Art of Argument- for 6th grader?

[teamturner]

I see on the Classical Academia Press site they recomment Art of Argument for 7th and up. Next year my 3 olders will be 6th and 7th grades. I really want to keep my 6th grader and twin 7th graders together for Logic and thought we'd use AoA this year and then delve into Traditional Logic 1 when they were 7th and 8th.

 

However, the 6th grader is young for her grade since she has an August birthday and I wonder if I'm pushing her too much. Is it a maturity thing with the 7th grade recommendation? Even the WTM book recommends AoA for 7th graders who may not be ready for formal logic yet.

 

Suggestions?

 

I'm also wondering what is meant by "write a short essay" answering______. Do they mean a short paragraph or do they mean a 5 paragraph essay? Users of Art of Argument, how do you interpret that?

 

Thanks!

[lewelma]

My 6th grader has done AoA this year and LOOOOVED it. He also has an August Birthday. We read it together, discuss it, and answer the questions orally. He memorizes the fallacies word for word.

 

Ruth in NZ

[oraetstudia]

We're using AoA in 6th. My son could handle writing out the answers, but we almost always do the work orally.

[teamturner]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll go forward w/my plan to use AoA next year and do much of it orally. I would like my dc to improve in their written answer skills so I will have them do some of the writing.

 

Thanks so much!

[SilverMoon]

My sixth grader did AoA this year and adored it. :)

[teamturner]

I'm surprised these kids loved it so much because when I watch the sample video it seems boring to me. We've done Latin for Children A-C so we really like Dr. Perrin.

 

What did your 6th grader like about it specifically? When did you do the lesson/s? Once a week? How long do they take?

 

Thanks for the help!

[SilverMoon]

We didn't use the new DVDs. DD's favorite part was probably crafting her own fallacies, but we have oodles of fond memories from the conversations, laughter, and the many fallacies they were able to spot in the world around them.

[oraetstudia]

We don't use the DVDs either. We work on it twice a week, just reading the section and talking about it. Then looking for fallacies in the world or making some up is the rest of the work. It is fun to talk over at the dinner table. For sixth grade, we don't make it a tough academic subject.

[teamturner]

Would someone please watch this video sample and tell me what you think? If it's fine done w/o the DVD then I'll go that route. Just wondering for those of you who have been doing AoA already if you think the DVDs look like they would add a whole lot to the study.

 

Thanks!

 

http://classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=100

[Finnella]

I found the best thing we've been doing with Art of Argument is discussing the fallacies and my DS's answers to the questions. So I have him read a section and work on the exercises on Tuesday. Then we discuss on Thursday. We didn't do much discussion earlier in the year, and his understanding and enjoyment of logic has shot up since we started. I think the only part he likes better is designing his own ads to illustrate fallacies.

 

You'll have an added advantage in that you'll have a small group discussion. That should make the discussion portion even more valuable.

 

He is in 7th grade, but he's 2E and in some ways a little immature for his age. That hasn't proven to be a problem for him.