Compare Five In A Row with HOD??

hugsathome · Post by **hugsathome** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:35 pm

Hi EVERYONE!!

Anyone out there ever used Five in a Row? Can you compare HOD and FIAR?

Just curious, because I've used FIAR but never used HOD (although I'm hoping to this fall).

Thanks Ladies!

crlacey · Post by **crlacey** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:44 pm

Five In A Row may work for some kids, but my daughter got tired of the same story every day. We prefer the hand on fun of HOD. Each day feel fresh and fun. We found with FIAR we would stop half way through the week because we just couldn't do that same book again.

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:30 pm

We used Five in a Row for a while. It was ok at first, but like crlacey said, it gets old reading the same book for five days. I used it more for the book list; they were always great books. Hod is definately more in depth, and more fun. with FIAR I felt like we were enjoying good books, but were learning very lttle. I also like the way HOD is laid out better. Also, quite a few of the books in FIAR are out of print.
HTH,
Kelly

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:25 pm

My kiddos loved five in a row but it was difficult for me to keep up with doing enough of the activities. I need a more structured program like HOD with boxes to check off as we do it. We still do an occasional week of Five in a row when we see a book that meshes well with whatever unit of HOD we are on. I always had a nagging question in my mind about whether I was covering all the subjects or not, with HOD I know it's all covered.

And finally, the bible part of FIAR is an add-on, whereas with HOD it is integrated through the whole program. This is important to us.

lil' ladies · Post by **lil' ladies** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:13 pm

We used Five in a Row 1 and 4. I do think it's a great program for young children and it has great books and it's fun....but it's too much work for the parents.

I love being able to pick up my manual and just go. With FIAR you have planning to do ahead, pre-reading and making sure you have all the things you need for each activity. Honestly, I'm just not that organised most of the time

.

annegirl1919 · Post by **annegirl1919** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:17 pm

lil' ladies wrote:We used Five in a Row 1 and 4. I do think it's a great program for young children and it has great books and it's fun....but it's too much work for the parents.

I love being able to pick up my manual and just go. With FIAR you have planning to do ahead, pre-reading and making sure you have all the things you need for each activity. Honestly, I'm just not that organised most of the time .

this is exactly how i felt about 5 in a row. hod is so wonderful-for kids and parents. (at least parents who don't like to have to spend a bunch of time planning.)

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:21 pm

HI! I used FIAR too, and I agree with much of what's been said. Here's a short list of what didn't work for us with FIAR:
*the story gets redundant (even by the 3rd. day on some of them)
*the activities are all different levels of difficulty, and it was hit and miss with what really fit my ds's age and ability level
*the length of time activities took varied so much that it was hard to know how much time to plan for homeschool
*I was doing a lot of the activities while my ds watched me, so I began just reading the final point of the activity rather than doing some of them
*the connections were a stretch in some areas
*the math and science were not strong areas, IMO
*I felt it made the books very memorable, but didn't really teach many LA skills that seemed to "stick" with my ds
*there was way too much planning for the parent
*many of the books are OOP, and no revisions have been made to the FIAR books to account for that - to get a year's worth of books (34) I ended up having to buy all of the volumes of FIAR

I liked the books and the concept behind FIAR, but halfway through the year we were only doing it several days a week, and I'd added in science, math, history, art, and FIAR became just the read aloud for the most part.

HOD's guides are complete, age appropriate, fun, doable, and I don't ever find myself skipping activities. Also, it takes the same amount of time to do each day, give or take 15-30 minutes or so. I also like that the Biblical part is woven through everything, rather than a supplement. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Oh, I LOVE to cook and I bought the FIAR cookbook too - not a good fit for us! Very strange foods that took a lot to prepare and were a stretch for matching the story very well IMO! I think I only made 2 of them!

Dorla · Post by **Dorla** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:07 am

FIAR is great if you are very organized and have time to plan ahead and love to do unit studies.

We still use FIAR for library day with other homeschool families and I recommend it to all my elementary school teacher friends.

FIAR is an excellent program. HOD is better for me!

Dorla

Tansy · Post by **Tansy** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:28 pm

We used before FIAR I have 2 lovely quilts from it as well... One panel is a book we read. They are great books and very fun but as you see by the time I hit first grade I knew I couldn't use it. I was to disorganized. HOD on the other hand has a sticktoit quality I love.