woolybear Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I am just starting to look into Life of Fred and wondering where to start. I have a 12 yo who is just finishing up CLE 4. He does not know his times tables by heart fully at this point. I also have a 10 yo. Not sure where I'd place him. He has been using CLE 2 but mostly I think he is beyond this level. So, according to the LOF website, my 12 yo should start in LOF Farming. I had originally thought to start him in LOF Fractions. I read somewhere that they both should just start in Apples and work their way through. I'm confused. Can anyone help me sort this out? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I don't know anything about CLE, but based on age alone I'd start them both in Fractions. The LOF website says they need to know the 4 basic operations and be comfortable with long division before starting Fractions, so if that needs some shoring up before you start I'd just fill the gaps and move on, rather than starting with the early elementary books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I wouldn't think "Fractions" would cover multiplication and that this skill would simply be assumed to already be down pat. We're in "Jelly Beans" right now (last book in the elementary series), and from what I recall multiplication starts getting stressed in "Honey" (practicing the tables is called doing the "honey cards"). Maybe the earlier books (Farming) is suggested because repeat addition is covered? I can't honestly remember. Are the books available through your library? We own the elementary series ourselves, because my girls read them over and over again, but given that you'll advance quickly through the first books (if you start with Apples), I'd look for free options (library) first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I agree that you need to have long division down solid before you start LOF Fractions, and that your dc should be operating at about a 5th grade level in math. One option would be to start them in LOF Farming, as suggested on the website, I don't think that would be a bad thing. Or you could start them on Honey, where you are focusing on memorizing the times tables as a kind of supplemental/flashcard based activity, alongside what is going on in the lessons. I think that is what I would do in your shoes. There are three new books coming out next week - K, L, & M, which no one has seen of course, but they may be great for your kids while they are getting multiplication and long division down (i.e. preparing to start fractions). An alternative would be to do something else to address learning long division - i.e. the Key To series, or the Math Mammoth dark blue books, and then when they are solid, dive into LOF Fractions. I would not start a 12 yo on Apples. They will go through it quickly, and I'm sure they'd learn new stuff, but it would be very expensive going through the whole series at a book a month, and I think there are better (faster) ways to get a kid of that age up to speed. Just my $0.02. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 There are three new books coming out next week - K, L, & M, which no one has seen of course, but they may be great for your kids while they are getting multiplication and long division down (i.e. preparing to start fractions). I had no idea! Thanks so much for the heads up :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyr Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 My children were at about the same point earlier this year. I bought Fractions and after reading through it did not think my son was ready for it. I chose to go all the way back to Apples because I could get it through the library and my oldest especially really neaded a confidence boost. We have gone through the books very quicky - about a book a month. My children look forward to Fred; it is one of the few things they actually ask for. I don't think we needed to go back that far, however it was good in that it let my children learn how the books work very gently. As they ramped up to more challenging work they were very accepting of it. Although the first 8 books are elementary, they include quite a few concepts that my children had not encountered elsewhere yet such as union and intersection of sets, functions, ordered pairs, exponents, and sigma notation. It started off very easy for them, but they did not ever feel like it talked down to them. There are also story archs that continue from one book to the next and sometimes allude to other books in the series. Although each book is freestanding, it does add a little to have read the previous books. When math topics from a previous book are reviewed there is often a reference to the previous book or a quick reminder of how to do the problem. My son's math has greatly improved over the past year, however, we changed his main math curric at about the same time as we started Fred so it is hard to say where to place the credit. In any case, he enjoys it, and it definately enhances his understanding of various topics so we plan to continue using it as a supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Just wanted to say that I am so jealous of all of you that have this in your library! I just checked worldcat.org and not a single library in my whole state owns LOF elementary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boys030507 Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Thanks for letting us know about K,L and M. I ordered them last night as one of my boys just finished Jellybeans but is not quite ready for Fractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Thanks for letting us know about K,L and M. I ordered them last night as one of my boys just finished Jellybeans but is not quite ready for Fractions. You are welcome! I hope you guys who are getting K-M will let us know how you like them . . . Dd10 went from J to Fractions and now Decimals and is doing fine, so I don't think I'll get them for her, but I'll be thinking about them for dd6 when she's ready . . . We love Fred! I'm excited to try Physics once we finish Decimals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 My ds11 is not completely solid on multiplication tables and long division, but we're still doing LOF Fractions. When we hit something he is unsure about, we take a little break, and use Math Mammoth's Blue (topical) series to build up his skill level. It is working well, and he enjoys math a lot! Just my two cents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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