Fallacy Detective by Hans Bluedorn: A TOS Crew Review

 Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Fallacy Detective by Hans Bluedorn

It's time to teach our children how to think critically and Fallacy Detective by Hans Bluedorn is a great tool!

This softcover, workbook edition is recommended for ages 12 and up.  It contains 38 lesson on how to recognize bad reasoning.  I can't think of a more important lesson for today's students than being able to recognize and combat fallacies, or errors in reasoning and logic, that are being presented to them daily. 

This book is organized into 5 main sections and an additional section called The Fallacy Detective Game (to put what you learn into play) along with a full Answer Key.  The sections cover: 

• The Inquiring Mind - learning to listen and exercise your mind
• Avoiding the Question - with chapters on 9 common fallacies
• Making Assumption - chapters cover 9 more fallacies
• Statistical Fallacies - 7 fallacies dealing with the use of statistics
• Propoganda -a MUST read section for understanding media today!

I have been a long-time fan of this book, and have taught it to every one of my students over the past 15 years, and I promise it is an eye-opening exercise to read and discuss with them.  It's a wonderful tool for discussion and a vital thinking skill to teach to your children!

The book is organized with sections of fallacies that go together under broader categories.  Each chapter is short (usually just a couple of pages) and entertaining with real life examples and illustrations.  Following the reading, this workbook edition includes easy-to-complete exercises to make sure the fallacy is understood. Illustrations are black and white and frequently from our favorite Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strips.

I like to use this book in a Coop setting with multiple students.  It's great for a discussion based class!  I encourage each student to find an example of the fallacy from the chapter we are reading and bring it to class to show. We made a poster for each fallacy and keep them posted all year long.  The students love this format, and they are learning so much.  We'll be doing it as part of our CrossWired Communications course this upcoming year with our Coop.

It's also a great tool for family discussion - with the chapters being short and to the point, you can read and discuss in the same setting - for us, at the beginning of our school time together. But, I do need to warn you...your children will start pointing out all of your fallacies as well! 

Today's world is filled with fallacies - the only way we can combat them is to teach our children how to spot them, and correct the faulty reasoning and logic!

Check out another great product the Crew is reviewing  - Archer and Zowie!

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See what other members of the Crew thought here