The Critical Thinking Company ~ Timberdoodle Reviews

After first being introduced to Timberdoodle Christmas 2009 while searching for some long lost books (stolen while he was overseas some years ago) of my hubby’s, which thankfully they had, I had the opportunity recently to review some homeschool products the carry from the Critical Thinking Company. They have many selections available but the two I chose to review were Building Thinking Skills Level 1, for my 8 year old son and Editor in Chief Level C2, for my 15 year old son. They came in just the nick of time.


I have been having trouble this year staying motivated with the health issues we have been battling lately. I have to say it was looking pretty bleak, mom tired a lot, kids not interested in school whatsoever and baby girl (almost 2) in to everything.
We got our books and before I could stop them the children ripped open the package and wanted to get started right away. So I sat down and explained about each book in turn. Showing each child which book they would be using and how.

Building Thinking Skills Level 1, a great big, thick book for grades 2-3, encourages growth in higher order thinking. It addresses skills for reading, writing, math and science. Each page is a fun activity that children do not realize they are learning.

Editor in Chief is a great way to encourage students to use their grammar knowledge. Each activity is a news style article in which the student must correct the grammar and punctuation mistakes. The first third of the book contains the exercises, the second third the solutions and the final portion contains short lessons on the grammar and punctuation rules used in the exercises.

My boys love these books.

Connor my youngest son is 8 and he begs to do his Thinking Skills. I honestly think he would do it all day long if I allowed it. I made a little dry erase window sheet (you can see it in the second picture) for him to use so he can do his favorite exercises over and over. The book is 364 pages divided into 10 chapters and an answer key. Each chapter is focused on one aspect of critical thinking and each subsequent chapter builds on the previous.

Brad my oldest at 15 is more of the opinion that grammar stinks but this book at least makes it more fun. He is a little bummed about not being able to get it all right the first go round. I think maybe I chose a higher level than what he needed, however, I just use the ones he missed as his grammar lesson for the day focusing on 1 or 2 areas a day. With 34 exercises each one could easily be turned into a weeks lesson.
If you are looking for a collection of books to add a little “oomph” to your school day and put a little pick up in your curriculum then Critical Thinking Company is a great place to find it. Visit Timberdoodle to see what they can do for you.
The books we received normally sell for the following prices:
Building Thinking Skills Level 1 – $29.99
Editor in Chief Level C2 –$18.99
Mandy
Disclosure: I received the two books referenced above from Timberdoodle in return for my honest opinion on the products. No other compensation was received.