[email protected]

In a message dated 09/05/2001 9:26:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:


> I just got AOE 2 at Costco for $39.99 with a $20 Costco rebate. Nice. I
> am not letting myself open it until I burn out a bit on the Sims, my
> current passion... Cacie plays some but isn't as into it as some of our
> friends and I. She enjoys doing things like making her Sims pee their
> pants because she hasn't bought them a toilet, whereas I start to stress
> as soon as any of their scales go at all into the red....
>
> Daron, not making sense to any non-sims-ers, I'm sure...
>
>
>

We all love, love, love The Sims. I am addicted to downloading new "stuff"
for them. My partner likes to have or adopt many, many children. My son makes
odd households with people with odd names. We often speak "simmish" in our
real household now.

Kathryn



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/5/02 8:49:07 AM Central Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:

<< I guess I just want to make sure I'm not spending alot

of money on something that is going to become obsolete or even broken in a
few

months. >>

Don't forget pawn shops. We bought our N64 system for $50 (my son did
actually) complete with controllers and all necessary adapters. They even
threw in a couple of games!!
We especially like the Zelda series of Nintendo games....I stink at it, but
they're really cool!

Ren

Alan & Brenda Leonard

> I'm wondering which ones are the best to
>
> buy? He would like Game Boy Advance or any Nintendo or Playstation.

We like the game boy advance for its portability, and if you use rechargable
batteries, there's not so much waste/expense with them (it takes 2AA).
There sure seems to be enough variety out there for our family -- I bought
it for my son, who plays pacman and chess on it, but Dad plays chess on it,
too, and I play tetris after they both go to bed! :)

We had a game boy color long ago, which was stolen, so we got advance. It
is nicer, in my mind. Bigger screen. The only problem I've ever had with
it was the theft of the first one. Small is easier to steal, I suppose, but
it also goes to all sorts of "boring" meetings and on the train and in the
car.

brenda

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/16/2003 10:18:53 PM Eastern Standard Time,
zenmomma@... writes:

> >>Trust your smart, sweet boy to play as long as he needs to.
> It'll pass.>>
>
> Or it won't. But it will evolve and meander and inspire and challenge and
> move him on a path you could never have imagined.

Mary's right; it might not. <G> Or it might take a loooong time.

I was horse crazy as a child. My mother thought it would just pass---ALL
little girls are horse crazy, right? She happily paid for piano lessons for
three years (6-9), and then dance lessons for four years (9-13), while I
begged constantly for riding lessons. She wanted a sweet, little musical
dancer for a daughter---NOT a grubby, dirty rider. Besides it's dangerous!

By 13, I was old enough (and maybe LOUD enough) to be heard and I finally got
riding lessons. I was obsessed. Daddy got me my first horse when I was 14. My
second when I was 16. That's all I did (well, a little dog training too) when
I wasn't in school. I rode hunters, jumpers, eventers. College came and went.
At 22 I rode racehorses for Frank Whitely. At 24 I opened a tack shop; I was
STILL horse obsessed! I rode a litle after getting married and a dozen or so
times after having Cameron, but it's finally something that I DID. The
obsession's over! <G>

But I had a good "career" in horses. It WAS something I would do all day to
the exclusion of a lot of things.

Luckily for many of us, Stephen Spielburg's mama didn't harp on his constant
movie-viewing and -making. <G>

There's no crystal ball to see what our children will "become", but they're
do damned good at being who/what they are RIGHT NOW! Video gaming *could*
play right into his future.

Sandra has a wonderful tape of the benefits of video gaming as well as some
articles up on her site. You should buy the tape and visit the site!

~Kelly, the horse has-been. They STILL are pretty, though!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deborah Lewis

***Luckily for many of us, Stephen Spielburg's mama didn't harp on his
constant
movie-viewing and -making. <G>***

I think about this all the time. If we could know today what our
children would be doing in ten or fifteen or twenty years, what their
passions would be, so much of what they do now would make perfect sense
to us.
Whatever we stifle in our children today not only affects their future
but maybe the whole world.
Thomas Edison's mom knew that. ( And Stephen Spielburg's!<g>)

Deb L
"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original
dimensions."
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.~

Tia Leschke

> ***Luckily for many of us, Stephen Spielburg's mama didn't harp on his
> constant
> movie-viewing and -making. <G>***

