We had the opportunity to review a physical copy of the Language Smarts™ Level E book by The Critical Thinking Co.™.
Homeschool Review Crew members had the opportunity to review several products from The Critical Thinking Co.™, which included items from its Software Downloads and Paperback Books lines. If you prefer software products, you may want to take a look at Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten!™, which talks about the Importance of Preschool Academics and Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten!™, which talks more about the software bundle.
I like to watch my children think. Seeing them take information in, process it, and then “spit out” what they have figured is a lot of fun. I will admit sometimes, they get a little too smart aleck for me, but it is just their minds hard at work.
I have read several articles that note, college students lack critical thinking skills. They do not have the ability to objectively review various details of a situation or determine if something is fact or just an opinion. I imagine it is even worse when the students are challenged to putting those thoughts into words and on paper.
The Critical Thinking Co.™ is on a mission to develop the critical thinking skills in children. The hope is that their grades will improve; test scores will become higher, which will in turn lead to more success in life. Just one critical thinking book may not be able to do all of that, but The Critical Thinking Co.™ is a great place to start for helping your child build their critical thinking skills.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The Critical Thinking Co.™ is a family-owned business that has been “empowering the mind” for more than 50 years. They have products that cover language arts, mathematics, science and social studies in which critical thinking is woven throughout the lessons. Instead of drills and memorization, students are encouraged through fun and easy to use lessons, to “carefully analyze what they are learning.” Depending on their ability, students may independently work through the material, which is challenging. Studies are also available in the areas of technology and test prep.
THE PRODUCT
We had the opportunity to review Language Smarts™ Level E, which is a paperback book curriculum geared towards students in the fourth grade. The study is available in print or e-book form. It contains a complete language arts program for your student, which may also be used as a supplemental resource. Regardless, Language Smarts™ Level E covers everything your fourth grade student should know by the time they complete the fourth grade. It also covers material that will equip your child for the fifth grade. Language Smarts™ Level E is the fourth book in a language arts series (see where your child should start) for children in first through fourth grades. Your child will receive instruction in:
Capitalization Parts of Speech Punctuation Reading Reference Material |
Sentences Spelling Vocabulary and Word Usage Writing |
Each of those areas includes specific instruction and detailed lessons to help teach the concepts.
FOR THE STUDENT
Before you grumble at another worksheet, let me tell you that these are fun. Not only are they fun, but they require the student to think. At the turn of each page, students are presented with colorful pages and a new challenge. Even in the sections where one concept is covered (ex: spelling, adjectives, commas, homophones, etc.) over multiple pages, the lessons are varied, which keeps the student engaged. I would say they should not get bored working through Language Smarts™ Level E.
FOR THE TEACHER
Step-by-step instructions are given on each worksheet that basically allows the teacher to step back and let the student work independently. There are almost 400 pages of lessons, which is more than enough to take you through one school year. The worksheets are ready to go, so no lesson preparation is necessary.
The series also prepares students for achieving high scores on assessment tests like the Criterion Reference Test (CRT), Iowa Tests of Basic Skills® (ITBS®), California Achievement Test (CAT) and others. There is a handy section at the beginning of the book that tells you which page exercises satisfy the fourth grade standards for language arts.
OUR EXPERIENCE
Canyon, fourth grade, got to review Language Smarts™ Level E. Since we already have other language arts curricula we use, we chose to use the book to supplement our current studies. My children do critical thinking exercises every day. Our schedule is as follows: Monday – calendar; Tuesday – grid (Sudoku puzzle, etc.), Wednesday – mapping; Thursday – time; and Friday – money/math. Working through Language Smarts™ Level E was a little different, because it delved more thoroughly into areas we have been covering this school year. I had Canyon start at the beginning of the book, which begins with syllables and continues through prefixes and suffixes. We completed one to two pages a day, depending on the section. After that, I chose the standards in the book that coincided with what we have been studying. We jumped to the Punctuation section, which covers colons, commas, end punctuation, quotation marks and semicolons. In one lesson, Canyon was not only learning where to place commas, but also matching cities across the country with their correct states. I do disagree with placing a comma “following each item in a series and before the conjunctions and/or”, which is taught, but I just explained to Canyon why. Something I learned is the word palindrome, which is “a word that reads the same forward and backward” and is taught in the book. We also worked through the Reading and Parts of Speech sections. Some other areas for improving critical thinking skills were the Editor and Chief® and Writing Detective® sections, which provided review for Canyon once he completed a section. We also tackled some of the Writing section, where Canyon learned the steps in the writing process, taking him from prewriting to publishing.
Once your child completes Language Smarts™ Level E, he will have a good grasp on the areas covered in the book. Language Smarts™ Level E is available for $42.99. I will admit the price is a bit hefty, but since the book is a complete curriculum and reproducible (for the original purchaser of the book), that is a great deal whether or not you have one or more children who will use the book. The Critical Thinking Co.™ “guarantees better grades and higher test scores – or your money back.” They are currently offering 20 to 50 percent off on their products and free shipping on orders over $50.
If your child likes a challenge, sign them up for the Critical Thinking Puzzle of the Week.
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