Soror Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I'm looking for a fun supplement for dd- 1st and dd 3.5 (turning 4 in Nov) to do together next year. They both LOVE picture books, crafts, drawing etc, although of course they are at different levels. DD 3 always wants to do stuff w/ us and her and dd are best buds so I'd like something that I could do them both together. Nature studies, songs, and fingerplays are all loved. I'm looking for about a 30 min a day activity maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I can speak about FIAR, but I don't have experience with Peak. I saw a sample on google books and it was not what I was looking for. If you haven't seen it maybe that will give you a feel for the program. Also there is a free FIAR unit you can try that goes with the book Ping. With FIAR you won't find hands on activities every day. The lessons (if done according to the manual) will not take longer than 30 mins. WIth FIAR you do 1 subject per day. ~~Day 1 will be social studies which can consist of character lessons, a tad bit of history, a geography lesson and placing a story disk on the map. ~~Day 2 you have language arts which can have things like vocab, list making, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc. ~~Day 3 has your art lessons so you will often find hands on these days. You can either point out the examples of certain techniques in the picture book or actually get out your art supplies and go at it. ~~Day 4 math. Sometimes you will find hands on like setting up a store, but usually you will find counting, days of the week, grouping, etc ~~Day 5 science. This often has hands on on this day. It can be anything from looking at the parts of a plant, dissecting owl pellets, learning the moon cycle or learning the food groups ( Melissa and Doug food works GREAT for this!). Try out the Ping unit if you like what you see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 We used Peak With Books many years ago, early on in my homeschooling experience..... Peak with Books matched my personality better than FIAR. The thought of reading the same book five days in a row still makes me shudder. PWB offered me easy ideas of how to enrich our experience with books and make it a little preschool-y. My kids were still quite young. After we finished Peak with Books I think we moved into Sonlight PK (with Janet's schedule from the yahoo group, if that tells you how long ago it was)..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I purchased both Sonlight and FIAR. I used FIAR when I first brought my son home in the middle of 2nd grade and we have fond memories of the remaining year of 2nd grade. I am using FIAR with my K'er this year. Some kids and parents either love or hate reading the book five days in a row. Although, it's not necessary to read it five. Sometimes we only read it 3-4 depending on the book and the week. My kids generally love hearing the stories over and over again. I have never seen Peak with Books so I am not able to offer any tips on that. Sorry. Just a fan of FIAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I enjoy FIAR and have used it for over a decade now. I don't read FIAR five times. But I do refer to it multiple times in the lessons. I probably read it 2-3 times a week pending which book it is. I didn't like peeks with books or the Caldecott one nearly as much as FIAR. I think I disliked them enough that I resold them the same year I bought them. I just didn't find them as engaging, thought they were rather preschoolish, and we're missing the meaty art of FIAR. Ymmv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 We used FIAR and Peak with Books, but...... I suggest an 'OR' :) Sounds like Picture Book Activities is what you are describing. We LOVED the activities!! Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 We are FIAR lovers and we have no problem reading the book five (or more!) times during our units. ;) I have no experience with Peak with Books or Teaching with Caldecotts. I blog about some of our FIAR adventures, if you wanted to check it out. Link is in my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 thank you for the thoughts. I need to look at some more at samples. At first glance PwB is not quite what I want. I have a friend that has FiAR I need to borrow it again to check it out. I didn't feel drawn to it at the time but I think it will be more suited to my girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 Craftyerin- I enjoyed checking out your blog to see some typical FIAR weeks. Wehave8- that book looks good as well, I think I'll see if I can get it ILL to check out. From a review it has: Before You Read, As You Read, Let's Talk About It, Arts and Crafts, Cooking and Baking, Fun and Games, Rhymes and Finger Plays, Fun and Games, Let's Pretend, Music and Movement, Play and Learn and Enrichment Activities I haven't seen much from FiAR about singing, finger plays and games such- does it have those type of suggestions as well? Or might it be worth it to have both on hand for the different activities in the overlapping books? I've read the PwB preview more and I don't like the format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 The BEFORE five in a row does have more of the preschooly finger plays and such. It's very different, tho good, from the FIAR volumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 Ah, well I guess that makes sense. I need to look at the books covered in the different FIAR volumes and BFIAR. I'll compare the FIAR w/ the Picture book activities as well. I like more of the "meat" that FIAR has but would like the more preschool activities as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg429 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 I have BFIAR, FIAR, PWBs and Picture Book Activities mentioned above. We love BFIAR/FIAR. We are using BFIAR and plan to move to FIAR for K. I love the gentle approach yet FIAR really is meaty and covers so much. PWBs I use as a supplement to get some ideas from, because there are several FIAR books included in PWBs. However, I don't use it as a standalone because it is more geared toward classroom teaching and less intimate than FIAR. We're looking for that personal touch for homeschooling. I really, really like Picture Book Activities. I also use it to grab ideas for BFIAR books, and I plan to do some units from this book in the future because I really like the selections and the ideas for preschool-aged kids. I would say BFIAR is the most gentle, then picture book activities for the preschool age, and FIAR is much more meaty for the school-aged child. I also blog about our adventures with BFIAR below. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 Thanks Meg for your info, I'll check out your blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 I haven't seen much from FiAR about singing, finger plays and games such- does it have those type of suggestions as well? Or might it be worth it to have both on hand for the different activities in the overlapping books? We used B4FIAR and I don't remember finger plays or singing. But you may be interested in Little Hands to Heaven. It uses a Bible story book, related Bible songs (we STILL listen to these all the time!), rhymes with finger plays, simple weekly craft, devotions. Be sure to click on the related books link on that page if you decide to check it out. I used this with my dd before we moved to B4FIAR and FIAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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