a school teacher and it's really really hard to get out of the frame of mind of, "on monday we do this, on tuesday we do that, you are 5 and so you should be able to do this, etc."

 

I homeschool because I want my kids to view learning as a lifelong process...not something they do M-F, Sept-June and from ages 5-18.

[Susie in MS]

Susie, I bought Vol. 1, the Christian supplement and I'm really trying to find the Holiday edition without spending gobs of money (and I don't want to buy the digital edition).

 

If I can get a list of the holiday books, I might just row them myself. I love holiday books and there's so much that can be explored with holiday studies.

 

LOL, I had planned on holding off on formerly starting until Jan. But I think I may end up starting sooner than that.

 

And I like the idea of doing Day 1, Day 2, etc.

 

I use to be a school teacher and it's really really hard to get out of the frame of mind of, "on monday we do this, on tuesday we do that, you are 5 and so you should be able to do this, etc."

 

I homeschool because I want my kids to view learning as a lifelong process...not something they do M-F, Sept-June and from ages 5-18.

 

I am with you about buying digital editions. I just don't like that at all. I have bought e-books, but it is not my preference. I hope you can find the holiday vol. I have never seen it in person, but I have seen it for sale here and at vegsource in the past. Also at ebay, but they have a tendency to go for big bucks there.

 

The only teaching I have ever done other than with my own kids was in Sunday School, yet it still took me time to get past Monday-Friday scheduling. I really like your last sentence!

[3peasinapod]

I couldn't read the books so many times in a row. The girls got bored and wanted a new story, even when they were young. Also, it wasn't structured enough for me. I needed something to lay out with more specifics.

[threeturn]

If I can get a list of the holiday books, I might just row them myself. I love holiday books and there's so much that can be explored with holiday studies.

 

Just wanted to let you know that the holiday FIAR manuals do not include books to row. There are simply ideas in there for the holidays. They are OK, but not knock your socks off. If you are looking for holiday picture books to row http://www.homeschoolshare.com has some good ones.