Five in a Row Before : Second Edition

I am enjoying this program very much! The book selections are wonderful, quality children’s literature. There is a great treasury of ideas in the second portion of the book unrelated to the titles, but to support our children’s understanding of the world & of course - their play! My son is quoting books we read months before to me, and re-enacting activities that we did with them while rowing.The company website describes Before Five in a Row as “... a gentle start that is not a curriculum but instead a collection of discussion and play-based lessons to do for 10-15 minutes 2 or 3 days a week.”. Many likely use it like the older counterpart, Five in a Row, using it for 5 days.While there are amazing online resources nowadays for toddler / preschooler activities, this manual has timeless books & activities for families to enjoy. I am so thankful for this resource & will likely continue buying the older programs as my child gets older.

As someone else said, it's good, but not great. Maybe just-okay would be a better adjective. I have spent the past 3 hours reviewing the first 6-ish book ideas in detail and have written notes for every single one of the suggestions because none are as relevant to the youngest of audiences. I doubt my 2/3 year old will even know what I am talking about half the time, so instead of having fun doing the activity, it will just be an exposure moment and probably shortl-lived. They have a lot of suggestions for additional purchasing of other books too, which are also outdated.I bought this despite the negative reviews because I don't mind classic literature in any form if still relevant (and this includes old textbooks as well, or teacher's manuals)- the manual just seems to be outdated. It's as if the authors of the manual don't acknowledge that pinterest exists and thus assumes the position of an outdated version of pinterest. I think it almost would've been more useful to maintain some of their original ideas and add some pinterest ideas or activities to do (with pictures) to replace some of the dated suggestions (like the ones with books you can't find).I really wanted to love this curriculum as it is literature-based and geared toward a younger audience, but it's definitely lost some glory since pinterest exists and I think it's better for 4+ year olds whereas I got it for 2-3 year old and had hoped to modify it subtly where need be. At this point, I'll probably keep my notes and the few books I already purchased in preparation for this curriculum and just use pinterest with eric carle books etc. See also "Around the World in Picture Books" curriculum for a 6-12 year(ish) old curriculum that is the same philosophy (literature-based education), but much more in-depth and extensive in materials (all sold separately so it can be very expensive without the public library). I got that one for my older child and Before 5 in a Row for my younger because I thought they'd be fun and cut some of the work. That was the original plan at least.

Insanely overpriced, outdated books to use in compilation with this and outdated ideas. Not worth the money. My kid could care less about the “ideas” this book has. I’ll stick with free Pinterest and my updated children’s books.....

As a former reading teacher, I was looking for more activities and less suggestions. I found more helpful items on the teachers pay teachers website. A bit disappointing after all of the rave reviews that I had seen.