Life of Fred?

[freeindeed]

Tell me about this. Is it stand-alone or supplemental? Why do you like/dislike it? Did your child(ren) gain more mathematical understanding with this program? Did your child(ren) find it interesting? Thanks!

[Corraleno]

I think whether it works as a stand-alone curriculum or a supplement depends on what kind of learner the student is. LoF expects kids to sort of "puzzle through" a lot of the problems without being taught how to solve them first, then the solution is explained in the answer section. For kids who are good at inferential learning and enjoy puzzling through things, it could certainly be a stand-alone curriculum (at least for Alg I and up). Kids who need explicit conceptual explanations are likely to find it frustrating, IMO, unless they've already covered the topics in another program and are using Fred as a supplement to stretch their brains a bit and add real-world applications and word problems. We use it as a supplement to MM.

 

Jackie

[Mom25girls]

My 10yr old dd asked for LoF for her upcoming birthday. One of her friends at the gym has been walking around leo clad with her nose in the fractions book. We're using LoF as an addition to Saxon 76. My dd really loves it and spends her free time figuring out the puzzles.

:)Michele

[Melora in NC]

So far we have used Fractions, Decimals, and about half of Biology Pre-Algebra. My ds Loves Fred, and he is Not a mathy kid. He finds Fred's adventures very funny, and the math is interesting because the problems are all different and there are never very many of them. So far we are using Fred as a supplement to Singapore -- I think the higher level texts might be considered stand-alone, but I haven't looked at any of them yet.

[SailorMom]

I think for my kids, Fred was enough most of the time. We did supplement with extra practice sheets if they struggled with a concept.

We have used Fractions, Decimals & Percents, and about half of the Beginning Algebra book. DS12 will be using Pre-algebra with Biology in the fall.

[JudoMom]

We've used Fractions, and are currently using Decimals & Percents and Pre-Algebra w/Biology. We're using them as a fun introduction before we start our next Saxon books (my oldest 2 are going into 8/7 & 7/6). We used Fractions as a supplement over last school year. We did it one day a week, but I decided it would be better for my boys if they did the entire books during one chunk of time, rather than spread out, hence the reason we're doing them as an introduction.

 

When the new Fred books came in, my oldest took his to bed to start before I assigned it. He's never done that with Saxon :lol:.

 

I love Fred. I want to work through the series myself (I've done most of Fractions), and need to find the time for self-education again.

 

Oh, my dh has the Calculus book as a supplement to the Calculus classes he's taking at the university.

[Mynyel]

Oh, my dh has the Calculus book as a supplement to the Calculus classes he's taking at the university.

 

OMG My dh has to take Calc eventually too....good idea!!

[elegantlion]

We've used fractions, decimals & percents, and just finished pre-algebra w/biology. We had finished Singapore 5a when we started the fractions book. We supplemented the pre-biology with a couple of chapters from a 1970s Dolciani pre-algebra book.

 

My son will say he doesn't like math, but he's good at it. He thinks very mathematically. Next year we will do LOF Beginning Algebra peppered with a few chapters of a 1960s Dolciani Algebra book.

 

We probably approach LOF differently than others as my son is mildly dyslexic. Reading is a chore for him, so I do the reading and then we each work the problems. I know my brain can use the refresher and I give my only child some competition. Using LOF in this manner, it works well for us. I'd much rather him think through the process of 5-10 more difficult problems, than do 30 problems of the same kind and zone off in the process.

 

I'm undecided how we are going to handle LOF after beginning algebra, but I still want to use the books in some way.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Is it stand-alone or supplemental? Why do you like/dislike it? Did your child(ren) gain more mathematical understanding with this program? Did your child(ren) find it interesting?

 

It's our core. I am supplementing, this year, with Key to for the fourth grader and Aleks for the seventh grader. I like it because it's thorough, containing more math concepts than other curricula, and because it's relevant, never leaving a child a chance to wonder how math relates to real life. I also like that's it's funny and absorbing.

 

The children seem to have an average understanding of mathematics. I'm not sure from whence this understanding comes.

 

The children do find it interesting. They bring these books to bed with them for free reading.

[coffeegal]

Tell me about this. Is it stand-alone or supplemental? Why do you like/dislike it? Did your child(ren) gain more mathematical understanding with this program? Did your child(ren) find it interesting? Thanks!

 

We tried fractions, and found it frustrating. Ds didn't find it any more interesting than Saxon, "It's still math, Mom." He also needed a lot more practice than it allowed, and we were using it as a suppliment. :001_huh:

[Free Indeed]

It's our core. I am supplementing, this year, with Key to for the fourth grader and Aleks for the seventh grader. I like it because it's thorough, containing more math concepts than other curricula, and because it's relevant, never leaving a child a chance to wonder how math relates to real life. I also like that's it's funny and absorbing.

 

The children seem to have an average understanding of mathematics. I'm not sure from whence this understanding comes.

 

The children do find it interesting. They bring these books to bed with them for free reading.

 

:iagree: Except we are supplementing where they need more practice with the Math Mammoth books. We LOVE Fred.

[laughing lioness]

we are using Algrebra this year (switched from Saxon in Oct when the house burned). My ds (who was VERY mathy for eled math and got very discouraged with Saxon) loves LoF! My dh, who has a Ph.D. (his dissertation involved lots of stats) and a math minor thinks it is a fine spine.

[Miss Marple]

I would have to vote both selections. One boy liked it, one didn't. It worked for one, it didn't for the other.

[Debbie in London]

We just started Fractions yesterday and we're already on chapter 6. We love it! We are using it as a supplement with MM, but at the rate we're going he's going to get to the new concepts in LoF before they are taught in MM. I guess that's already happened, though, since he didn't know radius and diameter before yesterday. He's very mathy so I'm not worried.

 

I'm using it in a similar fashion to Paula. DS9 is an excellent reader but since he wouldn't wait to start the book and I wanted to make sure he was understanding, we're reading it together. Also, I was very interested in seeing what all the excitement was about. :) We cuddle on the sofa and I do most of the reading. He does the math and anything he can do verbally, he does (fine motor issues).

 

I'm enjoying it so much I plan on purchasing them all. But I can see they wouldn't be for everyone, and in fact, DS13 isn't interested at all. He sat with us when we did the 1st chapter but he'd much rather have a textbook.

 

Debbie

[tenoraddict]

 

So far we are using Fred as a supplement to Singapore

We're doing the same thing.

[PinkInTheBlue]

I liked it more than my boys. I've been going through them myself. My guys found it interesting and fun but as an actual math curriculum they eventually became more of "get to the point" minded.