The ability to truly focus on critical thinking skills is one of my favorite things about learning at home so when the opportunity to review Critical Thinking Co. Math Analogies Level 1 came along, I jumped at it.

The program that I received is a Windows based download although there are other formats available such as book, Android, and iOS.

My intentions were to strictly use the program for my second grader since it was for her age range.  When she began the program, she was excited.  She understand the relationships of many of the analogies that were presented to her.  She found the program easy to navigate, and simple to understand.   Not all of the analogies were easy for her to decipher, some of the questions introduced measurements that she has not totally grasped.  This caused a bit of frustration because she does not like getting answers wrong.  This is her nature.

I liked that the format that we used was computer based. It provided a new way of seeing similar activities.  Before we received the download from The Critical Thinking Co. , we had started working through an analogy book to help the girls understand what analogies are, and how words, ideas, objects, etc. relate to one another. 

Once my second grader became not so interested in the program because of missing a few answers, the fourth grader decided she wanted to use it.  So she did.  She really liked the program, and finished about 100 questions in two days.  The program is geared towards second and third graders, but the variety of the questions still offered a challenge for her.  Some of the questions were simple and some were challenging.  Most of them caused her to think which is was the goal.

  The program has a total of 152 questions.   She started where her sister stopped since there can only be one student logged into this program at a time. 

After seeing her sister finish the program, Ramya decided that she would give it another try.  She restarted the program with determination.  There's nothing like a little healthy competition.  I asked her for her thoughts about the program, and she said that it is a good :)  Dania also stated that she would like to try it for age/ grade level.  I believe we will use the Android version next time around so that it is accessible on a portable device.

I liked the program for both girls because it challenged them.  It caused them to used the information that has been stored in their brains outside of its normal usage.  This is a good thing to me.  It gives me confidence that they are able to decipher and manipulate information.  There are times that I have wondered if they are only understanding a particular thing if it is only presented in a particular way.  Math Analogies Level 1 helped me to see that when it comes to math skills they truly do have a grasp on most of their skills, and the skills they do not I was already aware.

This program did not take the place of our math, but was used as a supplement.  The girls mostly used it in the evening or in between assignments as a break. For us, this was the best way to use it.

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