Teaching the Trivium & Fallacy Detective from Trivium Pursuit

by Melanie | August 14th, 2012

 Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

How can you give your children the tools they need to teach themselves? Long ago students were first taught how to learn. Today, students are taught an encyclopedia of subjects – trivia – but they are not taught the basic skills of learning: to discover, to reason, and to apply. They are not taught the Trivium.

Can you homeschool in a classical style without compromising your Christian principles? Because we are Christians, we do not want to pursue non-Christian goals. Classical Education must be sifted through the critical screen of the Scriptures to be transformed into a Biblical model.

Can you homeschool in a classical style without buckling under the burden? There is only so much time in the day. For every subject, and for every age, we have a workable plan – which leaves you free to breathe. You can continue to use other approaches to homeschooling within the framework of Classical Education.

Is homeschooling about renewing family vision? The family is at the heart of God’s plan for restoring Christian culture. Homeschooling is not alternative education. Homeschooling was here first. We want to restore Biblical order to education.

Retail: $34

AND
The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

New Third Edition — More Fallacies, More Cartoons

What is a fallacy? A fallacy is an error in logic – a place where someone has made a mistake in his thinking.

These are fallacies:

“A cloud is 90% water. A watermelon is 90% water. Therefore, since a plane can fly through a cloud, a plane can fly through a watermelon.”

“This new book, The Fallacy Detective, must do a good job teaching logic. It has been on the bestseller list for months.”

We wrote this book to meet the needs of Christian parents who want a do-able text for introducing logic and critical thinking to their children.

  • Fun to use – not dry like a math textbook.
  • Self-teaching – not intimidating, starts students with skills they can use right away.
  • Each lesson has exercises for students, with an answer key at the back.
  • Covers logical fallacies and propaganda techniques. We divided the most common fallacies and propaganda techniques into thirty-eight lessons. We explain how you can spot fallacies, and we give exercises to stretch your abilities for detecting fallacies.
  • Geared for ages twelve and older – we suggest using The Fallacy Detective before advancing onto more difficult logic programs.
  • Includes The Fallacy Detective Game, giving you and your friends an entertaining way to spot and make up your own examples of fallacies.
  • Christian view of logic. Many critical thinking texts introduce political correctness. This book does not.
  • Can be used before or after The Thinking Toolbox
  • Cartoons to illustrate the logical fallacies discussed, including Peanuts, Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, and several original cartoons

This book is for fallacy detectives. We’ve designed this book to be a handy-dandy text for learning to spot the errors in thinking that you meet everyday on the street, in the newspaper, or on television – or errors you make yourself.  An easy start to logic — for ages 12 and up.

Retail: $22

  • Jeanine

    The fact that it is how our forefathers learned is what appeals to me. It just seems so much higher than I can acheive. I don’t know why. It seems like a “smart person’s” homeschool method.

  • Dawn

    I am liking the thought of classical perspective more and more.

  • Lisa

    Logic is hard for me but that is what I like about it. Raising real thinkers who can navigate in any situation.

  • jaynessa

    I like the rotation for history and science but all the journaling and writing seems daunting to me.

  • ShannaG

    I think it is a great approach to homeschooling.

  • Leah

    I love that the classical perspective teaches you to learn! Latin seems so overwhelming but I’m excited to learn with my boys :)

  • Joshua DuBois

    The memorization seems hard to me. I’m not sure how I feel overall yet.

  • Sheila

    I like the classical method best, makes sense to me. it is timeless, but it is hard because it demands deep thinking and children today don’t like to work that hard :-)

  • Melissa Telling

    I like certain aspects of classical education (like logic) but I don’t like being tied to a certain method.

  • Sarah D

    I love that it teaches children to learn first. I am having a harder time the more children that I am teaching.

  • jenw109

    I like that my child is learning in a way that develops with his brain and that allows him to retain the information. It is hard because there is a lot of information and since my child is a boy I have to think of creative ways to keep his attention…and I am not very creative.

  • Sharon

    Having been an public school elementary school teacher and seeing all the things that don’t work, the classical method got my attention!

  • Angela

    I like that the classical approach actually makes children think.

  • Betty

    I like the simlarities to the CM approach, but some of the electives would overwhelm out family.

  • Sharon

    I have to agree with the other Sharon. I taught in private schools and saw that things do not work. I am very interested in the classical method.

  • Margarete

    I do what is best for my kids learning not what everyone else is doing. I pick and choose. :)

  • Carla

    I like a lot of the classical method. The systematic study of grammar appeals to me and so does a focus on great literature. Try as I might, though, I’m a Latin drop out.

  • Lara Wingler

    I like it because it follows the natural process of learning. It will be a challenge to assimilate all the information but I’m excited about it, too.
    Thank you!

  • Karen Norton

    I like the classical method.

  • kathy balman

    We use the classical method and others as well we are eclectic homeschoolers verge of unschooling.

