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Karen T
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| Posted: April 11 2005 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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Anyone used or seen these books? this is the website
http://www.polkadotpublishing.com/
I read about them over on the Bravewriter board and the description sounds intriguing. Since Macbeth I know has a list of "living" math books, I wondered if she or anyone else has encountered these. My ds is not to algebra yet, so I'm not ready to order one and see.
Karen T
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MaryM
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I've heard about them but not yet seen them. The author of the books is signed up to be a vendor at our upcoming Catholic homeschool conference. He donated copies of the books to our door prize drawing which should be arriving soon. I too have heard good things about them and am interested to see them.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Leonie
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Sound interesting - I am off to do a library search now! lol!
Leonie in Sydney
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Cindy
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Hi -
We just started Beg. Algebra with LOF and so far we love it. Even my 'anti math' son. He is very refreshing and not contrived. He weaves learning math around the story of Fred, a 6 yo professor who teaches college students at KITTENS univeristy. There are some really cute puns and funny situations in it all.
The author is passionate about math and a retired man who is writing math books as fast as he can. After he finishes through Calculus, he is doing Physics, then back to do K-6. He is very open to correspondence and you can find his contact info at the polka dot site posted earlier. I would love to meet him- let us know what you think, Mary.
Cindy in Texas
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Cindy in Texas
It Is About The Journey
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Anne Marie M
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I second Cindy's thoughts! I just ordered Advanced Algebra (Alg. II) and really like it (for $29 I thought it was worth buying without seeing). The story's great, the math is solid - and we really need a break from Saxon. I'll teach it to my daughter and her friend. Oh, and he just published a Statistics book - I got it but haven't really gone through it yet. My daughter is excited about using it, too.
I talked to the author on the phone - he's a really interesting person. I like his approach to math!
Anne Marie
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Cindy
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| Posted: April 30 2005 at 9:55pm | IP Logged
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Hi Anna Marie-
Did you talk to Dr. Schmidt? I emailed him and he said I coiuld pass his emails on to my lists. If you all are interested, I will post them here. Unfortunatley his website doesn't do justice to his books.
I want to talk to him one day (he was very encouraging about calling) to ask his opionion on kids who don't like math- specific ideas about how to help them get stronger in the skills. But, I am waiting until we get our feet wet with LOF.
I would love to meet him one day.
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Cindy in Texas
It Is About The Journey
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Anne Marie M
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Cindy,
Yes, I talked to him several weeks ago - I had bought his book and e-mailed him a ton of questions. . . boy was I surprised to get a phone call from him! He said that he wrote his books from a Christian perspective but didn't hit readers over the head with it. I asked him whether there was anything in his books that I, as a Catholic, would be uncomfortable with. He said no - and I haven't found anything so far. We went from there on tangents about Catholic poetry, songs, etc - it was a great conversation.
I would be interested in seeing the e-mails he sent you -
Thanks,
Anne Marie
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Mary G
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Hey y'all -- I'm reviewing them for Heart and Mind, a homeschooling quarterly. I've got all 6 of his -- Beginning Algebra, Geometry, Advanced Algebra, Trig, Calculus and Stats. I've read the Beg Algebra and the Geometry and am working my way through the rest --
Now, granted these are math books written by a retired high school/college math prof -- so there are your usual math problem, exercises at the end of each chapter. That said, these books really try to make math easy for the student, using "real world" problems for practicing the concepts and ideas throughout the chapters.
Dr. Schmidt is very easy to "talk to" through emails or on the phone -- he's very charged up about this.
The down-side to these books is that they are very black and white (literally) with no color (altho he suggests you color various things occasionaly) and lots of text. This seems to be a great set of books.
If you have specific questions, just holler and I'll try to find the answers!
Blessings,
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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momwise
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MaryM wrote:
| The author of the books is signed up to be a vendor at our upcoming Catholic homeschool conference. He donated copies of the books to our door prize drawing which should be arriving soon. |
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Gosh I can't wait to see these. I hope you're going to give us lots of chances Mary 
Come Holy Spirit!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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MacBeth
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OK. Bought Algebra and Trig. The girls are so thrilled with these books! Libby even continued to do math problems while everyone was watching Star Gate (we are so sci-fi geeks here  ). Even Annika, who is not fond of math, loved the first chapter of Algebra (I had intended to do Saxon 87 with her, but this is so much more engaging!  ). Libby, who did not quite finish Trig last year , is going to work through it before she begins calc. I had planned on (and purchased) Saxon Calc., but now she is thinking that Life of Fred Calc. sounds much better. I'll let you know!
