Much to share (math,book, discussion)

Is it me or I just like to share? I have to believe that other moms also do lots of things with their kids but just not sharing a lot or not sharing as much detail as me?

Anyway, I like to write and share. :)

Today, we looked at this wonderful and very fun math book. This was actually a book listed in the resource section of The Unschooling Handbook: How to use the whole world as your child's classroom. Anyway, it say, "This is not a mathematics book in its usual sense; it is a book about thinking. It is about perspective, and about abstracting to look at things in a new way." Both my kids enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit, I think. They discovered for themselves that in order to compare liquids, the container must be the same or it is not easy to tell which has more. And some times, if the container is similar, you would need to pour them in to 2 containers which you know that are exactly the same. It was interesting for me to see how the kid's logic worked. First, both kids said, they can tell which is more or less based on the amount of white space. (i.e less water have more white space, and vice versa)

They also have Annon's Math Game III. Great fun!

We read Pandora recommended by The well-trained mind and it was excellent (we actually read another version of the same story but this one is so much better especially the language- almost poetic). Beautiful picture, beautiful language, and just beautifully written. I am usually kind of cheap when it comes to books (some of you will surely gasp) but we tend to read a lot, and I don't like accumulating books, believe it or not. I usually try to borrow the book and if it really strikes my fancy, then I'd buy it, preferably used if it is substantially cheaper and in good condition.

I wasn't crazy about the cover, but this is one of those books that I have to say, "Don't judge a book by its cover." I did buy this book and am glad I did since I wasn't able to borrow it from anywhere else.

The last thing I wanted to share was J and I were looking up words she didn't know and not sure how the topic came up about the different meaning of "smart", "knowledge", "wisdom" and "understanding".

Here is what I came up so J can differentiate these meanings,

1. smart- can you learn? how fast can you learn?
Ex If I explain it to you, and you get it very quickly then I might say, oh, you are smart.

2. Knowledge- knowing facts, experience
Ex. If I tell you a fact :11*11=121 and you say, okay, now I know the answer to this problem. You have gained specific knowledge or a fact. (assuming mommy is right).

3. Understanding- can you explain it (especially in language arts)?can you do similar problems (in math)? Generally higher level than knowledge
Ex. But if I ask you what is 12*12? And you don't know. Then I know its because you don't have the understanding of multiplying 2 digit #s. (sometimes, knowledge of certain things will also help you with the understanding of certain things)

4. Wisdom- discernment, being able to tell truth from lies.
Ex. King Solomon having wisdom and be able to tell who is real mother of the child. That is we ask God often for wisdom to help us in dealing with people, and in dealing with life.