A Stable Beginning: Building Thinking Skills Level 1 with The Critical Thinking Co. ~ a TOS review

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Building Thinking Skills Level 1 with The Critical Thinking Co. ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Morning friends!

Hope your week is going great! Aah, welcome to summer break! Are you looking for something to combat the “summer slide”? One of our favorites is called Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.™.

If you are long term readers then you already know that The Critical Thinking Co.™ is our favorite critical thinking course to use. So much so, that I am excited to use the Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 (BTS level 1) with my youngest, my son Micah. This course is a complete logic/critical thinking program for grades 2-3.

The Critical Thinking Co. is a family-owned business that has been “empowering the mind” for more than 50 years. They sell critical thinking products/supplements that cover reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. Instead of rote drilling and memorization, students are encouraged to “carefully analyze what they are learning.” The Critical Thinking Co. is on a mission to develop the critical thinking skills in all children.

We received the softcover workbook for BTS Level 1 in the mail about 6 weeks ago. This is a thick workbook with over 300 pages. Inside you will find activities that will help your child with thinking skills for reading, writing, math, science, and test prep.

There are ten different focus areas throughout the book including:

Describing Shapes

Similarities and Differences in Shapes

Figural Sequences

Figural Classifications

Figural Analogies

Describing Things

Verbal Similarities and Differences

Verbal Sequences

Verbal Classifications

Verbal Analogies

There is a full answer key in the back of the book. It is full color, miniature sized pages of the student pages with the answers marked.

Micah has enjoyed using this book each day as part of our summer learning time. Since the activities are meant to be developmentally sequenced and build upon one another we have just been plugging along in the book completing 2-3 pages a day. Normally it just takes him about 10-15 minutes to complete 2 pages, depending on the activity presented. Somedays he choose to keep working until he got tired and that got no complaints from me.

Overall, this has been a great fit for Micah and I am excited to see him build upon his critical thinking skills as he works to complete this book over the summer and next school year. This curriculum has earned a spot in our Plan of Study line up and I am excited to see Micah reap the benefit from such a thorough critical thinking program.