Logic curriculum?

[treestarfae]

What have you used and for what grades? What is your review?

[mcconnellboys]

Secular, or is Christian okay, too?

[Sweetbabe]

:lurk5:

[treestarfae]

I'd like to hear any feedback.

[Jen in PA]

:lurk5:

[laurad1125]

:lurk5:

[Karenciavo]

Mind Benders - We love these, my VSL son did especially well with them and enjoyed it. Students answer questions based on partial evidence provided using a grid method. Good for reading comprehension and organization skills. I began using them in 3rd grade.

 

Critical Thinking - We didn't get very far into these, too dry, not visually appealing enough for us but I do hear good things about it. Covers various types of logic.

 

The Fallacy Detective - This book is all about fallacies, unapologetically Christian and conservative - if that's not your cup of tea you may want to look elsewhere. Good as a stand alone, but I used it as a supplement to The Art of Argument because it's not a whole lot of work. If you are looking for a 1 or 2 day program this would be good.

 

The Thinking Toolbox - This book was released after The Fallacy Detective so that's when I used it, but with my youngest I will use this first. It covers various thinking skills, argument tools, the scientific method and more (it's at the link.) I think it is a good beginning look at thinking, coming to conclusions, and forming arguments.

 

The Art of Argument - Another book on fallacies but this one has writing assignments and other workbook type assignments so I prefer it to The Fallacy Detective based on that alone, but also it is more mature in tone. As I said I used The Fallacy Detective with it to provide more examples of particular fallacies, it's not necessary to do that at all. The publishers of this books are Christian and conservative but they do include examples of faulty thinking/arguments on the part of conservatives. I've used this with my own children and in a co-op, it has been useful and *most* students enjoyed the work.

 

The Argument Builder - Bridge text that is useful for transitioning from logic to rhetoric. Students start out by learning how to form good arguments and the form of arguing using Aristotle's common topics. If you have never used a fallacy curriculum and really don't want to this text includes a brief (1 chapter?) overview on fallacies because it is necessary to know about fallacies in order to recognize them and avoid using them ourselves. Advanced 7th/8th grade to high school age

 

Socratic Logic by Peter Kreeft - Another Christian text, Peter Kreeft is a former Calvinist who converted to Catholicism and is a professor at Boston College. He is, IMHO, a joy to read and listen to. I am lesson planning this book right now for my ds16 to use next year. While the subject matter is weighty (Socratic Logic? Platonic Questions? Aristotelian Principles? scary stuff for me anyway), Dr. Kreeft's writing style is so enjoyable you will not want to put this book aside. It is for advanced high school students - adult.

 

My logic plan for ds7 (who should be very thankful for his brothers the guinea pigs :lol:) is:

 

Minder Benders (3rd grade-5th grade)

The Thinking Toolbox (5th grade)

The Art of Argument (6th grade)

The Discovery of Deduction (7th grade)

The Argument Builder (8th grade)

 

then on to rhetoric and follow up with Socratic Logic in 12th grade (Lord willing)

 

Classical Academic Press has pretty decent samples of all their logic products.

Edited February 20, 2010 by Karenciavo

[HootyTooty]

We took a lot of our ideas from this post by LoriD:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=204289&postcount=4

 

For grammar stage we are going using the Prufrock books (Logic Safari 1-3, Logic Countdown 1-3, Analogies) and then plan to start The Art of Argument in 6th grade, Discovery of Logic 7th, and The Discovery of Deduction in 8th.

[mcconnellboys]

We've used Mind Benders, which are secular. I like them. They now have out levels for younger children. They are logic puzzles.

 

We've used Case of Red Herrings. I think its really meant more for brainstorming sessions with a classroom full of kids. You *can* make it work with just a Mom/child combo, but I think it's not as fun as it would be in a larger group.

 

With my younger son, I have put off doing formal logic and am doing informal this year. I am using Thinking Toolbox (finished) and Fallacy Detective (currently). They are okay, but their examples are not always directly on point. There is some wishy-washiness, or room for error, in many of their examples. Thus far, I'd say that I like Fallacy Detective better than TT.

 

My older son used Nance's Intro Logic and I didn't like some of their examples because they presume a Protestant point of view. He was okay with it, however. I will be attempting to make myself use it again next year, with my younger son. It has been updated, so perhaps I'll like it better this time. There's just not all that much out there for younger kids that does not come at you from some sort of particular Christian viewpoint.

