TOS Review The Critical Thinking Co- Language Smarts Level C

We've used logic workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co for Jake, and he really enjoyed them. I used them as a warm up for his formal logic course to grease the thinking wheels.

Well, you may not be aware of this but they offer a variety of materials including science, language arts and history.  As part of the TOS Crew we received Language Smarts, Level C which is for 2nd grade. This is a hefty 320 page colorful workbook.

Hank has loved using this workbook and asks to do it every day.  I think it's a nice product but it's not something he can do on his own.  We've completed about 50 pages so far and to date there haven't been 'lessons' but worksheets that assume he knows what they're talking about.  That meant I needed to remember what a palindrome is, explain it to him and walk him through a couple of the problems before he was off and running - and he can do the work on his own at that point, but it required that extra time and effort on my part.

True to their name, you will find plenty of critical thinking opportunities in the lessons. Riddles, logic puzzles, pictograph puzzles and so on. And Hank thought these were very cool.

They say Language Smarts can serve as your core curriculum, but I disagree. I think it's a great supplement and a fun way to reinforce what your core teaches, but it doesn't provide systematic lessons in grammar or language arts. Nouns and verbs aren't discussed until page 92. There are 5 pages of fill in the blank worksheets which are then followed by three pages of when to use 'good' and 'well' instead of continuing with the other parts of speech. 

That said,  it does introduce your student to topics a more traditional curriculum probably won't like deductive reasoning and problem solving skills using real world situations.

I know I'm old fashioned when it comes to learning grammar so while Hank loves this book, it won't be replacing our core  curriculum. I do plan to continue using it as a reward for when he finishes his regular language arts or as a warm up for the school day.

Like I said, Hank has really enjoyed this, and I think it is definitely worth a look. You can buy it for only $39.99.

Be sure to read reviews written by other TOS Crew members.

*I received this product for free so that I may give my opinion of it. No other compensation was received.