I do not approve of video games. I do not approve of television. (Of course, my aversion to letting the kids watch tv is more of a testimony to how much I have been addicted to it. We tend to dislike most in others what are our own glaring weaknesses.)
Nevertheless, we have games that the kids play on the computer. We watch tv. I struggle all the time with "how much?" and "what kind?" and "Is this okay?" and whether I'm overly micro-managing those things.
When Maggie was first learning to read and spell, she really blossomed when we bought one of those Leapfrog games. Here she was, learning in a way that seemed to play on her strengths, and I was (in a way) not okay with it because it involved a computer.
The boys love playing Age of Empires. And Age of Kings. And Age of Mythology.
And do you know what those kids have had the audacity to do? LEARN SOMETHING from these video games! Can you believe that? When we've been doing our geography lessons and our vocabulary, they keep pointing out to me that the reason they know this or that factoid is because they learned it from Age of Kings.
Well, how d'ya like that? I don't approve of those games, and yet my children go and get something beneficial from them anyhow. Harrumph!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find this post VERY interesting. My boys love these games as well and I didn't realize they actually got anything out of them. Hmmmm......interesting.
ReplyDeleteYeah... you wouldn't like the video games I play. :-)
ReplyDeleteHey, I know that, Nathan. I just try to ignore it. (Same goes for Matt & Rachel & Philip.)
ReplyDeleteYep. My boys have blown me away with the things they've learned from those games.
ReplyDelete