on the fence about Life of Fred.

[Sharon37127]

We are dealing with an 11yo son with serious math issues. He has been struggling with it since 3rd grade (darn multiplication table!). By struggling, I mean there could be some kind of learning issues specifically regarding math. He is extremely right- brained: artistic, creative, word-oriented (reading & writing). He is also ADHD so focus is a very sensitive issue.

 

We have tried Math-U-See (closer to 3r grade), the (older) text version of Mr. B, Math Mammoth, and Khan Academy. As you can probably see, the expense of the curriculum is a factor so we can't just go willy-nilly and try anything and everything.

 

With his personality, it sounds like Life of Fred (starting with Fractions) would be a perfect fit for him. BUT- I looked at some samples- :001_huh:? It all seems so random to me. Yes, the stories, but more importantly the math content. Of course, this is coming from a left-brained mama who would drool over pages and pages of straight calculations. Is there some rhyme or reason to the "flow" of the math content? Does it cover a tradition scope & sequence type of progression for the equivalent grade level? I hope that makes sense.

 

I'm probably just at least going to order Fractions and try it. I think I heard it's free shipping and guaranteed if you don't like it. I'm probably more concerned with wasting more time than anything else.

[EKS]

I would *not* use Life of Fred for a child who is struggling with math. It does *not* directly teach math concepts. There is not much rhyme or reason (other than the author's whims) to the order of things. Truly.

 

Use Fred as a supplement, but not as your primary program.

[NittanyJen]

Fred has a great, logical progression of mathematical development. At first blush, it seems disorganized, but it is anything but. The conceptual teaching is deep if you encourage your student to pause and focus on the math in each chapter.

 

As you progress from book to book, previously learned material is continually reinforced, and builds on itself as it continues onward.

 

Fred is a fantastic program, well worth trying. It doesn't work for everyone, but if you order from ZTwist, it has a money back guarantee. It is pretty easy to try out.

 

Remember, the book is for your son, not you. The Fractions book alone has over 700 problems, and Fractions are not abandoned in Decimals and Percents (how could they be?) nor are they in the 3 preA books, and of course fractions are key to algebra. Don't worry about enough practice...

 

Good luck making a decision. Finding the right fit is such a personal choice.

[dbmamaz]

Curious what exactly hasnt worked with the other things you've tried? My middle child had some struggles with math. Memorize in MInutes worked for him for math facts, because its stories with a visual (shoe time shoe = floor for 2x2=4). of course, he still forgot them the next year.

 

LOF did not work for him. he couldnt follow it. it only works as a review for him. He does best with a straight-up curriculum which i have to teach, so its interactive. he learns pretty fast that way, but is super slow to do problems. I ended up letting him use a printed times table for a while, and his math facts finally seemed to improve. not great . . but better.

[Dchapelschool]

We are using LOF as a supplement and we enjoy it very much! If your child has a learning issue that is language related then Fred may be challenging for him. I still think Fred is a great pick though even for language impaired children. NittanyJen provides a good summary..Ditto her sentiments on LOF. I do believe Fred holds attention at least it does at my house. We are also using Teaching Textbooks but had a good foundation in Saxon and Abeka.

 

I use FASST math to teach times tables as well as Timez Attack. FASST Math is ten minutes a day and we use it as a warm up. It is an older program from Scholastic and it was pricey but it has addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. Not to mention, it has a proven track record:).Timez Attack has a free download for basic and has a good record for retention in my book.

:001_smile:

[Momling]

I would *not* use Life of Fred for a child who is struggling with math. It does *not* directly teach math concepts. There is not much rhyme or reason (other than the author's whims) to the order of things. Truly.

 

Use Fred as a supplement, but not as your primary program.

 

I agree! Fred is a great, motivating supplement, but do not use it thinking it will help a struggling math student. Keys to... Or Math Mammoth do an awesome job of building skills.

[Haiku]

If your child has a learning issue that is language related then Fred may be challenging for him.

 

My son has processing problems, and I know Fred would not work for him. Language issues are huge struggles for my son, so while he was focusing on trying to understand the written story, the math would fly right by him.

 

My daughter, on the other hand, is both mathy and very strong in language. I'm am borrowing Fractions and Decimals and Percents next week, and I CAN'T WAIT! I really think it's going to be right up her alley.

 

Tara

[boscopup]

If you actually go through the book yourself, you'll see there actually is a progression of skills and reinforcement of skills. My oldest is almost done with Fractions, and because of the practice in there, we were able to skip the Singapore 5A fractions work today (we did Practice sections while skipping the exercises prior to those). This child is not a struggling math student, mind you, but the teaching is there. It's often in the Your Turn to Play section. I haven't come across anything that wasn't conceptually explained.

 

My middle son is VSL/right-brained/whatever. He is doing fabulously with the elementary series. After Apples, he could read a clock to 5 minutes. Prior to that, he really didn't have much clock understanding. There have been some new concepts not yet taught in his Singapore 1A that he's understood well from LoF.

 

I agree with Jen that it's worth trying, buying from Z-Twist so you can return it if it doesn't work out.

[Incognito]

Unless $$ is super tight, I'd throw the $19 at it and give it a try. It could be perfect, from what you say, and if it isn't, you can return it or resell it.

[Riverland]

My dd struggles with math. She LOVES Life of Fred. However, she does not necessarily learn math from it. She needs more direct instruction.

 

We mainly use CLE, but she likes to get out LOF and read through it on her own. She "does" the problems. Usually that means she "copies" the answers, but she enjoys it & I am sure there is some subconscious learning taking place.

 

This year, she said she was going to learn economics. So, she's reading through Pre-Algebra w/ Econ. Maybe she's not directly learning math, but she is enjoying it and learning something.

 

I do not think LOF is random in its approach or scope and sequence. I think it's very well thought out and I like the explanations. Frequently I use his explanations & approach to help dd in CLE or other curriculums. It has made me a better math teacher.

[redsquirrel]

I used LOF to reinforce skills, not teach them. So we always used them a little behind when others did. I find them very useful for that.

 

However, for a kid who doesn't really love figuring stuff out, you can't just send them off with the book and expect them to do the math. I had to cover up the answers to all the questions and have DS1 come to me to check his answers.

 

He did enjoy doing LOF on friday instead of his regular math assignment, but I had to treat it like any other math book. The temptation was just too great for my son to let his eyes glaze over the math and keep reading the story.

[Hedgehogs4]

LOF uses a lot of deductive reasoning and problem-solving skills. My ds 11, who is quite strong in math but is also very verbal, really enjoys it. My bff whose daughter was struggling in math tried LOF and, while it gave her a break from the grind of math because it was different, abandoned it quickly. It was not a fit.