Life of fred?

[Ann.without.an.e]

I apologize, I'm being super lazy and coming here for reviews instead of researching 😊

DS(7) had his annual testing today. He tested quite a bit above grade level. The proctor suggested that I add Life of Fred. DS has a crazy ability to think through number problems. Any thoughts?

[rwilk]

We have not been impressed. The questions are not particularly challenging, novel, or interesting, at least in the early books.  The story also seems random.  But your mileage may vary.

Edited May 25, 2016 by rwilk

[Hobbes]

We've been using it as a fun supplement read-aloud. My gr. 1+2 love it and we do the questions orally together. So far, it's fun, but not challenging at all. I do like that it makes math "everyday applicable".

[MamaTX5]

My DS 10 uses it as his main curriculum. He loves it and says that it is the only math he didn't forget over the summer because it's actually interesting. You can see if your library has it so that you can try it before you buy it. HTH!

[....]

Hi, we've used every book from Apples to Beginning Algebra with the Zillion Practice Problem book (minus the pre algebra with economics).

 

Do you have any specific questions?  Were you just looking for a review?

 

Every one of my kids liked the books in general.  Some books were better than others.  None of us liked Fractions.  Apples to about Goldfish was "eh"...so-so, I guess.  A couple of the books were weird - maybe Dogs, Goldfish and Fractions (IMO).  Honey was a good one.  My son was pretty challenged by the J-K-L-M books.  We really enjoyed Pre-algebra with Biology.  My daughter loved that book.  My daughter also did Beginning Algebra with Lial's Algebra and she actually felt like the Life of Fred algebra book was harder than Lial's (which is a college textbook).

 

He is heavy on word problems and number theory stuff - like what makes a set, set notation, etc.  Review problems pop up every now and then.  Some of the middle books have practice problems at the end of the problem sets.  

 

It's very right-brained math.  I always thought a younger gifted kid might enjoy the series for fun, because there isn't constant review and drill-and-kill.  Moving Beyond the Page recommends it for their math.  *shrug*

 

We don't use it for our math exclusively.  We work through the books when we need to do some relaxed schoolwork.  My kids have been able to use LOF and other programs with no problem.  Two of them used AOPS for awhile...two are using Saxon right now (on their request) and one of my kids is just flying through Saxon (I think she might have missed 1 question out of 10 lessons).  Anyway...I don't regret buying the books, because several of my kids have read them.  

 

Here's a blog about it with a good review (that probably makes more sense than my review did):  http://blogshewrote.org/2013/04/08/life-of-fred-homeschool-math/

Edited May 25, 2016 by Evanthe

[Kiara.I]

If you're on the fence about it, try your library.  Ours carries the elementary series, not sure if they carry the higher level ones.

[Haiku]

I think there are better supplements for high-performing math students. Ed Zaccaro has some great books, or you might like Beast Academy, or you could check out Singapore's Challenging Word Problems.

 

I found LoF overall to be weak in concept and more of a how-to, and dd didn't like the stories. Also, the author has his own brand of political thought that he includes in the books.

 

I'd encourage you to check out the Zaccaro books.

[Ravin]

For a child who was ahead of the curve I would probably consider using Beast Academy to supplement instead. LoF may be a good pick later on, but the elementary levels tend to be better for review, or just for fun without expecting it to challenge a math-accelerated kid.

[Kiara.I]

I'd use Beast too... But not in grade 1. Unless the child is VERY ahead of the curve, I think it's too much for most advanced 7-year-olds.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[rlestina]

We used and loved LoF, but never as the sole curriculum.  We used it as a supplement/teaching tool/fun alternative for when regular math gets boring, but we paired it with Singapore in the younger years, then transitioned to AoPS.  I would recommend it, but only "in addition to" rather than "instead of" another math.  Beast Academy looks great - mine were already past that point when it came out, tho, so I've never used it.

 

 

[Ann.without.an.e]

I think there are better supplements for high-performing math students. Ed Zaccaro has some great books, or you might like Beast Academy, or you could check out Singapore's Challenging Word Problems.

 

I found LoF overall to be weak in concept and more of a how-to, and dd didn't like the stories. Also, the author has his own brand of political thought that he includes in the books.

 

I'd encourage you to check out the Zaccaro books.

 

 

For a child who was ahead of the curve I would probably consider using Beast Academy to supplement instead. LoF may be a good pick later on, but the elementary levels tend to be better for review, or just for fun without expecting it to challenge a math-accelerated kid.

 

 

I'd use Beast too... But not in grade 1. Unless the child is VERY ahead of the curve, I think it's too much for most advanced 7-year-olds.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

We used and loved LoF, but never as the sole curriculum.  We used it as a supplement/teaching tool/fun alternative for when regular math gets boring, but we paired it with Singapore in the younger years, then transitioned to AoPS.  I would recommend it, but only "in addition to" rather than "instead of" another math.  Beast Academy looks great - mine were already past that point when it came out, tho, so I've never used it.

 

I've been eyeing BA so thanks for the thoughts.  I already own every single level of Saxon so the thought of switching now is painful but BA does look good.  I have two other gifted kids and they did great with Saxon.  He is doing good with Saxon, but it is too easy for him.  No concept is new, everything seems to be review even though we haven't formally taught a concept, he knows it.  This kid -when he was only like two - I could hold up fingers and he would immediately know the number without counting.  I've never seen him count like 1-2-3, he just naturally looks at a set and knows the number.  It weirds me out a little.  I'm sure we will come to something soon that he doesn't already know how to do. 

[luuknam]

I apologize, I'm being super lazy and coming here for reviews instead of researching 😊

DS(7) had his annual testing today. He tested quite a bit above grade level. The proctor suggested that I add Life of Fred. DS has a crazy ability to think through number problems. Any thoughts?

 

We like Fred, but if the issue is being way ahead of grade level, then the solution is to use a math book for a higher grade level (you don't have to do a 1st grade math book in 1st grade, etc). IMO, the only specific reason Fred is nice for kids way above grade level is that Fred is a 5yo (later 6yo) math genius, so Fred makes being above grade level in math look normal (while at the same time being silly, since obviously nobody (other than Fred) learns calculus before turning 1yo). Okay, and Fred doesn't have a grade level listed in the books, so if you have a kid who minds working ahead (or being behind), Fred doesn't say "look, you're working at the wrong grade level".

[....]

We like Fred, but if the issue is being way ahead of grade level, then the solution is to use a math book for a higher grade level (you don't have to do a 1st grade math book in 1st grade, etc). IMO, the only specific reason Fred is nice for kids way above grade level is that Fred is a 5yo (later 6yo) math genius, so Fred makes being above grade level in math look normal (while at the same time being silly, since obviously nobody (other than Fred) learns calculus before turning 1yo). Okay, and Fred doesn't have a grade level listed in the books, so if you have a kid who minds working ahead (or being behind), Fred doesn't say "look, you're working at the wrong grade level".

 

I agree!

 

I burned out two of my math-smart kids on AOPS, so I lean towards choosing lighter stuff for supplements/fun.  AOPS is a great, solid program (I'm a huge fan)...but mine both reached burnout at the 2 year mark and asked to switch to something else.  

 

Someone else mentioned the Zaccaro math books - we have some of those - they can be great supplements, too (they're not as strange and entertaining as Fred).

 

So much math!  So little time!   :tongue_smilie: