Daisy Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I have a fifth grader and second grader. We've pretty much always used oral/written narration & notebooking for history, science, literature. We use Singapore math & R&S English. I'm looking to add some critical thinking type items to our homeschool. I'm not sure what I'm looking for. My children love to play games and they are smart, but they don't do very well with thinking outside the box. They aren't "problem-solvers." They want clear directions & a predictable outcome. I want them to start viewing things more as a fun puzzle to solve rather than getting frustrated by something that isn't clear-cut and familiar to them. Any ideas for building these skills? Is stuff from the Critical Thinking company any good? What type of book, workbook, game would you suggest? We play stuff like blokus, suduku, chess, etc. but they don't apply these skills to school work (math & science especially). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 What about Building Thinking Skills? Does anyone use this? Like it? Hate it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I'm a huge Critical Thinking Company fan! We use: Can You Find Me?, Hands-on Thinking Skills, and the Mathematical Reasoning books (as a supplement). My dd is younger than your dc but I definitely give the CTC books a huge thumbs up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 We play stuff like blokus, suduku, chess, etc. but they don't apply these skills to school work (math & science especially). JMO, but I DO think that ANY thinking/strategy games will ALWAYS help hone those skills, and they will start unconsciously using those skills in math and science. So, I think those fun games are quietly building some of those critical thinking skills, whether you see it overtly or not. :001_smile: We found the Building Thinking Skills a bit dull, and many of the Critical Thinking books seem like expensive "one trick ponies" to us, but others love both. Below are a wide variety of things we used and loved over the years for critical thinking. Enjoy! Warmest regards, Lori D. grade K-3 workbooks: - Critical Thinking Activities in Pattern, Image, Logic (gr. 1-3) -- by Seymour - Logic Safari (book 1 = gr. 2-3; book 2 = gr. 3-4) - Lollipop Logic (gr. K-2) - Primarily Logic (gr. 2-4) - Connections series (by grade level) puzzle books: - Gifted and Talented series (K-4 gr.) -- by Amerikander, or others - Puzzlemania series (gr. 1-5) -- best of Highlights magazine variety of puzzles - Hidden Picture Puzzle books -- collection of hidden picture puzzles from Highlights software: - Logic Journey of the Zoombinis (by grade level) - Revenge of the Logic Spiders (by grade level) - Crazy Machines series (gr. 3+) - The Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions (gr. 3+) - Operation: Neptune (gr. 3-6) - Mission: T.H.I.N.K. (gr. 2-6) games: - Set - Duo - Secret Door - Blokus - Scan (old Parker Brothers game, usually available on ebay) - Clue solo logic activities: - Logix - Scramble Squares - Tangrams - Rush Hour Junior simple puzzle pages: - mazes - word searches - Where's Waldo - search and find type of books gr. 4-6 (prep for logic) logic books: - Dandylion Logic series: 1. Logic Countdown = gr. 3-4 2. Logic Liftoff = gr. 4-5 3. Orbiting with Logic = gr. 5-7 - Logic Safari series (book 2 = gr. 3-4; book 3 = gr. 5-6) - Connections series (by grade level) workbooks: - Mindbenders - Perplexors (like Mendbenders) - Puzzlemania series (gr. 1-5) - Dr. Funster Think-A-Minutes (gr. 3-6) - Dr. Funster's Creative Thinking Puzzlers (gr. 3-6) - Critical Thinking Activities in Pattern, Image, Logic (gr. 4-6) -- by Seymour software: - Logic Journey of the Zoombinis (by grade level) - Revenge of the Logic Spiders (by grade level) - Crazy Contraptions series (gr. 3+) - Operation: Neptune (gr. 3-6) - Mission: T.H.I.N.K. (gr. 2-6) games: - Mastermind - Amazing Labrynth - 221 B. Baker Street - Checkers - Chess - Boggle - Scrabble - Quarto puzzle pages: - mazes - crosswords, word jumbles, anagrams - codes, cryptograms - sudoku puzzles books (solving "whodunnits"): - Encyclopedia Brown series (Sobol) - Roman Mysteries series (Lawrence) - 17th century Japanese boy and samurai mysteries by Dorothy Hoobler - Nancy Drew series (Keene) - Hardy Boys series (Dixon) - minute mystery books by Conrad, Sobol, Weber, and others gr. 7-8 (intro to logic) critical thinking books: - Mindbenders - Perplexors (like Mindbenders) - Word Winks; More Word Winks (like Think-A-Grams) -- pub. by Mindware - Plexors, More Plexers (like Think-A-Grams) -- by Seymour - Critical Thinking Activities in Pattern, Image, Logic (gr. 7-12) -- by Seymour - 10-Minute Critical-Thinking Activities for Englishy (gr. 5-12) -- by Eaton; Walch Pub. - 10-Minute Critical-Thinking Activities for Algebra (gr. 9-12) -- by Martin; Walch Pub. logic books: - Art of Argument (Larson/Hodge) - Fallacy Detective; Thinking Toolbox (Bluedorn) games: - Checkers - Chess - Boggle - Scrabble - Quarto - Tetrus - Risk - other strategy computer/board games puzzle pages: - crosswords, word jumbles, anagrams - codes, cryptograms - sudoku puzzles solving "whodunnits" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 Wow, this is a great list. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Need Advice since I've never used any. :lol: Sorry, I can't help myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Need Advice since I've never used any. :lol: Sorry, I can't help myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Need Advice since I've never used any. :lol: Sorry, I can't help myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 I have a fifth grader and second grader. We've pretty much always used oral/written narration & notebooking for history, science, literature. We use Singapore math & R&S English. I'm looking to add some critical thinking type items to our homeschool. I'm not sure what I'm looking for. My children love to play games and they are smart, but they don't do very well with thinking outside the box. They aren't "problem-solvers." They want clear directions & a predictable outcome. I want them to start viewing things more as a fun puzzle to solve rather than getting frustrated by something that isn't clear-cut and familiar to them. Any ideas for building these skills? Is stuff from the Critical Thinking company any good? What type of book, workbook, game would you suggest? We play stuff like blokus, suduku, chess, etc. but they don't apply these skills to school work (math & science especially). I think Critical Thinking Co. is great for this. Their puzzles aren't able to be solved by my son by simply figuring out the pattern or guessing. Here are my experiences with a few: - Building Thinking Skills is kinda dry but depends on the kid. My older dd benefited from doing a little, but doing it all was more than I wanted to commit to. - Critical Thinking is kinda heavy for your kids' ages. My son is using it in 8th. - Some of the games & think workbooks might be best. Things like analogies, mind benders, word benders, & even word roots all require thinking but aren't too heavy. I used to substitute one of these for English on Fridays. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 We play stuff like blokus, suduku, chess, etc. but they don't apply these skills to school work (math & science especially). MEP and CSMP, two complete math programs available for free online, both have "puzzle math" types of problems. They'd be great for building critical thinking skills, and would (obviously :tongue_smilie:) help them apply them to math. I'm not sure what I'm looking for. My children love to play games and they are smart, but they don't do very well with thinking outside the box. They aren't "problem-solvers." They want clear directions & a predictable outcome. I want them to start viewing things more as a fun puzzle to solve rather than getting frustrated by something that isn't clear-cut and familiar to them. What would help here is building up their problem solving toolkit, and giving them a clear framework for tackling problems. The classic work for adults in this vein is Polya's "How to Solve It" (here and here are summaries of his approach; his main focus is math proofs but his method is applicable to almost any problem). In general, his four steps are: understanding the problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and looking back. You can start by walking them through these steps as you tackle problems together. As you find techniques that are helpful (in your math program, online, in books, ones you discover yourselves), you can make a note of them. It would be a good idea to keep a notebook of problem solving techniques, sorted by step. After you've done lots of problems together, you can make an outline that walks them through the process, so b/w that and their notebook of techniques they have the clear direction they need to tackle new problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 Okay, Starr that is funny. Thanks for the direction. Problem solving has always come easy for me. Teaching the skill to someone else is proving a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 There's a series of book about Dr Quicksolve which we're enjoying. Lewis Carroll wrote lots of logic puzzles. I don't know if this is the case over there, but in the UK there are lots of puzzle magazines which focus on these types of problems, including a couple specifically for children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Okay, Starr that is funny. Thanks for the direction. Problem solving has always come easy for me. Teaching the skill to someone else is proving a challenge. I find the single most important thing is reflecting back their comments, as all to often I catch myself trying to give them clues to lead them to the answer, when what they really needed was space to let their ideas percolate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We use a lot of games for fun (and the educational value is a bonus!). There is a great explanation by a PS teacher who homeschools his own kids about the value of games in teaching critical thinking. http://www.youtube.com/user/manygoodideas#p/u/7/FFZAHbkf-ZE Strategy games that don't rely too much on chance are GREAT for developing critical thinking, inductive and deductive reasoning, etc. I agree with the teacher in the video to emphasize a good move and not focus on winning. My favorite games: Blokus is wonderful. There is also a computer version. You arrange differently shaped tiles to block your opponent and take over the game board. My very visual-spatial 8 y/o can often beat me. Mastermind is a "code breaking" game. There is a kid's version which is a little simpler than the adult. Any game by ThinkFun. We have a whole bunch! Any game by Ravensburger. My personal favorite is The A"Maze"ing Labyrinth. Everything I have from them (a lot!) is amazing quality, and so smart! Riddle games like Brain Storms or Mind Trap. Your kids may be a little young, but we get a big kick out of Taboo and our newest discovery, Who What Where. A similar drawing game is Luck of the Draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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