Video Game limitations
Melissa
Hi all, just wanted to share something, that maybe will help those who are still struggling
with videogames (or maybe it won't help at all, but I thought it was interesting)
We stopped video game limitations probably about two years ago, and the kids had a
definite upsurge in time spent, and then a decrease, averaging about two hours a day
when they were fully past that testing period. I didn't think anything of it, didn't even track
it because it was too difficult, with six kids playing, plus dh and I, who know how long
anyone actually playing any game?
Well, when we got the Wii in December, there was again the upsurge in playing, and then
the decrease. The funny thing is yesterday Josh was drawing a chart. I thought that was a
little odd, so I asked what was up, and he explained that the wii keeps track of your daily
playing, and he was charting it to see what it looked like. How funny! So the first day he
had it, between the lot of us, we played for SIXTEEN HOURS. That's pretty much every
waking hour of the day. Of course, some of us sleep later than others and stay up later
than others, however, it's still a lot of playing time. After about six weeks, it drops to six
hours a day, which is less than an hour for each of us, approximately, taking into account
that we have only one wiimote and have to take turns playing. At eight weeks, Josh's
birthday occurred, he got three new games, and playing went up a little, but not a whole
bunch.
So it really emphasizes that novelty will increase playing time, and the longer you keep it a
novelty, the longer playing time will be. However!! I'm not saying that you should drop
limitations with the hope of seeing a child decrease playing time, that's not the point at all.
.Josh still plays the game system about four to five hours a day. He loves it, and it's fun,
and it doesn't matter in the slightest if it's educational. I have friends who will only let their
children do things that 'edify' them. Well, that's great, but to be honest, *I* don't want to
only do things that make me a better person. I love surfing the web following a train of
thought and reading snopes, I read lots of horror and scifi, which does nothing more for
me than makes me happy. I have four or five hobbies that I only touch on rare occasions,
and I don't even consider it 'quitting' when I set it aside, I'm 'saving it' for when I'm in the
mood.
Melissa
with videogames (or maybe it won't help at all, but I thought it was interesting)
We stopped video game limitations probably about two years ago, and the kids had a
definite upsurge in time spent, and then a decrease, averaging about two hours a day
when they were fully past that testing period. I didn't think anything of it, didn't even track
it because it was too difficult, with six kids playing, plus dh and I, who know how long
anyone actually playing any game?
Well, when we got the Wii in December, there was again the upsurge in playing, and then
the decrease. The funny thing is yesterday Josh was drawing a chart. I thought that was a
little odd, so I asked what was up, and he explained that the wii keeps track of your daily
playing, and he was charting it to see what it looked like. How funny! So the first day he
had it, between the lot of us, we played for SIXTEEN HOURS. That's pretty much every
waking hour of the day. Of course, some of us sleep later than others and stay up later
than others, however, it's still a lot of playing time. After about six weeks, it drops to six
hours a day, which is less than an hour for each of us, approximately, taking into account
that we have only one wiimote and have to take turns playing. At eight weeks, Josh's
birthday occurred, he got three new games, and playing went up a little, but not a whole
bunch.
So it really emphasizes that novelty will increase playing time, and the longer you keep it a
novelty, the longer playing time will be. However!! I'm not saying that you should drop
limitations with the hope of seeing a child decrease playing time, that's not the point at all.
.Josh still plays the game system about four to five hours a day. He loves it, and it's fun,
and it doesn't matter in the slightest if it's educational. I have friends who will only let their
children do things that 'edify' them. Well, that's great, but to be honest, *I* don't want to
only do things that make me a better person. I love surfing the web following a train of
thought and reading snopes, I read lots of horror and scifi, which does nothing more for
me than makes me happy. I have four or five hobbies that I only touch on rare occasions,
and I don't even consider it 'quitting' when I set it aside, I'm 'saving it' for when I'm in the
mood.
