Tomorrow morning, my youngest daughter will start school. I've been planning and working on her curriculum for weeks. With my older children, I used Switched On Schoolhouse, and Math-U-See. They're a good fit for our family and have worked well. My son, Dustin, will be using those programs as he starts high school tomorrow.
With Caitlin though, they didn't feel right. At least Switched On Schoolhouse didn't. It isn't made for her age or grade but even if it was, it was time for a change.
A good friend and wise homeschooling mother encouraged me to think outside my box for Caitlin. I needed something that was more flexible. Caitlin has a metabolic disorder. She does well most of the time, but we needed a curriculum that would work as well when she isn't doing well as it does when she is. (We will also be using Math-U-See and a phonics program called ClickNkids.)
I found Five In A Row, which is a literature based unit study program. Unit studies have never been my thing. The freedom of them scares me. Five In A Row has freedom, but it also has a plan.
When the box of manuals and books arrived, I was worried. I looked through the manual and became more worried. Fortunately, there are a lot of fantastic, creative families who use FIAR and are willing to share their ideas.
I sat down with the manual for Volume 1 and Volume 2 and started planning my way through the year. I found some great ideas archived on the homeschoolshare website, and found a membership at the enchantedlearning website vital to my planning.
We are living in England right now, and that has presented some challenges. We have access to two Air Force Bases, with libraries, a craft store and a BX and BX-tra. Finding what I need and want is hard. That is where the name of this blog came from. I found a wonderful activity that called for a cup of sand, and finding a cup of sand was all I thought about for days. I ended up with a 25 kg bag of sand, which is more than a cup! Now, I need more activities and crafts that call for sand.
My plan for FIAR was to work our way through Volumes 1 and 2 in the order the books are presented. GOd had other plans though. I bought most of the books FIAR uses, and requested what I couldn't buy from the base library. The first book to come in (which was already due to be sent back the day I picked it up) is called Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines. It's the very last book in Volume 2! Tomorrow morning, we will start school with that book because we were only able to renew it until the 10th!
So, our adventure in unit studies, specifically Five In A Row, starts tomorrow, with Caitlin and probably Dustin for parts of it! It's going to be an exciting year.
