FIAR volume 2 Master List

You can click on the titles below to see what we did when we rowed these books, or resources I have collected ready for when we read the books.

(this page is a work in progress as we continue to row and enjoy FIAR books)

The Giraffe That Walked to Paris by Nancy Milton
Three Names by Patricia MacLachlan
Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
Mrs Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
Mirette on the High Wire by Emilly Arnold McCully
They were strong and good by Alice and Robert Lawsoon
Babar, To Duet or Not to Duet by deBrunhoff
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Down Down the Mountain by Ellis Credle
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Mr Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham
All Those secrets of the World by Jane Yolen
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
When I was young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

This is one of my favourite books, my mother read it to me and we used to borrow if often from the library and read it over and over again. It is one book I had planned on reading so my kids so I was very pleased to discover it was part of the FIAR program.

If you are unable to find the book you can download it on the web (this links direct to the PDF version of the book).

B4 FIAR Master List

Click on the book titles below to see what we did when we rowed the books. (Another work in progress page)

Jesse Bear, What will you wear by Nancy White Calstrom
Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
My Blue Boat by Chris L Demarest
The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn
Ask Mr Bear by Marjorie Flack
Rowed February 2011
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag
Caps for Sale by Esphy Slobokdina
If Jesus came to my house by Joan Gale Thomas
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Quiet Way Home by Bonny Becker
Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets
I am an Artiset by Pat Lowery Collins
Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack
Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
We're going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Jenny's Suprise Summer by Eugenie

Changes

I am making some changes here at the blog as I try make it easy for me to find things - the blog tends to be my memory for sites I have found and plan to use as well as my record of what we have done. I also want to create some more pages as main records for Sonlight and FIAR.

What do you think? Is it easier to find things?

Continent Boxes

This is what our Continent Boxes look like, nothing fancy, just two sets of 4 drawer units that sit on top of our bookcase. They are up high so Wombat doesn't get into them again :)

At the moment they are missing half their labels as Wombat got into them when they were down lower! I made labels which have the name of the continent and a world map showing the continent. The colours of the labels match the colours of the continents on our felt world map.

Download the labels to match our felt map OR

Download the labels in Montessori Continent Colours.

As I add to them you will be able to click on the names below and see what we have in our boxes.

Australasia (Australia and New Zealand)

Asia (Japan)

North America

South America

Antarctica

Africa

Europe

For more details about Continent Boxes see here

Japan Swap

There is a yahoo group for Montessori Continent Box Swaps. This is the 3rd swap we have been a part of with this group.

When we studied Japan earlier this year, we contacted one of the ladies on the group who lives in Japan and asked if she would do a swap with us. Kim said yes and her parcel arrived today.

Kim has included so many things!! The girls were thrilled and so was I with all the extra little bits she put in and did.

Here is what we received in our parcel:

Above: 1 - little envelopes for each child with their name written in Japanese, and containing coins and notes - you can imagine how this impressed the kids!

2- fans and chopstick holders

Above: 1 - Japanese toys and kites. 2 - model of Tokyo tower and info.

Above: 1 - Tea towel and coasters (?),
2 - Pack of cards - which Kim has written all the words on for us.

Above: 1- map and the photo is not very clear but Kim has included a handwritten map showing where she lives. 2 - postage stamps.

Above: 1- postcards. 2 - maps

Above: 1- A huge flag. 2- packet of different sorts of paper.

This was fantastic swap - thanks to Kim and we hope she was please with the bits we sent her from Australia. Kim asked us for some specific things and not a true continent box swap for her, which we were happy to do. These things will make our Asia continent box really interesting. What an exciting way to learn about the Continents and how other people live.

The Story about Ping

It has been awhile since we rowed this book. We have rowed it twice so far and it is always a favourite.

Here is a PDF of the whole book (note this link goes direct to the PDF). There is a huge list of books you can download here. Many FIAR titles can be found here (it is a huge list and you have to scroll for a while to find what you want!).

