Ridgewood Analogies
by George Libonate, Jr. with Gae Brunner,
Deborah Burde, Marianne Williams, Terri Wiss
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: Ridgewood Analogies, Critical and Creative Thinking across the Curriculum by George Libonate, Jr. with Gae Brunner, Deborah Burde, Marianne Williams, Terri Wiss. Book One (51 pages, $7.75) and Book Five (37 pages, $7.75) were reviewed. Published by Educators Publishing Service, Inc. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by buying this program from our Christian Book Distributors link.
Ridgewood Analogies were created for fourth to eighth grade students in the Ridgewood, New Jersey, public school system. Analogies build problem solving abilities and allow children to learn about relationships. Practicing analogies allows children to perform better on standardized tests and to improve their creative thinking.
Book One begins with a few "pre-analogy" activities involving synonyms, related words, Venn diagrams, going from general to the specific, and writing why things are different. Sections on descriptive, comparative, categorical, serial, and causal analogies each begin with an explanation of the type of analogy and how to solve it. Then activities for novice, apprentice, master, and super master follow. Students are provided with answers to choose from in the "word bank" and must write the relationship phrase for each of the analogies to show that they understand how to reach the answer correctly.
Book Five begins with a two page overview of the types of analogies and a few pages of pre-analogy activities including synonyms, categorizing words by part of speech, organizing from general to specific, and a Venn diagram. Activities in this level are organized by subject -- geography, history and government, language arts, and math. Even though "word banks" are provided, students may need to do a bit of research on each of these topics in order to complete the activities.
Answer keys are available for $3.15 each, but were not reviewed.
Recommendation: Ridgewood Analogies require writing and thought and consequently need to be taken more seriously than the Primary Analogies series. I would suggest having a set time to study these as part of your student's "logic stage" curriculum. This series will give your student the opportunity to think and research. While the answer key is not necessary, it will make checking easier.
HomeschoolChristian.com resources related to this review:
HomeschoolChristian.com's Classical Education Section
Review of Analogies by Arthur Liebman
Review of Primary Analogies
Review of Reasoning and Reading
Review of The Fallacy Detective
Review of The Thinking Toolbox
Review of Logic in 100 Minutes DVD
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