Language Smarts: A The Critical Thinking Co.™ Review
DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
In my house we have big brains and ADHD symptoms galore, but all that really means is lots of mental energy that needs plenty of outlets. Physical activity, physical labor, and creative activities can go a long way, but teaching them to think critically and giving them lots of opportunities to use those analytical brains is proving to be really important. Today we're talking about a company that cares about this subject so much, critical thinking is in their name! We have tried out several things from The Critical Thinking Co.™ over the years and today we are talking about one of their workbooks, Language Smarts Level E.
What We Received:
We received Language Smarts Level E from The Critical Thinking Co.™ which is a 392-paged paperback workbook that is intended for Grade 4 students, ages 9-10.
How It Works:
Language Smarts Level E is a supplemental or complete curriculum that addresses reading, writing, spelling, punctuation, grammar and thinking skills. The book is divided into different elements of language arts, spending several pages on each element. Since they are broken into sections students can easily bounce around to different elements. If used as a supplemental curriculum, it is simple to find the elements you need to work on in the index and assign those specifically. If a student just needs refreshing or more work on understanding clauses or homophones, this is an excellent resource. It is also used as a complete curriculum where students work straight through from beginning to end in order to achieve mastery before moving on from each element. This book is designed with activities that help prepare students for standardized tests and targets thinking skills that prepare students for continual learning throughout their life.
What We Thought:
My 8 year old daughter is finishing out 3rd grade and will be heading into 4th grade this fall. She really enjoys language arts and had finished her curriculum for the year a couple of months ago. Since she is heading into 4th grade, I had her start at the beginning and work straight through for the review period. She worked on syllables, prefixes, suffixes and antonyms. Since she is largely self-motivated in this subject, I simply told her to do a couple of pages a day without any instruction. She would come to me when she had questions and occasionally got frustrated because she couldn’t figure something out. Once we went over it together, she was able to easily move on. My daughter really enjoyed this workbook I think mostly because a lot of it felt like puzzles to her, which is the curriculum’s intent. She loves figuring things out and is always up for overanalyzing something, which is a good thing in this format. As usual, this company provides excellent content that challenges and strengthens students’ minds and provides a great resource for homeschool families.
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The Homeschool Review Crew tried out several kinds and levels of workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co.. Check out all of the reviews through the link below to see if there are other resources suitable for your family.
