Logic for 7th grader after geometry?

[Brad S]

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for logic for a "7th grader" who's had some contact with logic through Jacobs Geometry, a local class on critical thinking, an informal logic on Coursera.org called "Think Again: How to Reason and Argue" https://www.coursera.org/course/thinkagain, and some other miscellaneous materials.

My son likes thinking deeply about subjects, especially with age-appropriate prompts, but really doesn't like filling out a lot of worksheets.

The Well-Trained Mind (3rd edition) recommends the book and videos by Martin Cothran "Traditional Logic I." 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1930953100/ref=rdr_ext_tmb 

Has anyone had experience with this or other logic materials which might be appropriate for us?  Thanks!

[wapiti]

For a mathematical flavor, you might check out Suppes http://www.amazon.com/First-Course-Mathematical-Logic-Mathematics/dp/0486422593/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381431827&sr=8-2&keywords=suppes+logic.  I have it but haven't used it.  There is an answer key floating around somewhere.

[Brad S]

In looking over the preview available, I don't think it would work well for us at least this year or next; it might work well for someone who's very into math, which is not our situation.  The book says it's for high school or college students, which seems about right from the preview.  It might work fine for a 12-13 year-old if he or she really likes math.  For us, I'm looking for something less math focused and more applied.  I know some mathy folks just skip logic outside of math classes, but I'm not sure we'll get to enough logic in math otherwise, and that the math lessons will be automatically applied to other subjects such as essay writing, analyzing history and current events, etc.

[mathwonk]

if you used the 3rd edition of jacobs, you will find considerably more logic in the 1st edition.

 

the book that opened my eyes on logic 55 years ago in high school, was the early chapter in "principles of mathematics" by Allendoerfer and Oakley.  I still have a copy.

 

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=allendoerfer&bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&recentlyadded=all&sortby=17&sts=t&tn=principles+of+mathematics&x=59&y=13

 

 

sorry, i didn't process your previous post saying you were not interested in math oriented logic.

 

would you be interested in works by lewis carroll?  those were featured a lot in jacobs geometry, in the first edition anyway.

 

 

i'm not quite sure what you are interested in.  in teaching math,  the logic i focus on is essentially about how to tell what a statement means, and how to tell if you have done what you were supposed to do to solve a problem.

 

 

We focus on "if - then" statements, and emphasize the difference between "A implies B" and "B implies A".  It sounds simple but almost all logical fallacies encountered daily in the newspaper concern someone confusing the two.

 

e.g. to say that all successful businessmen are hard working implies nothing at all abut what percentage of hard working businessmen are successful.

 

in high school math, we often worked backward in an algebra problem to find X.  But the statement that "if f(X) = 0, then X = 3", does not imply the desired result: "if X=3 then f(X) = 0".

 

 

I used an illustration in my class from a sign on the road leading to campus: "bicycles only in right lane"

 

what does it mean?  does it mean: if you are in the right lane you better be a bicycle, or if you are a bicycle you better be in the right lane.

 

i.e. it could mean either "only bicycles allowed in right lane",  or "bicycles must use only the right lane".

 

and other fascinating examples....