Reply #28: Yes, I learned to read at home, too. I played video games, but

[Ladyhawk]

not until I was in junior high. At that point, school requirements were very high.

I think I might have screwed up with my nephew by encouraging him to play video games when he was too young. He wants to be a programmer, but I sometimes wonder if he will be skilled enough. He gets good grades, but he's totally addicted to gaming.

Yet gaming with real people at an early age taught him tactics. He's better at tactics than I am. The kid was playing Descent online when he was five years old. Descent is a game that requires the pilot of a ship (first person) to master six degrees of movement: forward/backward; pitch up/pitch down; turn right/turn left; roll right/roll left; slide up/slide down and slide left/slide right. At age five, my nephew could pilot the ship and plan ahead to defeat online players. One night we ran into a guy who claimed to be a child psychologist. He told me that my nephew could NOT be five because his thinking was too advanced. :) Interactive gaming can teach some skills, but it might stifle creativity.

When my nephew got older, I tried to teach him how to build, upgrade and fix computers. This requires critical thinking skills when something goes wrong. I wanted to teach him how to think for himself, but he was always distracted by the next gaming session. :shrug: I guess I'll see how he does in the future. Thank GOODNESS I am not his parent. Then I'd have to feel more guilty. I was just the indulging auntie.