I loved it! Perfect for teens, parents and homeschoolers

books:


	• The Thinking Toolbox: Thirty-five Lessons That Will Build Your Reasoning Skills Nathaniel Bluedorn, Hans Bluedorn Christian Logic, 2005 - 234 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Great Toolbox

In our world today where children are content to sit and watch every shallow program the media throws out, I am pleased to discover a book that challenges us to exercise our brains. The Thinking Toolbox: Thirty-Five Lessons That Will Build Your Reasoning Skills by Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn targets ages 13 through adults. It includes three major sections: Tools for Thinking, Tools for Opposing Viewpoints and Tools for Science.

I am reading it to my children each day and they enjoy the lessons which are written in laymen's terms and laced with humor. Included at the end of each chapter are exercises. Sometimes the answers are obvious and sometimes we really have to analyze the possibilities. At the end of the book there is a section with projects and games and also an answer key for the chapter exercises.

We live in a time when knowledge is literally at our fingertips with just the click of a mouse. Contemplating, evaluating and musing seem to be left to those who came long before us. We have forgotten the words written by Solomon in Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." The Thinking Toolbox is just what the title says, a toolbox for building reasoning skills. This is a book on my list of "must haves" for any homeschool or classroom library.

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Teaches how to use your mind

After seeing the Bluedorn's initial logic book, "The Fallacy Detective", I was excited to find out that they were writing a sequel--this time, however, they weren't discussing how NOT to think. In this book, they cover how to think and use your mind.

I had the good fortune to be involved in editing this book pre-pub, and as I was editing this book, I became increasingly amazed at how helpful and informative it was, and yet so easy and fun to read...mind you, this is no dull and boring textbook. This book has a light style, with great illustrations and interesting and sometimes fun examples.

In this book, as in "The Fallacy Detective", every chapter ends with exercises that are sometimes fun and sometimes tough, and help you remember and use what you learned in the chapter.

I found this book helpful for learning how to think and use my mind in different ways. Hopefully, you will, too.

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Improve your reasoning skills

The Thinking Toolbox by Nathaniel Bluedorn & Hans BLuedorn is a book about reasoning skills aimed at children 13 years and up.
While in general, the author make a good effort at keeping the lessons clear and the examples fun while educational, there are some shortcomings. Therefore, I cannot recommend the book wholeheartedly. Some of the shortcomings can easily be addressed and I hope they will disappear in the next edition of the book.

In the following, I'm going to point out some of the issues that will need to be addressed.
1. It would have been better to point out that the author's definition is just one possible definition of "argument". Or they could have called it a "logical argument" instead. (See Lesson 2)
2. When the authors mention emotional involvement as being something negative, they leave out things like compassion and love which would constitute positive emotional involvement. It should just be pointed out that one needs to keep a clear head for a discussion or argument. (See Lesson 2)
3. The list of categories of conversation seems to be incomplete. What category does smalltalk belong to? (See Lesson 2) In lesson 3, exercise 5, the guys are not having an argument, but they are playing a game; possibly this could be called a fake argument.
4. In the exercises for lesson 5, too many of the arguments are dumb arguments. The issue of distinguishing good from bad arguments or real evidence from fake evidence etc is kind of addressed later-on, but not specifically enough. It should have been addressed earlier and in a separate chapter. Lesson 6 about beliefs would be more useful with this issue already clearified.
5. The authors create a false dichonomy between creation and evolution (Lesson 7).
At the end of the lesson, the authors say: "The act of seriously trying to defeat our own arguments and anticipating arguments for the other side is very useful because it humbles us. We begin to realize that the reasons why we believe things might not be entirely on good reasons." They should heed their own advice more often!
6. In lesson 10, I'm wondering why the authors are using sthe stupid example about a dinosaur. No scientist would ever make a claim even close to what the museum tour guide claims. A real-world example should have been used instead.
The authors follow up with an important and worthwhile observation, though, that just because we read something in a book, that doesn't mean it's true. And "Don't assume that the viewpoint you are reading about is the only one."
7.In the answer key for the exercises, the authors should distinguish between the cases where they state the one right answer and where they are giving just one example of a possible right answer.

Despite these shortcomings, the book is quite helpful for improving your reasoning skills.

(Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publishers through Mind and Media (now called Active Christian Media) in 2006 in exchange for my services as a reviewer.)

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Excellent Resource

Have you ever stopped to think about how much money is spent in advertising aimed at your kids? Did you ever listen to a political debate with your kids and have them express their views regarding the debate? Were they able to solidly defend their views? Can your children differentiate between factual and false claims as they wade through ads promising to be "scientifically" or "medically" proven to cause weight loss, restore lost hair, or return aging skin to it's former dewey youthful complexion? Are your children able to defend their faith, their world view, their political persuasion with substantive thought and clarity?

If you've pondered any or all of those questions and wanted a resource to aid your children in discerning truth and being able to share truth clearly, then you'll want to introduce them to The Thinking Toolbox. While this book is self-teaching, you would miss some great opportunities for lively discussions if you didn't share the journey through The Thinking Toolbox with them.

I would be remiss to not mention the Bible being our main foundation when it comes to seeking and finding truth. The Thinking Toolbox builds upon that foundation and the book's effectiveness is in its bringing the principles of that foundation into everyday situations. It teaches your kids ways to discern between truth and lie amidst the daily bombardment of information in sales pitches, "scientific" and "medical" claims, political debates, daily news, and much more.

Even in the book's examples, exercises, and answers, you will probably find that you don't agree with the authors one hundred percent of the time. Therein lies the beauty of the book: you no longer allow your brain to sluggishly swallow everything it's being fed. You are challenged to think through your acceptance or rejection of what's being offered. Additionally you learn how to defend your choice of acceptance or rejection.

The Thinking Toolbox is not a quick read. It's something to be shared one bite-sized chapter at a time. And each "bit" provides plenty to chew on. Prepare to be stretched mentally. Prepare to find yourself thinking about and looking for the truth while sorting through the morass of information that daily assails you and your family. Prepare to be better able to live truth and to share truth with others in confidence. After all, isn't that really our purpose in life?

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I loved it! Perfect for teens, parents and homeschoolers

I wasn't quite sure how I would like a book that's all about sharpening your reasoning skills and that used the term LOGIC. Would it be boring? Would it make me feel dumb in the end?

Anyhow, I had heard great things about this book by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn (as well as their other book The Fallacy Detective)...so I dove right in...and was not disappointed!

Why couldn't they have had books like this in high school and college??? The Bluedorns did a fabulous job of walking you through various thinking tasks (such as When is it Dumb to Argue?, Using the Scientific Method, Who has a reason to Lie?, etc) in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand and quite entertaining way. The scenarios and conversations they include will help you apply your new-found skills into real life situations. After all, what good is a tool if you don't know when or how to use it?

I loved how each lesson was short and to-the-point. Quite necessary for those of us with demanding toddlers or anyone with a short attention span. Each lesson also had exercises at the end (don't worry, no crunches or push-ups required!); and each exercise builds on previous exercises which helps to further drive the point home. Ahem...and for those of you who still worry about tackling logic, there IS an answer key at the end!

Initially, I was quite skeptical of being able to recommend a book about logic, but The Thinking Toolbox is one of the BEST books I have ever read on the subject! It is self-teaching and offers a Christian view of logic. It is written for ages 13 through adult and is a very useful way to introduce critical and systematic thinking/reasoning to students. I think it would be a perfect read for your student before they tackle their next science project or experiment, make a speech, write a research paper, or just any time. It would also prove quite useful for any mom or dad to get their thinking-ducks in a row as well...so check it out!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Give your teen the tools he needs for clear thinking. The Thinking Toolbox: Thirty-Five Lessons That Will Build Your Reasoning Skills is like a toolbox, full of different kinds of tools which you can use to solve thinking problems. Lessons cover (1) When it is dumb to argue, (2) Using the scientific method, (3) Five rules of brainstorming, (4) Who has a reason to lie? (5) How to analyze opposing viewpoints, (6) How to analyze evidence and sources, (7) How to list reasons why you believe something, and much, much more. The Thinking Toolbox follows the same engaging style as the Bluedorns 2003 release, The Fallacy Detective, and uses over 60 cartoon illustrations by Rich LaPierre. Each lesson has exercises for students, with an answer key at the back of the book. The Thinking Toolbox is a fun and easy introduction to practical thinking skills for ages 13 through adult.

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