  • Shannon Wallace

    I’m fond of the Charlotte Mason approach, and that is why we haven’t tried the Classical. Perhaps when my son gets older we may try some aspects of Classical. But like others have mentioned, I want to teach what I want to teach, and not be forced to stick with a model. Thanks!

  • Niki C

    I like the systematic organization of the classical approach, but I get overwhelmed by all there is to teach with nine children

  • Brittany

    We are pretty new to homeschooling. I don’t actually know what the Classical Perspective it. Sorry.

  • Andrea

    I like to read the material or story prior to teaching a subject, but with our home based business, I’m pretty pressed for time! Want age appropriate stories for a 7 YO

  • kristen b

    I love the classical perspective – the hardest thing is choosing all of the great things that are available!!!

  • SoCalLynn

    I like a lot about the Classical method and use many aspects of it in our homeschool. I’ve been interested in using The Fallacy Detective, especially now that my daughter is in 8th grade.

  • Dawn F

    This is how I intend to teach my son. It seems difficult/challenging, because I was not taught this way and will be learning right along with him.

  • Melissa W.

    I have been drawn to the critical thinking of classical education, and broad exposure to classic works. It’s been a long time since I studied such works, so that’s a little intimidating. Also, I’ve been wondering what it might look like to blend classical and Charlotte Mason approaches.

  • Jennifer Hall

    We use the Charlotte Mason Philosophy and I think in a lot of ways they compliment eachother, even though there are a lot of differences.

  • Rebecca C

    I’ve never tried it.

  • JessW

    We are trying to follow a classical education. I like the four year cycle! I really enjoyed the Well Trained Mind so I’m very interested in these books as well.

  • Fibia

    Love the classical approach. Would love to see my kids learn to discover and reason for themselves.

  • Amanda

    We use Classical Conversations and love the God-centered focus. It redeems mom’s education too, since she learns along with the children, but the workload can be daunting.

  • Lisa b

    I do not know much about it, but from what I have read it seems difficult and inflexible.

  • Judi

    I like the orderliness and the recognition of developmental stages. It seems very intensive and I’m not sure about all the foreign language study.

  • Helen

    I like the 4 year cycle & repeating for a full understanding

  • 247mama

    I have several friends that use the classical approach. It seems very difficult to me and I don’t feel like the stoic approach would appeal to my children. They are much more interested in fun, bright visual resources than they would be in classical paintings as visuals.

  • Christina P

    I really don’t know that much about classical education. I’m still investigating what all is involved.

  • Heather

    I have some major concerns with how the ‘classical approach’ has been implemented by some. I’m not a huge fan of teaching preschoolers latin declensions or having 4 and 5 year olds dressing up and pretending to be their favorite Roman gods. That being said, there are other aspects that appeal to me and classical education, as it was historically applied intrigues me… So I guess I’d have to say that I like some aspects, but would want to make sure that it is from more of a biblical worldview.

  • Heather

    That being said, I’ve liked what I’ve read about the Trivium and have subscribed to their email newsletter for quite some time.

  • Jessica

    I don’t know much about this method, but I’m interested in it.

  • TK

    I believe it is rigorous, which is good, but could be too difficult for some

  • http://www.facebook.com/roxanne.mclintock Roxanne Evens McLintock

    The hardest part for me is teaching myself. . .plus I have always struggled with demoralization.

  • Melanie Evans

    Initially, I steered away from it because it was difficult when introduced bythe government schools in which I was “educated.” Home educating my own children terrified me when I began but I have slowly discovered that my values line up pebbles along this path to a Classical Education. It’s like vitamins for the mind instead of the junk all around us. The only weapon against bad ideas (the current popular culture) is better ideas–and that’s a return to where we got off track with all the hollow, rude, and fantastical reality that television and Hollywood promote. Our sensations have changed from delighting in pure, true nobility and maturity of character to a self centered and unfocused, distracted fragmented chase of sensation. I am only learning about teaching from the classical perspective but I know it is rich in goodness. Look around, what other options are there to compete with books and movies that reach into you and make you grow into a better person? Literature seems hard, I am afraid of Shakespeare and basically the foreign language involved in trying to uncover the goods and then being surrounded by a lost world that would leave very few people to relate it to that would even care….FOr now, we are just attempting to learn logic so that we can think critically and identify faulty reasoning when it is being used against us.

  • Melanie Evans

    AGREED!

  • Melanie Evans

    Hey 247 mama, I understand and relate. There must be a way to discover the quality of it and they could recreate it with bright vivid colors by implementing art, maybe. That is, if you want to sample and play around with it. You know how cool old mixed with new is…

  • http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.holt.52 Rebecca Holt

    I think the idea of teaching them how to learn is priceless; to know how to do it thru a “Christian lens”…a must; to have a “workable plan” given to me…makes me see it as something maybe I could do (as making the Lesson Plans has never been easy).

  • Jennifer Holbert

    I think it is a challenge when you are a product of govt. schools but I am thankful that there are materials and instructors available. I’m delighted to be able to learn alongside my children!