Welcome! The following is the 12th in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school year, using classic …

How to Make a Mason Bee Habitat, Perfect Life Cycle of a Bee Activities, DIY Bee Habitat, Bee Theme, Hands-on activities for Kids, DIY Bee Homes, Honey Bee life cycle, Mason Bee Life Cycle, Five in a row activities, FIAR Homeschooling, and a perfect Bee unit Study

Here's a detailed guide to planning Before Five in a Row. I used this program with my youngest, and it was a wonderful year of learning!

We’ve used Five in a Row from the beginning of our homeschooling journey. We started with Before Five in a Row when Elijah was 2 (almost 3). We’ve been through most of Volumes I-III and part of Volume IV. This is our fifth year with our FIAR based homeschooling co-op, and we are back …

Welcome! The following is the 6th in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school year, using classic …

Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.

Get a lovely, FREE lapbook and activity ideas to use with your Five in a Row unit study of Mrs. Katz and Tush.

This lapbook is made with two file folders and contains a lot of fun information! When I taught a Five in a Row class at our co-op, this ...

Curious about the Five in a Row curriculum? Come read all about it and find out what it is that you need to know, including how to use it.

Ready to make a lapbook for All Those Secrets of the World to complement your FIAR unit study? Get it here!

Ideas for The Story About Ping including a fun craft, talking points, and fun water activity for exploring science with this sweet story.

Learning the USA through Literature ... a homeschool geography and literature curriculum, especially for homeschool co-ops

The last couple of weeks we've been enjoying Lentil in our Five in a Row studies. So, when Nana stopped by for a visit, we asked if there was some sort of art activity she might be able to show us. Maybe some Five in a Row art in five minutes?

Another post out of the archives, as I'm reorganizing! This is another very sweet book about a young girl in Japan who gets a new pair of red clogs... then cracks them. It deals with deceit, truthfulness, honor, stewardship, and family relationships as the little girl first tries to deceive her mother into getting her a new pair, and then realizes that isn't the right way. Geography and culture: These activities were much the same as for Grandfather's Journey, so we repeated a lot of the information again. We added a few more books to our study this week, since we had the extra time. The library had great books about Japan for kids. All About Japan for children was a very good introduction to Japan for young kids. It included a lot of information about daily life in the city and in the countryside of Japan, narrated by children. It briefly described the major holidays in Japan, and traditional games and foods. We read a few pages of this book every day. The traditional holidays gave us a lot to talk about. We compared their beliefs with Christian beliefs. I.e. They worship their dead ancestors; we worship a living Creator God. They have many creation stories, involving many gods and lesser deities, often in conflict; we believe in One God who created everything from nothing and still rules it today. D pulled this book out first thing every morning, ready to dive in. Manjiro is an amazing true story I had never heard before! We read it two days in a row, even though it was long. I think we'll read it again before we take it back to the library. It is the true story of a shipwrecked Japanese boy who makes his way to America on a whaling ship, never knowing if he will make his way home to see his family again. He learns the English language, works his way through school, gets a higher education in navigation, and earns enough to buy his own ship, with the goal of returning to his homeland. It takes place in the early 1800's, when Japan was still closed to the outside world, and even Japanese citizens who left the border were not allowed to return, on penalty of death. Read the story to see what happens! Thanks to the maps in this books, we were able to trace all of Manjiro sea journeys. We talked about how Americans still mostly lived on the east coast at that time, so when sailing, boats would travel all the way around Cape Horn to get to Asia. We learned the names of the different oceans. We also talked about the building of the Panama Canal to make ocean travel quicker. The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks is a Japanese folktale about compassion and love. I enjoyed the the story (especially as an animal lover), but the mystical elements left D very confused, so I had to explain it to him. He was still confused. We don't read very many fairy tales or fables, but think we need to start incorporating them more so he can learn to separate the mystical from what is real, and learn that even "not true" stories can teach us important lessons. We cooked a few more Japanese meals and made rice balls in seaweed wraps based on a recipe we found in the children's book on Japan. This was a big hit, because making them was very sensory - i.e. sticky! And they were delicious. Math: We did math with our book this week! The story begins with a trip to a market for the little girl to buy a new pair of clogs. The first few illustrations are of the market street and inside one of the shops. We used the street scene as our backdrop. We played shop with props that matched the goods for sale in the book: flowers, fish, apples, and "clogs." I found the red flip flops at the Dollar Tree and D was so excited! I kept them a surprise until I had the store laid out. He asked me to make a store sign with Japanese characters on it to put on the top of our market scene. We got out our jar of spare coins. He paid for the items and told me what change he should receive. This is one of D's favorite activities, so we did it for a long time. We left it set up for most of the day so that during his quiet time he could continue to play. Social studies: Our social study this week was mostly on character. We talked about lying, deceiving, honoring parents, stewardship. The little girl wanted to new pair of clogs enough to purposefully get her cracked pair very muddy, hoping her mother would then buy her new ones. We talked about how her actions we deceitful, even though her words were not direct lies. She was trying to trick her mother. We found some verses in the Bible about deceit. Instead of buying her new clogs, her mother tells her to wash them, reminding her that you "always try to clean a thing before you buy a new one." We talked about how this attitude and course of action is called stewardship. We ought to take good care of our things so they last and work for a long time. We had many opportunities throughout the week to learn practical ways to steward our belongings. For instance the boys began playing a game involving pushing their bikes down a hill so they crashed into each other. I asked Daniel if that game was exercising good stewardship of his bike; was it helping his bike last and work for a long time? He realized it was not good stewardship to crash his bike on purpose, and stopped. We discussed honoring your parents. It doesn't only mean obeying commands, but also stewarding things your parents give you, like caring for your clothing so it lasts and cleaning up your toys so the house stays tidy and they don't get broken or hurt anyone. Honoring also means not deceiving or lying to your parents, but telling the truth and acting truthfully, without trying to trick them to get your way. I asked D if he ever tries to trick me in order to get his way, and he admitted that he has and gave me some examples. We talked about how God tells us to be truthful and prayed together. Art: We made decorative carp, like the Japanese hang in front of their homes to celebrate "Children's Day." The carp symbolize strength and courage, things the Japanese pray for their children to acquire as they grow up.

