We all use logic and reasoning methods every single day. Critical thinking skills are not often directly taught as a separate curriculum. However, we can help kids practicing critical thinking skills within any subject.

Critical thinking is an essential life skill, and Evan-Moor has created an engaging resource to help kids practice thinking skills.

If you have read my previous post on the Skill Sharpeners series, you know there are many benefits to using the Skill Sharpeners series in your homeschooling.

One title in the Skill Sharpeners series is Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking. The series is available for grades PreK–6. Each book focuses on age-appropriate critical thinking activities based on a theme that kids enjoy.

What we like about Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking:

• The full-color pages are bright and cheerful, which instantly draws in kids’ attention.
• Each unit is based on a high-interest topic for kids.
• The activities are based on a variety of subject areas (reading, math, writing, science, art, etc.).
• There are several types of thinking skills used in the activities, so the kids stay engaged (see specifics below).
• Each unit in Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking has a great balance of sharing some new information and inviting kids to use critical thinking skills in the activities.
• There is an answer key for each unit.
• No prep required!!

Types of activities you can expect in Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking books:

• Each unit begins with a checklist, so you and your child can decide and track which activities your child should complete.
• Reading activities to learn how to visualize, describe, give your opinion, rank, predict, and compute
• Writing activities to explain, justify, compose, infer, deduce, and determine
• Drawing activities to illustrate, show, and describe
• Math word problems to analyze, plan, solve, and specify
• Puzzles to practice the ability to rearrange, reconstruct, diagram, and specify
• Themed activities to classify and create
• Graphs to analyze, infer, compute, and compare
• Art activities to plan, create, illustrate, and show

My kids really enjoy the Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking units. I recently asked my daughter to preview one of the units for next week. I came back 5 minutes later, and she had already completed two pages! She just couldn’t help but jump right in.

How will you use Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking in your homeschooling?

For more ideas on using Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking in your homeschooling, see my post 7 Ways to Use Skill Sharpener Activity Books.

---

Amy Michaels is a certified teacher with 11 years of elementary classroom experience who is actively homeschooling her own children. Her mission is share the best teaching methods and resources with all homeschoolers. Amy supports parents through her podcasts, webinars, and online training for homeschoolers on her website www.thrivehomeschooling.com