We had the opportunity to review the physical copy of the Traditional Logic II Complete Set, which is published by Memoria Press.
We are in the high school years when choosing courses and curriculum becomes a bit tricky. It is even more challenging when you have more than one high schooler and neither has the same learning style. I have one child whose learning style is more Eclectic and the other one is my Classical learning child. How did that happen? Well, children are just different, but that does not stop me from trying to find curriculum that appeals to them both. With the Traditional Logic II Complete Set from Memoria Press, I think I have found a match.
I absolutely love Memoria Press and always get excited when I receive a box from the company. When the Traditional Logic II Complete Set arrived at my front door, yes, I was too excited. Memoria Press is a Classical approach to teaching. We already use a couple of items from Memoria Press in our school, which include Latin for all three of my children and literature for Lily and Canyon only. Now that I have a high school student and a rising one, we are including logic.
The Traditional Logic series (I and II) covers traditional logic (hence the title) as opposed to modern logic (hmm, I did not know there was a difference). The study is on classical syllogism as opposed to the study of the calculus of propositions – modern logic. Also, students learn formal logic instead of informal, which means although formal fallacies are taught, informal fallacies are not. Rather than teaching the obvious type of fallacy, which is often seen in newspapers and magazines, Traditional Logic takes students onto a higher level and challenges them to discern between the less obvious.
Traditional Logic II is introduced to Memoria Press users in the ninth grade and geared towards high schoolers. The suggested use for both books may be earlier with seventh grade for Traditional Logic I and eighth grade for Traditional Logic II. If your child has experience with logic study, they may be able to handle the work. Otherwise, save the study for the high school years, so your child may get high school credit towards graduation, which is what we are doing. Something I will suggest is a student will get more from the study by beginning with Traditional Logic I, which River did. The foundation laid with Traditional Logic I will enhance the study.
The Traditional Logic II Complete Set comes with the Traditional Logic II Student Text {sample}, Traditional Logic II Student Workbook {sample}, Traditional Logic II Teacher Key, Traditional Logic II Quizzes & Final Exam and the Traditional Logic II DVDs. The Traditional Logic II Basic Set comes with everything except the DVDs. If you have experience teaching logic and even if you do not, I suggest purchasing the complete set. I think logically and make logical decisions, but truthfully, I had no idea what was being discussed in the curriculum. The DVD instruction brought so much clarity. It also enabled River to complete the work independently, except for the quizzes. Those, I administered to him.
The DVD instruction is presented by Mr. Cothran and includes lecture slides that may be downloaded for reference. The video shown above is a sample of how the lessons are presented. Syllogisms is something your child will learn much about. Having Mr. Cothran, a master teacher, walking River through the lessons is worth the price of the DVDs. If you use any of the Memoria Press Latin curriculum and DVDs, you know how valuable it is to have a master teacher “in your school”.
The Traditional Logic II Teacher Key is invaluable. Having the answers to the exercises leaves no doubt as to the correct answers. Also, detail in the text helped me with explanations to River.
I love how the lessons are laid out. Scheduling was easy. There are 14 chapters and each one has four exercises with a quiz to be completed at the end of each chapter. This is the schedule River followed:
Monday: Watch the DVD, read the chapter and complete the daily exercise.
Tuesday – Thursday: Complete the daily exercises.
Friday: Take the chapter quiz.
For the first two weeks, I watched the DVD with River. The material was all new to me and watching the lesson DVD helped me know what he was learning and enabled me to know a bit if he needed help. After that, he continued with the schedule on his own. The wonderful thing about the curriculum is it pretty much flows the same way through all of the chapters and through both levels.
There are several case studies throughout the course. Students are presented with an argument and are to write a one to two-page essay as to whether they find it (the argument) sound or unsound. They are also to write a biographical essay on the author of the argument. Some of the people presented in the case studies are Plato, Descartes, Hume and there is even a argument from the Bible. Because of the amount of writing and the presentation of the material, it would be best to use the curriculum during the high school years. I was impressed with the essays River wrote.
Traditional Logic I and II are already listed on Lily’s schedule for her ninth-grade year. I will be purchasing both books for her this summer. River will complete Traditional Logic II in the fall. I am pleased he enjoys this curriculum from Memoria Press. I may try to slip a few other Memoria Press items into his education plan before he graduates from high school.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
You may purchase the Traditional Logic II Complete Set for $75. The company is currently offering free shipping through June 30. Take look at what other curriculum Memoria Press offers for a complete Classical education.
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