Traditional Logic I and II Complete Sets ~ A New TOS Review!

Having the ability to logically talk through an argument is a skill that is both needed and desired, especially in the time and culture we now live. Being able to ensure that my children have this skill is a great desire especially if it is a classical christian curriculum like what is created by Memoria Press.  We were beyond pleased that we would be able to review Traditional Logic I Complete Set as well as Traditional Logic II Complete Set.

Logic I set

Logic II set

Having a high schooler, we felt this would the perfect time to start introducing formal logic and this review came at the beginning of our summer schedule so I knew we could add it on our summer school list. We generally school year round, but summer we take a bunch more breaks and have a much shorter day. I also allow the children to pick one or two subjects or areas that they want to explore and with a more relaxed schedule they have more time to complete those "fun" things. We do make sure they continue reading and working through math, but the rest of the schedule is more free. When this review came about I spoke to our eldest and told her if she worked on the Traditional Logic I over the summer that it would count as a 1/2 credit toward high school and then she could complete Traditional Logic II before the end of the year for another 1/2 credit. She agreed!

What is logic? What is taught in this course, which includes a DVD for both sets taught by instructor Martin Cothran, is formal or traditional logic -- what was studied by students in the Middle Ages and was passed down from the teachings of Greek philosopher Aristotle -- focuses on classical syllogism in a systematic structure to help train your mind to have a Christian view of what truth is and to respect truth. As stated in the book, it is "the science of right thinking." Memoria Press created these text initially for homeschoolers, but can also be used in small group settings or in Christian schools.

Mr. Cothran says that while this was created for high schoolers that both 7th & 8th grade students could be taught this material without much help. He also lays out a way to combine some of the chapters to complete the material in less then the 15 weeks that it was laid out. That being said, there are 13 chapters, plus a review, and then the Final Exam in Traditional Logic I; while in Traditional Logic II there are 14 chapters followed by the Final Exam.

Working on the first quiz

Both sets include the Text, Student Workbook, Teacher Key, Quizzes & Tests, and the Instructional DVDs. We originally began the series by watching the DVD lesson and then letting my daughter complete the days lesson (4 lessons per week) on her own after reading the chapter text.  But after the first 2 chapters, she felt she understood the lessons better by reading them on her own. I also had her sister (7th grade) sit and listen to the DVD lessons with their father. Then my high schooler would complete the weekly quiz. At the end of all 13 chapters she would do the review and then be ready for the Final Exam. Hopefully we will be able to complete this course by the end of summer.

For the purposes of this review we focussed mainly on Traditional Logic I Complete Set, since my daughter has had no prior formal logic experience. Both my husband and I perused Traditional Logic II Complete Set, including reading through a chapter or two and I will tell you more about the differences in the sets toward the end of this post. One of the great things about a lot of the curriculum you can get from them is that they are set up similarly. For instance, in the introduction of the workbook, the student is instructed to read the first chapter and then answer the questions. Each day continues with daily instructions of what to read and then the questions are broken up into definitions, true and false, fill in the blank charts, and mini essays. Thankfully the answer key is fully filled in and you (as the teacher) do not have to be an expert of formal logic!

Slides from Logic II DVD

One complaint from both my girls was that the DVD lessons were a bit boring. I totally get why they said this ... they are a bit dated and they reminded me of some of my less "fun" college lectures. Mr. Cothran can be a little dry in his presentation and the videos themselves are a little color lacking. I did notice that for the second DVD you could print out the slides that are presented in the lessons, which would be helpful for that second year logic student to add to their notebook and have something to look back at while going through the weeks lessons.

Both sets have very clear student texts. They are well laid out with the different sections of the chapter bolded in blue and then important terms bolded and italicized. There are also 'side notes' (that's what my daughter called them) that are some important notes as well. She said they would help her answer one of the questions, usually. She thinks that this is a very thorough and well laid out curriculum and is fairly easy to complete on her own as a high schooler. If she has questions she has come to her dad (mostly since he's more of a 'logic' person then I) to talk about her question and get some further explanation.

In the first set your student will learn things like 'What is Logic'; Simple Apprehensions, Judgments, and Deductive Inference a/k/a Syllogism. These are the three acts of the mind and the divisions of the 13 chapters of the first set and create a foundation of the study of Logic. In the second set the student will continue their study of Syllogism as well as delve into Arguments in Ordinary Language and Sentences, Hypothetical Syllogism, Complex Syllogism and the final chapter is on something called the Oblique Syllogism.

Workbook

In Traditional Logic II Complete Set, one of the major differences is that after Chapter 6 you start seeing what are called Case Studies. These take what you are learning and help you apply them to actual arguments. Mr. Cothran pulls arguments from Descartes, Shakespeare, the Bible, and Aquinas, just to name a few. For each of the case studies there are some assignments that the student will have to complete that will help show mastery of the study of logic. They will also write short essays on whether they agree or not; biographical essays on the author of the argument. They will also have to transform the argument into another form that they have studied. This book will also take a bit longer then the first book. Or you could take a year for both sets and really slow down the studies to grasp the topic more fully.

Case Study from Logic II

I know that in time my eldest will come to understand the fascinating subject of logic and be able to fully defend her own arguments and stances that she may take that are differing from what our culture might try to dictate. I expect that in the future we will be ordering new workbooks and quiz/test books to work through this curriculum with our younger students when they become high schoolers as well. I do feel that even though this can be geared to a student in 7th or 8th, if you have not been training in classical studies this will be more difficult and then better suited to begin in high school. Once a student has entered the high school era, these would be applicable for any grade.

There were other products that were also done during this review period including New American Cursive series, Classical Composition I: Fable Set, and the Classical Composition II: Narrative Set. So be sure to read their reviews as well as others who had both or either Traditional Logic I Complete Set or Traditional Logic II Complete Set by clicking the link below!  You can also find Memoria Press on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, YouTube.