Life of Fred

[rumi]

Have any of you used "Life of Fred" series on mathematics?   It seems interesting but it is not available for me to browse in the bookstore.  As they cost a tidy sum, I would like to hear from someone who has used the books.

We are having a wonderful time with the "Murderous Maths" series ... 

[rubelin]

My oldest has been working in the fractions book and I think it's awesome. He has issues with anything that smells of "schoolwork" so he doesn't care how fun it is if he still has to do "work" but I think the Fred books are helping him to get past that. He does regularly giggle while he's working =)

I don't think they're all that pricey, considering that you will only need one per year. They are very nice, hard cover books that could be resold when you're done with them. I make photocopies of the pages that have problems so our book can stay clean (though my second son will likely use ours)

I haven't been able to find the Murderous Maths in order, only a full set that I can't afford, but I think those would be fun, too. From what I can see of those, the Fred series is more complex math, since it's designed for 4th grade up through high school and college level.

[lauriem33]

I'm sure you probably know this, but you can check out sample pages from all the books at http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/31samplepages.html

We are using them also and like the pp said, my dd does not like anything textbook-ish, so they're perfect for us. If you'd rather read and learn something on your own than be "taught" these are great. And they really are not expensive considering they are not consumable and are very easily resold on all the homeschool boards I've seen.

[zebra15]

http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/11catofbooks.html 

if you order from 'fred' they seem very reasonable

[rumi]

Thanks for all the encouragement.  I have ordered the Fractions book, even though dd is a little young, I figure I can read it first and it can be available whenever she is interested.  Can't wait for it to arrive!  Math and giggles sounds like just the perfect combination.