Life of Fred users....?

[pixeldog]

We're big LoF fans here and I'm just wondering if anyone has used Life of Fred all the way up? I've heard both sides of the "is it a complete curriculum" debate, and we've supplemented it with other materials so far, but I'd love to hear from someone who's actually used it from the elementary books and up into the higher levels (with or without supplementation). I'd *especially* like to hear from anyone who's *actually used it* as a "stand alone" curriculum. I understand that you may not have had many of the elementary books that are available now....perhaps you started at Fractions or Decs/Percents? Many thanks!

[chirowife]

We did not use the elementary books but my daughter did use Advanced Algebra this year. While Beginning Algbra was fine (she did TT Alg 1 also) she needed help with Advanced and I ended up getting her a tutor. She finished the book with him but he felt there were quite a few topics that were left out that are part of a "regular Alg 2" class (ie public school text) so they worked through those topics. His assement of LOF Advanced Alg: Not a complete Alg 2 text. Some topics are more often covered in a Pre-Cal/Calc class so definitely an honors/advanced text but does need supplementing as some common Alg 2 topics are left out. Not sure if that helps you. We are not going to continue with LOF next year...

[mumto2]

We have used LOF from fractions(dd went back and did from fractions, her first LOF subject was geometry). We also do NEM,dd finished that sequence. Ds is finishing abeka algebra 1 now and has not finished the NEM sequence.

 

Now that those details are done dd has gone through Calculus with LOF (we own but have not started statistics and linear). She seems to collect math texts but for Trig she is just LOF and her understanding is good -- tests well.

 

For calculus she is extremely comfortable and confident but is the first to tell you she wants more practice. Fred just did not have enough examples for her to be ready for something like the AP. We were able to look at used calculus texts while in the states and she fell in love with Lial's Calculus with Applications. She is close to halfway through in three months and totally self taught. I don't think she has asked dh a single question and this is what he does for a living. LoF made her really secure in her ability. She also bought a Stewart Calc book for after, in case she wants more. In dds case she is mathy but not a fan of AoPS. We have some but neither child likes them. Fred they love. We are crossing our t's by using other books because math is most likely part of both dc's future careers.

 

That being said I do think fred done in the proper order -- algebra 1 has algebra 2 topics in it and vice versa so need to look at the whole -- and done well. We do all the cities not just til pass. Fred can be enough. Someplace on this board a mathy mom did a great evaluation of Fred but I can't find it. She considered fred to be very complete.

 

Just want to add dd has always kept a Dummies book by her side when doing fred for quick reference. Not sure if her need to look up would be everyones because math is an area where she wants to know more.

[IrishMum]

I am using the higher level books as a suppliment. We have done Fractions, d&P, Pre A 1 & 2 and are now on Advanced Algebra. The elementary books are only a couple of years old so you won't get any 'all the way up' users.

I have the elementary books and am using them with my younger boys, they will hopefully use Fred all the way up. I'll come back and answer more fully in 8 years;)

[Arch at Home]

My daughter started with LoF Fractions. She is just completing Beginning Algebra. Fractions and Decimals she did in the summers while doing Singapore in the winter. Pre-Algebra Biology and Economics she did as a stand alone with Challenging Word Problembs as a supplement. This year she has used Beginning Algebra in tandum with Real World Algebra. We found that she needed to work more problems so we initially supplemented with problems off the web but am now using LoF Zillions of Practice Problems which is working well. We intend to continue with LoF. I am currently in search of something like Real World Algebra to supplement LoF Geometry.

 

Sarah

[hsbeth]

We transitioned to LOF several years ago. Back then the Pre-Alg and Elementary books were not available. We've had excellent results. I'll try to summarize our experience...

 

Oldest dd (11th)- brick and mortar school through half of grade 6 (gifted program), saxon in grade 6 and for alg 1 in 7th, switched to LOF in grade 8 for geometry and used no supplementation for grades 8, 9, and 10 (completed geo, advanced alg, and trig texts). Earned a 630 on the math SAT section in spring of 10th and qualified for placement straight into Calc at local uni. based on score. In 11th she chose to step back into uni. pre-cal and earned an easy A. She is now taking Calc. Plans to be an engineering major and competes on competitive math team. Most recent ACT math score of 32.

