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Patty
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We're a long-time homeschooling family but this year I want to use Five in a Row with our youngest, who is five years old. I've never used FIAR. Any suggestions/advice from those who have used this already? Did you really read the book for five days in a row? I am wondering whether my 5yo will look at me funny, and want a different book by the end of the week.  How many of the suggested activities did you actually end up doing? Do you give FIAR a thumbs up or thumbs down?
Patty
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Cheryl
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I just started using FIAR last year with my ds 6 and I give it a thumbs up! My ds 4 sat through many of the books too. We read them 4x because we homeschool monday-thursday. They didn't mind the same book all week. I tried to do only one suggestion for each subject, but many times I also used ideas that went along with the suggestion from the archives on the FIAR message board (which is awesome by the way.) Sometimes I ended up doing a mini-unit study. For example, when we did Owl Moon, I think there were ideas for owls or the moon or animal tracking in the science section. I just picked owls and went with it. We read other books about owls, had owl snacks, and dissected an owl pellet. Maybe someday we'll read it again and do the moon instead. I try to choose the ideas that I think my children will be interested in and keep it simple because my kids are young and there will be plenty of time for them to learn more about each subject when they are older.
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Cheryl
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Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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Elizabeth
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Patty,
We read the books five times and sometimes more but we read other books too (usually along the same theme). And if they protest, we only read it once. That's pretty rare though--the books are keepers and my children really do enjoy hearing them again and again. We don't sit down and make it all formal and "school-y" though. I usually read them at bedtime. Then, if I need the book for an activity during the day, I'll pull it out again.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Patty
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Thanks for sharing what you did, Cheryl and Elizabeth. A couple more questions: did you plan ahead very far? Elizabeth, you made it sound as though you did not, but just kept it very informal. Or maybe you had plans but were very flexible about them. But...it must take at least a bit of planning to have the right books and materials on hand. (For instance, I don't happen to have owl pellets lying around! )
Also, did you do any kind of documentation of what you were learning, such as notebooking or lapbooking? I thought making a lapbook or a couple notebook pages on each book we "rowed" would be fun, and then my 5yo could enjoy looking back over what we've done in FIAR.
Cheryl, thanks for mentioning the FIAR message board. I'll have to check that out.
Patty
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Elizabeth
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Patty,
I do plan and I am flexible. I start with a FIAr skeleton and add other books and activities. If you scroll through the Rabbit Trails forum, you'll see some examples of FIAR books we've done (Ping I know is there) and you'll see some FIAR-type units with other picture books. Last year, we lapbooked picture book units and notebooks some religion ones.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Cay Gibson
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Patty,
I've used FIAR for years and have all the FIAR volumes. There are still some books we haven't rowed yet. And there are books we've *rowed* that are not in the manuals. FIAr really gives you the feel for living a literary lifestyle. AFter rowing a book FIAR-style, you'll never read a book the same way again. 
I did a FIAR Circle with our co-op group this past year. My plans are sadly not up-to[date because it's too time-consuming to keep adding to the website. I also find it much easier to row with just my dc than with a group. If you do it with a group, please keep it simple. 
I believe someone here has done a much better job than I have. Is it Amie? I'll have to do a search to find her website. It's great one!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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momwise
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| I believe someone here has done a much better job than I have. Is it Amie? I'll have to do a search to find her website. It's great one! |
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Hi Cay!
Here it is.
I'm writing a unit for Faraway Home that will appear in Sept.
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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TracyQ
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I'm writing a unit for All Those Places to Love for September too. Better get a move on!  \
We used FIAR for years too, in fact, I worked for the Lamberts (Jane is the author) for years moderating on their message boards.
It's very easy to overplan for FIAR. I think it's very natural for rabbit trails to happen with FIAR, but a book can go into a month, rather than a week. I think it's good sometimes to take rabbit trails, but it can throw you off track too. So creating a balance, and allowing longer times for a couple of really wonderful books is a great idea, then for us, sticking to the plan was a better idea for most of the time.
I tried to plan several activities a day while studying one subject. It really is dependent on the ages/levels of your child(ren) though.
Just remember that overplanning can cause stress, but using FIAR itself is a HUGE blessing, and is the main resource that brought us into a literary lifestyle of learning.
Hope this helps!
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Elizabeth
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Just another thought: I used FIAR with all my children from two to twelve last year. Of course, that did require going beyond the plans in the Volumes and including other books in order to make the subject matter work for the older kids. It was impossible for me to over-plan. I didn't do everything with everyone, but I did include choices for everyone. That way, probably all the activities or ideas were visited but some were only for one child. When you are talking about 6 kids of all different ages, abilities, and interests, all springing from the same great picture book, the plans will look different than they will for someone who is planning for one child or two or three who are close in age. And while the actual FIAR picture book can be enjoyed by all (even Grandad), we do need to expand if we are going to use it as part of a family unit study.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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TracyQ
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Oh good point, Elizabeth! Absolutely! Using it with those ages, yes, one would have to really add more, and do much more, and keep it age appropriate to each child!
It really is a GREAT resource to use with many children. I want to *row* a few books this year for fun if I can.
Tracy
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Cheryl
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Patty,
I made a rough outline for the year that includes about 2 books a month. It will be flexible because, as others have said, you don't know exactly how long you'll spend with a book. I usually plan about 2 or weeks ahead so I can make sure I get what I need from the library or elsewhere. For example, I'm going to start the year with Madeline. After that I plan on rowing The Giraffe That Walked to Paris. I'll probably decide what books I'll use for both in the next two weeks and I'll decide what activities or topics we'll try to do for Madeline. Then during the Madeline week, I'll plan out the Giraffe week(s). And I'll choose the next books to get from the library for whatever we'll row after the giraffe. That's the plan anyway.
Lapbooks and notebooks....
I did two lapbooks last year (Eric Carle/insects and rainforests) that went along with non-FIAR units we did. I haven't done any notebooking. Many times last year I took pictures of things we did while rowing a FIAR book. I plan on putting these in a scrapbook where I'll journal about FIAR. This year I'll probably do a couple of lapbooks again for bigger units. Possibly for Jan Brett and I'd like to do a big ocean study in the spring. For FIAR books, I think your idea of pages in a notebook is a great one. I may try it or just stick with my scrapbook. I think it is fun for the kids to look back at what they did.
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Cheryl
Wife to Bob ('97)
Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: First Time FIAR User
