LIfe of Fred elementary quetion

[woolybear]

I am going to start LOF Apples with both my boys. Sure, they are beyond that (especially my older ds) but I thought it would be good review and we could move fairly quickly through it. However, my younger ds is not a strong reader so I will read aloud to him. Does it make sense to do this as a read aloud for both or should older ds just read it himself? And I can't quite see asking him to do the now it's your turn bits, unless he feels like it on his own.

 

So, does this sound like a reasonable approach--read aloud to younger ds, do the now it's your turn stuff with him. Have older ds read himself and not require him to do the work at the end of the chapter, until we get to Fractions and beyond that.

[NittanyJen]

I would read it out loud with both.

 

Here is another thread that might give you some ideas: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/442627-how-fast-can-we-effectively-go-through-lof-elementary/

[zoo_keeper]

We read LOF aloud, both the story and the problems. Depending upon the difficulty, sometimes I pose the questions to the younger child, sometimes to the older child, sometimes to both at once. I'm betting there's stuff in Apples that your 9 yo hasn't come across yet (e.g., set theory).

[boscopup]

Apples is meant to be read aloud. Life of Fred isn't independent until you get to Fractions.

 

I read aloud to my 6 year old (he LOVES it!), and my 8 year old, who is almost done with Fractions, reads the elementary series on his own for fun. He can read one of those books in a day, easily. I do not make him get out paper and pencil for the "Your Turn to Play" in the elementary series. I also do that part orally with my 6 year old unless it's something we HAVE to draw.

[besroma]

If DS were 11, I would do it the way you mentioned in your post.

 

At 9, I would read it aloud to both of them. Even if he understands the math concepts, even Apples will introduce ideas that he probably has not come across. He will learn more if you read it aloud to him.

 

It will also set expectations that he cannot read future volumes on his own. With LOF, this is hard to enforce because they enjoy it so much!

[woolybear]

I forgot to mention their ages in my original post. My younger ds just turned 10, however he has only had a year-ish of formal math. My older ds is 12. I decided to just start them both with apples and work through the series.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I think you are doing the right thing using the Elementary series as a read-aloud for both. That way, you can stop and discuss interesting things, and the whole experience will be richer for all of you. We did do all of the YTTP problems, but I let dd (9 at the time) do them orally or on the whiteboard. Once it got up into multipdigit problems, I had her do them in her head as mental math practice. Sure, it looks easy-peasy in the first couple of books, but there is challenging stuff in there, and a lot of the teaching occurs in the answers to the YTTP problems, which kids will often just skip right over if they got the answers right. They will also tend to read too fast and skim over the parts they don't understand unless you are there to slow them down and make sure they actually read and get that stuff - and of course the parts they don't understand is the whole point of reading the books in the first place, for older kids!

[fairy4tmama]

We use life of fred in much the same way as you are considering and it is working great...they are in different books at this point as older ds is moving through it quicker. I also find the LOF elementary series is a great place to do some buddy reading with my younger DS so I read a couple of paragraphs and then have him read a paragraph...he is really motivated because LOF is so funny.

[woolybear]

I think you are doing the right thing using the Elementary series as a read-aloud for both. That way, you can stop and discuss interesting things, and the whole experience will be richer for all of you. We did do all of the YTTP problems, but I let dd (9 at the time) do them orally or on the whiteboard. Once it got up into multipdigit problems, I had her do them in her head as mental math practice. Sure, it looks easy-peasy in the first couple of books, but there is challenging stuff in there, and a lot of the teaching occurs in the answers to the YTTP problems, which kids will often just skip right over if they got the answers right. They will also tend to read too fast and skim over the parts they don't understand unless you are there to slow them down and make sure they actually read and get that stuff - and of course the parts they don't understand is the whole point of reading the books in the first place, for older kids!

 

Good points! Mine definitely would read fast, skip what he didn't understand, breeze past what he thinks he does understand.

[woolybear]

We use life of fred in much the same way as you are considering and it is working great...they are in different books at this point as older ds is moving through it quicker. I also find the LOF elementary series is a great place to do some buddy reading with my younger DS so I read a couple of paragraphs and then have him read a paragraph...he is really motivated because LOF is so funny.

Do you mean that you have your older ds read on his own or you do it as a read aloud with each of them separately?

[Mom2pandc]

I use the series with my 6 and 9 year old as a fun supplement to math mammoth. I read two chapters out loud twice a week. So usually 4 chapters a week. They each have a composition book to write their answers in at the end of each chapter. It's quite fun and my 9 year old who is very strong in math doesn't mind doing it alongside his sister. We are almost through cats now and are still having a good time with it.

[momto2Cs]

I am reading aloud Apples to both my kids, and then dd9 does the YTTP bits, then ds11 and I work on his LOF book. He was doing Fractions, but we're running into difficulties with multiplication/division, so I'm backing him up to Farming (at Stan Schmidt's recommendation), which he should be able to move through pretty quickly (I hope). Even with Apples, we have come across info my ds11 wasn't aware of, like set theory, etc.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I am reading aloud Apples to both my kids, and then dd9 does the YTTP bits, then ds11 and I work on his LOF book. He was doing Fractions, but we're running into difficulties with multiplication/division, so I'm backing him up to Farming (at Stan Schmidt's recommendation), which he should be able to move through pretty quickly (I hope). Even with Apples, we have come across info my ds11 wasn't aware of, like set theory, etc.

 

 

This is exactly what happened with us w/ LOF Fractions, so I decided we'd go back through the book together, doing the YTTP orally or on the white board (she's been through the book once on her own, and did fine till around Ch. 29, and couldn't pass a YTTP/Bridge after that). In doing that, it's clear that the later chapters just threw too many new concepts, too quickly, with not enough practice. We'll get there, though!

[fairy4tmama]

Do you mean that you have your older ds read on his own or you do it as a read aloud with each of them separately?

 

Older reads independantly but with me near by and available so we can read together as needed and I can see a need for this to increase as he progresses through the series (right now he is still in butterflies). I read aloud to younger and sit with him as he does the YTTP in his math journal.

[mom2boys030507]

My older boys read independently then answer the Your Turn to Play on their white boards. If they get one wrong they need to bring it to me and we go over it together. When my boys read fast and skip what they don't understand it shows up in wrong answers so I am able to go over it with them. I am also available for questions if they decide to ask before getting to YTTP. I read aloud to my youngest and he answers the YTTP on his white board.

[besroma]

 

 

Older reads independantly but with me near by and available so we can read together as needed and I can see a need for this to increase as he progresses through the series (right now he is still in butterflies). I read aloud to younger and sit with him as he does the YTTP in his math journal.

 

 

This is what we do.

 

Once each child progresses to their appropriate level, I read aloud to each one separately.