Homeschool Crew Review: The Critical Thinking Co.™

The Critical Thinking Co.™ has a variety of products to teach children critical thinking skills for higher test scores, better grades, and improved life skills.  They do not teach through drill or memorization but instead empower the mind. We recently had an opportunity to use and review Sentence Diagramming: Beginning. Sentence Diagramming: Beginning is a 72 page paper back book for students in grades 3-12.  The book teaches students to diagram sentences to gain a better understanding of the English language and apply this knowledge to their own writing.  Sentence diagramming gives students visual and logical grammar lessons.  The book begins with simple subject-verb sentences and continues through more complex sentences.  There are 12 lessons including:
Lesson 1: Simple Subject and Main Verb Lesson 2: Direct Object Lesson 3: Adjectives Lesson 4: Adverbs Modifying Verbs Lesson 5: Predicate Adjectives Lesson 6: Predicate Nouns Lesson 7: Prepositional Phrases (Adjectival) Lesson 8: Prepositional Phrases (Adverbial) Lesson 9: Compound Subjects Lesson 10: Compound Predicates Lesson 11: Compound Direct Objects Lesson 12: Compound Predicate Adjectives and Nouns
Each lesson has a short lesson explaining the part of speech that is being focused on and and example of how to diagram it.  Section 1 shows a sentence diagrammed incorrectly and the student must diagram it correctly.  Section 2 gives the sentences ans students diagram them.  In section 3 student write their own sentences and diagram them. 
At the end of the book is a review section with 25 sentences for students to diagram.  An answer key for each lesson is located in the back of the book.
Sample Pages can be viewed here.
You can purchase Sentence Diagramming: Beginning for $12.99 here. 
I have been using Sentence Diagramming: Beginning with my 9th grade son.  This review opportunity came at just the right time for us. He was struggling with the grammar curriculum that we were using and I was looking for something else to fill in that slot.  I have been having him complete one lesson per week in the book.

The lessons are laid out very well.  They start out very simple and increase in complexity.  Each lesson follows the same pattern.  Breaking down each sentence into it's basic building blocks and diagramming them helps make sense of the parts of speech.  Students will then be able to use what they have learned to improve their own writing.  That is the goal for us.  I do not want them to learn for the sake of learning but instead be able to apply it to their own lives.  My son has a very logical, mathematical mind and Sentence Diagramming: Beginning has made a lot of sense to him. 
As I mentioned above, The Critical Thinking Co.™ . has a variety of products for ages 3 and up.  They have several products in the Reading ,Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten Bundle to help get children ready to start school.  Members of The Crew had an opportunity to review software from this bundle as well as Sentence Diagramming: Beginning and Language Smarts Level E.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, visit the Crew Blog!

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