Melissa
plaidpanties666
I'm laughing at myself... I saw this heading and thought "Yeah, I have
terrible games limitations - it took me two days to figure out how to
finish that quest on...oh, wait, that's *not* what she means!"
Unschooling warps your mind.
In a good way, of course ;)
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
terrible games limitations - it took me two days to figure out how to
finish that quest on...oh, wait, that's *not* what she means!"
Unschooling warps your mind.
In a good way, of course ;)
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
Vickisue Gray
Me Too!
I rely on my very smart teenage friends to help me through quest.
Lol, if they set limitations, what would I do???
Thanks for the giggle.
It was needed today.
plaidpanties666 <plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
I'm laughing at myself... I saw this heading and thought "Yeah, I have
terrible games limitations - it took me two days to figure out how to
finish that quest on...oh, wait, that's *not* what she means!"
Unschooling warps your mind.
In a good way, of course ;)
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
---------------------------------
Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I rely on my very smart teenage friends to help me through quest.
Lol, if they set limitations, what would I do???
Thanks for the giggle.
It was needed today.
plaidpanties666 <plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
I'm laughing at myself... I saw this heading and thought "Yeah, I have
terrible games limitations - it took me two days to figure out how to
finish that quest on...oh, wait, that's *not* what she means!"
Unschooling warps your mind.
In a good way, of course ;)
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
---------------------------------
Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ren Allen
~~I rely on my very smart teenage friends to help me through quest.
Lol, if they set limitations, what would I do???~~
Same here! I'm very game limited.:)
My kids try to leave the room when I'm trying something and I freak
out..."NO WAIT, I need your heeeelllllpp!"
They roll their eyes at my sorry gaming abilities.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
Lol, if they set limitations, what would I do???~~
Same here! I'm very game limited.:)
My kids try to leave the room when I'm trying something and I freak
out..."NO WAIT, I need your heeeelllllpp!"
They roll their eyes at my sorry gaming abilities.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
[email protected]
Hi,
Melissa wrote:
It was either non-fiction on topics directly related to my life (not some topic that "simply" interested me). Or fiction, but then either in a language I wasn't too good at, or at least by an author from a country I was learning about, and so on.
I sure enjoyed all this reading, but nevertheless it was never for-fun-*only*. Now I'm wondering. Is that the way it has to be, like learning from *everything* we do, or is it some kind of "must not waste time on doing nonsense"? It wasn't a conscious decission back then, it just happened.
Well, just trying to understand myself while deschooling...
Ana,
dd6 and dd4
--
Der GMX SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen!
Ideal für Modem und ISDN: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/smartsurfer
Melissa wrote:
> He loves it, and it's fun, and it doesn't matter in the slightest if it'sI discovered recently that I was doing exactly that. Reading to educate me.
> educational. I have friends who will only let their children do things
> that 'edify' them. Well, that's great, but to be honest, *I* don't want
> to only do things that make me a better person.
It was either non-fiction on topics directly related to my life (not some topic that "simply" interested me). Or fiction, but then either in a language I wasn't too good at, or at least by an author from a country I was learning about, and so on.
I sure enjoyed all this reading, but nevertheless it was never for-fun-*only*. Now I'm wondering. Is that the way it has to be, like learning from *everything* we do, or is it some kind of "must not waste time on doing nonsense"? It wasn't a conscious decission back then, it just happened.
Well, just trying to understand myself while deschooling...
Ana,
dd6 and dd4
--
Der GMX SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen!
Ideal für Modem und ISDN: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/smartsurfer
Melissa
OMG...that's so funny. But now that you mention it....lol!
Josh was on the phone with a friend and started to leave the room...I was like "WAIT...can
you help me to the end of the boss stage?". I could hear his friend say "Who is THAT?" "Oh,
my mom, she loves video games but she's high maintainance on them" LOL! But he gladly
helped me and his friend thinks it's cool that I try. :-P I just want Zelda for the Wii, but all
of our money has gone for points to buy the classic games.
