tkdkidsmom Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Right now my DS is using MUS Epsilon and Life of Fred Fractions. Epsilon is feeling disjointed for him, and we have been watching Khan Academy videos to supplement most of the topics in MUS. So I am looking for suggestions. If you use LoF, what do you use alongside or as a supplement? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishMum Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 We are doing Math Mammoth with Life of Fred, but LOF is the supplement and MM is the main. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 I've been looking at MM, but the pages look so busy/crowded. There just seems like there is not enough white space. I recently purchased one of the Fraction books from MM. I'll let DS try it out and see if he feels the same way about the layout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishMum Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 If the layout is the only problem you can print it with more white space. I have read here where some ladies were doing that because it was too busy for their kids. Worth a shot if he doesn't like the layout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyGirl Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 SM is our spine but we do all of BA too. LoF is just for fun. Bedtime or cuddling on the couch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 6th grader- Life of Fred Prealgebra with Art of Problem Solving Prealgebra and just finished Hands-on Equations 5th grader - Life of Fred as his main program, although he's also towards the end of Hands-on Equations 3rd grader - Life of Fred with Singapore math and Hands-on Equations I know this is controversial on this forum (Lol), but the author of LoF says that you can use his program as your main math. You don't have to supplement. We supplement, because my kids are weirdos (and just enjoy working math problems). Edited to add: I've been looking at MM, but the pages look so busy/crowded. There just seems like there is not enough white space. I recently purchased one of the Fraction books from MM. I'll let DS try it out and see if he feels the same way about the layout. My son (the one who uses LoF as his main math) used to freak out if there wasn't white space on his paper. He tried MM and Singapore and he would literally start crying during math time. He would also write the answers under the wrong problems without realizing, which makes me think the visuals are just too distracting. Have you tried putting the problems on a dry erase board? I think that's why my son likes LoF so much. We work the problems on a dry erase board. Also, he prefers 5 really difficult problems to 300 repetitive problems (his older sister is like that, too). Mine don't like repetition for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 MM Dark Blue and Key to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 CLE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama27 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Saxon 3 times a week and Life of Fred 2 times a week. I've thought of having my 14 yo just do Freddie awhile because she says it's harder than Saxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 CLE I am not too familiar with this one, I'll have to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 My son (the one who uses LoF as his main math) used to freak out if there wasn't white space on his paper. He tried MM and Singapore and he would literally start crying during math time. He would also write the answers under the wrong problems without realizing, which makes me think the visuals are just too distracting. Have you tried putting the problems on a dry erase board? I think that's why my son likes LoF so much. We work the problems on a dry erase board. Also, he prefers 5 really difficult problems to 300 repetitive problems (his older sister is like that, too). Mine don't like repetition for some reason. Yes we like doing problems on the white board, or I have him spread them out on notebook paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Saxon 3 times a week and Life of Fred 2 times a week. I've thought of having my 14 yo just do Freddie awhile because she says it's harder than Saxon. LoF Fractions is the first book where I can see the problems getting more challenging and thought provoking. The algebra books look interesting, but we are not quite there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 MM Dark Blue and Key to... Is this the topical series? I just purchased MM Fractions I to give it a try. For $3.50 I figured I couldn't go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramorellis Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 We use MIF as our spine, then BA for extra practice and LoF for fun whenever get the urge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Is this the topical series? I just purchased MM Fractions I to give it a try. For $3.50 I figured I couldn't go wrong. Yes, the dark blue is the topical series. It's pretty easy to pull from for review of anything she needs more practice on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 We use MM and LoF. My girls took a bit to adjust to MM when I pulled them from ps, but now they do 2 pages a day 4 days a week with no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 We use MM and LoF. My girls took a bit to adjust to MM when I pulled them from ps, but now they do 2 pages a day 4 days a week with no problem. 