My elementary age children are reading it, and they love it! I think the books are well written and funny, with a little math and other educational tidbits sneaking in here and there. I'd recommend it.
My son did the entire elementary series for 4th grade. We will start the Fractions book next year. He LOVES Fred!!! I did notice that he needed a little more practice to concrete it in his mind, so for Fractions he will also be doing the Key to Fractions booklet. Some do not need it, but he does. Once they get to Algebra, there are more practice problems that come with it so we will not need to get anything else. I think it is a great curriculum for those that hate pages of math problems.
My oldest did the decimals one last year to finish out her school year because she finished her math early. I think it's cute, definitely educational, but I would not use it exclusively...just as a supplement.
I tried Fred. It didn't work for us. The kids loved the "story" behind it, but were lazy with the math.
Jackie, you definitely have to stay on top of them doing it - learned that the hard way. LOL The younger grades are less rigorous than a lot of other curiclums are, but as long as they are learnig the basics then they should be ready forthe pre-algebra books. I do add in the Key To... series were applicable because my son needs the little extra practice they provide, but for the enjoyment and learning LOF offers him, I do not mind one bit. Even both books together are still cheaper than most other curriculum. The great thing is that you can order a book and try it... if it isn't for your kid, you haven't really spent much.
Oh, and Randa, I am not sure what age/grade your kid(s) are, but there are elementary books that you can start in 1st grade, but the author told me that the Fractions/Decimals books are better for about 5th grade. Then each book would follow after, of course. If you have any questions at all, you can email him from the website and he will respond usually within one day, and often times sooner. (It's polkadotpublishing dot com, I believe.)
Pecan, even with TT, I need to stay on Phillip! His grade started slipping...being lazy, mostly!...and I warned him that if he couldn't keep it 85% or better, then I would assume that TT wasn't working for him. AND, since I couldn't afford another math curriculum at that level, he'd have to use what we already had...SAXON!!! Would you believe his grade improved 15 points the next lesson, AND stayed there!!! :lol:
We use LOF and love it. We use it as a complete curriculum. When used as suggested, there is more in those small books than in the average math text. It is presented differently that the average text because it is meant for application and not a multitude of problems to memorize. ...and I agree that the author is very helpful. He welcomes questions. I called him before and he returns the call ASAP and is willing to help with questions you may not understand.
After Alexis gets the basics BACK down - she wants to use it exclusively. She loves Fred, but gets confused by some of it - so we are using MUS. I know kids who have used ONLY LOF and gotten really high scores on the ACT & SAT math sections - so it can be used exclusively.
My three DDs use Life of Fred exclusively, and they all seem to really enjoy it. The books look deceptively easy, but in reality the author is teaching more advanced concepts. The oldest sometimes needs more practice problems on her algebra, so she uses the companion volume, also.
