Argument Builder - has anyone used this? Or other recommendations?

[JeanM]

I'm using "Art of the Argument" reluctantly with my almost 10 yo ds. He LOVES it. I'm not wild about it. He is begging for more, and he saw the "Argument Builder" at the website for "Art of the Argument".

 

Part of my reluctance is that the arguments are quite skewed, and there is material in there that is not very appropriate (in my opinion) for a very sensitive 9 yo.

 

Any reviews on the "Fallacy Detective?" Is it any better? What about more formal logic books? Any ideas?

 

He does not want to wait until he is older (which would be my preference), so I'm trying to accomodate him. However, I'm trying to find the best route.

 

Thanks,

Jean

[moki4]

just a BUMP

anyone?:)

[Carolyn in Ohio]

I am familiar with both the Art of Argument and the Fallacy Detective. If you have a problem with the examples in Art of Argument, you probably won't like the Fallacy Detective. I think nearly every argument in that book was based on an abortion example. I am not trying to shelter my kids but this was not the topic I want to be constantly discussing with my children.

 

Argument Builder is very similar in style to Art of Argument. I would wait. Maybe your son would like some of the logic workbooks - Logic Safari, Orbiting with Logic, Grid Perplexors, something like that?

 

hth

Carolyn

[teacalm]

I saw this book while I was searching at Prufrock Press' site for Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension books. It's targeted for grades 4-7, and there is a book available for the next age range.

[JeanM]

Thanks for the heads-up, Carolyn. I definitely don't want to be discussing abortion constantly with my 10 yo. I'll have to look for some of those logic workbooks. He tried Mindbenders, I think. Or something like that. Anyway he HATED it. I'm not sure why, but generally he likes logic, logic and strategy games, etc.

 

The "Philosophy for Kids" sounds interesting too. I was able to find that through inter-library loan, so I'm waiting to see what it is like.

 

Any other ideas?

 

Has anyone tried formal logic with a rather young, but very precocious, child? I took a formal logic class in college and loved it, but I was a lot older than ds is now. I also honestly don't remember how much math was needed for that.

 

Thanks for the ideas!

 

Jean