Resource Description
Life of Fred, written by Stanley F. Schmidt, Ph.D., is a series of math books that are based on the story of 5 year old math genius Fred Gauss. Once children have mastered addition, subtraction and the multipication tables, they are ready to begin using Life of Fred, which carries the student from fractions through two years of calculus and beyond.
"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?'"
Website: Life of Fred Math (may contain affiliate links)
(26 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: none yet
Grades Used: Decimals and percents
This has been a God send for our daughter who loves words but hates numbers. She absolutely loves the story form and actually understands and loves math. She likes the way that it challenges her to figure it out on her own without the step by step process. Great for the right brain learners that love to read. Not recommended for the ones who have trouble reading.
Cons: Zero
Grades Used: 4-12
There is nothing I can write that can fully explain my esteem for these :Life of Fred" Math books. The series used in the order prescribed by Professor Schmidt is a complete and thorough math curriculum that will enhance any students life skills and understanding of mathematics. I have been bowled over..as have my three children. My kids (and myself) have learned to love math! That says it all.
Cons: none yet!
Grades Used: 8th
My daughter is in 8th grade and we used Abeka from K - 6th. 7th grade we found Teaching Textbooks which were better than Abeka.(my daughter struggled greatly with math, the concepts were confusing and she had a very hard time connecting them to real life or story problems). She liked TT better than Abeka and understood it slightly better but the TT Pre-Algebra was still a big struggle for her--tears and all. I stumbled across Fred and thought--well for that price we'll try it and add it on to TT -maybe it will help. After a few weeks in the Fractions book ( I wanted to make sure she had a good foundation) I sold our TT and since Oct. she has been through Fractions, Decimals and Percents, and just finished Pre-Algebra with Biology. I gave her the option of moving on to Beginning Algebra after Decimals and Percents but she CHOSE to do more Pre-Algebra because she enjoyed it and wanted to make sure she understood. That in itself is a miracle!!!!!! We will do Pre-Algebra with Economics over the summer so that she can get 1/2 a credit for Economics for high school 🙂
Cons: There is not enough clear explanation.
Grades Used: Beginning Algebra
Although my son loved the book, and has read it cover to cover at least three times, the actual math part has not been clear enough. I tried letting him do the book independently, but with the answers right there it was too easy for him to copy the correct answers without actually understanding what was being taught. After that, we started over with the answers covered, but a lot of times the answer section is where you find out how the problem was to be worked. Problems are given in which the method to solve them has not been explained. I find it very confusing, as does my son, and I have always been good at math. There is not enough instruction, the student is expected to figure it out.
The author does do a good job of review. Previously learned material reappears on a regular basis.
I have ended up going through the book ahead of time to figure out what is coming up and then finding videos and worksheets online to reinforce what he is supposed to be picking up in the lessons. It has been extremely frustrating. At the beginning of the book, the author suggests that moms need to step back and have the child reread the section until he understands what is being said, but that type of approach does not work with my child.
I would not recommend using this as an independent study program, unless your child is the type who can figure this out on their own. I would also make sure they show their work. I was very disappointed in this purchase when we actually started using it for school.
I messed up and forgot to click the stars! So the average is going to be skewed, but I also give it all fives.
Cons: haven't found any
Grades Used: Fractions; Decimals and Percents
(Previously published in "The Teachable Moment", a local homeschool group newsletter)
Life of Fred: Math for the Reader
A curriculum review by Missy Alvarez
My oldest child loves to read. In fact, unless the television is on, her nose is usually planted in a book. While it is sometimes hard to tear her away for meals and chores and the like, I think this is a wonderful problem to have...until it is time for math. Somehow my brilliant girl has gotten it into her head that math is “hard.” Add this to the fact that it has no storyline and math becomes the biggest brain-drain on the planet for this child. That is, it was – until we discovered Fred.
Life of Fred is a series of math books created by retired college math professor Stanley F. Schmidt, PhD. Its emphasis is on learning by reading. The entire series of books (eleven in all) centers around the life of a five year old child prodigy who teaches math at the fictitious KITTENS University. By the end of the series, Fred has turned six and your child has mastered mathematics at the college level, including the equivalent of two years of calculus, statistics, and linear algebra! In each chapter, Fred runs into a situation requiring the use of a math concept and, in this context, the reader is introduced to its function. This is followed by a short section entitled Your Turn to Play, in which the concept is practiced and previous material reviewed. After five or six chapters, there is a cumulative review called The Bridge, after which the story continues.
