Questions about Chalk Dust and Life of Fred

[CCMom11]

I read a post recently where someone shared that they used LOF as a supplement. I also read rave reviews of CD. Would anyone care to share as to why they use LOF or feel it is not complete and use it as a supplement. For those people using CD and LOF together, why did you choose CD as your main program?

 

Actually, any thoughts about both of those programs or any others would be appreciated. DS won't be ready for pre-Agebra for another couple of years, but I would like to know where we are going and what's best for now. FWIW, DS is very bright and math is starting to get very easy and most programs for his grade level (will be grade 5) are too easy and too much drill. He needed the drill when he was younger, but now it is starting to kill his love for math. I gave him a placement test for TT and Grade 7 was almost too easy for him.

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Mom2GirlsTX]

I am sure Chalk Dust does not need the supplementation, but many like to add LOF as a different take on the same subject. I know months ago that Susan Wise Bauer posted she used ChalkDust and LOF together. Why, she didn't state but I guess it worked for her kid.

 

Have you done any LOF? They are so much fun! I would go ahead and buy the fraction book for your son and just let him work through it, and his reaction to the program could give you an idea whether you wanted to use it or not. It is a good program to do in the summer if you want to keep his mind fresh but not bog yourself down in starting a heavier program during the summer. I'm not much help, as my oldest is about where your son is, but we love LOF here.

[CCMom11]

I tried searching for the post from SWB, but I didn't find it. I did see where some people were using Singapore with LOF. The LOF Web site touts this as being a complete program, so I would like to understand why people are using both. Is it because they think Singapore is the best program and LOF is a fun supplement, or because they think LOF is not thorough enough. Just wondering.......

[Matryoshka]

I tried searching for the post from SWB, but I didn't find it. I did see where some people were using Singapore with LOF. The LOF Web site touts this as being a complete program, so I would like to understand why people are using both. Is it because they think Singapore is the best program and LOF is a fun supplement, or because they think LOF is not thorough enough. Just wondering.......

 

I'd say 80-90% of the people here are still using the first two books (Fractions and Decimals/Percents), myself included. I think this is because it's a new program, and people are more likely to be using it from the beginning, and others want to make sure it's "proven" for a while before using it alone.

 

The first two books are thin, and won't last a year even between the two of them. We're doing Singapore as a main program, and we did LOF Fractions last summer after 4B. It was a huge hit, and I think is a contributing factor to why 5A/B has been perhaps our easist year in Singapore (where I've often heard it's the hardest). We'll do Decimals/Percents over the summer, and I'm not even 100% sure if after that 6A/B isn't just going to be a lot of review.

 

When LOF gets to Algebra and beyond, the books are much longer, especially with the Home Companions, and from what I understand is a full program. At this point I am strongly leaning to using it standalone for one of my twins - the other I'm thinking Foerster's. This is due to learning style (one likes the context Fred gives, the other would rather have the facts without the story), and also to reduce competitiveness between them - but I'm thinking then I can whip out the other curriculum to explain something if either gets stuck.

 

I think sometimes this board gives a skewed view of "normal". :) Not only are few people using LOF standalone, few people here use any math program standalone - there seems to be a lot of doubling up! I think people here really like to cover their bases. :D

[CCMom11]

That was exactly what I was looking for.

[SBP]

I tried searching for the post from SWB, but I didn't find it. I did see where some people were using Singapore with LOF. The LOF Web site touts this as being a complete program, so I would like to understand why people are using both. Is it because they think Singapore is the best program and LOF is a fun supplement, or because they think LOF is not thorough enough. Just wondering.......

 

I have no doubt that Fred could be a complete program for some kids. Mine are not two of them, however. They enjoy LoF (we've only used the Fractions book so far) but they require more (and in my son's case, LOTS more) repetition before they can confidently solve the problems. We've done BJU this year as our "main" math program, but I've supplemented with LoF and the "Key to..." series. I actually think those two - LoF Fractions and Key to Fractions - make a great combination, and my son has probably gotten more from those programs than he has from BJU. I plan to have him do Key to Decimals and LoF Decimals over the summer, and then he'll start Chalk Dust Basic Math in the fall.

