Life of Fred for gifted math student?

[VBCaroline]

What would you do with this child? She is doing Life of Fred Beginning Algebra in 5th grade. She works independently and does very well with it. Up until this year, she has only done Saxon(through level 7/6), which she does not like. She has completed the LoF decimal and fraction books this year, and she is about halfway through Beg. Alg.

Mr. Schmidt (the author) has convinced her that math is her favorite subject and that she should be a math major by pointing out that she will not have to write a lot of papers like an English major or listen to boring lectures as a history major or worry about laboratory accidents as a science major.:001_huh: Prior to LoF, she did not like math at all, although she is truly gifted in this area.

I would like to challenge her(possibly with Chalkdust?). Does anyone have experience with LoF and gifted students? Should I just supplement it, or do I even need to do that? Would Chalkdust Alg be a logical jump if we go that route?

One more thing, she has decided that she will not like any math other than LoF. She is generally easy-going and does not often draw a "line in the sand", so I am reluctant to push the issue. If we do supplement LoF, what would be some good options?

Appreciate any and all advice!
Caroline

[ilovemy4kids]

Ummm... I'd just let her move on with LOF. It works, she's happy. The clep board has LOF statistics (or calculus- I can't remember which) as one of their suggested books for preparing for the exam. It's really a pretty complete program. Why risk squashing her developing love of math by trying something else. Just my two cents. Plus at 5th grade doing algebra, if she completes the books in the usual time she will finish statistics in 9th? grade!

[chai]

My dd has come to the same conclusion about LOF. It is the only math that she wants to do as well. She wants to start LOF Beginning Algebra in the fall. She has always been somewhat resistant about doing math, even though she is strong in math concepts. I've decided if LOF makes her happy, we will continue with it. For now, my plan is to supplement with Singapore. We still have SM 6 to finish and I would like to go into NEM. If I supplement with NEM, I won't have dd do the extra problems in LOF Home Companion. If LOF goes really well, I may switch to it completely. I've also heard that LOF is a good, rigorous program; but I would like a few more data points!

[VBCaroline]

So, I'm assuming that if LoF is CLEP board recommended, it must be complete.

I've read a lot of positive posts about Singapore. Would it be difficult to add this into our schedule if she's never done it before? What level would be appropriate, and what components do you recommend? We are not in a race to finish all the LoF books.
Thanks.

[VBCaroline]

Thank you for your replies. I appreciate them.