Dear Teacher - February 2012

Is My Child Reading on Grade Level?
Is Video Addiction a real Addiction?

Is My Child Reading on Grade Level?

Question: How can I tell if my child is really reading on grade level? Everything seems to be going along all right for him in third grade. – Curious

Answer: First of all, your child's report card should indicate if he is reading on grade level. And it will also tell you how well he is reading on grade level. A visit to your child's classroom during reading time will give you an added picture of how well he is doing compared to his classmates. Plus, a chat with his teacher should make it clear to you how well he is reading.

You can do an informal reading test by having him read a passage of a current assignment in a grade level reader. If he doesn't make more than five errors per 100 words, you can be fairly confident that he's reading on grade level. You can also find out if his reading skills are developing appropriately by visiting the Reading Rockets Web site (www.readingrockets.org/article/162). This Web site also has information on other grade levels.

And here is one more important determiner of his reading skills – if he truly enjoys reading and frequently has his nose in a book, things are probably fine.

Incidentally, you are right to be concerned about whether or not your third grader is reading on grade level. Children who are not reading on grade level at the end of this year are likely to face considerable difficulty in school in fourth grade and beyond when reading shifts to reading for learning content area material.
 

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Is Video Addiction a real Addiction?

Question: We think the reason our eighth grader is suddenly doing poorly in school is because of the amount of time he spends playing video games. Is there such a thing as addiction to video games? How can we get him to start studying more? – Possible Addiction

Answer: The American Psychological Association doesn’t believe that there is enough evidence yet to formally consider too much game playing a disorder. There is wide-spread agreement, however, that spending an excessive amount of time playing these games results in behavior similar to that of addicts of many substances.
According to the Center for On-Line Addiction that does consider there is such a thing as  video gaming addiction, the signs of such an addiction are:
• Playing for increasing amount of time
• Thinking about gaming during other activities
• Gaming to escape from real-life problems, anxiety or depression
• Lying to friends and family to conceal gaming
• Feeling irritable when trying to cut down on gaming

The question isn’t so much whether or not excessive video gaming is an addiction, but whether or not it is affecting your son’s school work. And this sounds like a definite possibility.
First of all, you need to determine when and for how long he is playing these games. Then you can set time limits on playing these games as well as set the rule that the game playing device must be in a family room at all times so that you can clearly see when he is playing video games. It is also sensible to establish the rule that your son’s homework must be done and inspected by you before he can play every day.
If your son reacts violently to any suggestion of limiting his gaming time, then there may be a serious problem going so far as to require professional help.