From: Andrew.Probert@f20.n772.z3.fidonet.org (Andrew Probert)
Newsgroups: k12.ed.tag
Subject: Gifted Children       2/
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 01:28:16 PDT
Organization: FidoNet node 3:772/20 - IBM NZ Ltd Gate, Auckland

>>> Continued from previous message
Yes, I also really enjoyed the Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin,
and have reread it many times. I also like her other books such as
Rocannon's World, the Lathe of Heaven, and City of Illusions. Have you
read Andre Norton's books? Have you introduced your daughter to Norton's
books?

As to chess notation, you said

  =8>We are all beginners here in the chess department!  I
  =8>mentioned the concept to Amber, and she loved the idea.  We
  =8>need to learn chess notation- could you recommend some
  =8>reference to start us off?
  =8> AP>                                            P - Q4 ( or d4)
  =8>As soon as we figure out what you did, we'll do something!

Well, any good book on chess should introduce you to chess notation. The
problem with me referring you to any books is that most of the books I
have on chess were published for the UK and British Commonwealth markets
and are unavailable in the US market for some reason. However, I have
suggested to Amber that we describe our moves in words, at least until
you and she become familiar with chess notation. Thus when i said
P - Q4, what i was saying was that I move the pawn that is in front of
my Queen at the beginning of the game two squares so that it is now four
squares from the end of the board on my side. I am able to do this
because the pawn is allowed to move two squares in its opening move.
I have asked Amber to tell me what colour or side she would like to
play.
You should be able to find a good book on chess in your local library if
you don't have one already.

You said also

  =8>My husband is the family math man; I must confess a personal educational
  =8>deficiency in higher mathematics.  I've come to find the
  =8>subject interesting and useful, and am learning along with
  =8>Amber. A program that makes Mandelbrot sets recently got us
  =8>talking about that concept, and fractals.

What does your husband do? Also have you been using the Vista PRo
program that uses fractals to generate landscapes? The program also
plays 'fractal' music while it is 'rendering' the landscapes.

Finally, have you heard of the computer simulation games Civilisation
and Railroad Tycoon. Civilisation in particular would be a great way to
introduce a person to the joys of exploring the history of nations and
civilisations. You see in this game the player is required to build up
and guide a civilisation over a period of 4000 years, from the stone age
up to space flight, assuming that the civilisation survives. The game is
great fun, but also exhibits a very good knowledge of how real history
has operated.
Also I have recently heard that SimCity is already being used as an
educational tool in schools in Arkansas, US and in the province of
Ottawa, Canada. The successor games to SimCity, ie SimEarth( where you
guide the development of our earth from its formation billions of years
ago to the present day) and SimAnt ( where you build an anthill with the
eventual goal of succesfully invading someones house- this game is great
fun). I have also heard that there is a new game out called SimLife,
where you get to build and develop lifeforms.

Anyway, it was nice chatting to you. I hope to hear from you soon.

Bye,

Andrew
___
 * SLMR 2.0 * We all live in a yellow subroutine.


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