Internet effect on developing brains

We let our kids use the computers, a lot. Not so much with the PS games, we don’t own an xbox, and although we do have a wii, it is the PC that we turn them loose on most often – supervised – but loose. There’s much to be learned. Reading is a HUGE incentive. There truly is a lot of reading required for them to be able to play the games they like. Brian’s latest game is a Rise of Nations game, based on the history of WWII. I am not sure how accurate the details are, but he’s getting a feel for the history, as part of ‘play’.

Brian read for most of this weekend because he found some fun stuff online at FunBrain.com. He read “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” as well as other stories, and now he’s asking for the books in the Wimpy Kid series. There are also math and English games… yes, games about school stuff, levels based on grades, that the kids play, for fun. Check it out, it’s free.

And I like that the kids are able gain an interest in and listen to, all sorts of music. True, they prefer rock music and the high energy dance stuff,  but they are learning to appreciate other genres, and they get it from the strangest of sources. Lately, to my utter delight, Honor is going around the house singing the music to this video… the video is … interesting/funny/dark …  I suggest watching the video below if you just want to hear the music as it was intended. Honor doesn’t know the Russian lyrics, but she’s got the music down very well. btw - NO, I do NOT let the kids explore that website – the contents are too crude and tasteless for their ages (not the video linked above, but the site in general, you have been warned). Every so often the creator will come out with something fairly cool, and, after I check it out, I’ll make an exception. Rathergood.com made the classic Viking Kittens, as well as “The Frightened Boy”.