DoD of Fallacy Detective

[raganfamily]

We are working through Discovery of Deduction and I am noticing that I am dreading it each week.  It seems long and wordy.  I have Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox and wondering if this would be a better option.  Would we miss key logic by switching? 

 

We did Art of Argument last year and it was ok.  I'm finding it difficult to get everything to fit this year.  (I even stretched DoD over the whole year, thinking this would help.)

 

Any suggestions?

[SilverMoon]

Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox are generally considered a step down from Art of Argument and would be redundant to a DC with that background.

 

Perhaps Argument Builder would be more your speed? I have mine go through AoA and AB, but only the interested ones go through DoD.

 

Or if you're overwhelmed just drop it and pick it up again next year. Nothing terrible will happen. Honest.

Edited November 2, 2016 by SilverMoon

[raganfamily]

I had not thought of going straight to Argument Builder.  My older three did Speech and Debate, so I did not worry as much with them for logic.

I will look into using Argument Builder.

 

Thanks

 

[Aloha2U]

My little man enjoyed both the Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox.  We completed those first; and (imo) they are best done together—one after the other. They were orally engaging and fun. Great discussions—great times!

 

Then, we moved into AoA, with the DVDs. While still orally engaging, there is independent contemplation and written work. I believe and would encourage FD and TT to be a precursor for AoA. My little man enjoyed AoA and got more out of it because of the aforementioned sequence of logic materials. That being said, AoA was his favorite.

 

Afterwards, in the same year as AoA, we began The Argument Builder, which he was not as enthusiastic about—much more independent contemplation and much more writing. We completed approximately 1/3 of AB before the end of the study year. I then had to decide whether to pick up where we'd left off with the Argument Builder, in the next study year, or try something different. 

 

We opted to start this year with The Discovery of Deduction, which also has been a hit. That being said... FD, TT, and AoA are first in his favorites line-up. Perhaps we'll finish AB after DoD.

 

 

[nicoleseitler]

We did Art of Argument last year and it was ok.  I'm finding it difficult to get everything to fit this year.  (I even stretched DoD over the whole year, thinking this would help.)

 

I've had major issues with this topic as well...

 

We started off with The Fallacy Detective in the 6th grade and we had wonderful conversations, just reading it a chapter at a time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We loved it! (I own The Thinking Toolbox, but we have yet to fit it in.)

 

I knew I wanted more for the 7th grade, so I ordered MP's Traditional Logic for that year. At first, I wasn't really impressed. (I wish that the student book gave more room for answers!) That one little graphic design issue kept us from diving into the book that year. Instead, I ordered The Argument Builder.

 

We still had major problems with The Argument Builder, though. :p

 

Many books from CAP leave me thinking, "This is great! This is beautiful... but how on earth am I supposed to use this book?!" Some books have 10 to 14 chapters. The Argument Builder has 25. So, doing a chapter a week is out, because we typically stick to a 36 week routine. I could split things up to do a little bit of a chapter each week... except for the fact that this book works like this: read a lot of text, then answer questions in big paragraphs... or even an essay. There was no easy way to split this up! I'd really rather see them have 4 to 5 sections in a chapter so we could use them over 4 to 5 days. (By the way, this is also a problem with their God's Great Covenant books as well. We are trying to "just deal with it" for that series.)

 

After muddling thorough last year, I took another look at Traditional Logic (we're doing both TL 1 and TL 2 this year). It does solve the daily problem because it has assignments for 4 or 5 days. It also helps with the reading issue (you read the whole text on Day 1 and then re-read certain sections on Days 2 through 4/5).

 

I'm still not 100% happy, because there's something that's very "living" about The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox... and I'm not finding that in a curriculum that also has a workbook.

 

In short... LOL! The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox would most certainly be a great option! I don't think that you'd regret it. :D But if anyone knows of something else, please let me know! I'd love to take a look at it!

Edited November 16, 2016 by nicoleseitler

[Momto6inIN]

Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox are generally considered a step down from Art of Argument and would be redundant to a DC with that background.

 

Perhaps Argument Builder would be more your speed? I have mine go through AoA and AB, but only the interested ones go through DoD.

 

Or if you're overwhelmed just drop it and pick it up again next year. Nothing terrible will happen. Honest.

This is what we do too. Formal logic really isn't for everyone, though I know TWTM says it is. ;)

Edited because stupid autocorrect.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Momto5inIN

[raganfamily]

Many books from CAP leave me thinking, "This is great! This is beautiful... but how on earth am I supposed to use this book?!" Some books have 10 to 14 chapters. The Argument Builder has 25. So, doing a chapter a week is out, because we typically stick to a 36 week routine. I could split things up to do a little bit of a chapter each week... except for the fact that this book works like this: read a lot of text, then answer questions in big paragraphs... or even an essay.

 

I agree with CAP.  Though I do like their books, I find some of my kids have trouble with the heaviness of the reading.  I think for my ds it is too much for him.  Though we have completed AoA, I might go over Thinking Toolbox and Fallacy Detective and try DoD or Traditional Logic in a year or two.