 

Second dd(9th) currently taking Advanced Alg- completed Singapore through 5B then did LOF Fractions, LOF Dec. %, then LOF Pre- Alg 1 in grade 6. She moved into LOF Beg. Alg in 7th and has completed the sequence from there. She is not as intuitively "mathy" so we have added in instruction time with mom or Khan academy videos on an "as needed" basis. She is progressing well with slightly above average PSAT/SAT scores. She plans to study nursing and has attained a SAT score (520) which will allow her to dual enroll for the College Algebra/Stats sequence she'll need at the local uni. for that major.

 

As dh is a public school secondary teacher we've had access to and utilized state standardized testing to ensure that adequate mastery was attained during algebra and geometry. I was initially skeptical about using the material as a stand-alone as well.

 

Our third child (dd 5th) finished Sing. 5B and began with LOF this spring. She is another mathy one and had flown through fractions and dec./% texts. We'll start with Pre-Alg in the fall.

 

In summary our experience has been that LOF is more than adequate as a stand-alone in middle school and high school. I agree that it does not provide quite enough drill and opportunity to practice on some concepts for non-mathy kids. Neither does the Singapore that I happily use in the younger years. I provide extra instruction or drill on an as needed basis for kids who need a bit of extra support. We like LOF enough that we are quite happy to supplement a bit as required, but it is certainly adequate in scope and sequence.

 

We have found that with the uni. level math (Calc and likely up) that our oldest has required additional instruction and practice. She attempted to self-study calc with LOF and was not as successful as she was with the high school level materials. I still think it would have been "adequate" (especially for a non math or science major) but dd's goal was true mastery.

[pixeldog]

Thanks so much for your replies! We'll finish up the elementary series this summer and continue to do a little drill with MM to solidify. Sounds like we'll be sticking with Fred for a while.

[jea115]

We did not use the elementary books but my daughter did use Advanced Algebra this year. While Beginning Algbra was fine (she did TT Alg 1 also) she needed help with Advanced and I ended up getting her a tutor. She finished the book with him but he felt there were quite a few topics that were left out that are part of a "regular Alg 2" class (ie public school text) so they worked through those topics. His assement of LOF Advanced Alg: Not a complete Alg 2 text. Some topics are more often covered in a Pre-Cal/Calc class so definitely an honors/advanced text but does need supplementing as some common Alg 2 topics are left out. Not sure if that helps you. We are not going to continue with LOF next year...

 

 

 

We had a similar experience to this. DS started with Fractions and Decimals and Percents, worked his way through both Pre-Algebra books and completed Algebra last year. Toward the end of Algebra there were a couple of concepts that I vaguely remembered from my math days but rather than wait for me to remember how to do them I got a tutor. We've used her through Advanced Algebra as needed (which wasn't very often until about 2/3 of the way through the book). At a session last week I asked her to give me her opinion on whether we should stick with Fred for geometry, change curriculum, or possibly supplement it. To this point I've felt like it has done well as a stand-alone curriculum. She is now a SAHM but taught high school algebra before having her first child and has both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in math. She said that LOF requires much more thought than a traditional HS curriculum does, and that my son will have no problem doing college math because of what Fred has prepared him to do. But she said that the concepts he is working on weren't part of anything she did until well into her college math major. She said that LOF asks for students to do a lot of proofs but lacks a little in general application. Which translates into "great for college prep but if you want to be able to just spit out answers on the Math portion of the ACT/SAT you may not be prepared". We are now trying to decide whether to stick with Fred and supplement with something more traditional as a supplement or just switch completely. My son loves LOF so it's likely we will continue to use it, but this is my first time homeschooling high school and I'm not sure what will work well with Fred.

 

TJ

[Laura Corin]

We used Fractions, Decimals and Percents as a supplement, then tried to use LOF Algebra as a stand-alone. It didn't give enough explicit instruction for Calvin, who is good at doing maths problems, but not good at working out the basis of maths for himself.

 

We returned to Galore Park maths, which he found a bit boring but which did the trick. He skipped a grade when he entered school and was put into the highest maths set, going on to get a top grade at the subsequent public exams.

 

Laura

[Dmmetler]

We used Fractions and Decimals along with SM, and then used Pre-Algebra 1 and 2 this year as the core, using Key to Algebra and worksheets from online to provide extra practice. Next year, I plan to use LoF and AOPS, but a big part of the reason for using AOPS is that DD has gotten into contest math, and while she loves LoF, AOPS is a better prep for that sort of thing.