New here - questions on book packages!

[Cris]

Hi everyone... I'm Cris, and we live in the midwest. I have a 4.5 yo son who loves to learn and we're strongly leaning toward homeschooling him. (Right now he's in private preschool and though we know it would be great for him and our family, we have yet to make a "final" decision... I call it my slippery slope into hsing, LOL!!)

Anyway, we're exploring many different curriculums and programs, and looking into FIAR as one of those options. I must say it seems very thorough yet very flexible.

In looking at the book packages offered, they don't seem to always match up to the lesson plans in the guides. For example, it appears from a page on the site that Cranberry Thanksgiving is still listed in the volume one guide (I know it was oop for a while, but heard it was back in now?), and there seem to be a couple others. Are other books substituted for these? Do we try to get these books separately, or do we just skip over them? What's the recommended course of action?

Also, it appears that vol 1 is recommended for those starting in the fall. If I were to start in summer, what would you suggest??

Finally, a question on a slightly different topic. On the main site pages, it has links to sample pages and lessons in the FIAR books, but the links are not working. Does anyone know if these exist somewhere else on the site, or are they being replaced??

Thanks in advance for your help. Looking forward to finding out more!!

Cris :)

[DeniseR]

Welcome Cris!

The book packages contain what books are available at the time. Cranberry Thanksgiving is still OOP I think. But some libraries do carry some OOP books (I know ours has CT but not others). If you live in an area with a decent library and/or access to places that sell used books, you can go that route and fill in the gaps with new ones or buying on-line at places like ebay, amazon, hslibrarybuilder, etc. If you can't get a book, you just skip it.

Vol 3 is the "summer" volume but there are many books in the other volumes that can be used as well (we've only done Vol 1 so far - Ping, Mike Mulligan, Grandfather's Journey, Moonjellies, Storm in the Night, Madeline, Glorious Flight and probaly a couple of others I'm forgetting could be done in the summer).

Can't help you with the last question.

[Steve Lambert]

Welcome Cris,

Denise gave you the straight scoop. The manuals are more like "cookbooks for learning" with "recipes" to "cook" many wonderful chidlren's books. We can't control when those specific titles come and go from the "currently in print" world any more than we can control whether asparagus is available from your local grocer on any specific day of the year. The books come and go.

The BookPackages contains all "currently in print" titles.

There is NO specific order to do the books. A few titles MIGHT lend themselves to fall or spring better than another season: Cranberry Thanksgiving is an obvious one!

But "cook" the recipes you have ingredients for and skip the others- much as you might use a cookbook. No need to cook all the appetizers first from A to Z. Then begin with the entree's and then the vegetables, etc.

You may discover books come back in print later, or discover a used copy at a garage sale, or locate a copy at a local library to use. Use the books your child is INTERESTED in and use the book that is AVAILABLE next. There are 70 books to explore and most can be explored at least twice.

Blessings,

Steve