LOF Intermediate

[Mommy22alyns]

Kidneys, Liver, Mineshaft... I just stumbled across these at RR and for the first time I'm considering getting Kidneys for Rebecca for a little supplement. I'd probably start her on it loosely this year. It looks doable, but with a LOT of extra info. These just came out, but has anyone else bought them and started yet? I felt like the elementary books were too easy for me to spend so much money on, and she's not quite at Fractions IMO, but this might work.

 

Yes, you all are making me drink the LOF Kool-Aid...

[dmmm]

I have it. We have done most of Kidney's but my dd (9) started with Apples this year so it is just logical for us to continue on.

 

I have never used it as a core because it is too easy, but it is good for thinking about math in semi-real life terms. At the very least, they are fun and my dd really enjoys reading the stories. All the Fred *extra* is that - extra. It's fluff that is stuff that is good to know, but not relevant to math necessarily.

 

I really don't think I would bother buying it. It's a fun read, but if you are looking for Math, then I would get something else.

 

To put it in perspective, we have almost finished it in a week (which is what we have done with all of them). It's not much of a supplement IMHO.

[mom2boys030507]

My oldest has gone through the intermediate books and my middle is working through them. We do Fred on Fridays. I find it to be a good supplement. My boys enjoy it and are getting good review and learning some new things too.

[Lugrita]

Are the LOF elementary books easy? I haven't seen those. We have Decimals and Percents, and Beginning Algebra, and they are excellent and appropriately-challenging for my boys. I thought that they would be fun side-supplements, but the problems in those books are more challenging than Saxon problems of the same grade level - definitely not easy or "fluff". We switched to make LOF the core and Saxon the supplement, but I haven't bought any yet for my elementary-ages girls.

[Chrysalis Academy]

No, the LOF Elementary books aren't "easy" - if you do them with 1st-3rd graders, in particular. They introduce a lot of complex mathematical concepts kids don't usually see till much later - set theory, functions, and basic algebraic expressions. I'm going through the elmentary series with my 1st grader, and it is great. She amazes me with the kind of interesting connections she can make between things in LOF and other things. It's completely appropriate. I personally don't think it is enough computation practice to use as a stand-alone in the elementary years - most kids need a lot more practice than it offers - but it is a great supplement.

 

Now, when I went through the whole elementary series with my 4th grader last year, the computations were "easy" - in that she already knew how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. It wouldn't have been a good stand-alone program for her at that point, either. But she still learned a ton from it - the things I mentioned above - and it was totally appropriate for the purpose for which I used it, which was to re-engage her with math, to make math fun, playful, and enjoyable, while we were going through a solid 4th-grade math program (MM) to fill in her holes from ps.

 

She has finished Fractions and started Decimals as a 5th grader, and I agree that it is at the right level. We plan to continue using LOF. FWIW, Fractions wasn't enough practice for her to "learn" Fractions using that alone, but it has made learning fractions easy and fun, and the books continue to provide practice, extension, and enjoyment. Well worth it!

[Stellalarella]

No, the LOF Elementary books aren't "easy" - if you do them with 1st-3rd graders, in particular. They introduce a lot of complex mathematical concepts kids don't usually see till much later - set theory, functions, and basic algebraic expressions. I'm going through the elmentary series with my 1st grader, and it is great. She amazes me with the kind of interesting connections she can make between things in LOF and other things. It's completely appropriate. I personally don't think it is enough computation practice to use as a stand-alone in the elementary years - most kids need a lot more practice than it offers - but it is a great supplement.

 

 

 

Yep. You said it well.

 

My little guy is annoyed with answering 4 + 5, but I gloss over his 3 seconds of peevishness over the "easy question," because I know what's coming further down the page. Just try asking a first grader this question..."if tomorrow is Friday, what day was yesterday?"

 

The story line of LOF does tend toward the annoyingly ridiculous for the concrete sequential gal in me, but I don't label as fluff the mathematical concepts or the extensions into subjects of literature, writing, science, history.

 

Sooner or later, somebody needs to come up with a love it/hate it prediction algorithm for LOF. Maybe you have a better one than this, but here is one i suggest: (Meyers-Briggs personality + willingness to explore other subjets in the context of math - tolerance for creating your own drill and kill problems to learn facts / cost of books ) all raised to the power of children enjoying a math book = satisfaction and mathematical competency from using LOF. Also subtract or add for the welcomness of Christian content and position on animal euthanasia. And don't forget another subtraction for typos tolerance. But add in a big factor for money back guarantee, unless you spill your coffee on it.

[Mommy22alyns]

Clarification, I'm sure the elementary books are plenty challenging, but Rebecca was past that level and I was unwilling to spend $16 a book for a supplement she might not even like. The price has really been the killer for me.

[Arboreal TJ]

We love LOF! My 6 yr ol son told the librarian yesterday that he had deciduous teeth and that is why he had so many loose :-)

My other 6 yr old son yesterday said "I can eat this cookie cause I'm an omnivore."

 

I finally got around to teaching the days of the week and months of the year thanks to Fred. Fred got me wondering about Archimedes so I did some reading, a few rabbit trails later and i discovered the wonderful world of living Math books. There is lots of good stuff in Fred!

[Jennay]

My kids love LOF. I do think that the elementary and intermediate books need a bit of a supplement and for that I use Math Mammoth/Singapore.

We have every book from Apples to Pre-Algebra with Economics. With 4 kids using the non-consumable books the cost is worth it.

DD5 is in Butterflies and Math Mammoth 1A, DD3 listens in and laughs :)

DS9 is in Kidneys and Singapore 3B (I will be switching him over to Math Mammoth)

DS10 is in Elementary Physics and Singapore 5B. At this point he will stop Singapore and use LOF exclusively.

