We haven't rowed a book in a while.
I don't consider us experts on Five in a Row, but we have rowed quite a few of the books.
Over the Christmas break I asked my 8 year old what HE wanted to do in school in 2013. He said "I miss Five in a Row".
At that I vowed to do more books with him, and we are making lapbooks, video taping our learning, and diving back into Five in a Row with gusto!
I chose some books and vowed to do them with just him. (I was also sneaky, though, and found some middle grades go-along books so Anna can join in the fun, too.)
Our first row of 2013 is Mrs. Katz & Tush, by Patricia Polacco.
I always consult the manual (they have such great suggestions), and I'm thankful our library has all of the FIAR manuals, too.
In addition to the suggestions in the manual, I added the following books:
- Cats, by Tommie dePaola
- James Herriot's Cat Stories
- Cats by Valerie Bodden
- The Orphan of Ellis Island (a go along book for older students)
Of course our lapbook comes from Homeschool Share!
To make lapbooking more simple here are some helpful tips I've learned:
- Print all of your mini books ahead of time and put them in a zip top bag.
- Have glue, tape, scissors, colored pencils, and brads handy.
- Cutting can be tedious for your children, so help with that part.
We also watched a lot of Cats 101 on Animal Planet.
We also made a Matzo Apple Kugel - cooking seems to reinforce our learning, and this gave the kids a taste (literally) for Jewish food.
We have plans this week to visit a cat adoption event (no, we're not getting one!), too.
What I love about Five in a Row is how the books occupy a special place in my children's memory. We had a week of memories associated with this book - learning silly things about cats, trolling the ethnic aisle in a few grocery stories, and smashing matzo crackers.
In this particular story, there is also a big emphasis on loving your neighbor. We talked a lot about that, and tried to show love to others. Each time we would read the book I would cry (it doesn't take much) and Grant would snuggle close to me and pat my back.
Sometimes the emotions from a beautiful story teach the biggest lesson of all.
After so much hard work on the lapbook, I asked Grant to do a video tour of his lapbook. {This is also a sneaky way to assess your children's learning!}
Enjoy!
Do you use Five in a Row with your children??
Linking with Read Aloud Thursday, at Hope is the Word.