Miranda:  “Carla, my son’s reading is still so bad. I’m about to lose it. I can’t believe it. He’s been struggling with reading for years, and no matter how much tutoring he gets, it seems like he’s not making any progress. His reading scores are still so low. I’m at my wits’ end, and I’ve decided to take away all of his video games.”

Carla:  “I understand how you feel, my son struggled with reading too.  I remember how frustrated I was. Constantly practicing and then he’d just seem to backslide. He’s so much better now. Loves to read and his grades have improved because of it. 

Miranda: What did you do?

Carla: Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Video games were part of the secret. So don’t throw out that Xbox just yet.

Miranda: Video Games? How in the world could video games help? All they do is waste his time. He almost seems addicted.

Carla: Well there’s a couple of things. You can get a few different benefits if you use them right.

Miranda: Like How? Sorry Carla, but that seems ridiculous

Carla: Well, first, there’s some research that shows that certain video games can help with visual attention. Like, first-person shooter games make you track multiple things at once, so it’s like a workout for the brain.

Miranda: Oh that’s interesting. I hadn’t thought of that.

Carla: Yeah, they can build visual tracking skills. Problems in visual tracking can cause reading to be really hard. Letters can even seem to jump around. Then fatigue sets in. Sometimes headaches. And focus goes out the window.

Miranda: Maybe that’s why Jake gets so irritable when he does homework?

Carla: Could be. And there’s more.  Well there’s also research that says some video games increase information processing speed. That certainly helps with reading and comprehension too. A kid’s brain is doing a lot when they read so you’ve got to help them build all the underlying skills. That helps reading.

Miranda: Interesting. So just I just let him play all the video games he wants? He keeps asking for some game called Naughty Bear. Cute little stuffed animal thing I guess.

 

Carla: Oh no. Ya gotta use some Mom strategy. Pick the right games, in the right amount, and come up with a plan.

Miranda: Ugh, sounds like work.

Carla: Not really. it’s Easy. I put together a full plan. Spent a lot of time doing the research and figuring it out.  I can walk you through it if you want?

Miranda: Wow, that would be great. If I could help Jake out and let him have some fun too that would be a win-win. We spend so much time just struggling through homework time.

Carla: No problem. I’ll give you the full plan. All my tested Mom strategies. The first thing you want to do is watch this quick video. It’ll give you a rundown of all the best video games and how they help. Armed with that knowledge you’ll be a lot better off.

Miranda: I really appreciate your help, Carla. 

Carla: No problem. Us Moms have got to stick together. So let’s watch this video and then after that, I’ll give you my whole plan.