When my son was five-years-old, he wanted nothing to do with Bob Books or any other kind of Early Reader. They were too boring.
Instead, I had to sneak in material that he wanted to read. Cunning mother that I am, I gave him a Nintendo DS with Pokémon games. I knew that he would have to read the instructions to advance in the game. He couldn’t avoid practicing his reading skills.
“Play your video games son!” I said, knowing that he would learn while playing.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. Playing video games was never a substitute for reading a book. He still worked through phonics lessons at school and at home, as well as reading those boring Bob Books. And we read to him during – morning snuggles, chilly afternoons by the fire, long soaks in the bath, and every bedtime.
Following a current series of articles in The New York Times, The Future of Reading by Motoko Rich, I’m finding that I’m not the only one to adopt this 21st Century Reading Strategy.
In this series, Motoko Rich looks at how the Internet and other technology is changing the way people read. The first article, Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? questioned whether the Internet is diminishing literacy while the second, Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers, suggests that, on the contrary, digital technology may actually encourage reading.
Some gaming advocates suggest that video games may help with that. The reading that gamers do in instructional manuals, strategy guides or message boards, though often cryptic and more technical than narrative, might serve as a “gateway drug for literacy,” said Constance Steinkuehler, an assistant professor in the school of education also at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Based on our experience, I would have to agree that video games can inspire a child to read other materials. In his developing passion for all things Pokémon, my son consumed any and all related material. He started reading Pokémon books and writing his own Pokémon stories.
Meanwhile, he realized that he enjoyed myths, legends, and fantasies. Soon, he started reading books that were well above grade level because he was interested in those kinds of stories.
From Pokémon to The Lightning Thief, it’s an easy leap.
More Articles On Video Games and Pokémon:
Who Wins With Game Boy Cheats?
A Game Ethics Lesson From The Karate Kid
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“Playing video games was never a substitute for reading a book.”
My son, now 13, developed his reading skills from playing videogames and having to read the instructions and he’s an excellent reader. He hasn’t read a book since he was taken out of school at the age of seven.
Even though I’m a bibliophile myself, in this day and age there are more efficient ways to learn to read than having the words in a format that requires you to hold something in your hand and physically turn pages.
This is great. I bought my son Pokemon when he was 3 and I’ll just say I learned to read very well from it. LOL
I agree that any chance you can get to have your kids read while they are doing something they like is a good thing.
My daughter reads very well and it started with video games at the age of 4. She went to school and learned what she was supposed to but her love of reading stems from that.
My youngest also loved his DS before he loved books. When the boys were smaller they had to read to me for 15-30 minutes, depending on their age, before they could start playing their video games. Granted, they usually read books about Pokemon but hey- it was reading
Hi! I found you through the Twitter Mom’s Blogging Mom’s group. Great blog you have here!
My hubby has played video games since he was a teen and now he’s a nuclear engineer. You always learn no matter what game you are playing.
It does help with reading skills. One of the things we do now that my son is 13 is he reads out loud various articles from his two magazine subscriptions, Nintendo Power and GameInformer. I don’t always understand what he’s reading to me, but he understands it. He usually goes on to comment on what he has just read to me. Now I just have to get him to blog about those comments along with telling me.
His favorite online games are Renaissance-based MMORPGs. He loves that period of history, and those games require reading long game strategy manuals and learning the history of the era to gain an edge on other players.
It’s not reading like we read, but it is definitely reading and it’s above grade level in most cases.
If I had only been so motivated when I was learning! I hated to read until I was older and got glasses so I could see. Had I played video games my vision problems would have been found much earlier in my life.
Anyway, parents, don’t fret. Just make sure the games your kids play require reading and possibly have magazine and strategy guides to add extra reading.