Formal Logic Recommendations Please

[HSMom2One]

I'm thinking up ahead to 8th grade when my dd will have completed Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox. I'd like to know what suggestions you may have on a formal logic program. I have never studied logic and would need a well laid out course that is easy to teach. Which publisher do you prefer and why? How many years of logic does the average student really require?

 

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Aquinas Academy]

Have you looked at The Discovery of Deduction? I find it to be well laid out and very easy to teach. This is what I plan on having my kids do in 8th.

My 9th grader has been working on Introduction to Logic. It's a college level text that foucses on formal logic (there is some informal as well). It is an excellent text, also very easy to teach. It is more advanced than DoD; I think DD benefitted from doing DoD first, but it's not absolutely necessary.

I spent a long time looking at Traditional Logic but decided I prefered DoD for younger students since it seems more friendly. For more advanced studies I chose Introduction to Logic over Traditional/Material Logic since it seems easier to teach, covers more types of logic, and is cheaper. :)

FWIW I plan on having my kids study informal logic from 5th-7th and formal logic from 8th-10th. In 11th and 12th I'm planning to have studies of philosophy and ethics replace logic.

[HSMom2One]

Have you looked at The Discovery of Deduction? I find it to be well laid out and very easy to teach. This is what I plan on having my kids do in 8th.

My 9th grader has been working on Introduction to Logic. It's a college level text that foucses on formal logic (there is some informal as well). It is an excellent text, also very easy to teach. It is more advanced than DoD; I think DD benefitted from doing DoD first, but it's not absolutely necessary.

I spent a long time looking at Traditional Logic but decided I prefered DoD for younger students since it seems more friendly. For more advanced studies I chose Introduction to Logic over Traditional/Material Logic since it seems easier to teach, covers more types of logic, and is cheaper. :)

FWIW I plan on having my kids study informal logic from 5th-7th and formal logic from 8th-10th. In 11th and 12th I'm planning to have studies of philosophy and ethics replace logic.

 

This sounds excellent, Janette. Thanks for sharing these resources. Would you mind telling me what a typical week of DoD might look like? Does the student work with the teacher throughout, or is it a combination of independent work and class time?

 

I am doing informal logic for 6th and 7th with dd, then plan to start formal logic in 8th grade. I also like your plan to save philosophy and ethics for 11th & 12th grades after completing logic. Dd may possibly be at a private classical school in hs, but we aren't sure yet. Either way, I need to prepare her for more advanced and formal critical thinking courses.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Aquinas Academy]

I'm sure there are many different ways of doing DoD. What DD and I did (and I will do with my other children when they're old enough) is approx. 30 min. of logic on Tues. and Thurs. We did logic together. DD could have done it on her own, but I wanted to learn too. We had some great discussions so I will definintley do logic together with my other kids as well.

Here's an example of what we did each day. You can look at the DoD sample to follow along.

For lesson 1.1 DD and I would read through the first section and do the "define" and "answer" exercises on Tuesday. We did almost all the exercises orally.

On Thursday we'd read the Apology (this is in the section called Deduction in Action) and answer the questions.

This is basically what we did each week; the main lesson on Tuesday and the Deduction in Action section on Thursday.

There are 44 lessons in DoD. We school year round, so doing one lesson per week worked well for us. If you follow a more traditional schedule you'll need to do more than one lesson each week.

[elegantlion]

We plan to use DoD next fall. I've just started working through it on my own. I've seen a few other logic programs, and I prefer DoD. I think it has more explanation than some of the others.

[HSMom2One]

I'm sure there are many different ways of doing DoD. What DD and I did (and I will do with my other children when they're old enough) is approx. 30 min. of logic on Tues. and Thurs. We did logic together. DD could have done it on her own, but I wanted to learn too. We had some great discussions so I will definintley do logic together with my other kids as well.

Here's an example of what we did each day. You can look at the DoD sample to follow along.

For lesson 1.1 DD and I would read through the first section and do the "define" and "answer" exercises on Tuesday. We did almost all the exercises orally.

On Thursday we'd read the Apology (this is in the section called Deduction in Action) and answer the questions.

This is basically what we did each week; the main lesson on Tuesday and the Deduction in Action section on Thursday.

There are 44 lessons in DoD. We school year round, so doing one lesson per week worked well for us. If you follow a more traditional schedule you'll need to do more than one lesson each week.

 

This is great information and I so appreciate you posting it. I'll have to think about the rate of speed we will need to go once we reach 8th grade scheduling. I'm so glad that you pointed me in this direction, Janette. Blessings to you!

 

We plan to use DoD next fall. I've just started working through it on my own. I've seen a few other logic programs, and I prefer DoD. I think it has more explanation than some of the others.

 

It's always nice to get another mom's opinion. DoD really seems affordable, and I will try to get it in advance too so I can working through it ahead of time like you are doing. That's a wonderful idea.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda