Life of Fred with kids that aren't strong readers

[mindygz]

Do you just read it to/with them? Is that fine? This is probably a dumb question, but my ds7 balks at reading a lot of text (as his reading skills are still developing) but I think he'll enjoy Life of Fred. I just ordered the entire set to use as part of our summer school.

[lamolina]

I think that is perfect. I am currently working through them with my 5 and 8 year old and they listen and then when we get to the actual math questions at the end of each chapter I just ask them out loud too. No writing or reading is necessary at least in the 2 books we have used.

[unfrumpable.]

I used LoF with my 6 y/o who is not reading on his own yet at all, so I read it all to him. It works fine for us! :) I read the chapter, then the questions at the end and he writes down the answers to the questions.

[mindygz]

Thank you! It is helpful to hear what others do...sometimes I feel weirdly insecure about starting something new to us. :tongue_smilie:

[Uff Da!]

nm

[Bearcat]

My son is perfectly capable of reading them on his own, and has occasionally, but I usually read them to him. He enjoys it that way and his sister loves to listen in as well. They both think Fred is absolutely hilarious.

[terrafirma]

I've been going through the elementary series with my daughter. She could read them herself, but she likes them read to her and has been asking for Fred even as her bedtime story. I prefer reading them aloud to her as well because then I know she has stopped for the math. On her own, she might be tempted to read just for the story. It might not be such a big deal now, as she is older and a lot of things aren't new to her. But I'd like to make sure to emphasize stopping and paying attention to the math, so we'll have that pattern established by the time we hit the Fractions book. Plus, it's great that I'm "in" on the story -- we make jokes/references related to Fred quite a bit.

[unfrumpable.]

We read it aloud as well and then DD does the problems at the end- and tries to copy all of his drawings as well. :tongue_smilie:

 

:lol: My son likes to do this as well! We use a composition notebook with an area for drawing at the top, it comes in useful!

[swellmomma]

I read it aloud to ds8 who is just a beginner reader and we do the questions at the end of each chapter orally. He enjoys it very much.

[Grover]

I think the intention was that Fred be read aloud (or at least together) to start with. DS reads it on his own, but I also make him read it to me / I read it to him, because it's just such a cool thing to share.

[boscopup]

I would assume that the Elementary books are meant to be read-aloud, since most kids probably aren't at that reading level in first grade.

 

By time you get to the middle grade books (Fractions on up), your child will most likely be reading at the level of the books. :)

[EKS]

It is fine to read Life of Fred aloud. Just because the author says to do it a different way doesn't mean that way is the only legitimate way to do it.

[Nestof3]

Honestly, I read them all aloud anyway because I adore them. I don't want to miss out. They are filled with so many interesting bits of information totally unrelated to math. :D

 

My youngest really looks forward to me reading these. I consider it special time in the evening with him.

[NittanyJen]

The elementary series is intended to be read together with your child as a cuddle-up book, not so much as an independent series (the math here is pretty interesting and surprisingly deep, but only when an adult helps them "play" with it, in my opinion; it could work otherwise or the older end of the target audience.

 

I think that for a 7YO, reading it out loud together is exactly what the author intended.

[Chrysalis Academy]

The elementary series is intended to be read together with your child as a cuddle-up book, not so much as an independent series (the math here is pretty interesting and surprisingly deep, but only when an adult helps them "play" with it, in my opinion; it could work otherwise or the older end of the target audience.

 

I think that for a 7YO, reading it out loud together is exactly what the author intended.

 

Yep, this was the author's intention according to the book intros: the elementary series is to read together, and the student should start working independently when they get to Fractions, which before the elementary series existed was targeted for students that have mastered long division. 4th or 5th grade seems about right to me.