Does Smarr have enough Critical Thinking?

[Quiver0f10]

I looked at the samples on the web site and I see only two critical thinking questions for that lesson. Overall do you feel there is enough in the guide for each book used? Do you feel it really makes the student think or are they going to be simply filling in the answers?

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I would say that a lot of it looked like fill in the blank, question-answer type work. Comprehension questions. I remember feeling as I was looking at it that I could accomplish a lot more with my kids by a ten minute discussion and diagram of the flow of the story to help them to learn about literature forms and terms as well as comprehension and analysis than they would get out of filling in a worksheet. But, discussion and interaction around literature are my preference, personally, and other people prefer to do it differently, and that's okay.

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks, thats kind of the feeling I got from looking at the sample online. I prefer to have discussions too and am probably going to buy TTC to pull it together.

[Lori D.]

... But I was very UNDERwhelmed. Vocabulary words; comprehension questions; a paragraph or two on background to the work/times; and maybe a total of 4 actual discussion questions.

 

We've gotten a lot more out of other lit. guides:

- Sparknotes (free online guides)= http://www.sparknotes.com/home/literature

- Glencoe (free online guides) = http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

- Garlic Press publishers = http://garlicpress.com/cgi-bin/shop_gp.cgi?product=LITERATURE

- Progeny Press = http://www.progenypress.com/

- The Great Books = http://www.thegreatbooks.com/

 

And, of course, the first 4 chapters of The Well Educated Mind for questions and how to think about/discuss great literature.

 

BEST of luck finding what works for your family! Warmly, Lori D.

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you for the review and all the links.