Because I know a Classical Christian Education lays an excellent academic foundation, I was happy to get the chance to review Traditional Logic I Complete Set along with Traditional Logic II Complete Set from Memoria Press. My 10th grade son was willing to give this course a try, and so we are!
What is it?
This is a course in traditional formal logic. The study of formal logic was a common course of study way back to the middle ages, and even back to the time of Aristotle. Martin Cothran (the author) tells us in the introduction of the text that ‘traditional logic is a study of the classical syllogism, where as modern logic is the study, primarily, of the calculus of propositions.’ Each complete set includes a Student Text, Student Workbook, Quizzes and Tests, Teacher Key and Instructional DVDs.
How did we use it?
We begin each chapter on the first day of the week with the video lesson from the Instructional dvd. We use our player that is hooked up to the television so even though Gabe is the student, I am able to listen and observe as well, and it is not uncommon for his siblings to be in the same room, soaking up a little bit of logic as well! (You could view this on any computer or dvd player, and use headphones if needed.)
After the video lesson, Gabe reads the chapter in the text that matches that week’s lesson. There are 4 sets of exercises in each chapter and then a short set of review exercises. Doing one per day, he can work through one chapter a week. The end of each week I give him a quiz.
The quizzes included are perforated pages so I can tear out and hand my son just the page for that week. It covers the material presented for the week. This gives us an idea how well he is processing and progessing. (so far so good!)
At the start, this was plenty to for him to keep up with. As he progresses past the introduction and the first few chapters, he is finding he can work more quickly and so is beginning to move at a faster pace. class routine – watch the video class lesson, read the text, do the workbook pages, The information is presented, he takes it in and processes it, works through the lessons in the workbook and text.
We also received the Traditional Logic II Complete Set. Even though Gabe is still working through the first set, I went ahead and took a peek at this next set. I see that it picks up where the student leaves off, but is definitely more ‘meaty.’ It continues with the classical syllogism, and jumps into case study, I think around chapter 6.
What did we think?
My boy is a thinker, with an analytical bent and so Traditional Logic Complete Sets I and II are a good fit for him. They are challenging and make him think, but not so much so that it’s over his head. The way this class is presented works well for Gabe. He likes the no-nonsense approach. Having the video lessons first, then using the materials provided make it easy for him to now what’s expected each day and each week. I expect he will work through both Sets I and II, earning a full credit in Traditional Logic on his high school transcript.
We did find there were a few differences for page/excercise numbers between the dvd class lectures and the workbook, because they are different editions. This hasn’t been much of a problem, but it is something to note so your student doesn’t lose focus trying to figure out where they should be looking. I would like to see them issuing a new edition for their dvd lectures, to coincide with the new text and workbook editions.
Like the Music Appreciation program and Latina Christiana we have used in the past year or so, I find this to be a quality curriculum choice that challenges my children and is an excellent addition to our homeschool.
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To read additional reviews on this and other Memoria press products, just click on the image below and you’ll see the whole line up of my fellow crew mates:
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