The Critical Thinking Co.
An all-in-one curriculum makes it easy for parents to teach their children from home with minimal planning. For parents who prefer workbooks to virtual resources and are sensitive to meeting state standards for learning, no all-in-one mastery-based curriculum we’ve tried since 2015 is as well designed to cultivate critical thinking skills, help students achieve higher test scores and engage students in learning than The Critical Thinking Co, established in 1958 and used by 70k schools, 120 countries and 36mm students. Well worth the price, CriticalThinking.Co costs around $25 for a full year of curriculum or an additional $25 for individual subjects. Price-sensitive parents can easily purchase used curriculum online or in local parent groups.
For the “screen-sensitive” parent looking for a more traditional approach to academics with minimal to no prep time, this comprehensive mastery-based curriculum is our top choice for a workbook-based curriculum (though they do also provide extensive digital resources as well including ebooks, apps, online quizzes and puzzles). It’s won multiple awards and is consistently praised by parents for its colorful layouts, clear explanation of concepts and ease of use. (Parents seeking a more approach that allows for more student directed, inquiry-based learning might want to check out Torchlight)
We sifted through thousands of comments from a group of 36,000 parents who’ve collectively tested nearly all secular home-based curricula on the market and Critical Thinking Co stood out as a clear favorite for it’s engaging, easy-to-use, beautifully designed workbook approach to their child’s learning. Critical Thinking Co is the only mastery-based, preK-12th grade curricula that parents can just as easily use to help their kindergarten learn phonics or their gifted high school senior excel at advanced physics.
While it doesn’t offer the variety of socratic inquiry, project-based learning and nature-based activities as some of the newer, more experimental curricula like Torchlight or Blossom and Roots, nor the level of personalization an online curriculum like Khan Academy can provide, it’s by far the best bet for a parent who wants to teach their child themselves, but is looking for a simple curriculum that is easy to follow and be reassured that their child will be performing on tests at the same level or higher than their peers.
Parents seeking to deepen and accelerate their child’s learning generally choose to supplement with other curricula. It’s also worthwhile to note that many parents aren’t concerned about state standards and have had great success establishing their own standards for learning or simply following their child’s interests without any concerns about how they’re performing relative to peers. Criticalthinking.co is a favorite of many teachers and schools who appreciate the engaging content for math, reading, science, history and more. We’ve also found that many parents rave about what they call “The Trifecta,” a combo of CriticalThinking Co’s “Language Smarts,” “Mathematical Reasoning” and “Vocabulary Virtuoso” workbooks.
What parents like:
Fosters critical thinking skills.
The Trifecta: “Language Smarts,” “Mathematical Reasoning” and Vocabulary Virtuoso
No prep time required
Vocabulary program is outstanding
Appeals to different learning styles (creative and logical)
A fun and engaging program
High quality materials.
Helps students perform well on standardized tests
PSAT/SAT test prep is exemplary
What parents think could be improved:
Most workbooks require students to respond in full sentences, so it’s not a great bet for children with a strong aversion to writing.
Several parents felt the math program lacked depth.
Language arts, math and logic programs are adequate for a main curriculum, but math, science and history seem more supplemental.
Curriculum is geared toward improving standardized test scores, so preferable as a supplement rather than the main curriculum
Parent reviews:
“The Building Thinking Skills series is probably the most comprehensive resource for thinking skills for younger students. Each reproducible student book (except for Primary) includes an answer key. While students will be able to complete some lessons independently, others will require teacher interaction—more so with younger students. Each lesson should take about ten to twenty minutes to complete and requires minimal preparation.” -Cathy Duffy
“I do think that a lot of the CTC products are aimed at improving standardized test scores and while we use them, they are pretty much last on my list of things to do and we don't spend more than a couple of times a week working on them usually.” -Anonymous Review on Well Trained Mind
“"I have been using The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials for 17 years. Our 1st son is an honor student at the University, and our 2nd son, a senior in high school, just scored a perfect 800 on the critical reading section of the SAT. He says, 'After all of those Editor in Chief® books, how could I not do well, Mom!' Thanks The Critical Thinking Co.™." - Melissa, OK