Melissa
Josh was on the phone with a friend and started to leave the room...I was like "WAIT...can
you help me to the end of the boss stage?". I could hear his friend say "Who is THAT?" "Oh,
my mom, she loves video games but she's high maintainance on them" LOL! But he gladly
helped me and his friend thinks it's cool that I try. :-P I just want Zelda for the Wii, but all
of our money has gone for points to buy the classic games.
Melissa
--- In [email protected], Vickisue Gray <vickisue_gray@...> wrote:
>
> Me Too!
> I rely on my very smart teenage friends to help me through quest.
> Lol, if they set limitations, what would I do???
>
> Thanks for the giggle.
> It was needed today.
>
>
> plaidpanties666 <plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
> I'm laughing at myself... I saw this heading and thought "Yeah, I have
> terrible games limitations - it took me two days to figure out how to
> finish that quest on...oh, wait, that's *not* what she means!"
>
> Unschooling warps your mind.
> In a good way, of course ;)
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
> in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Lisa
Oh I am SOOOO glad that there are other parents out there like that!!!
My kids got Guitar Hero for Christmas and it took me DAYS to figure
out how to play the game!! I am proud to say I am pretty competent at
it.... we won't talk about how stumped I am by most of the other games
but the Guitar Hero thing makes sense to my brain! Until we got GH I
thought I was somehow mentally deficient that I couldn't figure out
how to get a stinking little frog across the highway without him
meeting his death under a semi truck!! And don't even get me started
on that purple dragon (spyro) and all his adventures.
Lisa Blocker
My kids got Guitar Hero for Christmas and it took me DAYS to figure
out how to play the game!! I am proud to say I am pretty competent at
it.... we won't talk about how stumped I am by most of the other games
but the Guitar Hero thing makes sense to my brain! Until we got GH I
thought I was somehow mentally deficient that I couldn't figure out
how to get a stinking little frog across the highway without him
meeting his death under a semi truck!! And don't even get me started
on that purple dragon (spyro) and all his adventures.
Lisa Blocker
> ~~I rely on my very smart teenage friends to help me through quest.
> Lol, if they set limitations, what would I do???~~
>
> Same here! I'm very game limited.:)
> My kids try to leave the room when I'm trying something and I freak
> out..."NO WAIT, I need your heeeelllllpp!"
>
> They roll their eyes at my sorry gaming abilities.
>
> Ren
> learninginfreedom.com
>
Chip And Cathy Craven
My kids try to leave the room when I'm trying something and I freak
out..."NO WAIT, I need your heeeelllllpp!"
I laughed at this comment, Ren, because I usually do the same thing. :-) BUT...I have FINALLY discovered a video game that I can actually play w/o assistance from my children...YAY!!! My 14-year-old ds got Guitar Hero 2 last weekend and it is AWESOME! I made it all the way through Van Halen's "You Really Got Me" (albeit on the EASY level, but I usually never make it that far even in practice mode in other games) and I was literally shouting and dancing around the room because I was so proud of myself! My kids were a little frightened, but they got over it. ;-)
Cathy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
out..."NO WAIT, I need your heeeelllllpp!"
I laughed at this comment, Ren, because I usually do the same thing. :-) BUT...I have FINALLY discovered a video game that I can actually play w/o assistance from my children...YAY!!! My 14-year-old ds got Guitar Hero 2 last weekend and it is AWESOME! I made it all the way through Van Halen's "You Really Got Me" (albeit on the EASY level, but I usually never make it that far even in practice mode in other games) and I was literally shouting and dancing around the room because I was so proud of myself! My kids were a little frightened, but they got over it. ;-)
Cathy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
riasplace3
--- In [email protected], "Lisa" <jlblock01@...> wrote:
Until we got GH I
> thought I was somehow mentally deficient that I couldn't figure out
> how to get a stinking little frog across the highway without him
> meeting his death under a semi truck!!
