Formal Logic in 10th grade?

[Renaissance Mom]

Dd did the Art of Argument in 8th grade at co-op. They covered it rather quickly but dd did very well with the discussions and assignments.

 

I dropped the logic ball in 9th grade. She is doing integrated algebra 2 and geometry for math. (She alternates lessons from each and will complete both texts over two years.) She enjoys the mental challenge the geometry proofs give her. They don't come very easily, but she loves the challenge of working at it until she unravels it.

 

She has expressed a strong interest in doing formal logic as an elective next year in 10th grade. Have any of you had experience with any of the logic programs out there with a high schooler? I want it to be challenging enough to engage her, but it also needs to be introductory as far as formal logic goes.

 

Let me also mention that I've never had a logic course in my life. So whatever we choose has to be relatively easy for me to teach/administer. I am up to my neck in self-teaching myself several other subjects just to keep up so I cannot take on trying to master formal logic myself and then teach it to her. I am confident that I can understand concepts, but I definitely need a strong teaching program with a lot of teacher hand holding.

 

So, once again, I am asking for some BTDT advice!!!

 

Many thanks,

[Faithr]

Geometry is logic! So is Algebra. Does she want symbolic logic (which is math) or formal which is the study syllogisms basically? I don't have any experience with symbolic logic, but she could easily do formal logic via the Memoria press workbooks (don't bother with the DVDs, very boring and add nothing to the workbooks). She could fly through their Traditional I and II workbooks easily in a year. However, I can't help you at all if what she's thinking of is symbolic logic.

[Renaissance Mom]

I think she wants to study formal logic because she found that she enjoys those elements of Geometry and Algebra. But I doubt she wants symbolic logic. She's a word girl! So Memoria Press Traditional Logic I and II would do that? I'll check them out.

 

Anyone have any feedback on CAP's Discovery of Deduction? Or Nance's Introductory or Intermediate Logic? I can't really tell which would be appropriate from online samples.

 

Thanks (again)!

[elegantlion]

We used Discovery of Deduction last year and found it engaging. We did a lot of it orally and skipped some writing assignments to make it more accessible for ds's current level. If you did all of those, it would be considered at least .5 credit. You should be able to get a decent sized sample from the link.

[elegantlion]

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Anyone have any feedback on CAP's Discovery of Deduction? Or Nance's Introductory or Intermediate Logic? I can't really tell which would be appropriate from online samples.

 

Thanks (again)!

 

Posting at the same time. I found Dod to be right for us. Some people feel it's too wordy, but ds and I needed that amount of explanation. I read through the program the summer before we started. I feel like it worked best so ds and I had better discussions, since I preread and made lots of notes.

 

We opted to do in a 12 week period and that seemed to work well as the concept build upon each other. For us, if we had tried to space it out through the year some of the understanding might have been lost.

 

I had previously looked at Traditional Logic and found it too dry. I also tried an older version of Introductory Logic a few years ago and it didn't work either.

 

We're using the base of formal logic to delve off into more philosophy topics, so I plan on going back to some of the concepts in the books this year.

 

Also if you haven't looked at the Dod sample recently, you might look again. CAP seems to have expanded their online samples.