Critical Thinking Detective Homeschool Review

This entry is part 14 of 24 in the series 2018 Homeschool Reviews

Helping your child decipher what they’re reading is just part of the school journey. It’s called Reading Comprehension and in some form or fashion should be part of your homeschool curriculum.

The Critical Thinking Co.™ has found a fun way to incorporate Reading Comprehension with products like Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 which is designed to help students think through, analyze information, and increase their understanding of what they’ve read.

Reading comprehension is something we work a lot at in our homeschool. To jog your memory reading comprehension is the ability to accurately interpret what you are reading, think about it, and connect it with what you already know. It can be a struggle for kids young and old as they deal with so many aspects of learning.

In our few years of homeschooling (8) there has been a lot of dissection of what is being read during our English and Literature courses but I’m sure my daughter is tired of mommy grilling her so the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 fit right to our homeschool as a fun way to work on Reading Comprehension without the added pressure of mommy’s grilling session (I’m sure there’s a better way but this is what I do).

What is the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1?

Written to work for Grades 4 through 12 the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 is an activity book for those who like mysteries and puzzles. And even if your student isn’t sure they like mysteries and puzzles this sure is a fun way to find out.

In the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 your student gets to solve detective cases. There are 12 thievery cases to solve. Each case contains interviews with four suspects in a non-violent theft crime.

Your student is told that each suspect’s interview is fact. So they don’t have to do anything psychological like figuring out if they are lying. On the next page your student is supposed to take notes, in complete sentences, on what they’ve learned to solve the case.

To get an idea of the reading level check out the sample on the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 page.

The reading is nice and basic since it has to cover such a wide range of grades. Early readers may have a bit of difficulty and older students can just focus on solving the case.

My daughter really drew up her hackles when I presented her with this book. Being in the 7th grade she is at the midway point for the age range for this product so I had to dig (interrogate her) to find out where her reservations actually were.

She likes puzzles, and mysteries so what was the deal??!! Turns out it was in the writing. She wanted to go through each case and just “tell” me who the suspect was. She is not fond of writing and figures that she gets her quote with her base classes so I should not be adding anything extra. Not happening. I’m of the practice makes ~~perfect~~ progress school so after much threatening (just kidding) I got her to spend some time writing down her thoughts, in complete sentences, on the different suspects and who the guilty party was.

What’s the verdict? After I finally got my daughter going she loved the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1. There’s a certain clean FBI show we love to watch and the Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 gave her a little taste of being a detective herself. She enjoyed that aspect. She did declare the writing portion hard. Which means that she needs to do more writing.

In hindsight I should’ve just given the book to her and told her it was a fun puzzle book I picked up rather than telling her we were reviewing something that would help her critical thinking and reading comprehension #lessonlearned .

As far as results from working in the book? Her past two exams in different subjects (where essays were part of the tests) have nice high marks. Since missing critical details in the past has tripped her up in a few tests I feel this is a positive turn.

Homeschool parent are you looking for a fun way to work on reading comprehension and critical thinking?

Goodies from the Critical Thinking Co.

Get Free Shipping plus 15% Off Any Size Order! Use Coupon Code: TOSCREW18 This deal expires 12/31/2018.

Also get free gifts with purchase! And enter the Critical Thinking Co. Giveaway. Details on this page >>>> Critical Thinking Special Offers Page

Homeschooling more than one child? The Critical Thinking Co.’s policy allows you to reprint the pages within your family home or in one classroom (please read here for more details).