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Planning for Before Five in a Row

Using a literature-based curriculum is so much easier if you get everything organized first. These are my tips for planning Before Five in a Row.
planning before five in a row
I knew that I wanted to use Before Five in a Row with my youngest this year.  But I also knew that I was already very busy with teaching my other children (not to mention homemaking and other activities!).
So, in an attempt to make the experience as stress-free and enjoyable as possible, I decided to organize everything in advance.

Planning Before Five in a Row

First, I ordered books, including the Before Five in a Row guide.

Then I ordered the other books we would need.  We have a very small library system in our town, and they don’t even have most classic children’s books.

I knew I could use inter-library loan, but I didn’t want to rely on that for all of the books, as it would just be too much to ask of our librarian, and it would also be a huge hassle for me. Also, the book selections are what I consider to be classic children’s books that I wanted to own.

So, I sold some books and other things that I no longer needed with the hope of making some money to cover this year’s school book expenses.

It’s nice owning the books, as these are classics that we’ll enjoy for years to come, and it saves so much time and effort that I would have expended in just finding books.  I did decide to get a few of the more expensive (out of print) books through inter-library loan, though.

Before Five in a Row Books

Here are the books we’ll be enjoying together this year:

Printables

The next step was to print off all the printables I decided to use.  I went to Homeschool Share, Homeschool Creations, and Confessions of a Homeschooler for most of these.  And Michelle at Delightful Learning has been a huge inspiration!

I already had this plastic bin that will accommodate hanging file folders, and I had all the folders too, so this seemed like a great place to store all the BFIAR stuff I was accumulating.
After printing off lap book pages and other printables, I made a labeled file folder for each book and filled it with the materials we would need.  I also made a list of the order I hope to focus on each book, as some of them seemed more suited to a specific season.

Now, when I’m ready to do a new book, I simply pull that file, and I’m ready to go!

I’m also planning to do a Letter of the Week type of thing (although I’ll probably spread each letter over more than one week), so I made a folder for the letter of the week book pages, and also these fun playdough mats.
And I laminated everything!  I love laminating things.  Ever since I was in kindergarten and my teacher put a laminated turtle on my desk with my name on it—I thought it was the most amazing thing that you could encase something in plastic like that!—I’ve loved laminated things. I know it sounds weird, but I just love it. 🙂
Anyway, for years I longed to be able to laminate things. And now I have my very own laminator! Thanks to my mom for giving me my first one, and to my husband for replacing it with this one after my original one (a different brand) broke.  🙂 It really helped as I was planning Before Five in a Row activities.

Letter of the Week

These ABC Bible verses go great with our letter of the week study (we’re using the pre-reading program).

I love these do-a-dot pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler:

And we really like the free ABC snack plan you can find here:

All About Reading Pre-Reading

We also decided to add the All About Reading Pre-reading Program to our BFIAR studies, and it is excellent!

Lap Journal

I loved Michelle’s idea to create a lap journal instead of lap books.  I’ve done lap books before, and this idea of a lap journal is totally superior, in my opinion.  So, I got a binder, page protectors, cardstock, and glue, and now we have a lap journal started for Before Five in a Row.

I’m looking forward to watching this journal fill up with memories of all the lovely learning times we’ll have together.

Resources

For Before Five in a Row inspiration, I highly recommend these sites:

I also started a Pinterest board just for Before Five in a Row ideas, and you can find that here.  I’m sure I’ll be adding to it as the year progresses. For homeschool and preschool planning, I’m using this weekly homeschool planner, which you can use year after year.  It’s a pdf document that you can type your information into and then print and file in a 3-ring-binder.

To see what we’re using this year with our older children, click here!
Delightful Learning

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47 Comments

  1. I was wondering if you could share the order in which you studied the books, especially which books worked well for which season?
    Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Angela! We did this program almost ten years ago, so I don’t remember the order exactly. I do remember we used My Blue Boat, Yellow Ball, Jenny’s Surprise Summer, and Blueberries for Sal at the beginning of the school year (August) because it was still summer, and those books worked well for summer. I think we used The Carrot Seed in September when we planted a fall garden, because it worked to plant the carrot seeds then. I have blog posts for all of those books (and what we did) here on the blog. After that, I got too busy to document each one, so I’m not sure when we did them. I will say that I loved using BFIAR with my son (who is now 13), when he was little, and have such happy memories of that time together!

      Reply

  2. Thanks for the article on BFIAR. I have it bookmarked. You inspire me. I homeschooled my oldest from2ndl -8th grade. She is now 29. I homeschooled my youngest and blind daughter part-time with a Braille teacher for 3rd-4th grade. She now is married (he is blind)and has an almost 3 year old girl. They want to homeschool but lack funds and not making any effort to learn and research homeschooling. They said they needed help so I am willing to do it but struggling to be organized with going between 2 homes. Any advise is welcomed! I almost feel to old to do this(52). Any suggestions on where to purschase BFIAR books cheaply? I also was curious as to what you put in the folders for each book. I have the blue book, BFIAR. I want to start that soon. I have an old cassette program Sing, Spell, Read and Write that I partly used with my first then loaned out. I have considered All About Reading or Spell to Read and Write program. I am currently reading, UNCOVERING THE LOGIC OF ENGLISH. My daughter is really weak in math so I’m was considering Right Start Math since it is hands on and both could learn from it but do you have any suggestions? I Will not start that yet ( not purchased yet). I want to focus on fun, things, reading, pre-k skills. I also enjoyed your post why we homeschool. Thanks for any help! May the Lord bless you and make his face to shine upon thee.

    Reply

    1. Glad it was helpful, Joyce! With a child as young as 3, I would keep everything very simple. I would get the BFIAR books and focus on reading and enjoying the books together and maybe doing some fun things like a simple craft or making a recipe together. Those are the things that my children remember the most from their younger years. You can check on Amazon’s used book section for cheaper prices, and also look on eBay. In the folders for each book, I just put whatever printables or ideas I wanted to use with that book. So, for example, if I had a recipe that went along with the book, I would print off the recipe and add it to the folder for that book, so I would have everything together.

      I generally wait until my children were a bit older before starting reading instruction, but we did enjoy the All About Reading Pre-Reading program (I used it with my youngest when he was 4). You can read my review of that program here.

      We have loved Right Start Math (which I’m using this year with my youngest (8-year-old). I really wish I had found this program sooner. The one downside is that it isn’t cheap, and it does come with a lot of manipulatives you’ll have to store and keep organized. There is also a little bit of teacher prep in level B, which is what we’re currently on (I’m not sure about Level A, since we didn’t use that one). I still think it’s worth it, though! I wish I could have used it with all of my children. For a 3-year-old, I wouldn’t worry about a formal math program, but instead I would focus on hands-on math with lots of manipulatives. Things like wooden pattern blocks and cards to go with them, Montessori math ideas, etc.

      I hope this is helpful! Enjoy the wonderful preschool years!

      Reply

  3. Is there anyway you could pretty please scan me the first few pages of Five in a Row Volume 1 or all of it and email it to me? I want to read it soo bad, lol. My email is … IF by some chance you can send it

    Reply

    1. Hi Brandy! I’m sorry, but I don’t own any of the Five in a Row books. I only had Before Five in a Row when I used it with my youngest 4 years ago, but I sold it after we were done with it. Have you looked for a used copy? You might try eBay or Homeschool Classifieds. Often you can find a good deal through one of those places. Another option would be to ask your public library to do an inter-library loan for you.

      Reply

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