I had printed out some gondolas to go with our Papa Piccolo unit, but wasn't sure at first how to use them. I wanted to add some kittens to them, thought about putting numbers on the gondolas and having the girls place that many kittens on the respective gondola. I actually may still do that with Hannah, but I came up with a "game" for the girls. They already know their numbers pretty well. So I thought some addition and subtraction practice would be fun. This is how I set up the game. I found the gondola coloring page over at Crayola's website by googling "gondola coloring page." The girls each colored five gondolas. Then I taped two sheets of light blue paper together to represent the water of the canals. I made number cards by cutting out 1.5 inch squares. I made two sets of numbers 0-5 and one set of 0-10. The kittens were also found by googling "kitten coloring page." Then I just made a sheet of them in my word processing program and printed them onto construction paper. I had Amelia pick a number and place it on the Velcro, then she was to count out that many kittens for the first gondola. Tabitha did the same for the second gondola. Then they added them together. Then we tried the subtraction. Amelia chose to place four kittens in the first gondola. Then I told Tabitha she could pick any number up to four. She chose four and then she was to take four kittens out of the first gondola and put them in the second. That is the amount of kittens that left the first gondola. Only problem was, Amelia didn't like Tabitha taking her kittens. I told her it was just a game and she should come and pick the number to show how many kittens were left in her gondola. She was so upset she did it so fast and disappeared. So I told her we would do it again and I made sure Tabitha wouldn't take ALL of Amelia's kittens. They are looking forward to playing again. Each girl will have her own game that will become a part of their notebooks, but I thought it was more fun to play together. We are storing the pieces in envelopes on the back. All I have to do now is punch the holes to place it in the binder. The girls have also been spending their workbook time working on math. Tabitha wants to go into space, so I told her she would have to be an astronaut. So she wanted to know what astronauts need to know. We talked about math and science. So now she thinks she is going to go to space soon as she is doing lots of math. Ooops. She worked on most of these pages today. This post is being linked up as a part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew Toys and Games for Homeschool Round Up.

Homeschooling with Five in a Row. Wee Gillis Five in a Row activities

A Madeline Five in a Row FIAR unit study is a fun way to explore Paris, France with your children. Take a peak into our week of rowing this book.