When I ordered Life of Fred: Fractions and it arrived, my daughter devoured it from cover to cover. I should have gotten to it first, it seems, because there is a section at the front addressed to the parent indicating that some children might be tempted to do just that. The goal, however, is that the student take the time to work through the questions before advancing to the next chapter of the story. This is important not only for the sake of cementing the math concept in the mind, but also because additional information is sometimes given in the Your Turn section. Each new chapter then, is a reward for completing the questions at the end of the last one. The books are designed to be self-teaching, with no need for anyone to interpret the information for the student. In fact, it is suggested in the second book – Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents – that the student do the reading and questions on his own and the parent simply check over the answers. That isn't a satisfactory arrangement for my social ten-year-old, for whom math is the one time of the day when she has my total attention. So I read the chapter aloud to her and ask her the questions verbally. When she arrives at an answer, we check it against the process and solution given. This also circumvents the temptation to simply read the answers, which directly follow the questions.
This series is fantastic! The books are well written and funny, easy to use, clear and concise. And not least in importance is that they are inexpensive. The first two volumes are under $20.00 for clearcoated hardback non-consumable books with stitched pages. I intend to use these books with all three of my children and they seem to be built to last. If there are any drawbacks to using Life of Fred books, I have yet to find them. Some might feel that there should be more practice questions included, and at some of the higher levels there is a companion
book that meets the needs of such people. But we have found the format perfectly balanced: just
enough practice to really “get it,” and not so much that it gets tedious. Only once have we had to go back to a previous lesson to review a partially forgotten concept. And I never hear any more the once common refrain: “I hate math!”
Cons: Doesn't "feel" like it is enough, even though it probably is. Some people might not like his writing style.
Grades Used: Fractions, Decimals & Percents, Pre-Algebra with Biology (4-6)
I have been so happy since we found Fred.
We have been slogging through Singapore for years, which has been wonderful, but far from joyous or interesting. It has just been MATH. When I bought the first Fred book, my sons took turns on who would read it in bed at night. I began being pestered to do Fred a our first lesson of the day. Before I knew it, we would do at least one chapter (I read it and we do the problems on the whiteboard) then do a Singapore lesson, so we doubled our math work in half the time.
I also know that they are learning math in context, albeit a strange context, and not in a vacuum. The goofy story and rabbit trails are enjoyable and help remove the stigma math so often has of being 1. hard, 2. REALLY important 3. confusing.
The chapters are laid out with problems and answers together. Some of the questions are explained better in the answer section than in the chapter. He lays out the steps you should have taken, and if you look at them, you can see what is going on...in case you were confused. He then has a section every 7 chapters or so that is called "The Bridge". In the Bridge the kid is given 10 or more problems where they need to get so many right before moving on to the next chapter. there are 5 tries per Bridge. The answers to these are in the back of the book.
Overall, I appreciate being able to have such a resource available. My kids adore it, and it makes our day go more smoothly. I bought the Pre-Algebra 2 w/ Economics book for Christmas and put it under the tree. The kids were SO HAPPY! Really! They hugged a math book! Bizarre. 🙂
Cons: In some cases, it is easy to get caught up in the story and miss some of the math steps, but so far a careful re-reading has kept us on track.
Grades Used: 7th and 8th so far
We "check in on Fred" daily. Fred's life provides lots of challenges which he solves with math. The lessons are pretty self-explanatory, and students are encouraged to read them on their own. My son has become more independent in carefully reading the text. We have done the Decimals and Percents book and are now working through Beginning Algebra. The author has also completed 2 pre algebra texts that integrate biology and economics. The texts are very inexpensive!
Cons: not for a step-by-step learner; not a full math program
Grades Used: all
Life of Fred is a very novel way of teaching math through a humorous "novel-like" way of teaching - through story. It is very good for a visual & abstract learner. The stories from Fred are hysterical. My son practically sleeps with his LOF books!
Cons: It is based on a story, so reading (or being read to) is necessary, but the lessons are short so it's mostly painless
Grades Used: Fractions, Decimals and Percents, Beginning Algebra, Advanced Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry
The story is silly and unrealistic (a 5 year old math professor?), and that might put off some more serious-minded or literal students. My sons have enjoyed the absurdities and not only learned the math but learned to see other applications because they aren't simply applying formulas but are actually grasping how the process works.