So, The Mathematician's Lament is officially blowing my mind! However I'm not sure what to do with the *pieces* of my mind now. How to assimilate this new information into our teaching at home? It's very... philosophical so far. If I were mathematically inclined perhaps I could better see how to implement some of these concepts. I am not done the book yet, but I'm hoping he offers some concrete advice near the end. I hoped against hope that there would be a list of suggested curriculum at the back of the book, but alas, there is none. For now, we are trying to spend as much time on mathematical *concepts* that are more playful (like length, weight, time, value) as we are on drills and facts.
Here is a great quote from Paul Lockhart:
Mathematics is the music of reason. To do mathematics is to engage in an act of discovery and conjecture, intuition and inspiration; to be in a state of confusion - not because it makes no sense to you, but because you gave it sense and you still don't understand what your creation is up to; to have a breakthrough idea; to be frustrated as an artist; to be awed and overwhelmed by an almost painful beauty; to be alive, damn it.
This guy freakin' LOVES math, you guys. It's inspiring...
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