Can we stand another thread about LOF?

[Susan in KY]

I have read through all the threads tagged for Life of Fred, but I still have a few questions lingering in my mind....

 

1) Will it be enough practice for my dc once we get through Singapore 6A/B?

2) Will the answers in the text be too tempting for my dc not to look at them when the problem is a bit challenging?

3) How long will it take to complete pre Algebra 1 and 2?

 

Anyone care to chime in?

 

TIA

Susan

[Mommybostic]

I cover the answers with a couple of post-it notes until my son at least tries the problem. Then I let him check himself and correct his own work. I just started it, so that's really all I have to add, but I hope it helps. FWIW, my son and I both really like it, and you can order the drills from the web site to add more practice, if you feel that's necessary. Good luck.

[Susan in KY]

....you can order the drills from the web site to add more practice, if you feel that's necessary. Good luck.

 

Really?! I can't find the drills on Polka Dot Press site. Could you link to them for me?

 

Thanks a million.

Susan

 

ETA: Do you mean the Home Companion?

Edited December 6, 2010 by Susan in KY

[SilverMoon]

I have read through all the threads tagged for Life of Fred, but I still have a few questions lingering in my mind....

 

1) Will it be enough practice for my dc once we get through Singapore 6A/B?

2) Will the answers in the text be too tempting for my dc not to look at them when the problem is a bit challenging?

3) How long will it take to complete pre Algebra 1 and 2?

 

Anyone care to chime in?

 

TIA

Susan

 

I am not familiar with Singapore. If your dc is one that needs a good amount of problems to get a concept sunk deep, I'd suggest grabbing the corresponding Keys To ____ workbooks to go with Fractions, Decimals & Percents, and Pre-algebra. For algebra on up, get the Home Companion.

 

If he cheats it will bite him on the bridge/city tests (which have removable answers in the back), and he will have to do the whole section over. Personally, I let my ds, who tends to choose the easy way out, get bit. He learned from the experience. :)

 

They won't fill up a school year. The speed depends on the mathiness of the kid. My mathy kid rips through them. My not-so-mathy kid shouldn't really do more than 2 lessons a day.

Edited December 7, 2010 by SilverMoon

[radiobrain]

I am finishing up pre-alg 1 and 5B. We have been flying through both of them. The LofF book has 46 chapters and 5+ bridges.

 

The 2 LoF pre-algebra books should take 1/2-3/4 of a year, depending on how many days you do them.

 

I teach the book to both my kids at the same time and do the problems on the whiteboard, so my opinion doesn't matter on the peeking part. Sometimes though, the problems are explained in the answers. It's as if he wants you to try something that he didn't really delve into yet, and he does a bit of teaching within that answer. I think it is quite clever....

[Trish]

We just got our pre-algebra economics book in the mail today! About halfway though the first pre-algebra book. I agree that there's no point "cheating" on the examples because you have to understand the concepts for the Bridge material.

[Mommybostic]

Really?! I can't find the drills on Polka Dot Press site. Could you link to them for me?

 

Thanks a million.

Susan

 

ETA: Do you mean the Home Companion?

 

Yes, I did mean the home companion! I was just reading through the stuff in the back of my LoF book and was reading about more practice. It says there are a lot of extra practice problems. Sorry about the confusion.

[elegantlion]

I have read through all the threads tagged for Life of Fred, but I still have a few questions lingering in my mind....

 

1) Will it be enough practice for my dc once we get through Singapore 6A/B?

2) Will the answers in the text be too tempting for my dc not to look at them when the problem is a bit challenging?

3) How long will it take to complete pre Algebra 1 and 2?

 

Anyone care to chime in?

 

TIA

Susan

 

1. this depends on your dc. We started LOF during singapore 5a. My son gets math and doesn't need the extra practice. I have plenty of extra math resources (small collection amassed over many panicked years of OMG! I have to teach math!) We never finished 5b and moved to LOF.

 

2. Because my son has some reading delays I read LOF and we did the problems together. We are now in algebra and he is starting to work on his own. We'll see .

 

3. Agreed with the 1/2 - 3/4 year assessment. The home companions don't start until beginning algebra so there are no extras for the first four books.

 

IMO I think it is good to continue with something like Singapores CWP if you feel more work is necessary. Those word problems are excellent and challenging. If you like the Singapore series and haven't completed those, I think those would be a good addition to LOF.

[Susan in KY]

1. this depends on your dc. We started LOF during singapore 5a. My son gets math and doesn't need the extra practice. I have plenty of extra math resources (small collection amassed over many panicked years of OMG! I have to teach math!) We never finished 5b and moved to LOF.

 

2. Because my son has some reading delays I read LOF and we did the problems together. We are now in algebra and he is starting to work on his own. We'll see .

 

3. Agreed with the 1/2 - 3/4 year assessment. The home companions don't start until beginning algebra so there are no extras for the first four books.

 

IMO I think it is good to continue with something like Singapores CWP if you feel more work is necessary. Those word problems are excellent and challenging. If you like the Singapore series and haven't completed those, I think those would be a good addition to LOF.

 

Thanks for this input. It is exactly where we are, minus the reading issues, I guess. I have the CWP books, so that will work.

 

Thanks to everyone for your input. I ordered LOF Fractions today, and we'll see how it goes as we work through Singapore 5B next semester. If it goes well, we may just skip 6a/b and work through the pre-Algebra texts.

 

Thanks again!

Susan

[Testimony]

You asked:

1) Will it be enough practice for my dc once we get through Singapore 6A/B?

Yes, I think so

2) Will the answers in the text be too tempting for my dc not to look at them when the problem is a bit challenging?

It shouldn't be. My son loves a good challenge, but he never had any that challenged him as much as Singapore's Challenging Word Problems.

3) How long will it take to complete pre Algebra 1 and 2?

It took my son from September to the last week in November to complete Pre-Algebra 1.

 

Anyone care to chime in?

 

 

I am a nut case. My older son is currently doing New Elementary Math 1 plus Challenging Word Problems 6 plus Life of Fred Pre-Algebra. He completed book 1 Biology. Then I started him on Algebra when I found out there is a book2 to Pre Algebra. So after Algebra, we will go back to Pre-Algebra only because I know my son will love doing that economics stuff. So, technically I have my son doing 3 math programs. Am I crazy? I know.

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[radiobrain]

 

 

I am a nut case. My older son is currently doing New Elementary Math 1 plus Challenging Word Problems 6 plus Life of Fred Pre-Algebra. He completed book 1 Biology. Then I started him on Algebra when I found out there is a book2 to Pre Algebra. So after Algebra, we will go back to Pre-Algebra only because I know my son will love doing that economics stuff. So, technically I have my son doing 3 math programs. Am I crazy? I know.

 

Blessings,

Karen

www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

 

If he is enjoying them, is challenged, and not making your life miserable... Who CARES!? I think it's great! :D

[Susan in TN]

:bigear:

 

I'm all ears on this - thanks for posting! My dd (6th grade) is working on Singapore 6A/B, and she struggles with math!!! I've looked very briefly into LoF, but it never occurred to me that we could use both at once. I think she would really enjoy it.