2 pages of MM seems doable. How many lessons for LoF are you able to fit in each week? Or do you just plug it in here and there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama27 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Saxon 3 times a week and Life of Fred 2 times a week. I've thought of having my 14 yo just do Freddie awhile because she says it's harder than Saxon. I meant FRED not FREDDIE! Stupid Kindle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama27 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 LoF Fractions is the first book where I can see the problems getting more challenging and thought provoking. The algebra books look interesting, but we are not quite there yet. My dd is doing Decimals and Percents along with Saxon 1/2. She was a little weak with percents so I started her there in LOF. It was a good idea on my part because she has learned new things and the weaknesses she had in percents is gone. Before this she was doing MUS and she flew through Epsilon and Zeta in just a few months. When she started MUS prealgebra I knew she needed something more challenging but I'm afraid that LOF isn't enough on it's own so I put her in Saxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietchapel Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 So do all of you think a reasonable combination would be LoF and MM topical workbooks where needed? We have used CLE from 1-3, but I knew we would switch after grade 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 2 pages of MM seems doable. How many lessons for LoF are you able to fit in each week? Or do you just plug it in here and there? We do 2 pages of MM Mon-Thurs, and 2 Chapters from LoF on Friday. For DD7&8 this equates to about 30 min of math a day, and for DD12, it is an hourish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in AZ Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I switched my math resistant DD11 from Saxon to LofF over the summer. Fractions was hard for her, so we backed up to Kidneys, Liver, and Minecraft. Plus, on the Fred website, they reccomend Professor B math if you want a companion. We started that in the fall, and it has really helped DD. I'm using the older, hard copy of the text and workbooks, not the Internet subscription version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share Posted November 28, 2013 Plus, on the Fred website, they reccomend Professor B math if you want a companion. Hmm, I totally missed that. I'll have to check out Professor B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 28, 2013 Author Share Posted November 28, 2013 So do all of you think a reasonable combination would be LoF and MM topical workbooks where needed? We have used CLE from 1-3, but I knew we would switch after grade 3. Yes, that is what it sounds like to me. But I'm a rebel and I will use Fred as our main math with a supplement. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pod's mum Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 We use MEP, with Life of Fred. She reads Penrose the Mathematical Cat and The Joy of Mathematics (and More Joy of Mathematics) for fun. Yeah odd child. I've just found and ordered Further Adventures of Penrose (or similar) for Christmas. She does two pages of the MEP worksheets per day, we don't use their instruction pages. When she's stumped I then instruct. This works well for us. MEP is free. (I would pay for it if it wasn't. We've tried many other programmes in the past with previous daughter) LOF was NOT. Postage cost as much or more than the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maela Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 My first grader does four to six pages of MM1, three to five pages of Two Plus Two Is Not Five, and one LoF chapter a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I switched my math resistant DD11 from Saxon to LofF over the summer. Fractions was hard for her, so we backed up to Kidneys, Liver, and Minecraft. Plus, on the Fred website, they reccomend Professor B math if you want a companion. We started that in the fall, and it has really helped DD. I'm using the older, hard copy of the text and workbooks, not the Internet subscription version. That's right! He says on his website that you can email him, too (if you have concerns about the math). Also, I wanted to point out that LoF math becomes much more time-consuming when they hit the older books. Butterflies or Edgewood takes 10 minutes, but the older books are different. My 6th grader spent a long time the other day just trying to figure out how to balance chemical equations (stoichiometry is in pre algebra with biology). This led to a long look at the periodic table, explanation of atomic weights, etc. Lots of rabbit trails that morning. Also, I'm guessing by the algebra book, we just need to pick one program. We won't have time to do two algebra programs simultaneously, especially with his millions of equations book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 At the time when we were doing LoF Fractions we were using SM. This is what Doodle is using now. Once he finishes Singapore 5, he will continue with LOF and AOPS. He just recently started LOF Fractions and has really enjoyed it. I am pleased since I bought a 5 book set from Fractions through pre-Algebra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willa Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I read 2-4 chapters of LoF to my 10 year old in the morning (reading Liver right now), we do the TYYP together, and then he does Math Mammoth in the afternoon on his own. I started him behind grade level in MM so that part of it is basically review, and practice for him in doing math on his own. ThatQuiz is also a useful supplementary resource. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 MM and some of the Key to books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdkidsmom Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 If the layout is the only problem you can print it with more white space. I have read here where some ladies were doing that because it was too busy for their kids. Can anyone tell me how to print MM with more space on each page? Thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.