If you have been homeschooling for awhile the acronym FIAR is probably familiar to you. If you are relatively new to homeschooling, like myself, you have likely stumbled across that acronym before, and started passing over posts in message boards and forums, because you could never figure out what it meant.

FIAR stands for Five in a Row - which essentially are guides of creative ideas to inspire learning.

The good folks at Five in a Row, sent me a copy of Before Five in a Row to review. This treasury is for ages two through four.

Inside you will find a suggestion of books to read to your preschooler and activities to go along with them. Stories such as Corduroy and The Snowy Day I recognized as ones my daughter enjoyed having read to her when she was younger. A whole host of ideas accompany the Corduroy book, such as animals, art, games and number activities to do with your preschooler.

Many or most of the books should be found at your library, although I have read that some of the books are out of print, and a little more difficult to find.

The second part of the book is dedicated for a parent to plan and do activities for learning through simple, everyday actions. Ideas to enhance motor skills, motion control, bath time, in the kitchen and more, are included.

Since I didn't really get the chance to use it (as Genius is 12, and just a tad beyond this!), you may want to read more reviews at the TOS Crew Blog, where others with preschoolers might have more detail on how they used it. Five in a Row also sells different levels of books much like this for other age groups.