pantone Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 So. I have heard from several people now that "Life of Fred is a great program, but there is simply NOT enough repetition and drills for kids to really nail down the concepts he covers." I want to remedy that. Been through Apples to Mineshaft, restarting Fractions in December. I've kinda-sorta mucked around in Khan Academy, but I'm not sure it's all that helpful. Any other ideas people have had success with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I let my kids play on a free online math drill game site - sumdog. It allows for some drill practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 We use MM dark blue and Key to... Workbooks for things DD needs more practice on or different explanations for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I would use LOF as a supplement to another program perhaps such as MM or CLE or Saxon or Beast Academy or Singapore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen_Mom_of_5 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Key to series may be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 From Fractions on upward, DS12 needed no supplementation for Life of Fred. It had plenty of practice for him. It depends on your kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyGirl Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 We use it as a supplement only. I have very mixed feelings about Fred but LegoMan LOVES it and devours each book often reading through one in a day. Fred is useful for relating math to real life and for promoting the wonder of math (Fred daydreams about math for example). But I wouldn't use it as a primary curriculum. Granted I hear that from Fractions onward it can be a primary curriculum but I still have a hard time imagining using it that way with LegoMan at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 We use LOF as a supplement. My main program for my LOF child is Math Mammoth. We do the practice in Fred together and it's more of a "review" or enrichment than his main math. Works well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merylvdm Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I used LOF as a supplement to Singapore until my kids reach Algebra. Then I switch to LOF as the main curriculum with Khan as the supplement. Now the LOF has extra problems for Beginning Algebra there is more practice available. At the same time I have got to know Khan really well. I am signed on as my daughter's coach and when I see she is struggling a bit with a concept in LOF I go and assign those on Khan (there is a feature where you can suggest what they do next). As Khan is a supplement, I encourage her to do it by turning the points she gets into rewards - for us, it is a dollar amount she can use towards makeup :). You could obviously offer different things to suit your own children. It could be an outing, extra computer time or anything. Works like a charm. Her math has improved so much (and she was good at it already) and she loves the challenge of getting another concept to turn dark blue in Khan. She is determined to finish all the levels asap! (I did explain she might find Calculus a little beyond her ...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 From Fractions on upward, DS12 needed no supplementation for Life of Fred. It had plenty of practice for him. It depends on your kid. I agree entirely. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 DS needed supplementation in fractions. He hasn't needed extra help with decimalsand percent beyond us talking about it together. I'll have him do multiple worksheets from www.math-aids.com and some work on Khan if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 We use CLE and supplement with Fred. Fred seems to help make the kids really think about math in both concrete and abstract terms. However, both of my kids need the drill and kill of CLE for retention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas_mom Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 We are using LOF Fraction as our spine. Occassionally, I will add a sheet from MM on a concept as a test of his skills and memory and he is doing fine. But, I have a quick learner who grasps the concepts quickly as well as, seeing patterns quickly. (NittanyJen - it's working for us :) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willa Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 My 5th grader and I read through the whole LoF series this summer and are now in Kidneys. As he got up closer to grade level I didn't think the practice was enough so I bought Math Mammoth Light Blue and we are using that. This seems to be working very well. I started a little behind grade level to make sure he was comfortable with the program and that there would not be gaps. The combination of the two programs is working well for us and I hope we can focus on Life of Fred alone when he gets up to the middle/high school levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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