Runaway Bunny

Language arts programs listed in this section cover most areas of language arts (reading/literature, writing, grammar, spelling and handwriting) in one curriculum, although some skill areas may be covered with less intensity than a focused, stand-alone course.

This series provides a wonderful way to nurture your relationship with your children and foster a lifelong adventure of learning. The Five in a Row title comes from reading the same classic children’s book five days in a row as a literature-based unit study to cover social studies, character, language arts, math, science and art. Use as a stand-alone program for preschool, or supplement with phonics and math and use it with older children. Literature selections contain positive moral stories that reflect Biblical values. Choose from many possible activities for each day.

The original Five in a Row series was written three decades ago for the previous generation of homeschoolers. Now, the author’s children have undertaken the task of modernizing the series and updating the literature lists. All books in the series will eventually be revised; however, at this writing, Beyond Five in a Row series are still in the previous edition.

Before Five in a Row has much the same content as the original book, but with three additional stories included. There are also updated illustrations, Animal Classification Cards that help children develop simple classification skills, and StoryDisks and a Storybook Map (an enjoyable way to teach where the story takes place). This book is a collection of discussion and play-based lessons to do for 10-15 minutes 2 or 3 days a week. It doesn’t follow the typical 5 day a week schedule. The first of two parts list the 24 stories, along with creative activity suggestions such as examining the stars or using colored tissue paper to make a simple collage. The second part is filled with ideas to build a foundation of readiness – talking and listening skills, coordination skills, activities in the kitchen and other primary skills.

More Before Five in a Row is the new addition to the series and includes 14 new books. It has been specifically written as a preschool curriculum (ages 3-5) and follows the typical format of the Five in a Row books. New to this book, however, is an encouraging Bible lesson before each story written specifically for the parent. Many lessons are built around six early literacy skills: vocabulary, narrative, print awareness, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and print motivation. The gentle activities are not meant to teach in-depth concepts, but to enhance your child’s awareness of the world around them. Centered around play and discussion, the program provides a wide variety of activities involving science, social studies, Bible, language arts, health and much more. An Animal Classification game, StoryDisks and a Storybook Map are included in the back. The activities are a bit more detailed than in Before FIAR.

Completely redesigned and updated, the second edition of the Five in a Row Volumes 1-4 still have the same goal of providing elementary students with a quality educational foundation through well written and illustrated books. All you will need to complete the curriculum for 5-and-6-year-olds is a good phonics program and a simple introduction to math. For children who are reading successfully, you will want to supplement with math, spelling, penmanship, and grammar material if you desire to teach those as individual subjects. Volume 4 is designed for older elementary (9 years and up). The activities related to the different subjects in this volume are more involved; therefore, plan on spending 2 weeks on Volume 4 books instead of one. For ages 9 and 10, it is recommended adding math, spelling, and grammar. This volume prepares students for Level 5 as students transition to reading chapter books.

The new editions include special teaching tips from the author (including step-by-step guidance for each day of the week), along with an explanation of the philosophy behind the program. There is also a “Teacher’s Note” page and activity sheets following each book lesson. The “Teacher’s Note” page is handy to record relevant information such as activities done, library resources or videos used, and any field trip opportunities taken. The three or four activity sheets for each book title correlate with some of the activities and really add to the program. These sheets are reproducible for family use only. The books in each program remain the same with a couple of exceptions. They Were Strong and Good was taken out of Volume 2 and The Old Woman Who Named Things was added to Volume 3. Literature packages contain all available books for each volume. Note: literature packages do not contain the FIAR guides. Check out our website for the most current literature package updates! Christian Character and Bible content also available separately. ~ Gina

