Video Game testimonial
Sandra Dodd
Not an unschooling story, but the experiences of an avid gamer.
Anyone with a need for evidence to show critics might want to lift this.
I arrived today, unsolicited.
Sandra
===========
Dear Mrs. Sandra Dodd,
Thank you for your page on videogames and their many benefits.
I am
a long-time avid gamer; I've loved games ever since I got my very first
NES. While some may believe that games will "rot your brain," I'm living
proof to the contrary. I'm now 23, and I still play games. However, in
the mean time, I have graduated high school with honors and a National
Honors Society member. I've earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
computer science and engineering, cum laude. I'm currently enrolled in
law school, and doing quite well. I personally attribute a lot of my
academic success to video games, and always have. One important lesson
I've learned is how to budget my time effectively. Video games also
serve as an important release from the stress created by such rigorous
study. Also, I believe each and every game teaches important educational
concepts indirectly (e.g. reading comprehension, logic and mathematics
through puzzle solving, hand-eye coordination, etc.) I'm very
supportive of parents who get gaming systems for their kids, and I hate
it when I hear how games are "destroying" our youth. I hope many
parents read your page and make use of it!
Thanks again,
Brian
Anyone with a need for evidence to show critics might want to lift this.
I arrived today, unsolicited.
Sandra
===========
Dear Mrs. Sandra Dodd,
Thank you for your page on videogames and their many benefits.
I am
a long-time avid gamer; I've loved games ever since I got my very first
NES. While some may believe that games will "rot your brain," I'm living
proof to the contrary. I'm now 23, and I still play games. However, in
the mean time, I have graduated high school with honors and a National
Honors Society member. I've earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
computer science and engineering, cum laude. I'm currently enrolled in
law school, and doing quite well. I personally attribute a lot of my
academic success to video games, and always have. One important lesson
I've learned is how to budget my time effectively. Video games also
serve as an important release from the stress created by such rigorous
study. Also, I believe each and every game teaches important educational
concepts indirectly (e.g. reading comprehension, logic and mathematics
through puzzle solving, hand-eye coordination, etc.) I'm very
supportive of parents who get gaming systems for their kids, and I hate
it when I hear how games are "destroying" our youth. I hope many
parents read your page and make use of it!
Thanks again,
Brian
Pamela Sorooshian
On Jun 13, 2006, at 10:17 AM, Sandra Dodd wrote:
I'm very
supportive of parents who get gaming systems for their kids, and I hate
it when I hear how games are "destroying" our youth. I hope many
parents read your page and make use of it!
Sweet.
I totally agree with him about the stress reduction, too. A benefit I hadn't really thought about for a while - in fact, I had forgotten how my husband and I played videogames (Galaga, Centipedes, PacMan, etc.) for hours and hours in the student center at USC, when we were both in grad school there. That was definitely stress reduction therapy!!
-pam
Sandra Dodd
-=-I totally agree with him about the stress reduction, too. A benefit I hadn't really thought about for a while - in fact, I had forgotten how my husband and I played videogames (Galaga, Centipedes, PacMan, etc.) for hours and hours in the student center at USC, when we were both in grad school there. That was definitely stress reduction therapy!!-=-
When Keith and I were childless and in our 20's, and poor, a favorite date of ours was to wait until Putt-Putt Golf & Games put out coupons for a special, and get 40 tokens for $10. That's all we would spend—that $10. We would play until we were out of tokens. There were a few games we played together, but mostly we watched each other play our favorites and then tried out what was new. Occasionally we'd "waste" a few tokens on something less challenging and more physical, like Skeeball or air hockey, but usually it went into Centipede, Mousetrap (I think it was called—a changeable maze game), Amidar... what was that one with two space ships and one of the options was they were fastened together? That was a great two-player for us.