LOL! This brings back memories of my Mom and Aunt playing Frogger
(back in the Atari days) and the way they screamed when their frog got
run over! We kids were literally rolling the floor laughing...they
were SO funny. I bet my kids think the same things about me. lol
Ria
[email protected]
We still love Frogger!!! We have PC version and Playstation 2- I think I like it more than the kids!!! (AND I can actually understand it and get through some of the lower levels)
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "riasplace3" <riasplace3@...>
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "riasplace3" <riasplace3@...>
--- In [email protected], "Lisa" <jlblock01@...> wrote:
Until we got GH I
> thought I was somehow mentally deficient that I couldn't figure out
> how to get a stinking little frog across the highway without him
> meeting his death under a semi truck!!
LOL! This brings back memories of my Mom and Aunt playing Frogger
(back in the Atari days) and the way they screamed when their frog got
run over! We kids were literally rolling the floor laughing...they
were SO funny. I bet my kids think the same things about me. lol
Ria
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], "riasplace3"
<riasplace3@...> wrote:
think it was "Stupid Evil Bastard" actually) and downloaded them. He's
sooooooo not into modern games, but he just loves the clunky old ones.
He also still has a record player and a gazillion records.
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
<riasplace3@...> wrote:
> This brings back memories of my Mom and Aunt playing Froggergot
> (back in the Atari days) and the way they screamed when their frog
> run over!George just found a bunch of old Atari games on some sight or other (I
think it was "Stupid Evil Bastard" actually) and downloaded them. He's
sooooooo not into modern games, but he just loves the clunky old ones.
He also still has a record player and a gazillion records.
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
Ginger Sabo
Bless George! I wish I still had all my LPs too!!! And the clunky games were easier for me, cause I don't see fast. I can't wait till my kids start into the high tech games you guys are all talking about. I'll be blown away and desperately trying to learn them! Maybe someone will create an adult class at one of the Conferences for those needing help with the games...
In Peace,
Ginger (gaming challenged)
Kai(7) and Kade(5)
LOVE has impact.
"It's not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences." - Audre Lorde
----- Original Message ----
From: plaidpanties666 <plaidpanties666@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 4:12:44 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Video Game limitations
--- In unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com, "riasplace3"
<riasplace3@ ...> wrote:
think it was "Stupid Evil Bastard" actually) and downloaded them. He's
sooooooo not into modern games, but he just loves the clunky old ones.
He also still has a record player and a gazillion records.
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
____________________________________________________________________________________
The fish are biting.
Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing.
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
In Peace,
Ginger (gaming challenged)
Kai(7) and Kade(5)
LOVE has impact.
"It's not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences." - Audre Lorde
----- Original Message ----
From: plaidpanties666 <plaidpanties666@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 4:12:44 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Video Game limitations
--- In unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com, "riasplace3"
<riasplace3@ ...> wrote:
> This brings back memories of my Mom and Aunt playing Froggergot
> (back in the Atari days) and the way they screamed when their frog
> run over!George just found a bunch of old Atari games on some sight or other (I
think it was "Stupid Evil Bastard" actually) and downloaded them. He's
sooooooo not into modern games, but he just loves the clunky old ones.
He also still has a record player and a gazillion records.
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
____________________________________________________________________________________
The fish are biting.
Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing.
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
riasplace3
> He also still has a record player and a gazillion records.lol...My DH keeps on dragging old record players and records in..."But
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
LOOK, it still WORKS!" lol
Ria
plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], Ginger Sabo <kaikade@...>
wrote:
know what I mean ;)
---Meredith
wrote:
> Bless George!Just as long as you don't "Bless his heart" - you're in TN, so you
know what I mean ;)
---Meredith
[email protected]
Hey I loved Frogger as a kid!!
We now have the Atari Flashback 2.o but it doesn't come with Frogger....
WAH!
Jenn outside of Houston </HTML>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
We now have the Atari Flashback 2.o but it doesn't come with Frogger....
WAH!
Jenn outside of Houston </HTML>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]