I love Five in a Row, I really do, but after rowing a few books and reading ahead for books that I could choose from I'm realizing this is probably a program for an older student. The suggested age is 4 to 8, so my children are definitely at the bottom of that scale, Miss 2 is below (she's along for the ride really). There is a Before Five in a Row manual and I'm wondering if I should have started with that one first...
I really only have one obstacle: the books are too long for Miss 4 & 2. Reading them each day before our lesson has proved to be a challenge. I've resorted to letting the girls just be in the room while I read. Hopefully they'll still retain a bit of the majesty, life-lessons, and beauty of story as they listen to it. After discussing this issue with my husband, considering their ages (but modifying the program a little), he suggested reading the book all the way through on Monday and Friday while only reading the parts that are important to our lesson during the other days. I'm going to try it. Next week we're rowing Ferdinand and if they struggle getting through it or complain about reading the book for a second, or third, or fourth time, we'll try that tactic to just read what's important for the lesson of the day. Thanks hubby, I was starting to get discouraged.
What's important to me as a homeschooling mother at this point is literature. I want my kids to love it. I want them to know the value of reading from good books. They should know how much can be learned from reading. That is my goal of homeschool for now: instill a love of learning through reading books.
Even though I felt a bit discouraged and thought that maybe my children are too young to be starting any sort of program or curriculum, I know that what they learn and experience, however small, means something. It means something to me as a mother to be teaching them. It means something to them as they have "school" each day with me. It means something to our day. It means something to our week. It means everything to our family. So onward we will go - Merrily Learning Along.
(((Hugs)))) I can understand and fully want to encourage you that if you still find it difficult, your 4 year old would LOVE Before Five in a Row, too! Some of the FIAR books are long for my 6 year old, so I can imagine the attention span.
ReplyDeleteI plan to use B4FIAR with my upcoming 3 year old and just the mention of some of the books out loud, my 6 yr old wanted to listen in, too.
I will keep you in prayer as you work out what is best for your family.
((((Alex))), sometimes it feels old for my two students were are 4 and 6! Your husband's suggestion is a good one! I hope it works out well for you.
ReplyDeleteI also want to encourage you that it is not too late to consider Before Five in a Row! I LOVED B4 and wouldn't miss it! I rowed B4 with a 3 and 5 year old and it was perfect! In fact, my dd just turned 5 and ds turns 7 next month and we WILL be rowing a title or two from B4 that we missed this year!
Thanks! I think we'll end up switching to B4. Instead of reading wonderful reviews of it from FIAR Moms, I read the reviews on Amazon, (which are usually pretty accurate in my opinion) but this time they were wrong. Most reviews said it was just better to start on FIAR and skip B4 and knowing I was going to use FIAR anyway, I figured why not? Until B4 gets here, we'll continue rowing FIAR because it's so much fun!
DeleteFound your blog via FIAR Blogroll-- Welcome!! : ) I hear your thoughts on FIAR; my son is 4.5 and we've been trekking along with FIAR books, but many are too long for him as well and/or some of the lessons are a bit too much for him. I think both your girls would love b4fiar! We may pick up a book or two as well soon! And if your girls aren't interested in the book, do as your hubby suggested (which is a great suggestion I'll use, too!) or just read a go-along instead. Enjoy!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.schooltimesnippets.blogspot.com