 

All of that said, if you have a child who is intuitive about math, I do think LoF could be a complete program. It's quite thorough in the scope of material it covers, but if you have a child who needs the steps broken out and need to repeat them over and over before internalizing them, then LoF alone might not be sufficient. And again, I can only speak to LoF Fractions, since that's the only one we've used.

 

Best,

 

SBP

[Karen sn]

I think after we get the basic elementary math done, we will use only LOF for a few years. I have looked at the LOF Fractions (we own it) and while we are not ready to start, it does appear to be a series that covers the main topics of middle school/high school math.

[MIch elle]

All of that said, if you have a child who is intuitive about math, I do think LoF could be a complete program. It's quite thorough in the scope of material it covers, but if you have a child who needs the steps broken out and need to repeat them over and over before internalizing them, then LoF alone might not be sufficient. And again, I can only speak to LoF Fractions, since that's the only one we've used.

 

Best,

 

SBP

 

:iagree:

 

We'll be using CLE math 7(basic math, geometry & review) and LOF beg. algebra next year; 3 days CLE & 2 days LOF.

[chai]

I am slowly changing my tune. My plan was to continue to use Singapore through NEM and use LOF as a supplement. However, since my dd went through LOF Fractions, we have been skipping most of Singapore 5A and B. I'm only having dd cover the topics that are not in LOF. She has proven to me that she totally understands fractions. In fact, she desperately wants to begin LOF Decimals. By looking at the topics, I can see that she will skip most of Singapore 6 as well. She is determined to start LOF Beginning Algebra next fall! I have never seen this love for math from her before. I'm putting on my "wait and see" hat, but she just might do it. Based on all of this, I will definitely make LOF my primary math program and might supplement with Singapore, but only if it is needed. (I love Singapore, so it is hard for me to give it up!)

[Colleen in SEVA]

The first two books are thin, and won't last a year even between the two of them. We're doing Singapore as a main program, and we did LOF Fractions last summer after 4B. It was a huge hit, and I think is a contributing factor to why 5A/B has been perhaps our easist year in Singapore (where I've often heard it's the hardest). We'll do Decimals/Percents over the summer, and I'm not even 100% sure if after that 6A/B isn't just going to be a lot of review.

 

This is our experience as well.

 

My plan was to continue to use Singapore through NEM and use LOF as a supplement. However, since my dd went through LOF Fractions, we have been skipping most of Singapore 5A and B. I'm only having dd cover the topics that are not in LOF. She has proven to me that she totally understands fractions. In fact, she desperately wants to begin LOF Decimals. By looking at the topics, I can see that she will skip most of Singapore 6 as well. She is determined to start LOF Beginning Algebra next fall! I have never seen this love for math from her before.

 

This is our plan as well.

 

Sorry I don't have any answers, but it seems we are asking the same questions. :)

[Staci in MO]

My oldest is an extremely right-brained, big-picture learner. He's also slightly dyslexic. LOF has been a wonderful for him. He's done LOF fractions, he's finishing up LOF decimals this month, and we're starting LOF Beginning Algebra with the Home Companion this fall.

 

Ds did Singapore for 1st through 5th grade and did fine. But I started the year (6th) with Chalkdust, and that was going to be the math I was going to stick with for the duration. And while I liked Chalkdust, and while my younger dd would occasionally watch and seemed to like it, too, it was, um, not a good fit. I don't know if it watching it on the screen that was bad, or if trying to follow Dana Mosley on the chalkboard made ds's dyslexia go haywire, or what, but it didn't go well. LOF is a much better fit.

 

That said, I'm still a little nervous about using something so unconventional for math. I've always been in the "you don't have to like it, you just have to do it" camp of homeschooling. And, I am one of those obnoxious people who can go on and on about how math is important, math is the basis for everything, blah, blah, blah.

 

But since it's going so well with fractions and decimals, and since ds is one of those kids that understands and retains a topic forever if he can grasp the big picture behind it, I'm sticking with LOF. I have a copy of Foerster's and a mid-eighties version of Dolciani algebra as my backup. I plan on pulling practice problems from the other texts occasionally to put my mind at ease. And because my ds is still young, we still have plenty of time to try something else.

[ciyates]

CD does not need any help. I would only do LOF for the fun side of it. CD is pretty intense.