# Life of Fred



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Has anyone used this? I'm on the fence when it comes to 100% unschooling-while I have zero intention of ever implementing a strict schedule, I do have make sure these children learn to multiply and divide. I found four of the first elementary books at the local homeschool shop and the ladies there turned their noses up at it because it wasn't a "real curriculum" and didn't include any drills on math facts. 

We read a few of the first stories and my 4 year old loved it. My 8 year old-not so much. 

What other fun, drill-less math is out there for 8 year olds?


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## TenBusyBees (Jun 15, 2011)

Not a real math curriculum? Debatable. 

I haven't used the beginning grades. 

We started with Fractions or it may have been Decimals. It's been a perfect fit for us (well, the stories might be a bit sily for my tastes but it keeps my two oldest Entertained) and math makes sense to them now. They can see practical application rather than just filling up a sheet of notebook paper with a bunch of useless problems.


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

PrettyPaisley said:


> Has anyone used this? I'm on the fence when it comes to 100% unschooling-while I have zero intention of ever implementing a strict schedule, I do have make sure these children learn to multiply and divide. I found four of the first elementary books at the local homeschool shop and the ladies there turned their noses up at it because it wasn't a "real curriculum" and didn't include any drills on math facts.
> 
> We read a few of the first stories and my 4 year old loved it. My 8 year old-not so much.
> 
> What other fun, drill-less math is out there for 8 year olds?


How about, for lack of a better term, shooting dice? Get some dice from a game store (start with the regular 6 siders, but also get a 10 sided or even a 12 sided -- you can also order them from Amazon). Roll 2 dice and multiply the 2 numbers together. You can also make a game board out of a manila file folder if you want to make it more board-game like. If you have a Jenga game, you can write math problems on the pieces with a Sharpie marker. I would advise also doing a little fact drill. Your daughter is going to need to be able to quickly and efficiently retrieve multiplication and division facts -- it will make the more difficult math concepts easier later on.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

SLFarmMI said:


> How about, for lack of a better term, shooting dice? Get some dice from a game store (start with the regular 6 siders, but also get a 10 sided or even a 12 sided -- you can also order them from Amazon). Roll 2 dice and multiply the 2 numbers together. You can also make a game board out of a manila file folder if you want to make it more board-game like. If you have a Jenga game, you can write math problems on the pieces with a Sharpie marker. I would advise also doing a little fact drill. Your daughter is going to need to be able to quickly and efficiently retrieve multiplication and division facts -- it will make the more difficult math concepts easier later on.



She would LOVE that ! Thank you !!!


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

You're welcome. BTW, there is a life sized Jenga game (I think it's something like 4 feet tall). I'm not sure if Amazon has it or not. I so want it for my classroom by DH has threatened to take my credit card away if I buy one more thing for my classroom.  It might be something that you could make from 2x4s you might have at your place. Kids would love it.


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## TenBusyBees (Jun 15, 2011)

A deck of cards is great for teaching math concepts. Math War. Deal out the deck (good use for incomplete decks). Same basic rules as War except it is who multiplies or adds the cards correctly first gets the set. Most cards wins. Cards are also good for the littles to learn number recognition and addition.


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## Mrs. Thankful (Dec 4, 2013)

We do fractions by making loads of mud pies. My daughter loves to decide which dolls get the biggest pieces! No, no Mrs. Teapot you only get 1/4 lol

We call this the "mathematicians picnic" my daughter loves make believe so she really looks forward to this. We also pour them "tea" (1/2 cup etc)

We also do an altered variations of hop scotch with multiplying- same with varying twister.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Well we did lesson three today and at the end of it my math hater says, "can we do more ? I love this math!" 

Guess that's all I need to know at this point. It was definitely a confidence booster when it comes to whether or not we can make this fun. I've never heard her say she wants to do MORE math, so we agreed to do two lessons a day, one in the morning and one at night. The supplemental ideas will fill in the gaps in between.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Depending on which books you have it might we to far below your 8 yr old....which is why they don't like it. 

We stated at the older level....both my kids (15 & 12) like it. I do have to do it with my son (the 15 yr old)....he's an auditory learner. Since I'm a visual learner.....it works best for me when I read it to him. We just started Geometry today (far from my best subject!). My 12 yr old is taking a year off from it (doing easy peasy instead) because she went too fast last year, lol. I'm not sure I want her doing Algebra in 7th grade, so she'll do Easy Peasy for 6th, then back to Fred for pre-Algebra in 7th then Algebra in 8th (unless she flys through pre-Algebra...then she'll start it in 7th).


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## SaddleUp (Aug 22, 2014)

PrettyPaisley said:


> Has anyone used this? I'm on the fence when it comes to 100% unschooling-while I have zero intention of ever implementing a strict schedule, I do have make sure these children learn to multiply and divide. I found four of the first elementary books at the local homeschool shop and the ladies there turned their noses up at it because it wasn't a "real curriculum" and didn't include any drills on math facts.
> 
> We read a few of the first stories and my 4 year old loved it. My 8 year old-not so much.
> 
> What other fun, drill-less math is out there for 8 year olds?


Did you decide on using Fred?

Do you have an URL on this plan?

One note: Do not use the "free" plan K-12 anyone.
It is a trap and a snare.

Stick with the main textbook the Holy Word of God as your overall plan by adoption.

God's Plan for the Children of the Promise.

It is truly free to all.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

We did go with LoF. I'm still deciding if I should supplement with other actives to go with each chapter. Otherwise is seems to go too quickly. 

lifeoffredmath.com is the website.


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## Zyphlat (Sep 5, 2014)

I use Life of Fred. My girls are 9 and 6. They love it! We supplement with a math workbook, they do 2 pages in their workbook a day and it assures me that they're really understanding the concepts they're learning. We've been using this book this year: http://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Math...d_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0H56FR0YPYA29WHTQSX1

Good luck with LoF and God bless!


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## spicymustard (Jul 15, 2014)

I just ordered the apple book for my first grader last week. I'm excited to try it. From everything I've read it should be a good fit for her.


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## spicymustard (Jul 15, 2014)

We've done the first four lessons and just like people said she was begging for more. Today is not a math day but she practically threw a for when I said we were not doing math.


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