Pastor's Wife Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I'm trying to decide between using FIAR or Peak with Books with my preschooler next year. He loves to listen to books. I've read book suggestions from Honey for a Child's Heart this year. We've done a few lapbooks this year that I've downloaded from the Internet. I'm wanting something more structured for him next year. I'm interested in FIAR or Peak with Books. For those who have used either of these curricula, what was your favorite and least favorite thing about it? Has anyone used both to really compare them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) I've only used BFIAR and Peak With Books, but I have a good handle on how FIAR works. I can say I prefer PWB as it's excellent in its content and doesn't try to spread itself too thin. FIAR includes math and other stuff and sometimes feels contrived. We enjoyed PWB with ds, and I'm looking forward to doing it again this Fall with dd. I run our little school in a Charlotte Mason way, and with its poetry and living books I only need to minimally adapt PWB to what we do in K. Dd is very artsy and likes to write, so I anticipate using more of the hands-activities this time. Edited February 23, 2012 by sagira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in GA Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Don't know anything about PWB, but we used FIAR for two years. I would highly suggest that anyone using FIAR get some of the free printables on homeschoolshare.com. Also, go to the FIAR message boards and look up the archives for each book -- people have lots of interesting ideas there. We really enjoyed our time doing FIAR, but I think I would have bored with it if all we did was the manual itself. I was also sometimes shocked at how "light" the lesson for the day was, especially if you were using it for a second or third grader! Pantomiming scenes from a picture book and discussing alliteration, while great, is absolutely not enough third grade Language Arts for a week , IMO! (and yes, they claim it's for kindergarten through third grade.) I was always impressed with FIAR's art lessons. And my girls have very fond memories of the books we read together. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 We used FIAR when Ariel was 4. Favorite parts: Beautiful picture books and excellent art lessons. Ariel also enjoyed the science lessons. Least favorite parts: some activities felt like they were stretching for something to do, like most of the math was things like counting stars or fenceposts, which was fine for Pre-K or K, but you'd still need a separate math curriculum for kindergarten and up. We skipped the math lesson most weeks and did an extra day of one of the other subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 We use BFIAR and FIAR but in a much looser way than perhaps it is intended. I just use it to give us a little structure. Mostly we read books that go along with the FIAR book. I use the manual and the FIAR message board archives to get other ideas. With my oldest we did a lot of science, with my second son we typically do an art project to go along. I like FIAR because it is very flexible and it's fairly cheap. I found most of the books at the library or have been able to buy them very cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadsandLilysMom Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I can not comment on PWB, but adore FIAR. Every morning we do our memory work and then cuddle up on the couch for an hour. We start our day with our FIAR book, a discussion and then read one or two go-along books. I try to incorporate the art projects and other hands on activities for the books as well. I have all the books for Volumes 1-4 on my HS literature bookshelf and we skip around because I align them with our world geography studies. I do not use FIAR as a full curriculum. The math is almost non-existant and very, very simple. Science is very hit or miss. I do love the discussions though. We love looking at the details in the pictures and talking about the stories. I have a giant world map in our hallway and every week we add a new story disk. We love to look at where we have traveled and remember the activities we have done. My little one still sings her "Night of the Moonjellies" song she made up last summer when she was 3. FIAR has created many wonderful memories for us. We have thousands of books in our house, but all of the FIAR books that we have rowed have a very special spot on the one shelf. After we finish rowing the book it moves to the designated spot. They have become treasured favorites and we revisit them often. FIAR has taught all of us how to look at a picture book on a deeper level. It has helped my girls learn how to build connections. It has helped us have great discussions about wonderful stories. I plan to continue the program even when we run our of actual FIAR books as long as I have two willing students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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