They used Everyday Mathematics which is aligned with Common Core, but was around before the implementation of Common Core. There was a lot of busy work and teaching it in first grade was not terrible, but my third grader at the time was lost and behind. He had fallen behind by second grade and never really caught up. He never had concretely learned his math facts after addition and that really slowed him down. It wasn't necessarily his teacher's fault, but what I discovered was that he struggled with the timed tests. He wouldn't move on to the next problem until he got the first one correct. I tried to tell him to skip that and do as many as he knew and then come back to the ones that were harder. That wasn't in his grid. I started on flash cards and then I found a program called Xtramath that allowed them to practice the harder problems at their own pace. It works with speed, but wasn't as stressful for him. The goal is to have a child know each math fact in 3 seconds or less.
Our next leg of the journey took us to Horizons Math by Alpha Omega. I really appreciate that it gives straight forward instruction and the consumable books have great pictures. My kids still hated math. There are a lot of practice problems there, but that really drove them nuts. I started having them do the odd numbered problems or even numbered problems. If they missed a type of problem, I had them retry using the opposite answers. And I am one of those SHOW YOUR WORK parent-teachers. If you can do it in your head and get it right most of the time, then fine, but if you're getting the answer wrong, how can I help you figure out what you did wrong if you don't show your work? I found that it was better to give the kids less busy work when they understood the concepts and then drill math facts with Xtramath.
The year finances were tight, I put the kids on Khan Academy for all their math, but that took us back to Common Core and they were getting confused from switching back and forth. We did continue with that as our curriculum and they just made it work. Also Khan keeps adding little things (updates are not necessarily a bad thing). I took all of the math myself to see what my kids were being taught and I completed first through eighth grade math on Khan Academy as well. You get to skip concepts that you pass, so NO I didn't sit through hours of 1+1. A few months later, I went back to Khan and it said I was only 97% complete with second grade and similar with a few other grades. What??? I went in and the things I had to do to complete each grade were really pointless and I thought, "No wonder some kids come home crying!" I wish I could recall specifics, but it has been a few years and my memory doesn't want to be jogged right now! Really I wouldn't make my kids redo the updates, I'm just anal and hate to leave things unfinished when I feel like they've already been accomplishments.
Enter Life of Fred. One thing I did learn from switching is that each type of curriculum teaches different things at different age levels. Switching means there were concepts taught that we didn't get to see if we start at the age-appropriate levels which would be in the middle type of curriculum. I believe this was the concept of Common Core and that is great, I am just not a fan of the implementation and path. Sorry, I keep getting close to that threshold of making this blog about something different than Life of Fred. Back on task ... I decided to start my children at the very beginning of the Life of Fred Curriculum. They were in 5th grade and 7th grade.
There is a suggestion of when to start this curriculum and I will let you read that on your own if interested instead of trying to retype much of what they've already said well. The first series is A-J Apples through Jellybeans. I started my 7th grader on 3 chapters a day and after he completed Apples (19 chapters), I gave it to my 5th grader to do 2 chapters a day. She worked on math facts until she got the first book. I think my son did 3 chapters a day clear through Jellybeans and then slowed to 2 and then 1 when he started learning multiple new things. He was definitely doing only one a day by Fractions. Since we are beginning our third year for 2 students, I had bought Apples through Jelly Beans, Kidneys through Mineshaft, Fractions, Decimals & Percents, and Pre-Algebra 0-2. This year I added Beginning Algebra and I purchased the practice problems for beginning algebra book, though we haven't needed to use it so far. This was just over $300 to get 2 children through junior high math. If I were to have to start my kids in kindergarten again, I would probably start them in Life of Fred in the third grade. We would have just worked on math facts like crazy until then as well as counting and living math and number recognition. Maybe just use some elementary consumables that you can pick up at any educational store or free printables on the computer. I would still have used Xtramath. I may have even supplemented with Khan Academy for some things.