I have had it in the back of my mind for a while now to do a Five in a Row planning post, but have not gotten around to it. Recently, though, someone asked me about how I used and planned FIAR, so now I have the motivation to lay…

Making seasonal memories is one of the most delightful things you can do to begin family traditions with your children, as it has been with us at Five in a Row! As the air gets cooler, days get shorter and leaves start to change, fall seems to pull us to get out into the world …

I am a very frugal person so I thought I would share some book alternatives for Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? that I discovered that I own.

Welcome! The following is the first in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school year, using classic …

Homeschooling with Five in a Row; Collection Titles we have "rowed" from Before Five in a Row, and Volume 1-3.

Are you rowing Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car with Five in a Row and needing materials to create a lovely lapbook? You're in the right place!

Our next Five in a Row book study was Lentil, an amusing story of how a young boy used the gift that he discovered to save the day.

C: The Rag Coat Welcome! The following is the first in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a …

The last couple of weeks we've been enjoying Lentil in our Five in a Row studies. So, when Nana stopped by for a visit, we asked if there was some sort of art activity she might be able to show us. Maybe some Five in a Row art in five minutes?

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel FIAR ideas

A Madeline Five in a Row FIAR unit study is a fun way to explore Paris, France with your children. Take a peak into our week of rowing this book.

I heard about Five In A Row a few years ago from another homeschool mom. I know she has used FIAR for the last 2-3 years, but now has a harder time finding the free resources since Homeschool Share reorganized their website and got rid of the B4FIAR and FIAR resource page.

Our Five in a Row book this week was Grandfather's Journey. We only did a few of the lessons in Five in a Row. We focused on studying the geography and culture of Japan. Because it was mentioned in the book, we did discuss World War II briefly. Some of the favorite books we read: A Pair of Red Clogs, The Way We Do It in Japan, Little Oh, Hiromi's Hands. How My Parents Learned to Eat, I Live in Tokyo, Pink Paper Swans, Suki's Kimono, and Tea With Milk. Some of the books we read this week We had pretend sushi for lunch one day. The kids remembered doing this last year with rice krispies and fruit roll ups so I thought I'd try something different this time. I flattened a slice of bread, spread peanut butter over it, rolled it up, and then cut it into slices. Peanut butter and jelly Melted peanut butter and chocolate chips, spread it on a tortilla, put a banana on it, rolled and cut. We did some origami. We visited the Asia Market. The kids liked looking around at everything, but once it was time to choose something to take home, they didn't want to leave the snack aisle. Some of the stuff they bought Caleigh eating a donut from the Asia Market They colored these pictures to represent carp kites that families hang outside their houses on Children's Day (used to be Boy's Day). They glued on colored circles for the scales. I cut out Molly's and put on streamers. The others haven't cut theirs out yet. I hung it up with the lanterns we made last week. Notebook Pages Map and flag of Japan; pocket to hold their origami; Japanese culture book has pictures for kimonos, tea ceremony, clogs, chopsticks, etc.; WWII timeline

Welcome! The following is the 16th in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school year, using classic …

Visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners and teachers will all benefit from Five in a Row's variety of lessons and activities

Welcome! The following is the 4th in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school year, using classic …

If you’ve stumbled here from Pinterest, or some other site … welcome! While each of these books/lessons can stand alone, they are also a part of a year-long series that we have taught at our homeschool co-op. Each lesson builds in part on the one …

Chronicles of Momia Free Homeschool Curriculum, especially for Homeschool Co-ops. Great for use with Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade . Everything included!

Welcome! The following is the first in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school …

Five in a Row Review - See how this literature based approach is used in homeschool. My son enjoyed his lessons so much he never thought of it as school!

I heard about Five In A Row a few years ago from another homeschool mom. I know she has used FIAR for the last 2-3 years, but now has a harder time finding the free resources since Homeschool Share reorganized their website and got rid of the B4FIAR and FIAR resource page.

Welcome! The following is the 12th in a series of 24 lesson plans, Learning the ABC’s through Literature, the 1st year. It was written especially for classroom use within a homeschool co-op, and was designed to teach the alphabet, over the course of a school year, using classic …