Before Five in a Row was written as a response to the popularity of the Five in a Row series by Jane Claire Lambert, a literature-based, unit-study guide for reading quality children’s books for children ages four to eight. Before Five in a Row is for children ages two to four, providing a book list and story ideas, as well as a thorough section with ideas for learning readiness for pre-school children. The Five in a Row concept sets up a schedule to read the same book every day for five days, incorporating different educational concepts and activities for you to complete together each day. Each time you read the book, you will introduce new ideas about the illustrations, the setting, the characters, or the plot, all while enjoying the repetition and friendly delight of reading a familiar story.

One favorite story featured in Before Five in a Row is Blueberries for Sal, a Caldecott Honor Book, written by Robert McCloskey, published in 1948. Sal gets lost while helping her mother pick blueberries, and in the process has an adventure that involves a bear cub also searching for blueberries. While reading the story every day for five days, you will highlight different aspects of the story so that by the end of the week, you will have introduced the following concepts:

• Math: counting and sorting
• History: studying the illustrations
• Botany: trees and plants
• Zoology: animal classification
• Art: blue-ink illustrations and drawing mountains
• Music: rhythm and tempo
• Literary elements: two stories in one
• Bible: the story of Ruth
• Safety: what to do if mom and child are separated

An additional feature of Before Five in a Row that isn’t available in the other Five in a Row books is the Bible topic for each selection, offering ideas for incorporating a Bible story and scriptural principles about the plot and characters of each boo. To get these resources for the Five in a Row series, you must purchase the separate Christian Character and Bible Study Supplement.

Before Five in a Row is an excellent introduction to school for toddlers and pre-schoolers. In fact, it might be the first curriculum you begin with as you homeschool your children. Or it can make an excellent tool to allow your older children to develop teaching skills as they take charge of the little ones for an hour of school time every day.

The excellent section in Part Two of the manual contains supplemental activities and learning ideas for you to incorporate into schooling your pre-school children such as how to use nursery rhymes, poetry, hand games, music, drama and make believe for reading readiness. The sections on coordination, development of large and small motor skills, activities for bath time, kitchen and store, make this a valuable resource for your home school.

Before Five in a Row provides the opportunity to use as many or as few of the supplemental activities as fit within your schedule, with no pressure or compulsion to complete every activity. Above all, it provides a list of exceptional children’s books that will become treasured friends in your home library, such as: Ask Mr. Bear, Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, Caps for Sale, Katy No-Pocket, Angus Lost and the classic Corduroy.