Help me with thoughts on Sixth Grade Logic, Please.....

[mcconnellboys]

So, I've already gotten Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox. My older son used the first of these in a coop situation. SWB recommends Critical Thinking I and II for sixth grade level work. I do own some of the Critical Thinking in US History books, by the same company, I believe. My older son did some work in them during seventh grade, but they seemed to me to be geared more toward a classroom situation than a single student and I didn't find them easy to use.

 

Has anyone used Critical Thinking I and II? Are they set up such that they are easy to use with a single student? The little info I've read on them seems to me to indicate that they are very much like Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox. Has anyone seen both? Is so, could you please compare them a little?

 

Thanks so much for any light you can shed on these books for me. For some reason, I've never seen them at convention or I would have looked through them already....

[MakingScrapbooks]

We are using CT 1 this year, and it does seem written for a class. We are using it anyway, and just ignor the wording geared towards a class of students.

[AngelaC]

My 8th grade ds just finished CT 1 and has begun CT 2. It IS geared for a classroom setting. It is doable, though, to use in a homeschool setting. You just have to teach your child to ignore the classroom exercises!

 

There really aren't that many options for younger students, I'm afraid.

 

In fact, 10 yrs. seems a little young for the CT books (unless you are going through them with him). You could consider some of the pre-logic type books like the Mind Bender series. Just a thought.

[Lori D.]

Perhaps check out the last 2 of the 3 books in the Dandylion Logic series:

- Logic Liftoff (gr. 4-6)

- Orbiting with Logic (gr. 5-7)

 

Both books are a great (and fun!) introduce you to a number of logic topics:

- Relationships

- Analogies

- Sequences

- Logical Notation

- Truth Values

- Logic Diagrams

- Syllogisms

- Deduction

- Inferences

- Illogical Reasoning

 

See them at:

http://rainbowresource.com/search.php?sid=1209341398-299769

 

 

Best of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[mcconnellboys]

Yes, we're doing Mind Benders this upcoming year for fifth grade. Can you tell that I'm reading back over the logic stage stuff from WTM, LOL? That's why I have all these questions about where we're going in the next couple or three years.

 

So, Angie and Jan, have ya'll found that there is a ton of stuff that's really aimed at a classroom, or is there still enough material geared toward the individual to make these books worthwhile? Or is all the group stuff simple to modify for a single student? I guess I don't like the idea of buying something that I have to modify a ton or feel real dissatisfied with.... That's part of why I'm wondering whether the two books I already own might satisfy the same requirements and be geared more toward homeschool students. Maybe someone will come along later who's familiar with both types of books and can compare them.....

 

Thanks for your thoughts, ladies....

[JennW in SoCal]

Just tag-teaming with Lori today in recommending the Dandylion Logic series. :001_smile: They are very good and inexpensive.

 

I told someone else in the thread about 7th grade logic that we abandoned Critical Thinking about half way through the first book. There are many other books by the same company that are excellent, like the Mind Benders, or the Case of Red Herrings, but I really didn't like that one at all. Besides the fact that it is written for the classroom it seemed poorly organized and horribly laid out.

 

 

Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox have been a hit with both my boys during their 7th grade years, and both titles would work in 6th as well, depending on how you want to pace things. I also have games like Rush Hour and Set on hand for quick bits of brain-teasing.

[mcconnellboys]

Thanks, ladies! I haven't ever looked at the Dandylion books. I'll try to put my hands on those upper level ones. Jennifer, I'm glad to hear that you're using the books I already have and do like them better than the others. I already own Set and Rush Hour, too, so it sounds like I'm ready to roll!

[Catherine]

and that the Critical Thinking books are NOT user friendly. I got through both with my eldest, who is the most logical child in the house (LOL!). Interestingly, now that he is back in school, he praises what he learned in these books more than almost anything else we did. So I do think that if you can be persistent, they can be useful. I plan to use them with my ds2 when he is in seventh grade, maybe sixth, and then a college text I've heard of, Copi I think?

[Tarheel Heather]

Thanks, ladies! I haven't ever looked at the Dandylion books. I'll try to put my hands on those upper level ones. Jennifer, I'm glad to hear that you're using the books I already have and do like them better than the others. I already own Set and Rush Hour, too, so it sounds like I'm ready to roll!

 

And they are really good. I am getting the ones aimed at the same age you're asking about! So add one more for Dandylion!

[angela in ohio]

I did FD and TT this year for sixth grade, and they were perfect for my dd. We did it four days a week, covering two chapters a week.