FIAR

Kathi, I think FIAR is a nice sweet thing to do with very young children.  We did Before FIAR with my youngest son once, and used FIAR as a supplement at times with my older ones.  It is nice, and I love the books!  I mean, I really, really love the books.  I read most of these lovely books to my children when they were young, even when we didn’t do all the activities.  There are a few things to consider in what to do, however.  Some may think differently, but I personally only felt it was worth it as a curriculum at young ages, maybe 4-7 or 8 years old max.  After that I really think kids need to be reading real books, not just picture books.  Also the gentle nature and the repetition work much better for this young age IMO.  Some kids LOVE the format, but after a certain time mine got so they did not want to reread the same book and do the same sorts of activities every time–they got bored and needed more content, more variety.  Cost-wise, you have to get not only the FIAR volume (Look for this used if cost is an issue) but also ALL those picture books.  Only about half were at my library, meaning I bought many, and at the time I did it, many were out of print and selling for really ridiculous prices—some $200!  I had a good homeschooling friend who for some reason was driven to get the entire set of books, and it took her seven years and something like $800.  Some have been reprinted since those early days I think, but it can still be pricey to get them all.  I do love those books, though.  Even though we are way past that age now, I’ve kept some of those books because I just can’t bear to let them go, even though I currently have no one to read them to.  (Anyone wanting to send littles over to Auntie Bookworm’s, just shoot me a PM, lol!!!)

We also loved BFIAR and FIAR.  We bought it at a time when $$ was very limited (ha! was?…)and used it with good success and limited resources.  I bought it used from a gal on craigslist for no more than $10.  I see FIAR and FIAR book titles at almost every used curriculum sale I go to.  This isn’t because people don’t use them, it’s because they use them when their children are younger, then pass them on later.  

Remember interlibrary loans.  You only need each book for a week or so, so this should give you plenty of time to use and return the book to your library.  Also, keep an eye out at antique stores!  We’ve seen a few titles there.  I even came across a couple of the titles (The Story About Ping, Blueberries for Sal, and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Engine) at used book sales hosted by libraries.  

I’ve recommended FIAR and BFIAR several times to people interested in using CM, but “not yet”.  That’s what we did; it’s a good intro, as you can customize the ideas to a CM philosophy.  Heck, you can customize it to almost any thing!  We’ve used it in conjuction with lapbooking among other things.  It helps that you don’t have to go in any order as far as the books are concerned; much like CM, you work with what you have.  I would even say that once you read the FIAR guide, you can apply the idea to almost any worthy (read CM-type-living-not-twaddly) children’s book. I’ve caught myself doing that many times.  

OH!  One good book to look for is Harper Collins Treasure of Picture Book Classics.  My FIL gave it to us several years ago, and it has several of the FIAR titles included.  (Caps for Sale, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Goodnight Moon, among other lovely titles.)

Hope that helps a bit. 

LilllyLou

PS, I should also mention that you can get the lists of the books from their web-site to keep with you when book browsing-my mom kept one in her wallet for 2 years!  Bless her heart…

We are currently using FIAR volume 1 and 2.  My children are 6 and 4.  We enjoy it very much.  I personally think the lessons are well organized, and you can choose only the ones you want to use.  I felt $35 was inexpensive compared to many curriculums available.  Each unit is based on a QUALITY children’s book and has lessons available for social studies, geography, history, language arts, ART, science, and applied math.  I emphasize art because that was the selling point for me.  My daughter loves arts and crafts.  She is regularly creating something.  FIAR has art lessons that help the child discuss the art techniques in the illustrations and then try them in their own creations.  This is a very general explanation of the curriculum, but it can be used with a variety of ages in a variety of ways.  Some moms prefer to use the lessons in a conversational way while others utilize worksheets and lapbooks from homeschoolshare.com or other FIAR moms.  There is a highly informative forum at the Five in a Row website if you want to know more from people who use it.

I include reading, writing, and math lessons daily for my 6 year old in addition to FIAR.  (as well as reading the Bible, singing hymns, and various other home life lessons – I’m sure I would spend time doing these things with my children even if I didn’t homeschool!)

I really enjoy FIAR with the girls.  I like being able to look at something and use my own words and teach them to be ready for more when we start school things like the narrations, etc.  The books are awesome and the guides were helpful and helped me to see more than I might have picked up on my own to share with the kids.  Rainbow Resources sells a FIAR kit with all the books that are available new for each volume.  I liked that because I knew the books were keepers and I didn’t have to wait for the books to be available on someone else’s schedule.  I can leave the books where the kids have access and they re-read them alot.  The manuals are $35.00, but for a years worth of science, art, social studies, language arts, etc… lessons, it is worth the price.  Especially since the cheapest used ones I found were $24.95.  I just keep my list handy when I am book shopping and I usually can find the books at yard sales, the used book store, the library, the library book sales, etc.  I use these books until my kids are ready for more formal schooling…and I enjoy the homeschoolshare.com resources, although I had to start picking my activities out of them or we get so involved in the activities we aren’t really paying attention to the actual book – that is my crafty loving side.  =)

I’ve used FIAR with all my boys beginning with my now 21yos.  He has very fond memories of those books.  It had just been released and was what really turned me on to living books.  In my lending library, I have FIAR totes for B4 through Vols. 1-3.   The totes include the main FIAR title along with go-along books for each topic in the guide.  So if a mom wants to do Ping, she checks out that tote and has her “school in a box” so to speak.  It’s a wonderful curriculum for young children.  I love it because it teaches them to look past the plot and see the details, a skill that transfers to other areas of life.