ProudGrandma Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 My non-mathy daughter will be in Epsilon this fall and based on a previous thread about this, I have decided that I wanted to do some pre-Epsilon fraction stuff this summer....so I am considering either LoF or Key to Fractions. Any thoughts on either one of these as a summer math program? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We have used both. Key to ..... are great. To the point and easy to understand. They are write in so easy to take with you for summer activities. LOF does it all in story form. It can be fun if it suits the child's personality. My friend has taken a MUS break and is using LOF. Apparantly this is becoming a common combination. Apparently it is going really well. I would probably go with LOF because it is so different. It might really give her a new perspective. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissShelly Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We are using LOF this year...just finished fractions and are now on decimals and percents. My dd loves this math so I just wanted to share that. Next year we are starting a new program BJU DVD Distance Learning program for 8th gr. so she'll use that for Pre-Algebra. We'll see how it goes, I hope she likes it. MissShelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 thank you very much!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Have you seen or used any of the LOF books? People tend to either love them or intensely dislike them. We love them here, and Miss P is about halfway through Fractions, using it independently, which is nice for both of us! She loves Fred. Never used the Key tos, so this isn't a comparison! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Those two programs are very difficult to compare. LoF is helpful for the concepts, but not a lot of practice per page. Key to .... is a step by step workbook design. Personally I prefer Key to ... for my non-mathy students, but that's a personal choice and YMMV. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Have you seen or used any of the LOF books? People tend to either love them or intensely dislike them. We love them here, and Miss P is about halfway through Fractions, using it independently, which is nice for both of us! She loves Fred. Never used the Key tos, so this isn't a comparison! :001_smile: My husband HATES Fred and I like it. I plan to use Apples w/DD6 and Fractions w/DS10 as summer math and we will see where the jury votes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Key To definitely. Fred is fun but more abstract. Key To is easy to understand and broken down beautifully that even the most math-phobic among us can easily understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We're using them in combination right now after wrapping up Saxon 54 for the year. Agree with PP's that they're dramatically different. If you like workbook style, the Key to Fractions really does lay it out clearly and simply; if you like the story-based approach with real life connections, LoF is great too. We've been doing four days of Fred a week, and one day with Key to make sure the concepts are cemented, since Fred doesn't provide a lot of practice. Erica in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I would not use either. MUS Epsilon is great at gently and concretely introducing the concepts involved in working with fractions. You would lose the introductory element if you used either Key to Fractions or Fred beforehand. That said, Key to Fractions would be a great follow up *next* summer if she still needs practice with the procedures and Fred would be fine as a fun supplement *after* she has the concepts down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I have LOF Fractions and Decimals. Both my twins liked it at first, but after a few months tired of it. LOF was a supplement to Saxon. When given a choice, they will choose Key To. Key To has been a great help for my youngest, giving her the extra practice she needs without other distractions such as the story line in LOF and the variety of problems in Saxon. Also, one of them is strong in math, the other weak, and neither of them wants to do LOF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I would not use either. MUS Epsilon is great at gently and concretely introducing the concepts involved in working with fractions. You would lose the introductory element if you used either Key to Fractions or Fred beforehand. That said, Key to Fractions would be a great follow up *next* summer if she still needs practice with the procedures and Fred would be fine as a fun supplement *after* she has the concepts down. interesting. I was looking at this based on a previous post about Epsilon...thanks for this perspecitve. I was just hoping to not frustrate my child more than needed...but I think you are right...no need to assume it will be hard....cause it might not be. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I would not use either. MUS Epsilon is great at gently and concretely introducing the concepts involved in working with fractions. You would lose the introductory element if you used either Key to Fractions or Fred beforehand. That said, Key to Fractions would be a great follow up *next* summer if she still needs practice with the procedures and Fred would be fine as a fun supplement *after* she has the concepts down. :iagree::iagree::iagree: KTF would not be a good choice for teaching -- but for practice later. I use MM blue Fractions 1 to teach fractions with my RS Fractions chart. Dd7 spent an hour today & yesterday working with those resources together. HTH!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 My son asked for an MUS break, and is liking Key to Fractions to actually do. He likes Fred as a story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 My dd is almost through LOF Fractions. I find it interesting that most of the actual math instruction happens in the problem sets rather than the text (there is math instruction in the text, but it's less than I expected). It almost seems like a discovery approach to math. She loves Fred, but she's really struggling with understanding the more complex operations like multiplication and division of mixed numbers. I just ordered Key to Fractions in hope that the straightforward teaching and extra practice will help her conceptually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Miss P started doing LOF independently right after we finished the Fractions chapter in MM 4B (light blue series). She's had no trouble with it. I'm glad I introduced fractions with MM, though, rather than Fred. Fred is great review and extension (and discovery, like a pp said) but I like knowing that she had a systematic, incremental introduction via MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I would go with Key to Fractions or Math Mammoth. LOF is great, but it would be really hard to have LOF be the introduction to a topic. I mean, often there's an example (but not always)... and sometimes you'll get more than one or two problems to practice it before moving on. But frequently not... That said, it's a great supplement and it surely motivates my daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 We are using the Key To series for review. At the beginning of math time, my son does a single sheet from a Key To book and it is always review. I also bring them when we travel - they are so easy to pack! I feel the same way about LOF. It works great for my son after he has learned the core content elsewhere. He tried to do LOF fractions before he knew much about fractions and it was quite frustrating. But once he knew more about fractions, he returned to LOF Fractions and discovered that it really opened up this thinking on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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