I'm going to interrupt the vacation posts to talk about how I plan for our FIAR books. I was going to do this post back in the winter and took all the pictures, but never got around to it. I have two friends who are going to begin using FIAR soon, so I thought I'd go ahead and get this done and hopefully answer some questions!
One question that pops up frequently: Do you have to go in the order that the books are listed in the manuals? No! I have skipped around Volumes 1-3 for the last two years. I choose which book based on events that are going on, the time of year, or whether or not I think it's a topic that will hold Jack's interest yet. Next year we will probably move on to Volume 4, which is geared toward older students.
Obviously the first place I go is the manual! The next stop is the archives from the FIAR message boards--lots of good ideas to be found there! A close third is Homeschool Share, which has lapbooking and/or notebooking pieces for almost all the FIAR books.
(Sorry about the twisty pictures!) Next I look for related topics from the library and request the books. It's almost impossible to just go browse with Alice!
Sometimes I have some go-alongs already on my shelf. I try to keep my eyes open at book sales for cheap ones!
Jay got me another bookshelf that has become the science shelf. Books aren't organized by topic yet, but maybe I'll get there some day!
I pulled these for this row.
We also have tons of Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard, so I flip through to see if there is something related. I may not always use all of these magazines and books, but they are in our basket for the week and they usually are looked at at least once.
I try to pull picture books I have that are related, too. Jack likes looking back at old favorites and Alice is beginning to enjoy longer stories.
If I have anything related for Alice's level, I pull that, too. I'm not sure if I'll continue that as I move more to working on something different with her.
If I'm being productive, planning takes me a day or two, and this year I am trying to get it done at least several weeks in advance. Each day we cover one or two topics from the manual and do some lapbooking pieces. I also make Jack's copywork sheets from our FIAR story.
I know that the curriculum is call Five in a Row, but sometimes life happens and we don't get in five days in a row. Or sometimes we do more than five days when we find a topic we like. The best thing about FIAR is that it is flexible and there's not a right way to do it--it's easy to make it fit your family!
We did the camp vacation again this year and had a great time! I left with the kids Sunday afternoon.
A few months ago my CD player, radio, and clock all went out (on a day when my phone went dead, which made running errands while needing to get back to pick Jack up kind of hard). I was looking for batteries and noticed a portable CD player for $15, so I got it for Jack. Alice wanted something, too, so I set her up with a tape player. We're old school.
Sunday night we swam, got some dinner, and watched King of the Hill.
Jack started his class on Monday. He had a good time, but Alice was devastated every.single.time. we left him at the museum.
It was a little on the warm side when we went to pick him up.
Hitting the yogurt shop was the best solution!
After the museum, we all went out for dinner and then it was back to the hotel for (horsing around way too long and) bed.
(Picture from here, which also gives a good explanation of Pinterest.)
A couple of weeks ago I finally caved and got on Pinterest. I really don't need more ways to spend time on the computer--that pesky stewardship thing again--but I think this may end up saving me time in the long run. I have no problem finding cool stuff on the internet. Give me five minutes and I can find a ton of great activities to go along with the book we're going to use in three weeks. Ask me where those activities are in two and a half weeks, though, and I'm frantically searching bookmarks and folders, often to no avail. So instead of using Pinterest to look at other people's finds, I'm just using it to keep track of what I've found on my own. If you would like an invitation, just leave me a comment with your email address and I will send it! Happy pinning!
It could have been much worse. We were getting ready to take Jack to gymnastics when Alice grabbed a zhuzhu pet from the box of consignment sale toys. Jack protested and I asked him what on earth could go wrong with his sister and a zhuzhu pet. He was kind enough not to remind me of that fifteen minutes later when Alice was screaming and crying with the zhuzhu pet tangled in her hair. As we were driving down the highway with no place to pull over until our exit, I told her not to keep pressing on it because that was just making the wheels spin and taking in more hair. My instructions were met with a pitiful, "Otay. I try." When we finally got to gymnastics, the man behind the counter was nice enough to hand me some scissors without pointing out that my daughter had an electronic hamster stuck to her head. After several minutes of twisting and pulling, I only had to cut a small piece of hair and her curls were left intact. And now we have a new two year old zhuzhu pet/hair monitor!
We started Thursday morning at the science museum. Alice had a good time on the balance beams.
The tree house is still one of Jack's favorite things.
Jack loved Otto, but Alice wasn't really sure about him. She's still saying that she sees the robot's car following us when we go out.
After Jack's class, we spent some time in a favorite place.
Then it was time for more swimming!
Later that evening we went out for dinner and took a spin by the old house. Jack doesn't like how they're keeping it up and thinks we should move back. While the idea of less cleaning is tempting, I don't think he knows how crazy another move would make his mom!
