Path: news.media.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.kei.com!eff!news.umbc.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!MathWorks.Com!transfer.stratus.com!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com!vbock From: vbock@delphi.com (Valerie Bock) Newsgroups: comp.lang.logo Subject: Re: Info on S. Papert's books Date: 15 Jan 1994 16:29:22 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Lines: 24 Message-ID: <9401151126591.vbock.DLITE@delphi.com> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: delphi.com Disclaimer: the following synopses are provided by an interested parent and former 6th grade computer geek (back when real nerds played via acoustic coupler on the modem and paper tape!) I have no real qualifications to discuss Logo, other than I've read the books! _Mindstorms_ written in 1983, was Papert's manifesto on how computers could be used to give children a way to discover math principles by playing and using their knowledge of how their bodies move through space... the same way they discover physics in the sandbox and the bathtub. He intersperses his discussions of this vision with delightful anecdotes of the work done in Logo with elementary school kids in the Boston area. "The Children's Machine" written in 1992, is largely an update of mindstorms...and further evolution of Papert's theory of education. I found both books inspirational and provocative. Now if I could only figure out how to interest my kids...drawing squares on the screen looks pretty tame when you could be building a castle or flying a defense mission, or drawing something really spectacular with kidpix! ******************************************************************** * Valerie C. Bock * Mom to Jimmy, 6-3/4; Stephen, 5; Katie 2-1/2 * * vbock@delphi.com * (It's the go nuts now, go broke later plan!) * ********************************************************************