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Thinking about Life of Fred


lorrainejmc
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I would not use LOF as a stand alone curriculum.

We find it a fascinating series to extend and enjoy math thinking. My kids love the narrative approach.

Some readers find LOF Dogs problematic because it includes a story about Fred coping with dogs being potentially euthanized. Some of us here find that it is provides a way to discuss those sad realities with our children and some of us here found the treatment totally offensive in the context of a children's math book. It's a rather polarizing book, I think. Reader beware.

I find that my children love their LOF. They have been "caught" carrying these books around to show friends and neighbors.

Any math book that a thirteen year old boy will read out loud to friends will definitely get my attention.

There is a money back guarantee with the LOF books.

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We are using it as a supplement and enjoying it so far. DD is a big reader and wanted to start at the beginning so we haven't hit any math that she didn't already know yet but it has definately made her enjoy math more. After we finish the books we loan them to a friend with a first grader. He told me in the car the other day that he is learning subtraction with his MUS lessons but Fred taught him a little multiplication the other day and he really liked it.:lol:

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I agree with the pps. My Dd9 loves Fred - we're in Cats - and I credit it, in part, with her total turnaround in attitude to math since we've started homeschooling. There is also a deceptively large amount of math, some of it pretty high-level, conceptually. I really like that these concepts are introduced, at this "low" level of computation, and in words - really great for a verbal kid.

 

However, I wouldn't rely on it as a stand-alone program for elementary students. Fractions & Decimals, maybe, though we aren't there yet. I don't think the author intends it to be your only math, either, at the elementary level. Just today in Cats we read that it's really important to memorize your basic addition facts - so go do it - but obviously you aren't going to get enough practice in the Fred book to do so. I pair Fred with MM, because I really like MM, but any basic workbook series that covers computation to whatever level of thoroughness your student needs would be fine.

 

In short (too late! :D) I find Fred an excellent supplement to math for both of my dds, although I find that DD5 doesn't "get it" the way her older sister does. She still likes it, but it's mostly over her head conceptually. I will probably stop and pick it up again next year in 1st grade with her.

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DS11 is using LoF as his main program. He's doing great so far; he started in Fractions and is nearly finished with the first PreA book.

 

On a once-in-a-while basis, he knocks out a section of AoPS PreA, doing them in order. After Fred, AoPS is pretty easy for him.

 

And no, we're not re-teaching any of it to him; he is independent with LoF.

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