My daughter knows someone whose son watched TV and videos almost full time
growing up. The lad grew up to be a movie producer. But my daughter still
can't bring herself to have TV at home, which means that the granddaughter
watches obsessively when she does get the chance . . . sigh.
>
> I think about this all the time. If we could know today what our
> children would be doing in ten or fifteen or twenty years, what their
> passions would be, so much of what they do now would make perfect sense
> to us.
> Whatever we stifle in our children today not only affects their future
> but maybe the whole world.
> Thomas Edison's mom knew that. ( And Stephen Spielburg's!<g>)

This is why I liked Nancy Wallace's book Child's Work so much. She went
back and looked at what her small kids were obsessive about in their play,
then showed how it led to what they eventually did as young adults.
Tia

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/18/2003 1:50:31 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ddzimlew@... writes:


> I think about this all the time. If we could know today what our
> children would be doing in ten or fifteen or twenty years, what their
> passions would be, so much of what they do now would make perfect sense
> to us.
> Whatever we stifle in our children today not only affects their future
> but maybe the whole world.
> Thomas Edison's mom knew that. ( And Stephen Spielberg's!<g>)

From what we can tell from here & now, Duncan will be a superhero.

Mom of a superhero---how cool! <G>

~Kelly


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ALL

Hello fellow unschoolers!!

I have ages 12 and down in my home and since the
oldest was an infant, we have provided and encouraged
computers. They have helped to teach practically
everything.

The computer GAMES were a worry to me and my husband
at first until we realized that some of the games
enhanced such things as general knowledge, vocabulary,
writing, spelling, eye-hand coordination,
inventiveness, thinking skills, imagination (yes there
is a place for this in games, plus it is enhanced by
the sights sounds colours and ideas presented in each
game), and also basic skills practice. My kids play
games specifically intended for and also not geared
towards typical "educational" programs. Both
varieties teach and enhance to some degree.

I was amazed and delighted when my younger child
brought up more advanced vocabulary the other day in
general conversation. When asked where she had learned
this, she told me all about the elaborate game
situation in which she had been involved and it was a
great conversation.

My son can go on about historical references facts and
figures and name all sorts of weaponry et/cetera.
Fascinating that a game like Battlefield 1942 gave
some insight into some popular historical times.

EVERYTHING is educational. It depends absolutely upon
your perceptions. ~Amy Loughrey, unschoolerof3@...












> Subject: Re: video games
>
> ***Luckily for many of us, Stephen Spielburg's mama
> didn't harp on his
> constant
> movie-viewing and -making. <G>***
>
> I think about this all the time. If we could know
> today what our
> children would be doing in ten or fifteen or twenty
> years, what their
> passions would be, so much of what they do now would
> make perfect sense
> to us.
> Whatever we stifle in our children today not only
> affects their future
> but maybe the whole world.
> Thomas Edison's mom knew that. ( And Stephen
> Spielburg's!<g>)
>
> Deb L
> "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never
> regains its original
> dimensions."
> ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.~


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com

Deborah Lewis

On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 17:22:42 EST kbcdlovejo@... writes:

***From what we can tell from here & now, Duncan will be a superhero.***

Excellent! There seems to be a drastic shortage of those. <g>

Deb L

sonyacurti

Hi everyone,
I'm a newbie at this posting thing. I recently bought my 7 year old
a PS 2 and I'm worried. He will not move from there !! He barely
eats and stops just to go the bathroom. I never wanted to buy one of
these before because of this reason !! I know it's still new and
HOPEFULLY the newness will wear off. He seemed so innocent to me
before - use to ride his bike for hours and play make pretend with
his imagination for hours on end. I feel as though I took his
innocence away I wish I waited till he got older for video games. I
could just be paronoid but if someone has any different veiws please
let me know.

Thanks ,
Sonya

joylyn

Lexie and Janene got a ps 1 over a year ago. For the first few months,
they played ALL the time. So did we.

Now if it is turned on in a week, and played for a week, then that's a lot.

Let him play, I say. If you restrict it, it will become a power struggle.

Joylyn

sonyacurti wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> I'm a newbie at this posting thing. I recently bought my 7 year old
> a PS 2 and I'm worried. He will not move from there !! He barely
> eats and stops just to go the bathroom. I never wanted to buy one of
> these before because of this reason !! I know it's still new and
> HOPEFULLY the newness will wear off. He seemed so innocent to me
> before - use to ride his bike for hours and play make pretend with
> his imagination for hours on end. I feel as though I took his
> innocence away I wish I waited till he got older for video games. I
> could just be paronoid but if someone has any different veiws please
> let me know.
>
> Thanks ,
> Sonya
>
>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Heidi

Hi Sonya

Lemme tell you about imagination. First of all, your boy is probably
going to play a lot at first. Let him. It won't ruin his imagination;
it will just give him something new to attach it to.

