Denainms Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I am looking into using some of these books/software, but not sure how to incorporate them into our already full curriculum. Do you use them just for fun? Do you include them into your school time, do you use them exclusively for any particular subject? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HootyTooty Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 We have a 15 minute block of our day that we use for critical thinking/mind game challenges. Over time I am going to slowly expand it to 30 minutes to focus on Logic and Critical thinking skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I buy one copy of each book, then photocopy weekly packets (copying for family use is allowed). One page or lesson per week per book. Then the kids do them fairly independently - they just all have to be done by Sunday, and on Monday they get a new packet. They get about 12-14 pages or lessons per week. Doing it this way gets us through about a book a year for each of the CTP books (I also use a lot of Mindware, and our Map Skills workbook pages go into the packet as well). The copying is a bit of a pain, but I do 8 weeks at a time, and I copy on "fast" quality, which is both faster and uses less of my ink. For about a year before I figured this method out, the books sat unused on my shelf making me feel guilty! This it the third year of doing it this way, and other than the photocopying marathon every couple of months, it's really fairly pain-free and they get done. :) I personally wouldn't like the software as much, as I'd rather they not spend a lot of time on the computer, and I'd have a much harder time figuring out what they'd learned/retained from it. The only CTP book this didn't work for at all was Building Thinking Skills. It's a door stopper. For that one I bought separate books for each kid because you need to do way more than a page a week to get through the book. Ugh. We got through the first section and now I have partly-written in, expensive books. I should've gotten the software for that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Right now we are using some of the grammar books, and dd does them in place of her regular grammar one day per week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Over the years, we've used some of the Critical Thinking Press books as just one of many resources in a wide variety of critical thinking and logic materials. Logic/critical thinking here was scheduled a little like what Hooty Tooty above described. Specifically it looked like this: each morning after Bible time, we had a "together time" -- 15-20 minutes in which we covered all kinds of miscellaneous things that didn't fit elsewhere in the schedule (i.e., material from the "What Your ... Grader Should Know" books; vocabulary or Greek/Latin roots; a chapter from a book on etiquette, character-building, finances; etc.). We alternated so we weren't doing all of our miscellaneous things every single day. Usually 3x a week vocabulary and critical thinking/logic were part of our "together time". We'd take about 5 minutes to out loud together do vocabulary, and then take about 10 minutes and out loud together do 2 pages out of a Critical Thinking Press book, or some other logic/critical thinking puzzles. BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I use logic puzzle books as an option for math on days when I need my DD to work independently (we use Right Start). I guess I think of logic puzzles as being part of math because when I was growing up, several of my math teachers used them as enrichment exercises for those of us who needed more challenge than the standard curriculum provided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JABarney Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 We use Mind Benders and Building Visual Perceptual Skills. We do not consider them part of our main program, but rather supplemental. They are things that we do from time to time for fun, not things that have to get done by a certain date. My dc enjoy them and seem to benefit from them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 What about those that cover other subjects, such as editor in chief and reading detective? Experiences with those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I have a subject in the schedule that I, very vaguely, call Study Skills. This has covered alphabetization, dictionary and thesaurus skills, reading comprehension pages, etc. I tend to use some of the Critical Thinking books here. I am also planning on incorporating Science Detective into our science topics but it could also become a study skill with a science bent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felicia Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 :lurk5: I've wondered the same thing. Great thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I only use Mindbenders and Building Thinking Skills. I did use Math Detective last year. My sons love Mindbenders. Those boys can't put it down. It is the highlight of school so, I cannot eliminated it. I do use it as a supplement. I want to tell you something that a mom told me yesterday about this program. She said that I was doing too much with the Mindbenders. She said that for each series it is all the same thing. Thus, if my son completes A1, he does not need to do A2, A3, and A4. I can put him in the B series. She said that they don't increase in difficulty. So, you can decide if you want to go through each series like I did or just skip to the next set. It's a scary thought for me. May the Lord bless you on your homeschooling journey. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 What about those that cover other subjects, such as editor in chief and reading detective? Experiences with those? I put those all in our packet - we actually use too many of the books for me to pop them out individually - I'd never get them done. We use (at age appropriate level for each kid - older ones are 10, younger is 8): Editor in Chief Punctuation Puzzlers (both Run-ons and Commas) - older dds only Science Detective - older dds only Math Detective Cranium Crackers - older dds only Doo Riddles Spelling Doo Riddles Word Roots Quick Thinks Math - younger dd only From Mindware we've also got: Math Mosaics Grid Perplexors (like Mind Benders) Venn Perplexors- younger dd only Math Path - younger dd only Code Breakers - younger dd only And our Map Skills book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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