400 Things: School Week: Five in a Row

Today is the final installment of school week. You can also go back and read about Sonlight, Math, Bible, Language Arts, and Science. Come back on Saturday to read about a real day at our house!

Five in a Row is my pick for preschool and younger elementary students. It is such an easy, friendly, and fun program, and it's relatively inexpensive, especially if you use the library. I generally purchase the books used, either on Amazon or at a used bookstore. If our local library carries any of the books, I don't purchase those.

Here's how it works: Each week you use one title from the FIAR book list. You read the book once each day for the entire week. Every day you will focus on a different aspect of the story, such as art, history, science, geography, and so on. The repetition helps to reinforce those lessons. Maps and other resources can be used if Mom chooses.

We currently go back and forth between Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row, Volume 1.

Before FIAR is geared to ages 2-4, and Volume 1 is geared to ages 4-8. I am doing FIAR with my boys, ages 2 and 5, and I used to do it with my girls. Now that we are re-reading some of the books, my girls will sometimes join us on the couch because they fondly remember the story!

I use FIAR two different ways. If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll prepare lapbooks, field trips, and other activities to accompany our study. If I'm extra busy (like with a new baby!), we simply read the book each day and discuss different subjects from the FIAR manual. It really is that easy. Some great discussions have arisen with my little ones from this study.

In our day, I typically try to do FIAR (or any schooling with the little kids) first thing in the morning while the big kids are doing their independent studies (LA, math, reading). This works for us because the kids have their mommy-fix and are able to run off and play for awhile when it's time for me to help the big kids. You can see the other ways I handle little kids while the big kids are having school here.

If you are interested in labooking, Homeschool Share has an entire section of Five in a Row lapbook printables (free!).

Click here to see some of our past Five in a Row studies.