Life of Fred anyone?

[Kristi26]

Has anyone tried out Life of Fred for math with their kids? I'm specifically looking at LOF ice cream (for DS2) and LOF fractions along with decimals and percents (for DS1). Any thoughts? Anyone looking to get rid of theirs while we're at it?

[NYAmy]

I'm really new to hs'ing but I have been schooling my kids a bit (very little bit) over the summers to supplement their regular school year (I'm a mean old mommy).
I used LOF fractions with my 11 yo son last summer. I really enjoyed it, I thought it was a fun practical way to introduce concepts. my ds, well, didnt love it quite so much. he did like the fact that there werent pages and pages of practice questions but he thought the story line was 'dumb' and that 'if you're learning math it should just be math'. I think its a personality thing. now that we're homeschooling him, I'm planning to get saxon math, he does fine with dry instruction so long as he sees how he can use it in real life. he actually prefers it that way.
I just got LOF apples for my younger son, I havent looked through it yet, but I think he will do well with it, he's a story-guy.
I'm not selling ours because I'm hoping to use it one day with my younger ones.

[dolphingirl]

We use Singapore math as our main curriculum, but 11 yo son used LOF Fractions at the end of last school year, into the summer, and finished it up at the beginning of this school year just as a little break and a way to apply math in a different way. He really seemed to enjoy it and did it with no complaint. He's quite "mathy" in general.
It's hard to say how each kid will react. Thankfully the books are pretty reasonable so it's worth a try. The cheapest is to buy them from ztwistbooks.com. Fast, free shipping.

[MathGirl]

My DD used the first book, Apples, last year. It was below her level, but we just wanted to try LOF out and see what it was all about. She loved it. She is a lot more language-minded than math-minded, so the format appealed to her. However, while it was fun, I don't think she would have retained much if she didn't already know the material covered in it. I would recommend it as a supplement, or a fun enrichment program, but I think most kids need the repetition and practice of a traditional math program to really cement those basic math skills. That said, we haven't used used any of the later LOF programs so I don't know if the format changes at all.

[fishingfor5]

We are planning on using LOF with our DD1. We have been using Singapore with both DS and DD. They are learning well but the format of Singapore better suits my math minded DS. DD is a flutterby and LOF is so much more her style. A friend of mine bought the whole elementary set and I just LOVE the whole thing. We will be getting it soon and I think we will use it as a supplement for DS. If you can just get one or two books and try them out. If they don't work I am sure they will resell well!!

[syfitz]

My oldest dd LOVES it. She breezes through the books quickly, so it is a supplement for us rather than a stand alone math curriculum.

[erlyjo]

My kids love them! They have been a life-saver for my DD who HATES workbooks (totally refuses to do them) but will read anything you set in front of her. I like how they incorporate history and science into the lessons as well.

[Kristi26]

DS1 is really not a math person. At all. He does just fine with it after a bit of extra practice with it, but I really think he'd do better if he enjoyed the book it was coming out of, you know? Thanks for all the thoughts, ladies!!