Example. The other day, we're driving down the road (backroad, in the
country) and my 10 year old son is riding shotgun, seatbelt around
his waist, but not around his shoulders, window down, head out the
window. He was on the lookout for...Rock Monsters, I think it was.

The sound effects emanating from this boy were a wonder to behold,
and once in awhile he'd pull his head in and "type" firing orders on
the dashboard, then back out the window again w/the sound effects.
Once, he pulled inside and said "Did you see THAT?"

...er, no...

"I got a THOUSAND of them, with just that one shot! It's the blaster
bomb we picked up back there. It can destroy many rock monsters in
one shot." LOL he's been doing computer game sound effects since he
was three years old.

In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" I was pleased to read about
imaginative play that Jem and Scout engaged in...they played what I
imagine lots of kids read in those days: The Rover Boys. It's
mentioned just in passing, Scout missing Jem because he's getting too
big to play Rover Boys.

My dad played Indians a la Last of the Mohicans. My brother and I
played Gunsmoke, because it was a favorite tv show in our house. I'm
sure our play time was riddled with characters and plots from many
shows, cartoons, books, and so forth. I'm sure every crop of kids
does the same thing, whether the source is books, shows, or these
days video games.

The newness will wear off, and he'll have some new material from
which to concoct his play time. Honest.

blessings, HeidiC

--- In [email protected], "sonyacurti"
<jcurtielectric@m...> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> I'm a newbie at this posting thing. I recently bought my 7 year
old
> a PS 2 and I'm worried. He will not move from there !! He barely
> eats and stops just to go the bathroom. I never wanted to buy one
of
> these before because of this reason !! I know it's still new and
> HOPEFULLY the newness will wear off. He seemed so innocent to me
> before - use to ride his bike for hours and play make pretend with
> his imagination for hours on end. I feel as though I took his
> innocence away I wish I waited till he got older for video games.
I
> could just be paronoid but if someone has any different veiws
please
> let me know.
>
> Thanks ,
> Sonya

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/28/03 3:34:09 PM, jcurtielectric@... writes:

<< I never wanted to buy one of

these before because of this reason !! >>

My sister had three kids all close in age, and about my boys' ages. They're
all teens now.
When they were little, Kirby (mine) had a Nintendo, but she said she would
NEVER buy a game system, because when her kids got around one that's all they
wanted to do and they'd fight over it. She said she would spend her money on
something else.

I said "Would you rather get something that's not worth fighting over?"

We discussed WHY kids would be so fascinated with something that it was worth
fighting over, and what good there could be in something so mesmerizingly
wonderful that they could do it for hours.

Sounds like an excellent use of money to me!

<<if someone has any different veiws please

let me know.>>

Lots of views here:

http://sandradodd.com/games/page

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/28/03 4:13:01 PM, bunsofaluminum60@... writes:

<< The sound effects emanating from this boy were a wonder to behold,

and once in awhile he'd pull his head in and "type" firing orders on

the dashboard, then back out the window again w/the sound effects.

Once, he pulled inside and said "Did you see THAT?"

>>

Last weekend Holly and I were at a restaurant (well, a bar; well a saloon)
and there was a little boy we didn't know, about five or six. He was standing
by himself between us and the stage where a band was playing. Very intently he
reached over, turned a key, looked like, pulled something (invisible) out of
a(n invisible) console, struck a pose, and shuddered and stretched and
repositioned himself and looked in the face bigger and different, and walked away
with a different posture.

"Did you see him transform!?"

Holly said "Yeah!"

Clearly transforming. <g>

Sandra

Gary m and Mary Anne Taylor

Hi Sonya,
When we were relaxed HSing, my younger dd was about 8, and the first computer games came into our house (if those are a lot different from 'video games', I plead ignorance).....before that we had restricted computer time and TV. She began to play one of them, Caveman Rocks, a lot- not quite all the time, but every time she got a chance. So, we just let her, and she would come and get us to show us which level she'd gotten to, or how something worked. She looked a little obsessed (if there is such a thing) by the game.
Then she got as far as she wanted to go, and stopped playing. Once or twice in the year and a half since, she has tried it. She learned all she could from it and that was it- now it's of practically no interest. I could try to put what she learned into educationese, but I'm lazy or too busy learning other things myself. Since then I've been more willing to trust and let something burn itself out, and am in process of looking at our families unwritten rules about following interests, spending money, what is of value, etc......Hope this helps......
Mary T.