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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teachingmom
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MacBeth wrote:
| OK. Bought Algebra and Trig. The girls are so thrilled with these books! Libby even continued to do math problems while everyone was watching Star Gate (we are so sci-fi geeks here ). Even Annika, who is not fond of math, loved the first chapter of Algebra (I had intended to do Saxon 87 with her, but this is so much more engaging! ). Libby, who did not quite finish Trig last year , is going to work through it before she begins calc. I had planned on (and purchased) Saxon Calc., but now she is thinking that Life of Fred Calc. sounds much better. I'll let you know! |
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Thanks for the review, MacBeth. It sounds like the way for me to go with Algebra for oldest dd next year. By the way, she seems to enjoy Jacobs A Human Endeavor so far this year. My friend next door told me that she overheard dd telling her dd (who goes to school) that she likes her math SO much more this year and that it is different, etc. That was exactly my goal. It takes her awhile to get a problem set done, but the logic and thinking skills are so much more interesting than math in the past for her. Thanks for all the info you gave me to help in my decision about that.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Karen T
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Do you really think the LOF books cover an entire course? I bought Algebra last spring and ds did about the first 4 chapters (after finishing Saxon 8/7) and then he started having trouble with it, so we put it away for awhile and he's been doing the Key to Algebra series, which is working well for him. I'm planning to intersperse LOF with the rest of the Key to Algebra, but even with the two of them I wonder if he'll have covered everything he needs before going on to Algebra 2. I'm thinking about Jacobs algebra also, but how many algebra books do I need??
Karen T
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Anne Marie M
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Karen,
Before I used LOF Beginning Algebra, I sat down with the table of contents for that and Saxon Algebra I. All of what I considered the “essential elements” of Algebra I were also in Beginning Algebra (keep in mind that Saxon also throws in a lot of extra material). For anyone considering or already using Beginning Algebra, I would also suggest getting LOF’s Home Companion (teacher’s manual/answer key). There isn’t a whole lot of “teacher’s manual” type of information, but it does have a lot of extra problems that came in handy, and it did help with pacing – it’s much easier to say “do a lesson,” since that’s how it’s divided in the Home Companion.
I used LOF BA last year with my 6th and 8th graders. I was pleased with their mastery of the material, and they have both gone on to a geometry course this year (we’re using Discovering Geometry in a co-op class, but that’s because I’ve taught from it three times before).
We also used Advanced Algebra last year - I'm was pleased with that, too. And my second oldest dabbled some in the Calculus book - he had done about half of Saxon and wanted to switch. I definitely like LOF Calculus much, much better than Saxon Calculus.
Anne Marie in NM
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Mary G
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Just another plug for LOF...
DD was struggling with Saxon Algebra last year (she was doing Seton curriculum and so we had to use Saxon -- which I personally don't like). I pulled out LoF Algebra -- she whipped thru it and was able to catch up and finish Saxon no problem....
Besides, the guy -- Stanley Schmidt is a riot!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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TracyQ
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Are these used as supplements to your curriculum, or are they the curriculum itself? Just curious.
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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stacykay
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What level would these be for? Would you start them in 9th grade (when Alg. is typically done,)or for Pre-Algebra? or, as some wrote, would a younger student benefit? I guess, in an easier way, what should children have covered before beginning? Saxon 8/7, Alg. 1/2 or ?  Am I confusing enough? 
Thanks!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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Mary G
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Tracy -- to answer your question, I'd use them as standalones. They're well-written and easy to follow. His whole purpose is to make Math obtainable to ALL. He also has a sense of humor you don't find in many math texts.
Stacy -- I would start these in high school and just follow the typical progression -- algebra, geometry, advanced algebra and trig (could probably be done in 1 year), and then stats or calculus depending on your student. As long as your student has completed the basics -- Saxon 8/7 is probably high enough -- they should have no problem picking up Alg 1....
Honestly, if any of you have questions, Dr. Smith is VERY approachable and happy to talk about his books ... He taught high school and college math and has used all the traditional curriculums (including Saxon) and can give you some comments on how LoF is same or different.
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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nissag
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These look wonderful - I'm going to have our resident math professor take a look!
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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Carole N.
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I have been struggling with my ds and Saxon Algebra I for several weeks. He is really very good in math, but for some reason, we are just not making this click.  Frustrated, I spoke with my dh (the resident math prof) and told him of my situation and that I was going to seek advice from you lovely ladies and ...
What do I find but this recent update. Is the Lord working in a mysterious way? 
Thanks ever so much.
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Carole ... in Wales
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nissag
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Carole,
We use different curricula for our six children. Our girls are much more visual and Saxon just didn't work for them at all. We knew they were very good at math since they were doing mental algebra by five years old. We switched to Math-U-See for them and it was simply miraculaous.
Our oldest son uses Saxon and does beautifully because he's much more logical/methodical (like his Pa).
On a side note, this has been such a perfect example of why home education is so good for children. We have the flexibility to tailor our children's curricula to suit their learning styles and abilities. Schools aren't able to be as flexible, period. My girls would have been labelled as 'not good at math', possibly failing. Or alternatively, the same could have happened to our son if the school's curriculum choice was more like our daughters' style...
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Life of Fred math books?
