Colleen in NS Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I'm on a learning curve again, and looking ahead to next year when ds will be in 5th grade. I've looked into buying the Mind Benders series of books that is recommended in WTM, but I can't get a whole picture in my mind by just one sample per book online. I WISH I had a place around here where I could just go and LOOK at all these books and things I am thinking of buying!!! I can't put it off until June when we have a curric. fair., plus I'm hoping to order this week and have it sent to my sis in NC, who is coming to visit me in a few weeks. Anyway, WTM recommends starting with the Warm Up book. But there is a Beginning Book 1 and Beginning Book 2 on Critical Thinking's website - and I confess, the samples were somewhat challenging for ME! About the Warm Up book, WTM states: "Designed for grades K-2, but all logic students should start here. The problems are easy, but the book's purpose is to teach the process of deductive learning. Don't skip this level." But when I called Critical Thinking, the rep said not to bother with the Warm Up, because it's not like books A1 and up. What does the Hive Mind say?? :) I must say, when I was talking to the rep., and getting confused, I thought to myself, "I'll just ask the Hive - someone there will know." When answering, remember - I have never studied logic before, LOL, but I want to be able to give my kids whatever they need to prepare for it. Thank you once again, wonderful Hive Mind!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in OK Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Not to confuse you more but, someone here recommended Grid Perplexors to me instead of Mind Benders. There are more puzzles in the book for your money. However, I did buy the WarmUp Mind Benders book kind of my accident. The samples here pretty much represent the book. All it has is little paragraph puzzles they have to figure out. They are WarmUps because they don't have the grid to use when figuring out the puzzle. I just decided since I had it, I would read them a page of puzzles each day for fun and practice. My 2nd grader has a hard time with it because she's not a auditory learner but she LOVES the Grid Perplexors. My 4th grader figures out the WarmUp puzzles very quickly and she also does the Grid Perplexors quickly. We did start with the Grid Perplexors because they came before the WarmUp book did. My girls didn't have any problem at all jumping right in with that. And like I mentioned above, my 2nd grader does much better with them. HTH some Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 We used the 2 beginning books with my daughter, but she was only in 1st and 2nd at the time. With a fifth grader, I would start with A1. In the preface, there are 2 pages of hints about working the puzzles and one example worked out step by step. In the back there are an additional 5 examples worked out for you step by step. There are also solutions to all the puzzles if you get stumped. My suggestion would be to work through the 6 examples together first and then have him start the exercises on his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 We use the Mind Benders series on CD. The CD's can be reused with siblings so they end up being more economical. They also give the child instant feedback and have a review feature so you can make sure each problem got done. My ds (5th grade) started with the warm-up book which took several months to get through. He needed guidance in the middle of the books to figure out the thought process. Then we used the CD for A1 and A2 and he flew through those two books. He is on A3 now. I guess I am glad that we started with the warm-ups because it got him used to the thought process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 What do you want to know? My younger son has done Can You Find Me?, Beginning Book 1&2, and now he is in Warm Ups. My older son did Warm Ups and then went straight into A1 last year. He wanted more. So, he did up to A4 now. Next year, we will do the B series. We love them. They are wonderful. These programs help the children think. My boys loves the Mind Benders series. They are thought provoking and it amazes me how they figure out the problems. Blessings on your journey. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I don't think you absolutely have to do the warm-up book, but we did it before and I'm ordering it again, for fifth next year. I'm also getting the 1 and 2 books, along with the A series books, so 7 total for the year and I think that's enough. If he's crazy about them and finishes early and wants more, I think I have one or two B level books we didn't finish last time, so I'll look for them.... Or maybe we'll just go ahead and delve into Thinking Toolbox.... Regena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 I don't think you absolutely have to do the warm-up book, but we did it before and I'm ordering it again, for fifth next year. I'm also getting the 1 and 2 books, along with the A series books, so 7 total for the year and I think that's enough. If he's crazy about them and finishes early and wants more, I think I have one or two B level books we didn't finish last time, so I'll look for them.... Or maybe we'll just go ahead and delve into Thinking Toolbox.... Regena So, do you mean you are getting the Beginning Book 1 and Beginning Book 2 for your up and coming 5th grader? And the warmup? That is what I am thinking of doing, but it's so hard to decide when I can't SEE the books - one sample for each book on the website just doesn't help me at all. I also tried downloading the software demo to see if there were more samples, but I couldn't get it to work. I printed off a sample of A1 for ds today, and he couldn't do it - and he loves puzzles and all things mathematical. So I went backwards - I showed him the sample for the warm up, and that was easy for him, since it looked like his R&S math word problems. Then I printed off a sample each of Beg. Bk. 1 and 2, and he enjoyed figuring those out - they were NOT easy-breezy though. I don't want to buy what I really don't need, but I DO want to buy the very basics if they are going to help him with the thinking process (someone else mentioned that - thanks!). Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 What do you want to know? My younger son has done Can You Find Me?, Beginning Book 1&2, and now he is in Warm Ups. My older son did Warm Ups and then went straight into A1 last year. Can you tell me how Warm Ups prepared your son to do A1? How old was he when he did Warm Ups? And how old is your younger son who is using BB 1&2? I'm wondering how the first three books prepare you to solve the problems in the rest of the A series. Thanks. Edit: I'm a NURSE BEE now!! whoohoooo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Not to confuse you more but, someone here recommended Grid Perplexors to me instead of Mind Benders. There are more puzzles in the book for your money. However, I did buy the WarmUp Mind Benders book kind of my accident. The samples here pretty much represent the book. All it has is little paragraph puzzles they have to figure out. They are WarmUps because they don't have the grid to use when figuring out the puzzle. I just decided since I had it, I would read them a page of puzzles each day for fun and practice. My 2nd grader has a hard time with it because she's not a auditory learner but she LOVES the Grid Perplexors. My 4th grader figures out the WarmUp puzzles very quickly and she also does the Grid Perplexors quickly. We did start with the Grid Perplexors because they came before the WarmUp book did. My girls didn't have any problem at all jumping right in with that. And like I mentioned above, my 2nd grader does much better with them. HTH some Thank you for explaining about the Warm ups book. That was helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 All these explanations about the beginning books and warm ups books are very helpful, thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 When I used this series the first time, with my older son, they did not have the 1 and 2 books. I believe the warm-up was recommended, so I bought it in addition to the A books. Because my son was going to be finished with those by about the half, I also ended up ordering the B books later. I did think that there was a big jump in level of difficulty from the warm-up to the A books. Maybe that's why they've now added the 1 and 2 books? I'm not sure.... Yes, the A level books are challenging, and get more so as you work through them. But it's like any sort of puzzle that's new to you. You can't just pick up any crossword and do it all in 10 minutes, either, if you're not a regular crossword worker, can you? I think you will get accustomed to it in time, as we did. It's not the end of the world if the teacher has to look at the answer key for a hint to get things moving again if you're stuck for quite some time and just can't seem to rethink and break out of your rut. The point is to train your brain. It's good mental exercise for you! I kind of enjoyed them when we got into them and I think my younger son is going to really love them. Now, the B level books were a lot more difficult for my older son. I don't think we finished all four of them, so I may still have a lurker on my shelves. But we did get a lot of good use out of this series. I have NO idea why these books are graded as they are! I guess I haven't ever lived in Lake Woebegone, with the sort of superior children who work these kinds of puzzles for fun while they're teething, LOL.... I'll just have to remain mystified, I guess. I think this grading throws a lot of folks off with regard to this product. I thought similar things about Vocab from Classical Roots grade levels, and I'm sort of a word person, but what do I know? Have FUN with this programming if you choose to use it! Don't let it intimidate you or get you down. There are answers for every problem in the back of the book. Working backward from the answer to how to achieve it a time or two may do wonders for you being able to see the method of working these sorts of puzzles, Regena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 I did think that there was a big jump in level of difficulty from the warm-up to the A books. Maybe that's why they've now added the 1 and 2 books? I'm not sure.... I have NO idea why these books are graded as they are!...I think this grading throws a lot of folks off with regard to this product. There are answers for every problem in the back of the book. Working backward from the answer to how to achieve it a time or two may do wonders for you being able to see the method of working these sorts of puzzles. Thanks, Regena - that was my impression (about the jump between Warm up and A1), too, from my look at the ONE sample available in each book - but I wasn't sure - you've confirmed it to me. Same here (about the grade levels of the books)! When I was talking to the rep yesterday, he kept insisting the first three books were too babyish for a 10 year old - but that wasn't the case here with my son! And I don't care what grade levels are on the books, as long as my son gets the grounding he needs. I'm all for starting off fairly simply, to get the thought process solidified. Solidified in me, too, hee hee! I need it more, probably. Ah, yes, this was another thing I was wondering about (The solutions in the book and being able to figure out from the book how the thought process goes). Thank you so much for all the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 How did Warm ups prepare my son? It is just sentences if you follow logically, you can easily get the answers. I don't think that you need it. My older son did not need it. However, I just used it for my younger son because I feel that he needs the help understanding the sequences. My younger son is 8 years old and in second grade. He did Beginner Book 1 in first grade and 2 in second. My older son is a new 10 years old. He was 9 years old when he started A1 and he is 10 years old now. I did not know it would be easy for him. So, I bought just the one book. He finished A1 in two days. He is in 4th grade. He is breezing through the A series. I started him in A1 only last year and he finished it in three weeks. I told him to wait until this year to do the rest. I am holding him back. He is now up to A4. He will probably complete it in this month. He has to wait until 5th grade to do the B series. I know. I should probably let him go on with the B series. He loves this stuff. A friend said that the B is more intermediate and then the C series is hard. I am not looking forward to the C series. I realize that I probably did not need the Warm Up. I feel that I need to see how my younger son is thinking. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 How did Warm ups prepare my son? It is just sentences if you follow logically, you can easily get the answers. I don't think that you need it. My older son did not need it. However, I just used it for my younger son because I feel that he needs the help understanding the sequences. My younger son is 8 years old and in second grade. He did Beginner Book 1 in first grade and 2 in second. My older son is a new 10 years old. He was 9 years old when he started A1 and he is 10 years old now. He is in 4th grade. He is breezing through the A series. I started him in A1 only last year and he finished it in three weeks. I told him to wait until this year to do the rest. I am holding him back. He is now up to A4. He will probably complete it in this month. He has to wait until 5th grade to do the B series. I know. I should probably let him go on with the B series. He loves this stuff. A friend said that the B is more intermediate and then the C series is hard. I am not looking forward to the C series. I realize that I probably did not need the Warm Up. I feel that I need to see how my younger son is thinking. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 I decided to order all 7 books - from Beginning Book 1 to A4. Ds enjoyed doing the sample of BB1, so I think he'll enjoy those beginner books, including Warm Up. If he breezes through, great - he'll have a positive start on this type of thinking. So will I, LOL! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 My 3 & 5 yo enjoy the warm-up book. We do 1-2 questions most days, mostly for the 5yo but the 3yo can participate on maybe 1/3 of them. I think a 5th grader would be way beyond them, but maybe going through the book quickly would be a good intro to the rest of the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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