I have to confess, I was tempted to call this post “Logic for Dummies” but I was afraid you would know I’m not actually an intellectual. You see, I know that I could never possibly have taught logic to my logic-loving children without some help.
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Logic, and logical thinking, involves essential skills that every student needs to get through every day life! We take in so much information in every day life that requires a brain that can think critically, and if we haven’t taught our kids how to think critically, we haven’t prepared them well.
Logic is a great high school elective! I used Introductory Logic by Nance, and we LOVED it! All I had to do was pop in the video, and supervise my child to make sure he did indeed work in the workbook. My son liked it so much that he continued his logic studies in college! Make sure to pick up the video as well. It’s wonderful for homeschool moms and dads who aren’t willing to suffer through logic themselves.
If you use a separate course for logic, as I did, then I suggest you include logic as a high school elective on the transcript. When we studied logic in our homeschool, I considered it a 1/2 credit course. There was also some logic in the math textbook we used (Jacobs Geometry), but I didn’t really consider that as part of my son’s logic course.
For younger kiddos, logic games can be a great first introduction to critical thinking. Here are some fun ones! (That would make great Christmas gifts!)
One game, that my family loves, that is a great way to teach critical thinking is the game of chess! What a fun way to practice the logic you’ve learned in your formal curriculum!
Are you enjoying logic as a high school elective? What ways do you include logic and critical thinking in your homeschool? Please share in the comments!
We also had a 1/2 highschool credit for Logic, titled it Logic & Reasoning, using these two books, “The Fallacy Detective” and “The Thinking Toolbox”, both written by two homeschooled brothers, Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn. They offer on their website a test to take after one of the books that you can print out, as well as I had my boys find examples of the different kinds of fallacies in television, commercials, newspapers, magazines…..But these two books were written very clearly, with great questions after each section, that had my sons thinking and reasoning, but there’s comedy throughout, so, my boys laughed and had fun while they were learning!!
Well done, Colleen!
I’ve heard good things about “The Fallacy Detective” and “The Thinking Toolbox”. Thanks for recommending them!
Blessings,
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar
I actually require that my students study logic/philosophy just as they would math; every semester they must take a logic or philosophy course. We began with Memoria Press’ Traditional Logic I and II, then studied Fallacies & Paradoxes with an online course. Currently, my oldest is studying Aristotelian Logic online with CLAAonline.com. It is a Catholic online school, but it is also solidly classical, which would make it appropriate for anyone just by dropping the Theology classes. She will progress to Aristotelian Ethics, Physics and finally Metaphysics, while simultaneously studying St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.
Dear Janice,
Well done!
Blessings,
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar