I am sure you have heard about all of the studies that have found that children who are allowed to play video games have much better hand to eye coordination than those children who never played any video games at all. Well, I believe that allowing your child to play video games will also help them to build all of the reading skills that the teachers and parents spend countless hours trying to beat into their heads.

I believe this can all be accomplished with the full cooperation and acceptance of the child because, by improving their reading skills, they will receive a benefit that they are wanting and will gladly work to achieve.

Playing video games requires an understanding of both the flow of the game and the method of scoring points and reaching achievement levels. The player has only two options available to learn these objectives; have someone familiar with the game explain it to them verbally or read the game instructions.

The game summary and objectives sheet that is included with the video game will give the player an opportunity to read something they are interested in in a relaxed and pressure free environment before they start playing their new game. This relaxed reading gives them a chance to take the time to study the instructions and ask for help understanding any words or phrases they find themselves unfamiliar with.

(Imagine how it will feel when the child you can't bribe to even pick up a book, brings you the playing guide for their new video game and asks for your help sounding out a new word! You will want to jump for joy and scream HALLELUYA! But you will have to keep it inside so you don't tip them off and alert them to the fact that they are practicing and improving their reading skills.)

During game play, at least early on, the game will often offer hints and suggestions to the players to guide them in reaching objectives or making it through obstacles. These hints are usually delivered in pop-up style dialog boxes that will only appear for a short time and then go away. This requires the player to read them quickly.

These tactical hints are vitally important to the successful play of the game so, the player really needs to not only read the dialog box but must also comprehend and retain the hints and tips.

This pressure to read the dialog boxes quickly, coupled with the need to understand what is being communicated, forces the player to hone their reading and comprehension skills while improving their memory and retention skills at the same time. It also teaches the child to develop the skill of understanding and using sight words or words you recognize on sight and do not actually sound out to read.

(Picture yourself struggling to keep your mouth from hanging open when the student who struggles in school begins rapid-fire reading of the game hints as they flash on the screen.)

Now, don't get me wrong, I do not advocate buying your kid a new xBox or Wii and giving them every new game to come down the pike. Nor am I advising parents to allow their children to become total couch potatoes under the guise of improving their reading skills. I am also not saying that hours on end in front of the game console will turn a "D" student into an Einstein. I do, however, know there are many parents out there who have found that a reasonable amount of video gaming has helped their student child to become a better reader.

I know mine did.