[dmmm]

Sooner or later, somebody needs to come up with a love it/hate it prediction algorithm for LOF. Maybe you have a better one than this, but here is one i suggest: (Meyers-Briggs personality + willingness to explore other subjets in the context of math - tolerance for creating your own drill and kill problems to learn facts / cost of books ) all raised to the power of children enjoying a math book = satisfaction and mathematical competency from using LOF. Also subtract or add for the welcomness of Christian content and position on animal euthanasia. And don't forget another subtraction for typos tolerance. But add in a big factor for money back guarantee, unless you spill your coffee on it.

 

:lol:

[K&Rs Mom]

I was just coming on to ask the same question. R is almost done with jellybeans, and I'm looking for something to fill in a year or so before she starts Fractions. But I'm not sure whether it's wor th almost $50 for the three intermediate books. If they're just more of the elementary, I think we'll skip, but if they really do move on in concepts & difficulty I would definitely do it.

[Stellalarella]

DS10 is in Elementary Physics and Singapore 5B. At this point he will stop Singapore and use LOF exclusively.

 

i cannot overstate the difficulty of what happens when a young teenager must wrestle the reality that he is personally responsible for reading and understanding his LOF Algebra. You see, there isn't enough time in the day for a parent (i mean, this parent) to read the LOF Beginning Algebra lesson and the rabbit trails of Fred's life to DS after he tells me "it can't be done...doesn't understand...etc....) and then explain it to him. Stanley Schmidt says they must read it for themselves, and I agree with him in principle, but the working out of this skill/responsibility/force of will is a full time job for said teenager (and after visiting with other parents of young teens working through Algebra 1, i would say he is definitely not the only one.) and requires the parent overseer to have a steel will to insist the the student work it out by reading and rereading and rereading.

 

So all I'm saying is that even though my ds loves LOF, and even though i enjoy LOF, we had to get a traditional textbook like Foerster's for Algebra 1: the explanations are super clear, methodically organized in scope and sequence, and don't have to be sifted through the strange tales of Fred.

 

And whatever you do, listen to the aged wisdom of Stanley Schmidt when he says not to begin Algebra until the dc has hair under the armpits. I really thought my ds was the exception....no, no, no. Armpit hair is crucial for Algebra 1 success. Not just one or two hairs, either.

 

We finally just had to get a traditional math curriculum for both of my older kids, and when they are quite secure in their knowledge and skills, i turn them loose with Fred.

[Chrysalis Academy]

i cannot overstate the difficulty of what happens when a young teenager must wrestle the reality that he is personally responsible for reading and understanding his LOF Algebra. You see, there isn't enough time in the day for a parent (i mean, this parent) to read the LOF Beginning Algebra lesson and the rabbit trails of Fred's life to DS after he tells me "it can't be done...doesn't understand...etc....) and then explain it to him. Stanley Schmidt says they must read it for themselves, and I agree with him in principle, but the working out of this skill/responsibility/force of will is a full time job for said teenager (and after visiting with other parents of young teens working through Algebra 1, i would say he is definitely not the only one.) and requires the parent overseer to have a steel will to insist the the student work it out by reading and rereading and rereading.

 

So all I'm saying is that even though my ds loves LOF, and even though i enjoy LOF, we had to get a traditional textbook like Foerster's for Algebra 1: the explanations are super clear, methodically organized in scope and sequence, and don't have to be sifted through the strange tales of Fred.

 

And whatever you do, listen to the aged wisdom of Stanley Schmidt when he says not to begin Algebra until the dc has hair under the armpits. I really thought my ds was the exception....no, no, no. Armpit hair is crucial for Algebra 1 success. Not just one or two hairs, either.

 

We finally just had to get a traditional math curriculum for both of my older kids, and when they are quite secure in their knowledge and skills, i turn them loose with Fred.

 

Thank you for sharing this perspective! It is very helpful.

[Lugrita]

 

 

i cannot overstate the difficulty of what happens when a young teenager must wrestle the reality that he is personally responsible for reading and understanding his LOF Algebra. You see, there isn't enough time in the day for a parent (i mean, this parent) to read the LOF Beginning Algebra lesson and the rabbit trails of Fred's life to DS after he tells me "it can't be done...doesn't understand...etc....) and then explain it to him. Stanley Schmidt says they must read it for themselves, and I agree with him in principle, but the working out of this skill/responsibility/force of will is a full time job for said teenager (and after visiting with other parents of young teens working through Algebra 1, i would say he is definitely not the only one.) and requires the parent overseer to have a steel will to insist the the student work it out by reading and rereading and rereading.

 

So all I'm saying is that even though my ds loves LOF, and even though i enjoy LOF, we had to get a traditional textbook like Foerster's for Algebra 1: the explanations are super clear, methodically organized in scope and sequence, and don't have to be sifted through the strange tales of Fred.

 

And whatever you do, listen to the aged wisdom of Stanley Schmidt when he says not to begin Algebra until the dc has hair under the armpits. I really thought my ds was the exception....no, no, no. Armpit hair is crucial for Algebra 1 success. Not just one or two hairs, either.

 

We finally just had to get a traditional math curriculum for both of my older kids, and when they are quite secure in their knowledge and skills, i turn them loose with Fred.

 

I agree, and it does depend upon the student and his maturity level. My 13.5-yr-old has very little hair under his arms (ha!) and he is thriving with LOF Algebra, after having a miserable time in Saxon Algebra. He loves everything about it, and he gets it. But I can't see my 11-yr-old being at that same level in 2 years. The personal responsibility required to use LOF as a stand-alone is huge. My 6th grader loves Fred and wants to use it exclusively, but he isn't yet ready to deal with the reality of having to reread and wrestle and reread until he gets it.