Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Mary G
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Posted: May 16 2006 at 5:16am | IP Logged Quote Mary G
Erin,

Ami's units are very FIAR-like without the cost of the volumes. I have volumes 1 & 2 and I don't use them much. But if I find a fun book at the library or bookstore I check and see if Ami's got a unit on it. As a matter of fact, if you'd like them I'd be happy to send them to you (I'll need to find them in our stahsh of books here at MIL's )

I guess I'm trying to say, put the horse before the cart and use Ami. At first I was a big fan of FIAR, especially since it was all done, but I found it constricting and we'd often go off on rabbit trails of our own and not use much of the FIAR.....

I'd save my money to buy the good books...

Just my $.02!

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Elizabeth
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Posted: May 16 2006 at 6:01am | IP Logged Quote Elizabeth
If I can just tag along to Mary's comments: For those of us who are ancient, FIAR had a very distinct purpose. It was a book of literature-based unit study at a time when most homeschooling resources were textbooky, workbooky re-creations of school materials. Mrs. Lambert encouraged a gentle approach to learning with a heavy emphasis on snuggling. She said it was okay to let the book drive the curriculum. And she has a knack for choosing lovely, worthy books. So, we bought the volumes and settled in with the good books.

We're pretty bright learners ourselves though, and once given a leg up by Mrs. Lambert, we discovered we really could fly. We knew our kids well and we knew what to do with that book. We deviated from the lesson plans again and again, still knowing they were there whenever we needed a jumpstart.

But today's moms who are educating at home don't necessarily need FIAR. The vast resources available now replicate the philosophy behind FIAR, take it to even better places, and can cost nothing. I'm still very Fired Up about the idea behind FIAR--the idea that you can take a great book and make it into an entire education. But I'm very realistic about the limitations of the resource itself.

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TracyQ
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Posted: June 05 2006 at 8:01pm | IP Logged Quote TracyQ
Excellent words, Elizabeth! I do think FIAR is a wonderful resource, especially for those beginning on the journey of homeschooling. I'll be forever grateful for it, as it's what jumpstarted our lifetime of loving literature and learning.

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