Because of the stand-up, lean-hard nature of arcade games there was more physical involvement and more adrenaline, I think, than people put forth sitting in a soft chair in front of a computer. And because of that it was a good release of the pent up little pressures of the week and of our hobbies, in which we both tended to volunteer and be officers and get even MORE stressed. It was a place and an activity where what we did was discharged in a safe, happy place and we could go home exhausted and clearminded.
Sandra
Sandra Dodd
I wanted to say too that years back when I was first involve in
homeschooling discussions, the best things most people had ever heard
or could come up with to defend video games was "It helps with hand/
eye coordination."
It was asserted seriously, as though that were all it could possibly do.
I think that's as smallminded as saying tennis helps with eye/hand
coordination, or oil painting helps with eye hand coordination, or
playing an instrument formally (reading music and playing a clarinet
say, or piano or cello) "improves eye/hand coordination."
There is another thought, too, that might not be taken well by all,
but I'll risk it on this list. Some of the people who really can't
see any benefit even after watching a chid play (or worse, who can 't
manage to gather the attention span to calmly and thoughtfully engage
in watching a child play a good, difficult video game) are just not
as smart as those who can watch for fifteen minutes and come up with
a dozen intellectual activities and skills at play besides "eye/hand
coordination."
But then there is that perspective, too—is a parent looking at a
child through school-colored glass, or looking directly and
expansively at her child in the real world?
One is very small, and right on one of those early-years checklists
is "eye/hand coordination."
Sandra
homeschooling discussions, the best things most people had ever heard
or could come up with to defend video games was "It helps with hand/
eye coordination."
It was asserted seriously, as though that were all it could possibly do.
I think that's as smallminded as saying tennis helps with eye/hand
coordination, or oil painting helps with eye hand coordination, or
playing an instrument formally (reading music and playing a clarinet
say, or piano or cello) "improves eye/hand coordination."
There is another thought, too, that might not be taken well by all,
but I'll risk it on this list. Some of the people who really can't
see any benefit even after watching a chid play (or worse, who can 't
manage to gather the attention span to calmly and thoughtfully engage
in watching a child play a good, difficult video game) are just not
as smart as those who can watch for fifteen minutes and come up with
a dozen intellectual activities and skills at play besides "eye/hand
coordination."
But then there is that perspective, too—is a parent looking at a
child through school-colored glass, or looking directly and
expansively at her child in the real world?
One is very small, and right on one of those early-years checklists
is "eye/hand coordination."
Sandra
Krisula Moyer
I think you're spot
on, Sandra. One of the things I've learned about myself in playing video
games with my kids, and watching them play, is that I'm ot-nay as art-smay as I
thought I was. Fortunately my kids don't hold it against me and they let
me play anyway. It takes some work, though to be good enough at some games
to not be a drag to them. And I will just add that I have always liked
video games. DH and I were enthusiastic about sharing games with our kids
from an early age and I have cute photos of Trayton in diapers, at a high chair
playing Spelunx. And I had to fly through a level of Rebel
Assault II for him when he was really little and would cry if he couldn't
get through. Now he has to hold my hand while I learn a new game well
enough to keep up. Usually I just watch.
There were several
years though that we were restricting his access. We had been convinced
(oy) that kids shouldn't spend more than x number of hours per week with a
screen. It' took another unschooled gamer to convince me otherwise.- long
story. The restrictions did bad things to our relationship that are now
mostly healed. I sure wish I knew you all back then. Glad I know you
now.
Krisula
Sandra Dodd
The other day Kirby came in and watched me playing Guitar Hero. He
said "I think you're better at this than I am now."
Well... no. Because I play it like reading music, and there were
some guitar things I know from playing guitar, like hammering on and
pulling off. So as long as it can relate to piano-read-by-notes or
to finger picking, I'm not bad. But when it gets to the rock'n'roll
solos where the notation isn't precise and you have to be wild and
brave, I get scared because I don't "know it." I couldn't analyze
it, and I can't put it into words or analogies. But those passages
are no harder for Kirby than the rest of it is.
