Is Five in a Row considered "Classical?"

[MitchellMom]

Many people have suggested Five in a Row for me to use with my 4.5 year old daughter. However, Cathy Duffy's book says it is not "Classical" curriculum. Is this true?...

 

Thank you!

[chiguirre]

The WTM cycles don't start until 1st grade, so using FIAR in K doesn't conflict with the WTM recommendations. As you go along, you'll find you may need to adapt the WTM to your family's particular situation. There are very few long term WTMers who follow it completely. Lots of people start out following the recommendations in the WTM and then discover that they prefer to use a more Charlotte Mason style or that they love a preplanned program like Sonlight or that they need to focus more on a few essential subjects like Latin Centered Curriculum. There are lots of ways to do classical education and there are other styles of hsing that are also quite rigorous.

 

In the meantime, use FIAR if it appeals to you, you truly can't go wrong with a lot of great picture books and fun, age appropriate introductions to geography, science, art appreciation and literary analysis. If it doesn't appeal to you, take a look at the Ambleside Year 0 list or Sonlights PK programs to get some ideas for read-alouds. They're all very good programs and you don't even have to pick just one. We've done SL PK and are almost finished with K, rowed 48 FIAR books and read through a lot of the Year 0 selections. As a result, my kids love books and are excited about learning. That's really the goal for history and science studies in the early years. I've also figured out the organization that works best for us in content subjects. That was probably the most important outcome of the last 2.5 years of hsing. But it took me that long to find a way to study the WTM cycles in a way that would flow naturally in our home. Hsing is a work in progress and you'll almost always have something you want to improve.

[prairiegirl]

FIAR is not classical. It is termed more of a literature-based unit study. Many people (classical or not) use FIAR as a beginning step to learning. We used FIAR with my oldest for K. I have many warm, fuzzy memories of those times.

[Pamela H in Texas]

We enjoyed FIAR years ago. If I had another child (or set of kids), I would definitely use FIAR.

[Free Indeed]

No, it is not classical, but WTM is not the only version of classical out there. It is great, but we more use the outline at http://www.triviumpursuit.com . I love FIAR and have used it for the past 8 years with varying children.

[katilac]

imo, the term 'classical education' can't really be used in the context of pre-school education - - it's not that FIAR is or isn't classical, it just doesn't apply, kwim?

 

it's literature-based, so in that sense certainly fits into the spirit of WTM.

[The Governess]

TWTM recommendations for ages 4 and 5 (kindergarten) only cover reading, writing, and math. Reading includes teaching your child to read (if they are ready) and a lot of read-alouds. They give a couple recommendations for science but don't stress its importance at this age. So if you really wanted to follow the classical method exactly, you would just stop there.

 

I use FIAR because it helps satisfy the read-aloud recommendations for kindergarten and it provides some "extra" activities that my dd enjoys doing just for fun, in addition to the three Rs. Also, I found that once my dd was reading well, she was really wanting something else to do beyond just 30 minutes of phonics, handwriting, and math work, and FIAR gives us a lot of choices. If you would like to see what a typical week's activities look like, read this entry in my blog.

 

So, I guess the answer to your question is that FIAR is a complement to the classical kindergarten curriculum, rather than a replacement.

[Testimony]

Five in a Row is a unit study.

 

The book recommendations for FIAR are excellent. So many people that I know use this program. It recommends classic stories like the Story of Ping, Caps for Sale, and The Red Coat. The art work in all of these books is masterpieces. The books are well written. The sentences are rich that you could get some good copywork sentences. Good authors, well drawn pictures, and classics to remember always. We did great geography lessons, etc.

 

I found it to be a great way to get my children to love books. I never have to fight with my children when it comes to the library.

 

Blessing in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Alice]

We also use FIAR for preschool and K. I haven't gotten past that yet but my thought is I won't use it past K. I think it's a great program but I don't really want to do the unit study approach past the early years. FIAR itself is written for up to 8 yrs old and would be considere a unit study curriculum.

 

We are loving it right now!

[Jenn Robinson]

We love FIAR here and have been doing it along side the WTM for years! We have done all 3 volumes and when we get Vol 4 we will use it every once in a while as we do WTM.

 

It may not be labeled "classical" but it is great! It can fit along with classical education very well. You can check out the FIAR forums too for more info!