Life of Fred--Dogs

I have been reading through this series with my kids. It is highly recommended by many homeschool families. The first volume (Apples) was a strong start and sort of goofy/silly in plot line with some real math creatively integrated in the story. Unfortunately storylines in subsequent books were much weaker and the math seems more forced. Additionally the silliness factor, which was a draw for my kids, is sounding more and more forced. This volume (Dogs) has been the worst thus far and I regret purchasing it. I will stop at this volume because I find the underlying preachy life lessons annoying at best and the overall story is at times disturbing. I completely agree with those who find the swindling and euthanasia topics as inappropriate for this age group and I found the need to skip lines and reword sections.The main character Fred has gone from quirky to downright bizarre and the general tone of the books is pretentious and at times condescending.I never intended to use these as a comprehensive math program as these books claim to be. My kids love math and I was looking for an enjoyable supplemental read aloud, but I will not be recommending any volumes other than the first.

My son (5yrs old) LOVES Life of Fred. We have read all the books through Dogs (we are just starting on Edgewood). My son is very advanced in math (on a 4th grade math curriculum), so all of the math being taught so far is "too easy" - in my son's words. BUT.... there are all kinds of tid-bits of information throughout each book and I love that (like what a fortnight is, or deciduous vs evergreen tree, etc...). So while the math has been just a refresher for him (although I think appropriate for elementary students) its all the other information that is included in each book that I really appreciate. My son begs to start our day reading LOF. He asks to read it on the weekends and non-school days. He enjoys the humor, learning new things and reading (or listening, when I take a turn to read). If up to him I think we would have finished all the Elementary LOF books by now.The ONLY reason I gave Dogs 4 stars was because of the Euthanasia discussion. While I think it's a very valuable lesson to learn about the over population of animals....just not sure it is appropriate for this elementary age group. My son wanted to know more about it to better understand. So I had to fully explain what and how it works. Definitely not something I wanted to go into detail on with my 5 year old. It was a mood kill for sure.Other wise I say LOF is 5 stars all the way!!!!

Our homeschool family loves the Life of Fred series. We went from dreading Math to it now being all three kids' favorite subject. As the teacher, I'm very surprised at how easily my children are learning advanced mathematical concepts while laughing at the humorous story. They aren't getting the repetition of drilling to memorize basic math, but that is easy to supplement. So glad we found this series.

As described, Good product, a satisfied client!

A wonderful way to learn math!

Enjoy this book myself. Purchased for grandchildren … middle school down to second grade. Really appreciate the approach of learning how to use math in day to day activities. Five stars.

Life of Fred is the only math book series that I can easily get all my kids to sit down and do their math. I enjoy it too and read with my youngest ones. If they go on without me, I have to read it and catch up with the story line! Thank you Stanley for writing a story that not only teaches math concepts but life lessons.

Great price and in like new condition!