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To FIAR or not to FIAR?
- This topic has 9 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by
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Hello 🙂 My first post here 🙂 I have a four year old and this upcoming year I want to do a “year 0” … Nothing too intense but something with a minimally amount of structure. She is beyond ready but I don’t want to do anything too pushy, rather I am just looking for 30 minutes or so a day of activities as I think she would really enjoy it and it might help ease our transition over the next few years. I initially thought I would do Five in a Row. I love the literature, the cooking guide to go with it, and the different activities (and blogs I have been reading about it) make it sound so fun! I also love the idea of her being introduced to different countries with the map. However, I have been reading a lot of Charlotte Mason’s original work and other websites and I am starting to feel like FIAR doesn’t really align with her philosophy so much. I initially thought: good quality literature! It’s CM! But as I continue to read I realize that FIAR has you “make the connections” for the child, it’s a unit study, and the activities are really of the “useless craft” variety rather than the handiwork variety CM recommends. As I have reflected on this I’ve considered just starting some of the enriching activities (music, poetry, art, folk songs, etc…) in lieu of any curriculum. Either way we go, we will be having lots of outside time, reading good literature, listening to music, and focusing on habit training. Part of me thinks we should just go with option B (add some poetry, art, etc…) but part of me feels like FIAR might be very fun for my daughter and introduce her to so many different places, etc … But on the other hand I wonder if it doesn’t detract from our long term goals of using CM philosophy? I feel like I am rambling but hopefully you ladies will have some thoughts! Thanks! =)
I loved the pre-school version of FIAR. The activities for that one are not useless crafts. They are fun
For example, there is an animal classification game that starts with Blueberries for Sal and as you read about more animals in the other books, you can add them to the game. With The Big Green Pocketbook, activities include things like discussing manners, riding a bus for fun and discussing shapes/looking for shapes in the book. You pick which activities to do out of the many suggestions in the book. It’s really gentle and just fun stuff to do with a preschooler.
I highly recommend FIAR, especially if you are the type that likes to do crafts and activities with your daughter. It is a great program. I did it with my 6YO and 5YO this year and we enjoyed it.
Don’t skip it just because it doesn’t follow CM to the letter! There are so many activities to do and memories to be made. I wouldn’t dwell on the “handicraft” aspect. How many handicrafts are a 4YO really going to do? At that age kids are really still developing their fine motor skills, and many of the FIAR activities are geared for that.
Oh, and FIAR is short each day. You could do that and Option B; or use FIAR for the first half of they year and do Option B the second half.
I agree! I’ve used Before Five in a Row — it was one of the first resources I used when my oldest children were small — and we developed many good book friends and special memories! I like how the first portion goes through the books and the ideas to use with them, and the second portion is full of ideas of simple, fun and loving things to do with your young children. There are many more ideas than I’ve used, and I find myself going back to it again and again for ideas and inspiration, even though I haven’t used it in a structured way with my (new) younger children.
I think it’s a great program. I think the crafts/art lessons are CM friendly…what tends to be busy work are the extras that many moms add in. The lessons in the teacher’s manual itself are very good. I remember lessons on how to draw water, crosshatching, painting with watercolors, etc. The “extras” you find on Pinterest tend to be much less inspiring.
Has anyone used Before FIAR with a 3-4 yr. old? They say it’s for 2-4…my son will be 3 on Sept 3rd. I was pondering buying it but, wanted to hear what other CM’rs say.
Thanks. I’m thinking I want to somehow involve my 7 yr old in it too. Maybe have her read some of the books and join in on any activities. So many things I wish I knew about earlier on.
I’m going to use FIAR booklists for ds5 for his coming K year. I love the books! We won’t do full on unit study, but use it as a simple framework (of good books) for our studies.
We have used the FIAR lists as Missceegee mentioned the last two years. I tried the unit studies guides and decided that they were more work on me than I wanted/needed it to be, so we use the books a bit differently. To each his own, you are teaching your own child, so take what works best for you!
IMO, ultimately, FIAR is not CM in philosophy or method, but it is still good program.
Either way you choose, the books are wonderful! And the gift of time spent with your child is priceless. 🙂
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