Knows all about arithmetic (fractions and decimals and percents)

     There are many home schooling math curricula out there.

.......Some of them are so boring/repetitive that kids quickly forget anything they may have learned.

.......Some of them are mathematically light-weight.  The kids think that they have learned all of arithmetic.  That is, until they hit their SATs or a college classroom.  At that point they find out that there are big gaps in their knowledge.

 

     With that in mind, let's see how much arithmetic your child has learned. 

     Here are some representative questions to ask your child.  They are taken from Life of Fred: Fractions and Life of Fred: Decimal and Percents.  Have them take out a piece of paper and play with these questions . . .

        Each of these two books contains more material than their titles indicate.  Here are some questions from these two books of the series.  Have your child answer these questions and we'll see where in the series is the best place to start.


1.  Write 99 in Roman numerals.  (from Life of Fred: Fractions, p. 74)
2.  What is the square of two and five-eighths?  (Life of Fred: Fractions, p. 131)
3.  What is the inverse function to "multiply by six and then add twenty-four"?  (Life of Fred: Fractions, p. 131
4.  If a fence is 52" tall and it is made 40% higher, how tall would it be?   (Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents, p. 137
5.  Fred had 2100 books in his office.  He lent 37% of them to students.  How many books are still in his office?  (Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents, p. 124)

 

 

 

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       (Don't scroll down past here so the answers won't be visible.)

 

Here are the answers . . .

1.   XCIX      (not  IC)
2.   6  57/64
3.   Subtract  24 and then divide by 6.  (It is not Divide by 6 and then subtract 24.)
4.  72.8"
5.  1323 haven't been lent. 

           If we encounter difficulty with these questions and can, say, get only three (60%) of them correct, then I would suggest we begin with the first two books of the series:
Life of Fred: Fractions   and
Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents.

        

 

     Otherwise, it is time to move on to the gateway to high school mathematics.

     Resist the temptation to plunge into high school algebra Life of Fred: Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition at this point.

     The three books before beginning algebra were written to make the transition from arithmetic into high school algebra as smooth and as pleasant as possible:

     1) Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra 0 with Physics
     2) Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra 1 with Biology and then
     3) Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics.

     Each takes about 40–50 days to complete.

     These three books will cover important material that will be needed for beginning algebra.  There is a strong emphasis on learning how to do word problems, which for many students is the hardest part of beginning algebra. 
     They introduce a second method of attack for translating English into equations (called "six pretty boxes") that is not mentioned in the beginning algebra course.

 

     Don't let the physics, biology, and economics bother you. 

     Every Life of Fred book covers many different topics—not just math stuff.  Consider the physics, the biology, and the economics as bonuses to enjoy. 

     They will teach important things about physics, biology, and economics that most adults don't know. 

 

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