I love the idea of raising a duck as shared by Delightful Learning in Meet Ping. Zebra has raised a duckling before and would love to do it again.


The Story about Ping is a great story to introduce a continent box and begin collecting things about China.


Go-Along Books
#The little duck by Judy Dunn - as with all her books beautifully illustrated with photos and shows the growth of a duck.
#Alexander's Outing by Pamela Allen - An australian book about a little duck who gets lost when his mother takes the family for an outing. Shows pictures of famous Sydney Buildings. A good Aussie Go-along book!


Fun things to do:
#We always find some ducks to feed when we row this book.

#Learn 5 little ducks song. The words can be found here if you don't know them.
Serving Pink Lemonade has some very cute little ducks to use with this song on her magnetic board post.
Monkey loves this YouTube Video of the song


About the Author - Marjorie Flack - She also wrote the Angus books which are used in the B4FIAR stories - Angus and the Ducks would be a good go-along if you are looking for books to tie in for younger children.


About the Illustrator - Kurt Wiese


More Ping Resources - Lapbooks
Ping Lapbook at Homeschool Share.

If you are a visual person you might like to see a video of a ping lapbook here

Another lapbook and what this family did shared here at Barracuda's Corner.

We also did the Hands of a Child Story about Ping Lapbook.

Duck things

Some ideas at Handbook of Nature Study for the Outdoor hour relating to birds and ducks.

D is for duck and other activities at first school

Cute fluffy duck craft at msss crafts

Life cycle of a duck (Link to PDF) Note this is at Sparklebox.

Posters showing duck growth (Link to PDF) Note this is at Sparklebox.

Human Body Box

I am making a Human Body box to sit on our shelf with all our books and resources in for learning about the body. I have found that the girls love hands on things and having all the resources together about a topic means they will explore them in their free time. I will upload photos when I have finished the whole school room re-arrange.

I have been looking for cards for the body for ages and today found the nicest 3 part cards for the body - they came from United Teaching
Here is the download link at 4Shared

I love that they are photos and will be so nice for introducing the names of body parts to Monkey. She knows most of them but this will help her learn the rest and I think the older girls will enjoy using them as 3 part cards and reading the words.

Preschool and Kindy Links

As I re hunt for Preschool and Kindy resources that I threw away when we moved house and state or lost from my favourites when my computer crashed :( I have realised that I have forgotten where I used to go so ....

this list is my favourite links for Preschool and Kindy age. As I re-discover them I will keep adding to the link. If you have any to share please add them in comments. Thanks

Kidzclub.com

Starfall

Childcareland

Confessions of a homeschooler (I love her letter of the week program)

1+1+1=1 (Tot School)

Learning Page (requires membership but is free to join)

World Paper dolls

We discovered friends paper dolls a while ago and noticed that they have some paper dolls from around the world that would make a great addition to lapbooks or continent boxes.

I was please to find even more paper dolls here that are world paper dolls. Each download comes with the doll and one outfit and a bit that includes the flag, the name of the capital city and a favourite food.

Alphabet Cards

Highway Alphabet Cards - so cute now I just need some tiny cars to drive over them.

Little People Magnetic Alphabet

(Photo from Serving Pink Lemonade - used with permision thank you Amy)


Not exactly alphabet cards but such cute little people download here they come in black and white or coloured and if you look at Serving Pink Lemonade you can read how Amy has turned them into magnets and all the magnet fun ideas she has to share. My girls would LOVE to play with these.

File Folder Fun and Games

Here is a growing list of sites that offer free file folder games and fun to download

Teach with Games

File Folder Fun - this requires free membership to access the full range of games - so worth it.

Christian Preschool Printables (sister site to File Folder Fun)

HEG on 4 Shared

Sonflower Schoolhouse offers lots of games (at the moment this link is down)

Preschool Printables (click on the list on the left hand side of the page to access the games)

File Folder Heaven has some free as well as some to purchase

Mormon Chic File Folder Games