Reply #36: Of course everyone should read to their kids. [View All]

[FatDave]

But I don't buy into automatically demonizing Television and video games. My kids watch the Science Channel every morning before school, and contrary to what someone said above, they're not just mesmerised by the flashing colors. They get it. I know, because not only do I ask them about what they saw, it also usually comes up later at dinner. And don;t even get me started on the Schoolhouse Rock DVD.

As far as video games go, all of my kids have played them and--get this--learned from them! They learned to count into double digits from Crash Bandicoot. Anybody ever seen the Paper Mario games? 90% of each game is reading character conversations. All three of my kids have immensely sharpened their reading skills on those games.

Granted, the key to everything in life is moderation. But television and yes, even the dreaded video game, can be used as a tool to make learning fun.