So Marty accidentally erased all our saved games; no problem,
everyone was friendly and fine about it. But I was stuck on the
advanced level and I just want to get to the songs I know better and
like, so I asked Kirby to help me, and he went right through those
two songs I couldn't get.
When he was five he could do the first part of the original Mario
Game, but when Mario goes down the tube to the koopas, he got
scared. He just didn't like the look of them. So he would yell for
me, and coach me through it, and when Mario was past those, he took
it back and played lots of other parts. Lava and swinging blades
were fine with him, he just didn't like koopas. <g>
It's another area of partnership rather than diversity.
Here's another thing That game belongs to Kirby, but Marty owns the
Playstation, so it lives in Marty's room. He has never asked anyone
to get out or not to play it. And last Saturday all the kids were
out and about. Holly had gone with Marty to the ice rink to meet
some others, and then they were going out to eat. Nobody was here
but me and Keith. Full moon. Hot tub. I came in wet (swim suit
and wet) to turn off the porch light and there are four people in the
den—Holly, Marty and two of Kirby's friends. Holly was showing the
girl her Rent "action figures" and showing her some of the subtle
details. Marty was winding up video game cords. I'm glad I had come
in because he said "We're taking the X Box, in case you noticed it
was gone."
Oh! Kirby had called a few hours before and said "I'm going to
dinner with those guys." I thought he meant his burly big gaming
buddies. Later I called to talk to Holly and she said Kirby was at
the restaurant with them. So it turns out that yet another group of
friends has folded into their activities. Kirby's "those guys"
included Marty and Holly, and their skate party which used to only
involve the teen unschoolers now had included some of Kirby's current
friends.
And to get to the point of this pile of stories: I was up when
Kirby finally came in Sunday morning to go to bed at 6:00. He said
"Where's the XBox?" (because it usually lives on his desk) and I said
"They took it to Sadie's." "Oh, okay."
All of that was said in the most matter-of-fact tone of voice. Kirby
bought the X-Box, but he didn't say "Where's MY XBox," and he didn't
mutter or ask who took it or why or when it would be back.
Generosity. Very cool.
Sandra
said "I think you're better at this than I am now."
Well... no. Because I play it like reading music, and there were
some guitar things I know from playing guitar, like hammering on and
pulling off. So as long as it can relate to piano-read-by-notes or
to finger picking, I'm not bad. But when it gets to the rock'n'roll
solos where the notation isn't precise and you have to be wild and
brave, I get scared because I don't "know it." I couldn't analyze
it, and I can't put it into words or analogies. But those passages
are no harder for Kirby than the rest of it is.
So Marty accidentally erased all our saved games; no problem,
everyone was friendly and fine about it. But I was stuck on the
advanced level and I just want to get to the songs I know better and
like, so I asked Kirby to help me, and he went right through those
two songs I couldn't get.
When he was five he could do the first part of the original Mario
Game, but when Mario goes down the tube to the koopas, he got
scared. He just didn't like the look of them. So he would yell for
me, and coach me through it, and when Mario was past those, he took
it back and played lots of other parts. Lava and swinging blades
were fine with him, he just didn't like koopas. <g>
It's another area of partnership rather than diversity.
Here's another thing That game belongs to Kirby, but Marty owns the
Playstation, so it lives in Marty's room. He has never asked anyone
to get out or not to play it. And last Saturday all the kids were
out and about. Holly had gone with Marty to the ice rink to meet
some others, and then they were going out to eat. Nobody was here
but me and Keith. Full moon. Hot tub. I came in wet (swim suit
and wet) to turn off the porch light and there are four people in the
den—Holly, Marty and two of Kirby's friends. Holly was showing the
girl her Rent "action figures" and showing her some of the subtle
details. Marty was winding up video game cords. I'm glad I had come
in because he said "We're taking the X Box, in case you noticed it
was gone."
