Building Thinking Skills

Workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co.

Building Thinking Skills • Beginning • Ages 3-4
Question and Answer Puzzles to Improve Academic Performance
and
Building Thinking Skills • Level 3 Figural • Grades 7-12+
Critical Thinking Skills for Reading, Writing, Math, Science

From The Critical Thinking Co.

These are great books for strengthening thinking skills!
I give a big thumbs up!

My family has the privilege of reviewing two workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co. which promotes their product as “The #1 Selling Thinking Skills Program in the World!”
Each workbook provides “highly effective verbal and nonverbal reasoning activities to improve your child’s reading, writing, math, logic and figural-spatial skills, as well as their visual and auditory processing.” Each workbook is full of matching, selecting and drawing activities.

And, if you can’t figure the answers out, no worries!
The Answer Guide is Included!

Building Thinking Skills • Level 3 Figural • Grades 7-12+
Critical Thinking Skills for Reading, Writing, Math, Science

My 16 -year old daughter and I are reading and working through Figural Level 3 book. We sit down together and work on the activities, from page to page. I definitely see the value in doing these exercises.

Training our brains to think and look at shapes and designs differently, to see the similarities and relationships from one figure to another, and to express them through drawing similar patterns - this is more difficult than it seems. We love the gentle pushing it gives to think harder. Sometimes, (many times) we need to peek at the answers.

The introduction discusses the importance of “Discussion,” not simply paper and pencil alone, to solve and work through the exercises. Manipulatives are encouraged since they provide a “concrete basis” and a “richer perception of the analysis talks.”

The workbook is broken up into four categories: Similarities, Sequences, Classifications, and Analogies. The Similarities exercises begin with Matching Figures and have various geometric shapes with lines and shading designs. We are to pick out the ones that match or don’t match. This continues and increases in difficulty for several pages. This section continues with several exercises including (but definitely not all): Recognizing Lines of Symmetry, Identifying Congruent Parts, Drawing Tessellating Patterns, Complete the Cube with One Piece, etc.

Sequences include (but not all): Pattern Folding, Paper Folding, Sequence of Figures, Selecting Pattern Pieces, Matching Pattern Pieces, Rotating Cubes, etc.

Classifications has exercises in: Matching Classes, Changing Characteristics, Classifying By Pattern, Discovering Classes, Overlapping Classes – Intersections, etc.

The Analogies section has practice in: Figural Analogies, Describing Types of Figural Analogies, Follow the Rule, Select the Solid, etc.

Building Thinking Skills • Beginning • Ages 3-4
Question and Answer Puzzles to Improve Academic Performance

The next workbook I am reviewing with my two sons, ages 3 and 8. The Beginning book for ages 3-4 is full of colorful pages.

My boys usually sit on my lap and we talk about each page. They think it’s their game book. My 3 year old takes it to heart and is recognizing shapes around himself. He sees straight lines, curved lines, corners, etc.

I’ve noticed my 8 year old, who is slightly delayed developmentally, becoming very mentally active after a session. He’ll begin to talk non-stop, and begin to engage in conversations with the family.His expressive language is delayed also, so to see him communicating more and beginning conversations is exciting. I believe it is directly related to the work we do in the Building Thinking Skills book.

Activities on each page strengthen Visual and Auditory Processing, Fine Motor Development, Reasoning, Deduction and Creative Problem Solving. The concepts covered are: Colors, Logical Connectives, Lines, Corners, Geometric Shapes, Behind & In-Between, Above & Below, Measurement, Half & Whole, Left & Right, and Open & Closed.

Again, these are great books for strengthening thinking skills!
I give a big thumbs up!