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sonyacurti

Thanks again to all of you who responded.
Pam, I actually did play with my son and we had a lot of fun
together. Well I did he kept yelling no mom you don't know how to
play !! LOL................ Anyway I was watching him drive on his
James bond game and I was laughing hysterically and he was getting a
kick out of it. He kept reassuring me he wouldn't really drive like
that in real life. LOL................... It is a lot of fun !!!!!!

I will look into the game guides you described to me Sandra. I have
not seen them as of yet but I am interested in looking to understand
in how I can help him further his game.
Thanks again,
Sonya

24hrmom

<<Pam, I actually did play with my son and we had a lot of fun
together. Well I did he kept yelling no mom you don't know how to
play !! LOL>>

Just last night I too was told I was doing it all wrong! ;-)

The game guides are great as is the Nintendo Power magazine (if you have a Nintendo system). My son reads them all the time. The other thing he uses a lot is www.gamefaqs.com since lately we've found published guides harder to come by (we don't have any gaming-specific stores nearby). They have guides and FAQs written by players ... usually multiple ones per game so he can choose the style that he likes best. You can read them to him for now, though I'd bet having something interesting to read will help him pick it up.

On a related note, my son's a bit older (11) and just this week he got set up for online gaming through his gamecube ... he's having an awesome time! Finally found himself some players that are up to his skill level! And now he's learning all about computer chat acronyms. LOL!!

Pam L.


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sonyacurti

Hey Pam,
Thanks for that site GameFAQ"s I went there to check it out. Do I
have to join to get the information ??????? It appears that way. It
is chuck full of stuff - thanks again.
Sonya

24hrmom

<<Thanks for that site GameFAQ"s I went there to check it out. Do I
have to join to get the information ??????? It appears that way. >>

Nope .. you only have to join if you want to post on the message boards.

When you get there you can find stuff various ways: search for the game title in the search box on the left; click on the system you want at the top which brings up an alphabetical list of the games for that system; or if the game is popular they have the top ten FAQ pages listed at the right. Click on the game title and that brings up the info for that game. There are links across the top for the various pages about that game: game info, faqs & guides, codes & secrets, reviews, message board. In the faqs & guides section they break it down into general faqs / walkthroughs for the whole game (or as far as the person has gotten), and in-depth faqs that focus on one aspect of the game (collecting stuff, boss battles etc.).

Enjoy!

Pam L



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sonyacurti

Thanks Pam !! I really like that site !! Joey and I went on to check
it out this mornig and we read about a (007 James Bond) game that he
is playing. I was reading some of the stuff to him and he liked it.
Also when he was playing later he remembered what we had read and got
excitied about the information that he got to read ahead of the
game. Thanks again
Sonya

P.S. My son Joey likes the taste of sleepy-time tea by "Celestial
Seasonings" I add sugar to it because he likes it sweet and I think
it works. I know it relaxes him anyway.

Also I'm so glad to hear about your daughters reading. Did you like
the Harry Potter books ? I wonder if Joey is to young for those (7
years) they are pretty big books !!!!

[email protected]

In a message dated 12/13/2003 8:29:27 AM Eastern Standard Time,
jcurtielectric@... writes:
<<It always amazes me what these little minds are working on. I have a
friend who doesn't let her children have video games and doesn't
really veiw television as a good thing(she homeschools). I use to be
that way. I ran into her at a public place and my son loves to share
his excitment with everyone he sees about his video games. He thinks
it's so facinating how he figures things out and loves to talk non-
stop about it. I thought she would lecture me about why it wasn't a
good thing and she surprised me. She said maybe you'll grow up and
design video games Joey :)>>


My eleven year old son loves to talk about video games with absolutely anyone
he meets whether they're interested or not. (Sometimes embarrassing me with
his enthusiasm.) Recently he started volunteering at a retirement community,
and after his first day, he said he didn't know what to talk to the men about.
I said why not bring in your video games next week. Well he did and they
all loved playing. I think he's on his way to forming some new gaming
friendships with the over 100 crowd.


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