What is a "unit study"? Briefly, it's a thematic or topical approach to teaching as opposed to the traditional by-subject approach. Rather than teach each subject separately, a unit study attempts to integrate many or all subject areas into a unified study - usually centered around a particular subject or event. Obviously History (the study of events) and Science (the study of "things") are well-suited to unit studies, and usually form the "core" around which other subjects are integrated. Subjects like Bible, Geography, Government, English (writing), and Reading/Literature, Music, Home Economics, Life Skills, and Art, are usually easy to integrate around a core topics. Remaining subjects (Math, Phonics, Grammar, Spelling) can be integrated to some extent via related activities. Each, however, has its own "system" (progression of skills, mastery of "rules") which must be followed to some degree. Since one of the additional advantages of a unit study curriculum is the ability to use it with students of varying ages and skill levels, these subjects are generally taught apart from the core curriculum. This may be as simple as assigning pages in a grammar or spelling book, or using a separate "program" for Phonics and Math. Unit studies also tend to be more activity-oriented than the traditional approach, a real boon to kinesthetic learners. Advocates of the unit study approach site studies showing that children learn best when learning is unified rather than fragmented and when learning is more participatory than passive.

"Its just common sense!" Yes, everything about this program is common sense. A very complete program organized around quality children's literature and covering phonics, reading, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, handwriting, and higher-order reasoning. Phonics instruction is systematic, introducing a few sounds at a time and providing opportunities to read a "real" (small story book) book which uses those sounds. The literature component (carefully selected children's favorites) reminds students that the reason for all the hard work in phonics is the joy of reading wonderful books. And woven through both of these elements is comprehensive instruction in all aspects of language arts. Relying heavily on Ruth Beechick's principles for teaching reading (including her letter dice activities), the program includes a wide variety of activities appealing to all learning styles.

The current 3rd edition features updated covers and clearer day-by-day instruction; there are also updates throughout the series to reflect changes in how research is conducted. Also, there is clearer direction for making personalized spelling lists. Some lessons have been "switched-out" to give students exposure to more classic literature. Since the original series was written over several years by two different authors, this 3rd edition has been tweaked to make it more consistent. A few out-of-print books have been replaced as well.

The Teacher Book is a homeschooler's dream; all the work has been done for you, taking you step-by-step through the 36-week/36 Lesson program. The Lessons are grouped into "Parts" and each is divided into five days of detailed instructions. New skills are listed for each lesson and necessary supplies are included at the beginning. There is virtually no teacher preparation needed; you teach as you read. All answers are provided within the lesson. Examples and diagrams are user-friendly including the easy-to-follow references to the Student Book. Periodic assessments are provided to help you determine your childs readiness for the next "Part." The Student Book contains the materials (except for household and school supplies) needed for cut-and-paste, word wheels, flip books, picture sequencing, story-telling puppets, and handwriting pages. The comfortable, natural handwriting method that isnt exactly traditional, modern, or italic was developed by the authors. This handwriting instruction is coordinated with the phonics and includes pages for children to carefully complete and display or give as gifts. The Student Book is consumable with perforated pages. Even the back cover is put to good use providing the miniature book covers to be added to the personal reading chart that marks the childs progress. Phonics concepts are reinforced in separate beginning Readers. They are small-sized for little hands and include black-and-white illustrations. Stories are engaging which is a good thing since the weeks learning activities are built around them. The student uses puppets to retell the stories, completes sequencing activities with a series of reader-related events, and answers comprehension questions. One interesting aspect of the teacher-student interaction concerning these readers is that the weeks lesson starts off with the teacher reading either the small book (Blue) or a part of a reader (Red) to the child. After several lessons thoroughly covering the new phonics concepts and practice reading parts of the story, the student concludes the week with the successful reading of the same reading selection. This is an effective variation of the typical approach because the goal of reading the book is always before the student. The Materials Packet (Blue Program only) is a useful collection of color-coded letter and word cards for learning and review along with cards used for reinforcement games and, of course, the letter dice (to be assembled from cardstock patterns). While this part of the program is not exactly consumable - you could use the various components again - the components do get a workout. If you are expecting to use the program with another child, you'll want to save these items, possibly laminating them. However, we sell additional Material Packets as well as Student Books and Reader Sets so you can easily use the program with a second student. Well-known children's literature (Read-Aloud Library) is suggested each week, so at the same time your child is learning phonics, he is also learning other important reading skills such as literal recall, comprehension, predicting outcome, and drawing conclusions. These books are an integral part of the program and the Student Activity Book relies on them. Although usually available at the local library, for your convenience we also sell them. ~ Janice