Life of Fred - Cats (Elementary Series)

Life of Fred - Cats (Elementary Series)

Publisher: Polka Dot Publishing
Author: Stan Schmidt
$19.00

The third book in the Life of Fred Elementary Series and the first book of first-grade material.


Life of Fred is a series of math books that break the old pattern of drill and kill. Instead of nothing but dry exposition and endless drill exercises, they contain fun stories about Fred Gauss, a child prodigy math genius. During his hilarious adventures, he encounters situations that call for solving math problems. Dr. Stanley Schmidt wrote these to make math come alive with humor, clear explanations, and silly illustrations that will make math a fun subject. Your children actually want to read these books. The stories carry on through the exercises, leading the student through them.  Many of the books have a series of quizzes called Bridges every few chapters. Passing a quiz means the student is ready for the next chapter. Some books have all the problem solutions in them, while others have separate answer keys or companions. The textbooks are all hardbound, the answer keys are comb-bound.

This program relies on reading comprehension and thinking and is non-consumable. You will not find 30 problems on every page of rote spoon-fed learning that is quickly forgotten.  This is totally different, a new way of learning math, and everything you need is in the book. As a parent, you will quickly pick up on the novel way as you read along and learn with your student.  Books available for grades K - 12.
Math Concepts
  • Commutative
  • Cardinality of a Set
  • One Quarter
  • Numerals vs. Numbers
  • Counting by Threes
  • Finding Patterns
  • Right Angles
  • a Quarter to Three
  • 5280 Feet in a Mile
  • Numbers Expressed as Hundreds
  • Tens and Ones
  • Sexagesimal and Decimal Systems
  • Numbers that Add to 13
  • Square Feet
  • Volume
  • One-Meter
  • Prime Numbers
  • Less Than (<)

Other Concepts

  • Ursa Major (Big Bear)
  • Asterism
  • Vowels
  • Loud Talkers
  • Hiring Freeze
  • Hoodwinked
  • Sheet Music for “Happy”
  • Four Basic Emotions
  • Quarter and Half Notes
  • Obligate Carnivores
  • Adjectives and Verbs
  • Carbohydrates
  • the Mariana Trench
  • Ferdinand Magellan’s Trip
  • What Pacific Means
  • Bacteria
  • Rabies in 300 B.C.
  • Capital Letters Start Sentences
  • Five Vowel Words: Mat, Met, Mit, Mot, Mut
  • Twenty-Two English Words That Don’t Contain a Vowel- By, Cry, . . . , Tryst, and Why
  • Morse Code
  • Four Major Oceans of the World
  • Centuries, Centenarians, and Centurions
  • Homonyms
  • Prepositional Phrases
  • 71 English Prepositions
  • the Three Countries of the World that Don’t Primarily Use the Metric System
  • What Mathematicians Do
Hardback, ISBN 978-0-9791072-6-9, 128 Pages

Click here to view sample pages.  To order the second book of first-grade material click here.
Book Title Life of Fred - Cats (Elementary Series)
Publisher: Polka Dot Publishing
Author Stan Schmidt

The third book in the Life of Fred Elementary Series and the first book of first-grade material.


Life of Fred is a series of math books that break the old pattern of drill and kill. Instead of nothing but dry exposition and endless drill exercises, they contain fun stories about Fred Gauss, a child prodigy math genius. During his hilarious adventures, he encounters situations that call for solving math problems. Dr. Stanley Schmidt wrote these to make math come alive with humor, clear explanations, and silly illustrations that will make math a fun subject. Your children actually want to read these books. The stories carry on through the exercises, leading the student through them.  Many of the books have a series of quizzes called Bridges every few chapters. Passing a quiz means the student is ready for the next chapter. Some books have all the problem solutions in them, while others have separate answer keys or companions. The textbooks are all hardbound, the answer keys are comb-bound.

This program relies on reading comprehension and thinking and is non-consumable. You will not find 30 problems on every page of rote spoon-fed learning that is quickly forgotten.  This is totally different, a new way of learning math, and everything you need is in the book. As a parent, you will quickly pick up on the novel way as you read along and learn with your student.  Books available for grades K - 12. Math Concepts
  • Commutative
  • Cardinality of a Set
  • One Quarter
  • Numerals vs. Numbers
  • Counting by Threes
  • Finding Patterns
  • Right Angles
  • a Quarter to Three
  • 5280 Feet in a Mile
  • Numbers Expressed as Hundreds
  • Tens and Ones
  • Sexagesimal and Decimal Systems
  • Numbers that Add to 13
  • Square Feet
  • Volume
  • One-Meter
  • Prime Numbers
  • Less Than (<)

Other Concepts

  • Ursa Major (Big Bear)
  • Asterism
  • Vowels
  • Loud Talkers
  • Hiring Freeze
  • Hoodwinked
  • Sheet Music for “Happy”
  • Four Basic Emotions
  • Quarter and Half Notes
  • Obligate Carnivores
  • Adjectives and Verbs
  • Carbohydrates
  • the Mariana Trench
  • Ferdinand Magellan’s Trip
  • What Pacific Means
  • Bacteria
  • Rabies in 300 B.C.
  • Capital Letters Start Sentences
  • Five Vowel Words: Mat, Met, Mit, Mot, Mut
  • Twenty-Two English Words That Don’t Contain a Vowel- By, Cry, . . . , Tryst, and Why
  • Morse Code
  • Four Major Oceans of the World
  • Centuries, Centenarians, and Centurions
  • Homonyms
  • Prepositional Phrases
  • 71 English Prepositions
  • the Three Countries of the World that Don’t Primarily Use the Metric System
  • What Mathematicians Do
Hardback, ISBN 978-0-9791072-6-9, 128 Pages

Click here to view sample pages.  To order the second book of first-grade material click here.