Top favorite things about Life of Fred:
1. Price
2. It is COMPLETELY reusable
3. No busy work
4. No rush to get through it
5. If you have to repeat a concept, it doesn't put you behind in grade-level
6. Until high school, it is not divided by grade level ... even high school is just high school math
7. Fred does some crazy things
8. My daughter once again says that Math is one of her favorite subjects!!! WIN!!!!
Basically, in Apples to Jellybeans you learn about this boy name Fred who is smart in math and teaches college mathematics. He is not street smart and has to use math to get out of problems a lot. His story continues through the rest of the curriculum as well. You read his story and then you have a segment called "Your turn to play." There are a few (2-10) questions to answer and then, the STUDENT grades his or her own work. That is one day of math. Very little stress!!! The child should know how to read and these problems are easy enough that a parent can guide them through with ease.
The next series Kidneys, Liver and Mineshaft are in the same format. The problems become a little more complicated. The reason I didn't just jump into the intermediate level with my 7th grader is that there are terms like domain, codomain and function that weren't used as much in other curricula we tried. Starting at the beginning made those terms less scary for my kids than they are for me. My son completed all of these books by the end of his first year with Life of Fred. That was 13 books. It gave him a sense of accomplishment for sure. He also completed The next 2 books in his 7th grade year. He was motivated as he wanted to start high school in the high school level books.
The next two books changed their format a bit. They are Fractions, and Decimals and Percents. The student reads the story and then it's their turn to play. After 5 lessons, they encounter something new, a bridge. Each bridge has 10 questions covering the material from the beginning of the book up to that point. They are given 5 opportunities to cross that bridge into the next lesson. Crossing the bridge requires them to get 9 out of 10 answers correct. If they can't get the concept they are to repeat the previous 5 lessons and try the bridge again. They grade their own bridge, but the answers are not at the turn of the page as they are with the "Your Turn to Play," segments. The answers are at the back of the book. I already said that my oldest completed these two books along with the other 13 in one year.
My youngest did get through Fractions and then a portion of Decimals and Percents by the end of 6th grade. It was more of a struggle for her, though. She doesn't like to ask questions and when she is tired of learning something, she just guesses at answers to say she finished her work. Sadly, I think I was like that a bit as well. While the grades she got were passing last school year, I asked if she wanted to try doing both books again in 7th grade. She was excited and said, "YES!" So far she has done 15 lessons and crossed 3 bridges on the first try. She has only missed a handful of points since we started and last week said, "I think math is one of my favorite subjects!" Finally!! It has clicked!
The next set of books that my oldest completed in 8th grade are the Pre-Algebra 0, 1 and 2. His least favorite was Pre-Algebra 0 with Physics. Yes, with Physics. And they do teach about friction and mass and buoyancy. It was good for him!! He missed the part in the intro (that he said he read) that tells you to write down every formula you encounter. The format of these books is the same as the previous 2. The author suggests that one should easily get through the 5 intermediate books in 1 to 1 1/2 years. I would agree.
Finally, as far as our school goes, we are starting our final series of math books this year. Beginning Algebra so far is working well with our 9th grader. He even sat at his desk laughing and when we asked what was so funny, he said, "Fred is going to ... ." My daughter, who enjoys Fred's adventures started laughing with him. So if you clicked on the link about when to start, the algebra section mentions that the student should have hair under their arms before starting algebra because it is proof that they are physiologically ready to grasp algebraic concepts. That cracks me up, but it seems appropriate. So far my high schooler is making great grades and has not needed any assistance with his math. There are no bridges in high school math, but there are cities that they visit. After every 5 lessons, they do about 20 practice problems a day for 3 days to ingrain the concept before moving on. I am pleased with their progress!
Because there is no teacher manual, it may make one nervous to teach this curriculum. Well, it really doesn't need to be taught. Sometimes I will have to read a few chapters to catch up to what is expected, but each answer is explained well and if it still doesn't make sense, we utilize YouTube. I'm not ashamed to say that conversion factors confuse me and as soon as I watch a YouTube video with them, I remember what the point is and can help them out. We rarely need to go that route, though. I'm grateful!
This review is strictly my opinion of this math program. I am in no way associated with Life of Fred. I do not receive discounts or anything for reviewing the product, I just wanted to share our experience. But if the makers of the books want to donate, I would not turn down the next 3 high school books!
