has anyone used Before FIAR for short weeks or light weeks?

[Tearsa in Michigan]

Just curious. I have a 5 yo (will be 6 in February) and a 7 yo (just turned end of August) Do you think they'd get bored with Before FIAR if I did it with them on short weeks or when I need to do a light week? I don't want to spend the money on the book and not use it. Have any of you done this, or did I miss the boat on Before FIAR?

Thanks in advance and God Bless.

[molly in cr]

I am trying to 'go back in time' with B4FIAR this week. I am sorry that I didn't do it with my youngest sooner, but don't want him to miss out all together. I think we are going to start with Katy No Pocket this week and go heavy on the animal classification. I even considered having a 'Bear' week and combining Ask Mr. Bear with Going on a Bear Hunt or Jesse Bear with Blueberries for Sal. Also using it for short or light weeks, like you suggested would be a great idea.

We may not do Goodnight Moon, but then again that is a perfect double up for Runaway Bunny. (talking to myself here)

IMO, good books can be enjoyed at any age, especially when you use the manual for springboarding and getting into some of the ideas a little deeper. These books are too good to be missed! :)

[Tamie_in_MI]

A few of B4 books were close enough to FIAR books that I beefed them up a little and made them a full week so using some for shorter weeks should be quite doable.

If you want to "BEEF" them up some, you can Google the name of the book in quotes like: "Katy No Pocket" and use the words "teacher's guide" or "Lesson Plan" or "theme".

See what I got with the word THEME: http://homeschoolez.wordpress.com/2006/04/24/lesson-9-katy-no-pocket/
http://books.google.com/books?id=fXT7sPDDjRMC&pg=PA273&lpg=PA273&dq=%22katy+no+pocket%22+theme&source=web&ots=QIJT5AWMl6&sig=ZSxfouclSNj6FCGkfbpxotRquRg Google: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=RNWI%2CRNWI%3A2006-19%2CRNWI%3Aen&q=%22Katy+no+pocket%22+%22theme

"lesson Plan": http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=RNWI%2CRNWI%3A2006-19%2CRNWI%3Aen&q=%22Katy+no+pocket%22+%22Lesson+plan%22&btnG=Search

"teacher's guide": http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=RNWI%2CRNWI%3A2006-19%2CRNWI%3Aen&q=%22Katy+no+pocket%22+%22teacher%27s+guide%22&btnG=Search

Of course after searching to build lessons, I really more appreciate the manuals!!

[Candace C]

YES!!! I have done this quite often over the past 2 years. I do like Tamie mentioned and will find other things online to "beef up" for my oldest daughter...but these stories are just TOO precious to miss! :clap:

*Katy No Pocket - we learned about Austrailia, kangaroos and marsupials
*Runaway Bunny, ABC Bunny - we tied in with Peter Rabbit and did at Easter time
*Bear Hunt, Corduroy - we did a big bear unit, learned about the different types of bears, had LOTS of fun with this one!
*Blue Boat we tied in with Arabella (vol. 4) and learned about different kinds of boats, ocean life, etc.

There are probably more, but those are the ones we've done most recently.

[AndreaD]

Classic stories are great for any age! Go for it!

[DD in IL]

I have used BFIAR for my 8 yr dgs. I had the books and I have the manual that I bought to be used on his brother in a year. He enjoyed it.

[Jenn Robinson]

My kids are exactly the same age as yours! (turning 6 in Feb and turned 7 in July). They love the Before books! Even if you don't do a whole unit with them they would be great just to enjoy!

[Nancy Ann]

I think the book choices for Before are wonderful and a 7 year old will enjoy them. As for the lessons I am not so sure. I think you would have to beef it up considerably and add things and than I am not sure it would serve your purpose because you would have to take the time to find materials or come up with ways to beef it up.

If you want to go back and do Before because you want your kids to enjoy them and your willing to add or change some things for your older than I think it would be fine.

If you are wanting something you can just open and go because you need a light week or it's a short week than it may not be a good solution. This is not to say these titles are not worth getting from the library to just read and enjoy.

Sometimes we have short weeks and I combine the lessons and choose the lighter lessons. I will do this as well if I need a light week. Many times if I need a light week I will skip math and penmanship and sometimes phonics and just do FIAR and just enjoy it.

[Tearsa in Michigan]

Thank you so much for all your answers. It is so nice to know that others with my girls ages have used Before FIAR with good results. I think I am going to definately look into getting Before and using it with my girls. I never even thought of 'beefing up' the lessons, I think that will be great. I like the idea of dropping other subjects and just doing FIAR on light weeks. I will keep checking this post if anyone else has any ideas to add. Again thank you so much for all your wonderful answers and encouragement. God Bless.

[chiguirre]

We used B4FIAR when my ds was 4/5 and dd was 2/3. We liked it, but we didn't LOVE it like we do FIAR. It really is different, the activities are sometimes very mom intensive and some of them wouldn't work for older kids.

That said, I have revisited some of the B4 books with the kids this year. I meant to do them with dd, but ds joined in too. The files section has some suggestions that work with older kids (don't miss the bear paper dolls link with Jesse Bear). Homeschool Share has good suggestions for some books. If you or your library have Peak With Books, it has good activities for older kids for some of the books. Other resources are Games for Books (title might be a little off) by Peggy Kaye and Trisha Kuffner's books title.

With the B4 titles, if you're used to FIAR you can figure out similar activities. You can use True books, Let's Read and Find Out, Magic School Bus, etc. to tie in a science or geography topic. You might not do 5 days, but it's not too hard to fill 3 days.

Definitely don't miss out on the great B4 titles, even if it's just to read them!

Julianna