I will start by saying that I haven’t used this new math curriculum… yet. I am certainly intrigued.
First of all, math curriculum is very expensive.
Saxon math, a very popular homeschool math curriculum is probably the cheapest at $40-$75.00. New CD based math is sure to cost more.
Teaching Textbooks another popular and newer math curriculum for homeshoolers cost approximately $200.00 per year for the ginormous workbook and CD set.
Math U see, another popular math set costs approximately $50.00 for lower grades, but when you get into upper grades, the price doubles.
When it comes to choosing a math curriculum, I always thought, you get what you pay for, and therefore I was always willing to pay more.
We have used Saxon math, and Saxon math plus a tutor to get my son through pre-Algebra. We have use Teaching Textbooks, since then, and it works quite well. It is cost prohibitive however.
Today I came across a new math curriclum (at least to me) with prices so low that you can’t resist trying it out. It is called Life With Fred. It is essentially math taught through a story.
From Life with Fred website:
In one of the Life of Fred books, Fred Gauss was born on the western slopes of the Siberian mountains. By the end of the eleven books, he is six years old.
In his everyday life he first encounters the need for each new part of mathematics, and then comes the mathematics.
Never again will students have to ask their perennial question: “When are we ever gonna use this stuff?”
I can’t say that I am exactly willing to give up teaching textbooks just yet, especially since I already have a free copies ready for my daughter for the next two years, as I purchased them for my son. Still, I am not exactly happy with her level of mastery, or lack of in Teaching Textbooks. I strongly believe that achieving less than a 95-100 on a math test will handicapp you for the next step, so I was planning to enrich my what my daughter learned in pre-algebra this summer before I let her start Algebra. Then I stumbled on a email about Life of Fred.
Here is what previous users have to say about it.
The first thing I noticed about the books is that they are, well , BOOKS just as much as they are texts to teach. Each book is based around a 5 year old genius, Fred Gauss, who encounters all sorts of situations and adventures sprinkled with plenty of humor. The stories are so entertaining you get caught up in them instantly. I can’t recall any other time I’ve picked up a math book and actually wanted to keep reading for the “story’s sake”.
These books are quietly catching on with gifted homeschoolers and afterschoolers alike. Orders have gone out to formal institutions as well. There’s a very good reason for this; Life of Fred books are simply incredible. Each textbook shares a few days in the life of young Fred Gauss, a child prodigy who teaches at the mythical Kittens University. As the student follows Fred on his adventures, math problems just happen to crop up around him. The amusing stories keep the reader engaged and interested. The story narrator teaches vocabulary and inserts clever, often tongue-in-cheek commentary at the bottom of some pages. An example is, “What they are doing is nefarious. This means very wicked.”
My ds has used Fractions, Decimals & Percents and is about 1/3 of the way through Beginning Algebra. Every lesson reviews concepts learned in previous lessons, so there is a constant review throughout the book. The concepts also build on each other throughout the book, so it is important that a student has some understanding of the concept before moving on though they don’t have to have it mastered because it will continue to be reviewed in future lessons
.
We are going to purchase the pre-algebra book to use in our summer homeschooling schedule for this summer. Oh, by the way, it costs only $29.00 for beginning-algebra and no more than $39.00 for any book.