Is it really important to add logic studies in your homeschool from PK-High School? Yes!
Our children need to know how to think. With the ability to think, almost any topic at any time can be learned and/or thought about critically. Christian children who will go out into this devil-trodden world absolutely MUST be able to think critically. Their very {eternal} life depends on it.
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Formal vs. Informal Logic
Most people would argue that a child’s mind isn’t ready for “formal logic” until at least middle school, and I agree. That doesn’t mean you can’t teach any logic. Introducing what I call “informal logic” early begins to train the mind to think critically, solve problems, make connections, and understand that deep thinking & perseverance are important attributes.
What’s the difference between the two?
Informal Logic includes analogies, if/then statements, all/no statements, patterning, classification, problem solving activities, mind-stretching games, matrix puzzles and more.
Formal Logic is more about finding fallacies/truths in arguments and defending/debunking arguments. A healthy dose of informal logic goes a long way in preparing a mind to go deep with formal logic when the time comes.
How To {Easily} Add Logic To Your Schedule
First and foremost, if you start early and make it fun, your children will LOVE logic and beg to do it. Why? Puzzlers, board games, card games, hands-on sorting and so much more make up informal logic – what kid wouldn’t love that? Luckily, there are tons of wonderful (and inexpensive) resources available to you – and they’re super easy to implement.
I’ve shared many of those logic resources with you before. This time, to get you started fast and easy, I’ll give you my top three choices of books and games for various age levels. Pick one and dive in. You’ll love it!
PK-2nd Logic Resources
3rd-5th Logic Resources
Middle School Logic Resources
High School Logic Resources
Logic Games
Oh, my goodness. There’s simply no way to choose just three games! Here’s a {really short} list of my faves. Most of them work for various age levels.
Qwirkle
ThinkFun Rush Hour Jr.
Set
Zoologic
Equilibrio
Mastermind
10 Days In The USA
Some Logic Lessons To Do Today
I’ve blogged about many of our logic lessons before. Below are some of the most popular posts.
Questions? Just ask.
Logic and Gifted Kids
You don’t have to have gifted kids to teach logic in your homeschool. However, lots of gifted children are great at logic. In case you’ve landed on this page because you have a gifted child and need some resources, I’m here to help. Check out Homeschooling Gifted Kids for tips and tricks for all things academic having to do with gifted homeschooling.
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Marissa Noe says
March 14, 2013 at 5:11 pmI am so glad I came across your blog! My daughter is about to enter Kindergarten and I am SERIOUSLY considering homeschooling. I live here in Lexington and needed a good place to find resources. This is perfect!!
Cindy says
March 15, 2013 at 9:20 amMarissa, you’ll LOVE homeschooling! 🙂
ah0302 says
September 4, 2013 at 8:32 amThanks for sharing these resources! I’ll be pinning to my logic board =)
Jackie P says
January 1, 2014 at 5:22 pmHi Cindy, it’s Jackie stopping by from the Let’s Homeschool High School Blog Hop. Thank you so much linking up with us the new year!
I am a big believer in working on logic skills in our homeschool. I think it builds a solid foundation. I know several of the books we used when my daughter was younger were quite fun so she didn’t even equate it to schooling.
I look forward to you linking up with us again next month.
Amy @ Marigold Cottage School says
January 3, 2014 at 5:24 pmHi 🙂
we have really enjoyed playing around with logic as well. We’ve especially enjoyed The Fallacy Detective.
middlewaymom says
January 3, 2014 at 5:47 pmI love that you have a list of games! While I adore logic, my teen doesn’t. It would be fun to hide it in a family game.
Karen M in FL says
January 6, 2014 at 6:23 pmGreat resources thanks for sharing.
Susan W says
March 8, 2014 at 9:49 amWe are using The Art of Argument in our homeschool this year and my kids LOVE it!!
Thanks for sharing at the Finishing Strong Link-up!
Stephanie says
July 21, 2017 at 4:47 pmHi Cindy!
Just a quick question – If you have not done logic workbooks, such as the perplexors, would you start an older child off in the basic or level 1 book or would you go straight to the one for his/her age group? Also how many a week would you recommend doing?
Cindy says
July 21, 2017 at 9:16 pmHey Stephanie. I usually start all newbies off with beginner level books. They may move through the books quickly, but I find the books usually build on critical steps that are hard to dive into successfully if you jump in mid-level.
Stephanie says
July 22, 2017 at 10:33 amThanks for the response Cindy.
Also, how many perplexor sheets do you recommend for the week? Maybe just 2 on Fridays? I also plan on having them do 2 or 3 sheets of the dyslexic games everyday.
Cindy says
July 22, 2017 at 12:32 pmWe typically have one day of logic puzzling per week. Depending on the difficulty and whether we’re doing other activities or not, we usually work through two logic puzzles. Sometimes more, sometimes less. 🙂