Video Games Help Reading Skills – Really!

In his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy James Gee, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison attempts to convince nonbelievers that kids who play video games become better readers. Emily Sohn gives us a quick summary in Science News for Kids.

“Animal Crossing” has the kid be any animal, interact with other animals, write messages. “Revolution” puts the kid in colonial America, as somebody in a small Virginia town in 1773. “Mythology” encourages the kid to be part of a chat group as a character from a well-known myth or legend. It seems the average video game requires 50-60 hours of intense concentration. Yet kids who can’t sit still in school seem to love them. Not only that, but also they become better readers. Who knew?

Grade Levels May be Phased Out, in Time

It’s just possible your kids could see the end of first grade, second grade, etc. An experiment starts in August in Colorado to forget about age completely. Students will be assigned groups on the basis of what they already know, and move up as a member of that group. It has already been shown to work well in Alaska. Wait and see.

National Standards Arrive

There’s bound to be struggle over this one: alone among developed countries, the United States has always clung to local and state control of its public schools. Finding ourselves, back in the 1990’s, behind all the other nations in what our kids were able to do, individual states tried, each in its own way, to catch up. Results have not been great, especially in California.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Sunday, at an education conference sponsored by the National Governors Association, that $350 million in federal funds will be available to those states willing to work out national standards that align with those in common use internationally. This will be a hot button for many. Hold on to your hats.