Planning for Before Five in a Row
Planning Before Five in a Row
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.
Before Five in a Row Books
- Yellow Ball
- My Blue Boat
- Blueberries for Sal
- The Carrot Seed
- The Little Rabbit
- Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
- The ABC Bunny
- Ask Mr. Bear
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
- Angus Lost
- Goodnight Moon
- Prayer for a Child
- I Am an Artist
- If Jesus Came to My House
- The Red Carpet
- Caps for Sale
- Corduroy
- The Snowy Day
- Play With Me
- The Runaway Bunny
- The Big Green Pocketbook
- Katy No-Pocket
- Kittens for Keeps (which is a substitute for Jenny’s Surprise Summer)
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!
Now, when I’m ready to do a new book, I simply pull that file, and I’m ready to go!
Letter of the Week
I love these do-a-dot pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler:
All About Reading Pre-Reading
Lap Journal
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:
- Five in a Row (You can download all of their Fold ‘n Learn printables for free when you sign up to receive their newsletter.)
- Delightful Learning
- Homeschool Share
- Homeschool Creations
- Free Five in a Row planning sheets here, here, and here.
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.
Related Posts:
- Why We Love the All About Reading Pre-Reading Program
- My Blue Boat
- Blueberries for Sal
- Yellow Ball
- Jenny’s Surprise Summer
- The Little Rabbit
- The Carrot Seed
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!
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!
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.
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!
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
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.