Oh! Kirby had called a few hours before and said "I'm going to
dinner with those guys." I thought he meant his burly big gaming
buddies. Later I called to talk to Holly and she said Kirby was at
the restaurant with them. So it turns out that yet another group of
friends has folded into their activities. Kirby's "those guys"
included Marty and Holly, and their skate party which used to only
involve the teen unschoolers now had included some of Kirby's current
friends.
And to get to the point of this pile of stories: I was up when
Kirby finally came in Sunday morning to go to bed at 6:00. He said
"Where's the XBox?" (because it usually lives on his desk) and I said
"They took it to Sadie's." "Oh, okay."
All of that was said in the most matter-of-fact tone of voice. Kirby
bought the X-Box, but he didn't say "Where's MY XBox," and he didn't
mutter or ask who took it or why or when it would be back.
Generosity. Very cool.
Sandra
Lea Eaton
I have 4 boys and the older 3 all have their own apartments scattered within about 75 miles from here... once a week they all set a time and game toggether online...a War Craft Game or something...I think its great the 25,22 & 20 year old include their 14yo brother ..they have a great time....
Lea
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Kim H
<There is another thought, too, that might not be taken well by all,
and play with them (and shown by them) never can fully 'get' the whole game
thing. I never got it - all through my childhood and 20's my brothers and my
husband loved gaming stuff but I couldn't get it at all. Now, my 6 year has
shown me an appreciation for computer games (we don't have any others as
yet) that I'm really surprised I have. I am hooked on one particular game -
more hooked than Lewi! It's fun and there's so much stuff to solve. They are
baffling and frustrating, and at the moment I'm on level 98 (of a 100 level
game) and sometimes I feel like I'll never make it to the end...but I keep
on keeping on. LOL Self-regulation has allowed me to discover something
really good and lots of fun.
Kim
> but I'll risk it on this list. Some of the people who really can'tCan I add to this, Sandra? Also, parents who never sit down with their kids
> see any benefit even after watching a chid play (or worse, who can 't
> manage to gather the attention span to calmly and thoughtfully engage
> in watching a child play a good, difficult video game) are just not
> as smart as those who can watch for fifteen minutes and come up with
> a dozen intellectual activities and skills at play besides "eye/hand
> coordination.">
and play with them (and shown by them) never can fully 'get' the whole game
thing. I never got it - all through my childhood and 20's my brothers and my
husband loved gaming stuff but I couldn't get it at all. Now, my 6 year has
shown me an appreciation for computer games (we don't have any others as
yet) that I'm really surprised I have. I am hooked on one particular game -
more hooked than Lewi! It's fun and there's so much stuff to solve. They are
baffling and frustrating, and at the moment I'm on level 98 (of a 100 level
game) and sometimes I feel like I'll never make it to the end...but I keep
on keeping on. LOL Self-regulation has allowed me to discover something
really good and lots of fun.
Kim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra Dodd" <Sandra@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 5:08 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Video Game testimonial
>I wanted to say too that years back when I was first involve in
> homeschooling discussions, the best things most people had ever heard
> or could come up with to defend video games was "It helps with hand/
> eye coordination."
>
> It was asserted seriously, as though that were all it could possibly do.
>
> I think that's as smallminded as saying tennis helps with eye/hand
> coordination, or oil painting helps with eye hand coordination, or
> playing an instrument formally (reading music and playing a clarinet
> say, or piano or cello) "improves eye/hand coordination."
>
>
> There is another thought, too, that might not be taken well by all,
> but I'll risk it on this list. Some of the people who really can't
> see any benefit even after watching a chid play (or worse, who can 't
> manage to gather the attention span to calmly and thoughtfully engage
> in watching a child play a good, difficult video game) are just not
> as smart as those who can watch for fifteen minutes and come up with
> a dozen intellectual activities and skills at play besides "eye/hand
> coordination."
>
> But then there is that perspective, too—is a parent looking at a
> child through school-colored glass, or looking directly and
> expansively at her child in the real world?
> One is very small, and right on one of those early-years checklists
> is "eye/hand coordination."
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
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