review of Building Thinking Skills books by Critical Thinking Press

[WhimsyLane]

 

Hello, fellow homeschooling parents! Here is my second review on Cafemoms.com (seeing as my regular blogger site won't let me in to post there).  If you haven't seen my blogs before here is some background: I was chosen, along with 99+ other homeschooling parents, to use and review homeschool products, and then write those reviews online for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I am thrilled to be a part of this experience. Many of the reviews have been falling due this month, and with the holidays and all this writing, it has kept me hopping. To view my other posts please visit me at www.noplacelikehome-lynn.blogspot.com

 I received two very nice books to review from Critical Thinking Press (www.criticalthinking.com). Both are from the Building Thinking Skills series, which is only one series of many that the company has to offer. I have received their catalogs by mail before and had thought about ordering a few of their products, but just never really got around to it. I always wondered if we really would use these types of books in our homeschool day. We are a very unit study-oriented family and we typically shy away from workbooks except for the purposes of review, practice, or having paperwork "proof" of our homeschooling. The Critical Thinking Press catalog is filled to the brim with various types of workbooks and software, plus DVDs, some manipulatives...an assortment of items from all grade levels from pre-k through high school and beyond, covering math and language and everything in between! The books are aimed at really sharpening the mind and empowering people to truly think through a problem to solve it.

What is Critical Thinking?

As the company site puts it,
"Critical thinking is identifying and evaluating evidence to guide decision making. A critical thinker uses in-depth analysis of evidence to make decisions and communicate his beliefs clearly and accurately. For more than 50 years, our award-winning products have helped students of all abilities achieve better grades and higher test scores with highly effective lessons that sharpen the mind as they teach standards-based reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. Our products are fun, easy to use, and guaranteed to produce better grades and higher test scores.
We design critical thinking into reading, writing, math, science and history lessons so students carefully analyze what they are learning. Deeper analysis produces deeper understanding, which results in better grades and higher test scores. Over time, students who practice critical thinking learn to apply it throughout their education and life. We do not teach through drill and memorization or teach to the tests—we empower the mind! Our goals are higher grades, top test scores, and problem solving skills to meet all of life’s challenges."  

And Critical Thinking Press has the track record to prove its success in that area. These products have been used by Sylvan Learning Centers, Club Z In-Home Tutoring, the top U.S. public high schools, and gifted & talented programs throughout the world.

The books I found in my mailbox were the preschool ages 3-4 "beginning" book and the level 3 "figural" book for grades 7-12+.

 The preschool book at first glance, seemed like just another book store workbook. Lots of pages, over 200, in full-blown eye-popping color. I flipped through it hurriedly, noticing the typical sections on learning shapes and colors, finding which object was the same or different, etc. it wasn't until later, with my 4 year-old daughter begging to "do my school" that I finally sat and really got to look it over. This book certainly covers the basics but also geometric shapes, inference, spatial position, lines, analogies, classifying, measurement, creative problem solving, and that's only for the beginner!  Despite how complex it sounds, my daughter has not balked one time at using this book and actually asks for it when she sees it on the school shelf. I am proud to say she is really enjoying it and I can see her thinking through some of the exercises. I have not let her write in the book yet as many of the activities can be traced with a finger or worked orally. This way she can use the book again and again as she grows.

 The second book is the one for middle-high school and beyond. Just as the younger book does, it covers a plethora of various skills designed to improve the thought process and the ability to solve problems. I knew from the beginning of looking at this one that I would want to try it as well. My 8th grade son finds many of the activities challenging. We sit with the book 2-3 days per week for 15-20 minutes and as much as we can, orally challenge each other to the puzzles in the book. He thinks we're locked in battle to see who is smarter, when in actuality, I am training him for complex problem solving on tests. He definitely has me beat already! Whew! This is sometimes difficult material, but I feel that if parents used these books a few days per week, children's test scores would probably be much improved. And common sense problem solving, which I feel is so sometimes lacking, (even in my own education),  might be rekindled.

 I liked these books so well that I visited the website to see more selections. I am planning to try the phonics book and Can You Find Me?  book found in the pre-k section, and for my 3rd and 8th graders, the What Would You Do? book of moral dilemmas and Word Roots books.

Its hard to give pricing estimates due the sheer volume of items, but most workbooks I saw range around the $20-$25 mark.  I'll gladly post more reviews as I purchase some items and welcome any comments from families who have used items as well. Let me know what YOU think!

Lynn