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<blockquote data-quote="Firebeetle" data-source="post: 3405910" data-attributes="member: 34506">I'm a teacher, I don't use RPGs in my classroom, but do use board and card games to teach very specific lessons. I've certainly introduced D&amp;D to my kids, and my 9 year old is benefitting from it greatly.Here is my breakdown:Reading skills- Most RPG text is written on a 10th grade or higher level, with lots of new vocabulary used in context. This is good, and it is bad. Being high level it is &quot;goal&quot; reading as opposed to &quot;workout&quot; reading, which means it is reading a young reader is likely to struggle to understand. HOWEVER, since motivation is high, it's the best sort of &quot;goal&quot; reading you can have. Furthermore, D&amp;D introduces the hard-to-understand fantasy genre. YOU may not find it difficult, but fantasy/scifi is probably the MOST difficult genre for young readers to understand, due to the lack of background connections. That's way modern and historical ficiton do much better. Harry Potter is the exception here, note that the wizarding world is essentially a parody of the modern world, allowing for lots of connections to be made. D&amp;D gets readers into this genre head first and they don't come up for air either.Math skills- There is a lot of arithmatic that is used constantly in RPGs. Players must add, subtract, multiply, divide, round down, and estimate constantly and on the spot. Add probability and platonic solids and you have quite a math lesson going on. All very immediate, engaging, and applicable. Social skills- I'm always amazed that kids don't understand concepts like &quot;taking turns&quot; and &quot;sharing&quot;, these are basic any game will teach then (and God know they need to learn it.) D&amp;D does teach social skills in a fairly risk-free environment with a good group. I use DMing skills all the time. In fact, I get the same feeling teaching small reading groups as I do DMing a table, it's weird. Of course, this is all anecdotal and speculative. CA G&amp;T classes used to play D&amp;D with students years ago, they may have some research to back them up. There IS research that support D&amp;D PREVENTING suicide (rather than the reverse) since it is a social group activity. Suicide victims tend to seperate socially. RPGs also provide a sense of &quot;meaning&quot; according to one study. There is also research that shows gamers are more likely to get college educations and less likely to be criminals.&nbsp; You'll have to hunt for all that online though.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Firebeetle, post: 3405910, member: 34506"] I'm a teacher, I don't use RPGs in my classroom, but do use board and card games to teach very specific lessons. I've certainly introduced D&D to my kids, and my 9 year old is benefitting from it greatly. Here is my breakdown: Reading skills- Most RPG text is written on a 10th grade or higher level, with lots of new vocabulary used in context. This is good, and it is bad. Being high level it is "goal" reading as opposed to "workout" reading, which means it is reading a young reader is likely to struggle to understand. HOWEVER, since motivation is high, it's the best sort of "goal" reading you can have. Furthermore, D&D introduces the hard-to-understand fantasy genre. YOU may not find it difficult, but fantasy/scifi is probably the MOST difficult genre for young readers to understand, due to the lack of background connections. That's way modern and historical ficiton do much better. Harry Potter is the exception here, note that the wizarding world is essentially a parody of the modern world, allowing for lots of connections to be made. D&D gets readers into this genre head first and they don't come up for air either. Math skills- There is a lot of arithmatic that is used constantly in RPGs. Players must add, subtract, multiply, divide, round down, and estimate constantly and on the spot. Add probability and platonic solids and you have quite a math lesson going on. All very immediate, engaging, and applicable. Social skills- I'm always amazed that kids don't understand concepts like "taking turns" and "sharing", these are basic any game will teach then (and God know they need to learn it.) D&D does teach social skills in a fairly risk-free environment with a good group. I use DMing skills all the time. In fact, I get the same feeling teaching small reading groups as I do DMing a table, it's weird. Of course, this is all anecdotal and speculative. CA G&T classes used to play D&D with students years ago, they may have some research to back them up. There IS research that support D&D PREVENTING suicide (rather than the reverse) since it is a social group activity. Suicide victims tend to seperate socially. RPGs also provide a sense of "meaning" according to one study. There is also research that shows gamers are more likely to get college educations and less likely to be criminals. You'll have to hunt for all that online though. [/QUOTE]

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