Ramblings from Lamplight Christian Academy

Jun. 22, 2006 - Our Family's Review of Five in a Row

This is my review of the Five in a Row homeschooling curriculum.  We have been using Five in a Row since March 2005, and prior to that we used Before Five in a Row.  Five in a Row (also referred to as FIAR) is for ages 4 to 8, and Before Five in a Row (also referred to as BFIAR) is for ages 2 to 4.  Our children are currently 6, 4 & 2.  We still use Before Five in a Row but only sporadically due to the young age of our son. Our family believes that Five in a Row is an outstanding curriculum choice for the early elementary years, and it has quite a large scope of knowledge & information within the pages of the manual.  Five in a Row covers social studies (which includes geography, human relationships, history and many other topics), language arts (including a rich variety of vocabulary), art, applied mathematics and science.  Our children have really enjoyed it, and many of the books have become like old friends now.  The manual can seem a bit daunting at first as there are a lot of choices each day for each subject area, but once you realize you really only need to pick one or two topics that are suitable for your child's age & interests each day, it's not bad at all, and the way it is all taught, they retain so much.  Each lesson is also relatively short, depending upon how in-depth you choose to make it.  We started Five in a Row when Elizabeth turned 5 and I am amazed by how much geography she has learned in just one year.  How many kindergartners do you know that can locate France, England, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Spain, China, Egypt, Australia, Japan, Ungava Bay (in Canada) as well as dozens of states?  In addition, she knows and understands language arts topics such as personification & onomatopoeia, and has been introduced to other topics such as alliteration, similes & metaphors. Our family has also had an enjoyable time learning about various art & science topics, and these subjects are so much more memorable since we can link them in our minds to a particular favorite story that we studied.  Five in a Row is mostly a complete program, as the only thing you really have to add (when your child is ready for it, which you may not need yet depending upon your child's age) is math, phonics & handwriting.  Five in a Row is not explicitly Christian but there is a Christian character supplement you can get with it, and most (not all though) of the ladies who post on the Five in a Row homeschooling board are Christian , and the atmosphere is definitely Christian.    Five in a Row is also good for frugal families, as you really only have to buy the manual which is not very expensive, and then you can buy the books if you want, but many moms choose to get them from their library to save money.  The website also has extensive archives of even more ideas than what is in the book if you are looking for anything else to do (or good books or websites to "go along" with it, etc.), though Five in a Row is a very full and fun program just through the manual, so these extras aren't at all necessary. Since Five in a Row is planned for ages 4 to 8, there may be topics in the manual you will want to skip if your children are on the younger side, but since there are so many topics for each subject for each book, you will find plenty of other topics that are suitable for the younger crowd.  There are 4 volumes altogether (though volume four is for children ages 7 to 8 who have already completed most of the first three volumes).  Studying a book is often referred to as "rowing" since you will cover one book for five days in a row.  If you start young, many families will go back & "re-row" stories once their children are a little older so they can do some of the topics their child was too young for the first time around.  All in all, I feel it is a great curriculum & there is a wealth of support on their board too (though as in any situation where you have a lot of moms together, I do have to look past some parenting areas in the family room that I don't agree with).  (There are still plenty of people with similar parenting styles too though, as it is a pretty diverse, though mainly Christian, board.)  Anyway, my overall review of Five in a Row is two thumbs up!   Ten stars!  If you go to www.fiveinarow.com you can find out more about this superb curriculum.  There is also a program called Beyond Five in a Row that I can't personally review due to the age of my children, as it is for ages 8 to 12, but I've also heard wonderful things about it, and you can find out more about it at the Five in a Row website.  Good luck & have fun with your homeschooling endeavors, in whatever path God is leading your family.

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Comments

Jun. 22, 2006 - BFIAR

Posted by grandmommy

I really enjoyed your review. I use BFIAR with my grandchildren and we love it. Gina

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Jun. 23, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by TNMOMTOMANYBLESSINGS

Great review. Thank you! Maria

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Jun. 27, 2006 - Nice Review

Posted by Anonymous

Nice Review Elizabeth :-) I'm going to have to check this out!! Nancy

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