Grading Life of Fred?

[blessedx5]

If I have already asked this before...forgive me..I surely cannot find the post if I have.

 

Curious how you grade/determine mastering Life of Fred. DS is doing Algebra.

 

The website says this:

 

***In the books starting with Life of Fred: Beginning Algebra, there are six Cities at the end of each chapter. If the student can do any one of the six Cities with no errors, then award an A for that chapter.

If the student's best score on the six Cities is one error, then a B.

Two errors = C

Three errors = F

 

Do you go by this, do you grade differently? If so, how do you grade?

 

Thanks

Debbie

[elegantlion]

We used LOF for part of algebra. I did something completely different. He had to do one set of cities, and then I found a test from a completely different book that covered the same concepts. I own more than a few algebra books. :001_rolleyes: We didn't get too far into LOF for algebra before ds asked to switch to something else. He'd enjoyed Fred in previous year, the algebra just didn't appeal as much.

 

I think using a different book is a good idea, especially with LOF which is so non-standard. Another option might be the gazillion practice problems book. That came out after we stopped Fred so I haven't seen it.

[blessedx5]

he does all the problems.....even the gazillion practice problem book. I would like to find another source to "test" his knowledge of algebra though.

[bobbeym]

I had similar issues with grading LOF Algebra. Even doing all the cities and the extra problems, it was really hard for me to tell exactly what skills DS had mastered and where he still struggled. We tried IXL.com since all it does is test problems and then switched over to mathhelp.com (using the HSBC free subscription) once we realized he hadn't mastered as much as we'd thought he did. HSBC still has free subscriptions available, and they have Alg 1 tests and solutions that can be printed for each chapter. Or you can have him do the pre-tests for each module if he aren't certain if he's caught on to everything.

[Excelsior! Academy]

We teach toward mastery, so my children receive A's unless they are not putting put forth effort then they redo until it is an A. Life of Fred is no different. I didn't know the website listed a grading scale and we have done many of the books. If dd doesn't understand a concept we watch a Khan Academy video, post a question online, or search until she does then we move on.

[NittanyJen]

We don't move on in Fred until it's mastered. However, if you are looking for a good secondary source for quizzes and tests, look to the softcover texts by Tobey and Slater. There are quizzes (short) in each section, chapter tests, and cumulative tests after each chapter, so plenty of chances to customize how you wish to test or retest for mastery if you wish.

 

In the answer key in the back for the chapter tests, each problem is linked to the section it is testing, so if there is a problem you can see exactly what to review. The text itself is very clearly written and easy to follow, and the books are available cheap on Amazon.

 

 

[Guest RebeccaZager]

Life of Fred is a fun supplement to Math. it's a Math series that is based around the unique life of Fred. It's very entertaining and definitely educational.the children really enjoy it.