Give me a really good reason to buy Chalkdust $300 over Fred $30

[Lisa M]

What would be a really good reason to spend all that extra money if Life of Fred is a complete math program that is fun to learn?

 

I currently use Singapore 1-6 for my grades 2, 4, and 6 (all very mathy)

 

Looking at Saxon Dive Algebra for my oldest grade 8 (non-mathy - I'm very worried about it)

 

Thanks!

[deeinfl]

I can't give you any, but being that LOF is so cheap and there are already rave reviews on it, why not give it a shot for a few months and see how it goes.

 

You'd only be out 30, as opposed to 300 if Chalkdust didn't work out. :D

 

HTH,

 

Dee in sunny FL! (who is also trying out LOF and praying it's a hit so we too can go straight to Algebra with it)

[LizzyBee]

My philosophy is to start with something cheap and work my way up. Why spend all that money if something else will work just as well?

[Quiver0f10]

LOL we decided on LOF and CD! Now wasn't that helpful :D

[Stacy in NJ]

I haven't used either. I'd be reluctant to use Fred because it's a non-standard program. It may, or may not, cover all the topics covered via Chalkdust. Chalkdust is DVD based, offering a professional math instructor with very complete instruction. As my oldest approches algebra, I've pretty much decided against LoF for these reasons.

[Kimber]

You can check the TOC for Fred and compare it to any other more standard curriculum.

 

Fred is written by a mathematician with a PhD.

 

One thing I've noticed about my dd using the Fred Fractions book is that the book--while being fun--uses accurate mathematical terminology. And it uses it in context thereby making more sense to the student. This is far more effective than using a textbook with a list of definitions that students don't have to internalize. It's deceptively simple.

 

And I say this because I have a BS in engineering and I can do math problems all day, I love math. However, I don't know math terminology because I never had to. It's easy to skip the definitions and simply follow the numbers. I did this all the way through Differential equations.

 

But now my daughter is asking questions from Fred and I don't understand the questions because I never learned the terms. It's really quite sad. My goal next year is to relearn or rather learn for the first time all of those terms that I just glossed over.

 

But you can do Fred and another program that's not $300.00 and do better than okay--Jacobs, Dolciani, or Foersters, etc. I don't anything about CD so I can't comment. Any combination of these would be cheaper than $300.

 

Good Luck!

[sagira]

My philosophy is to start with something cheap and work my way up. Why spend all that money if something else will work just as well?

 

:iagree:

 

That's exactly me as well. Go for the LOF.

[Christy B]

My dd just placed into honors Algebra I at her new school (she is entering 8th grade this coming year). She is a bright kid who loves math, but my math skills (and especially my math *teaching* skills) are rather pathetic. LoF Fractions and Decimals and Percents had her ready for Algebra I next year.

 

We are beyond thrilled and we really truly think that it was the LoF books that grounded her and got her to this point. If you had asked me over the Christmas break (when my desperate search for math led me to LoF) if she would be ready for Algebra in less than a year I would have said NO. She is currently working her way through LoF Algebra "for fun".

 

Just my 2 cents!

[sadiegirl]

We are using some of the LOF books now and for the first time ever my kids are excited about math. I hope to continue using them but I am strongly considering using Chalkdust as well. Sort of the best of both worlds...