The Critical Thinking Company

Let me start by saying I'm a little bit punchy right now; I'm currently typing under the influence . . . of exhaustion! This is my second night in a row seeing the backside of 1:30AM, and I'm noticing lately that I can't get by on as little sleep as I used to - at least not without turning into a really cranky Mommy.

So I'm up late working . . . have I mentioned that I work? At night? After homeschooling all day? Yes, I am one tired mama. If I didn't have the best job in the world, it would be something to complain about. Even so, I still do complain. At least when it's nearing 2:00AM and I'm still working . . . but that's another story for another day.

Anyway, it my attempt to make an important work deadline, I almost forgot that it was Teaching Tool Tuesday. Thank goodness my blog is on Pacific Time. And fortunately, there's a tool I've been anxious to share . . . all the wonderful curriculum I've gotten from The Critical Thinking Company.

As you know, we've been struggling with our classroom time lately, and it doesn't help that both Noah and I prefer learning by experience more than by sitting down with workbooks. But he loves these books so much that I actually have to ration them (if not, he'd complete the entire book in one sitting - which could get quite expensive!)

Here's what we've used so far:

• Can You Find Me? develops skills in reading readiness, science, math, and social studies using five basic thinking skills: similarities and differences, sequences, classifications, analogies and logic. Each riddle requires identification of two or more clues to deduce the answer.

• Mind Benders® develop logic, reading comprehension and mental organization skills, as well as real-life, problem solving skills. Children analyze each Mind Benders® story and its clues, identifying logical associations between people, places, and things.

• Dr. DooRiddles develops fluency and understanding of word meanings and associations as it improves spelling, vocabulary, reading, and problem-solving skills. Solving the riddles requires students to evaluate homonyms, synonyms, homophones, prefixes, roots, and suffixes in order to deduce and spell whole and partial word answers.

• Memory Challenge! is an easy-to-use but very powerful software program for developing and testing visual memory skills for reading and math.

In addition to the critical thinking products, they offer a great variety of workbooks and software that develop skills in math, science and language arts. Just visiting their website to pull these product descriptions, I've seen many new things to add to my homeschool "wish list". Which reminds me that I need to work on finding a math curriculum for fall . . . but it will have to wait another day. Right now, I'm closing the door on Tuesday. Good night!