Critical Thinking in U.S. History -- Anyone use this?

[amyco]

Does anyone use Critical Thinking in U. S. History? It's recommended in WTM for 7th grade and so like a good sheep I purchased it, I think just the first two levels--there are 4 levels!! With separate teacher manuals!! (Although I believe Critical Thinking Co. is phasing out the books, and might only be available on CDrom now).

 

I was looking at it this a.m. as dd is now working on the colonial period...yikes. This does not really seem like something she could do on her own with much profit, and I'm fairly certain there is no way I can try to keep on top of one more thing. It looks great though, if someone had the time.

 

I'm hoping someone can give me any kind of feedback!! I'm thinking we might have to shelve it until high school when I expect to spend an entire year on U.S. history.

[katilac]

Does anyone use Critical Thinking in U. S. History? It's recommended in WTM for 7th grade and so like a good sheep I purchased it, I think just the first two levels--there are 4 levels!! With separate teacher manuals!! (Although I believe Critical Thinking Co. is phasing out the books, and might only be available on CDrom now).

 

I was looking at it this a.m. as dd is now working on the colonial period...yikes. This does not really seem like something she could do on her own with much profit, and I'm fairly certain there is no way I can try to keep on top of one more thing. It looks great though, if someone had the time.

 

I'm hoping someone can give me any kind of feedback!! I'm thinking we might have to shelve it until high school when I expect to spend an entire year on U.S. history.

 

I have From Colonies to Constitution; is that one of the levels you are talking about? We used some of the beginning exercises in a small writing group, and it was very helpful, very good at getting the kids to think about different types of sources and how to evaluate them. I don't think it's a great choice for completely independent work; if you don't have the discussion and debate going on, you lose a lot of what is worthwhile, imo.

 

I have the cd, and I need to print out the TG to get a better idea of how to plan.

[beezus]

We are using the first book, Colonies to Constitution. I agree with the previous poster that it might be better used in a group setting, but my dd is using it mostly independently. I don't have the CD or teacher's manual, but we do talk about the lessons together and that seems to be working okay for us. I like the guide to critical thinking in the front part of the book. The exercises get the student thinking about evaluating evidence, comparing arguments, and determining cause and effect relationships. The exercises seem pretty well-structured. I've seen my dd apply some of the analytical things she's learned here to other aspects of her studies, so I think there are things to gain even if you don't approach it in a group setting.

Edited November 5, 2010 by beezus

[amyco]

Thank you both! I think I will have her try it independently after we discuss the lesson...it does sound like a worthwhile book.

[Kareni]

I made these remarks in a previous thread:

 

"My 9th grader and I dipped into several of these that year and in 8th. I found them of value but somewhat challenging to incorporate. I do think that you might benefit if you had more than one child using these at a time in order to get some discussion going. We did these verbally."

 

You can also read some other thoughts in threads that were tagged 'critical thinking in us his'.

 

Regards,

Kareni