 

I plan to follow with Intermediate Logic (if I can stand it).

 

My older son used Cothran's Traditional Logic I and II. I believe these are better used (for most folks) with a high school age child than with a junior high student.

 

Both Nance's books and Cothran's are considered formal logic. They cover different topics, however.

 

I can't seem to find right now some of the comparisons that have been done in past of these two programs, but here are reviews of both by one of the Bluedorn boys (writers of FD and TT):

 

Nance's Intro Logic:

 

http://www.fallacydetective.com/articles/read/introductory-logic-by-james-nance-and-douglas-wilson

 

Cothran's Trad Logic:

 

http://www.fallacydetective.com/articles/read/traditional-logic-1-by-martin-cothran

 

Ah! At last I found Mr. Cothran's comparison of the two programs!

 

http://www.memoriapress.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1312

[AngelBee]

:lurk5:

[FloridaLisa]

You've received some good reviews. I'll post our experience so far.

 

Building Thinking Skills -- I use these in the younger years and usually a bit ahead of the recommended age/grade level. There are 3 in the series. Level 3 is divided into a Figural and a Verbal book. I really like the Verbal book; it covers vocabulary nuances, connotation vs. denotion, verbal analogies and other verbal reasoning. I'll do this with my 7th grader as soon as he finished Thinking Toolbox.

 

Orbiting with Logic from Dandylion Press -- Again, a 3-book series that covers puzzles, analogies and the like. My kids enjoy this one and it's part of their seatwork they can do independently. We've used them in grades 3 - 5.

 

Thinking Toolbox -- I generally have my 6th grader read/work through this. Easily done in a semester.

 

Fallacy Detective -- nice introduction to major fallacies. Clear Christian and conservative perspective. My dc have done this in 7th grade. Actually, when it first came out, I read it aloud with my olders and we worked through it. My 7th grader reads a lesson and answers the questions, but we discuss and work through the answers afterward. My answers differ from some in the book. :001_smile:

 

Intro to Logic, Nance/Wilson -- my oldest three used this in a co-op as 10th, 8th and 7th graders. This is the first in a 2-book series on formal logic (with a review of fallacies). I decided not to continue with the series at home because it deals primarily with symbols and I preferred a language-based formal logic. My dc used Intro to Logic over a full-year co-op class. On review, however, I think it can be done in a semseter.

 

Traditional Logic I and II, Cothran -- my preferred formal logic series (i.e. covers the form of arguments). Clear Christian perspective. Language rather symbolic based. I'm using it this year with my now 9th and 10th graders, one per semester.

 

Material Logic, Cothran -- I hope to get to it this summer or next fall. I've perused it and have it on the shelf, but haven't yet used it. Material logic deals with the validity of the substance of the argument.

 

In short, our ideal logic sequence:

3rd - 5th grades: Orbiting with Logic interchanged with the first two BTS

6th grade: Thinking Toolbox

7th grade: Fallacy Detective and BTS Verbal

8th - 9th grade: Traditional Logic I and II

9th - 10th grade: Material Logic

 

HTH,

Lisa

 

*I recalled one other Logic possibility sitting on my shelf. Introduction to Logic by Copi. It's a college text, I think, but seems manageable for high school.

 

 

 

[mrsrevmeg]

 

 

The Fallacy Detective - This book is all about fallacies, unapologetically Christian and conservative - if that's not your cup of tea you may want to look elsewhere. Good as a stand alone, but I used it as a supplement to The Art of Argument because it's not a whole lot of work. If you are looking for a 1 or 2 day program this would be good.

 

 

The Art of Argument - Another book on fallacies but this one has writing assignments and other workbook type assignments so I prefer it to The Fallacy Detective based on that alone, but also it is more mature in tone. As I said I used The Fallacy Detective with it to provide more examples of particular fallacies, it's not necessary to do that at all. The publishers of this books are Christian and conservative but they do include examples of faulty thinking/arguments on the part of conservatives. I've used this with my own children and in a co-op, it has been useful and *most* students enjoyed the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classical Academic Press has pretty decent samples of all their logic products.

 

:iagree:What she said ^

[treestarfae]

Thank you everyone! I really like the RS4K and Teaching Textbooks. Still looking around.

[treestarfae]

:lurk5: