# Miquon, Life of Fred, and Teaching Textbooks



## CountryGoalie

Anyone here ever do Miquon as their main math curriculum starting in kindergarten, then transition to Teaching Textbooks upon finishing it? My son is very kinesthetic/visual, so I am already eyeing it for kindergarten when he reaches that age, even if we just used the first book for his kindergarten year to keep it laid-back, and then used the next one in 1st grade. Seems like it would work out fairly well to transition to TT after that? I've even come across parents saying they placement tested into TT 4th grade after Miquon. I'm obviously just brainstorming at this point, but was curious. I'm also intrigued by the Life of Fred math curriculum... anyone here use that as a stand-alone? How do the books work at the kindergarten level? More of a "read-aloud" situation? Has anyone used LoF and Miquon in conjunction with each other?


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## Ohio dreamer

We use L of F as a stand alone. We did not use it at the elementary level, because we hadn't heard of it then, lol. (We used Rod and Staff....very traditional textbook style - my kids loved it) I do have friends that have used it starting with book A....and yes, it is a read aloud at that level. It is meant to transition to a "kid does it alone" curriculum, but that isn't working for my son. We discovered last year he does better when I read it to him (audio learner)...so I have started reading the Geometry book to him this year. He's getting it.....even when I'm still scratching my head, lol.


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## PrettyPaisley

We just started homeschooling and we are super casual. As in, one or two steps from unschooling but I just can't take that total leap of faith. (I keep thinking that if I'm hit by a bus and the girls have to go to public school it would be awful to have them take placement tests and end up being 10 and at a preschool level.)

But my littlest one will be 5 in November and she is very interested in the story from LoF. She absorbs every word and recalls parts of it days later, long after I've forgotten. Paisley is enjoying it as well and begs for "more math" so I bought a few workbooks full of drill-type problems for her to play with until she gets tired of them. I think starting with LoF only would be a fabulous thing at a young age. I'm pretty excited that it's the first real exposure to math DD2 has had and I'm anxious to see her enjoy it instead of loathe math like Paisley did when I pulled her out of school. 

And I am all about nurturing their natural ability to teach themselves. I have zero interest in having to learn geometry just so I can teach it to them when they can do it on their own!


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## PrettyPaisley

I came across a FB page for LoF. There are many who use it in various ways and you might be able to get an answer to your question about using both curriculums there, of you do FB.


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## TenBusyBees

We use R&S, Saxon, and so far finish up with Life of Fred. 
We tried TT one year. I LOVED it. They HATED it. LOL! (It was algebra for one child, pre-algebra for another.)
If your kiddo is a kinetic learner TT may not be the best for him. Both my guys said TT was boring and monotonous. I personally thought it was thorough and got the job done but I wasn't the one sitting at the computer for a couple of hours either.


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## farmer

It was a few years ago, but we used Miquon then went to the Key To series. My kids did pretty well with those!


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## offthegrid

It really depends on your child -- Teaching Textbooks and Life of Fred couldn't be more different. My older daughter really enjoyed Life of Fred (we picked it up at Fractions and went through Algebra) and learned a lot. To prepare my younger daughter, we got the last of the alphabet ones (can't remember the names) before Fractions. She loved these. But when we started the Fractions book, she hated it...and she cheated! She would do the bridge and move forward even if she didn't score high enough. So, that wasn't working for her.

So I got Teaching Textbooks for her -- Math 6 at the time, I think. She loved it, and my older daughter was quite jealous watching her do her math and listening to the guy say "Great job!"  So, I switched her to TT as well. We did have to restart Algebra I, even though she scored right between I and II on the pre-test. But, she is doing great. Younger dd is finishing Math 7 and it's still quite easy for her...I need to kick her in the rear to make her to two a day so we can finish up and move on.

The one drawback to TT is that it's expensive. Not sure it was worth buying the discs and the books for Math 6 and 7....but Definitely worth it for Algebra so that they can watch the lecture. Life of Fred, in comparison is very inexpensive.

I haven't even heard of Miquon. For a very young child, I'd go ahead and give Life of Fred a chance...and see what you think. If you hate it - the demand for the books is quite high and you can sell them (or possibly buy them used). There are tons of ways to supplement math if you don't think it's challenging enough.


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## PrettyPaisley

offthegrid said:


> I haven't even heard of Miquon. For a very young child, I'd go ahead and give Life of Fred a chance...and see what you think. If you hate it - the demand for the books is quite high and you can sell them (or possibly buy them used). There are tons of ways to supplement math if you don't think it's challenging enough.



You're not kidding. I found the elementary set and bought the 1st three books brand new then came home and got online and saw the prices they were going for and went back the next day and bought the entire elementary set.


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## offthegrid

PrettyPaisley said:


> You're not kidding. I found the elementary set and bought the 1st three books brand new then came home and got online and saw the prices they were going for and went back the next day and bought the entire elementary set.


I have Fractions through Algebra, plus some of the Algebra supplemental books, and haven't decided whether to keep them or sell them. A friend was sort of interested in them so I still have them; but my kids accidentally packed them in a box I took to a curriculum sale. I had to fight people off them! Too bad they didn't want the other stuff I had instead!


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## Ohio dreamer

offthegrid said:


> I have Fractions through Algebra, plus some of the Algebra supplemental books, and haven't decided whether to keep them or sell them. A friend was sort of interested in them so I still have them; but my kids accidentally packed them in a box I took to a curriculum sale. I had to fight people off them! Too bad they didn't want the other stuff I had instead!


One of the up side of L of F is they hold their value when re-selling. Used often goes for 85-90% the cost of new!


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## true2myself

You may want to look into Math U See. It's a very "visual" math curriculum.


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