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starting sc at 5 year old

Blogs > enord
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
enord
Profile Blog Joined September 2013
France258 Posts
March 09 2014 15:02 GMT
#1
hi

my monster is experiencing sc for the first time and loving it

i wonder if i'm being a bad grufalo allowing him.. my better half seems adamant that i am ruining chances of him doing "other" stuff.. possibly ruining his life really

i waited "patiently" 2 years to get "talk/sense" out of his speech, i waited 4 before he was allowed "angry birds" .. now i feel a little better for being "free"er and i am (possibly wrongfully) relieved that from now on i will never have to refrain him anymore, ever

there is no such thing as "experience", it is a lantern enlightening only the past, never what the future holds for us or indeed our kin

i have the "honesty" to declare that i don't know how my kid will deal with stuff from video games

i know i play ball, karting, bricks, drawing learning to read/write .. acrobats and rougher fights etc too
with him, making him discover everything is important, no conflict there

so.. why try and refrain his access.. indeed, to anything (+ Show Spoiler +
no! no p rn of course u minger, s.. the thoughts in some people...
)

i was already teaching him the credit/banking system when he was 1..
"see here i'm giving the nice lady a bit of plastic .. so she can asks the bank to give her money i have there" (credit card)

everyone (since i started with this "kids are smart, never dumb stuff down for them")
has always rolled their eyes sideways or been supportive

there is no doubt in my mind that the 7 year old mark is important

by 7 the kid must be ready

he must know about important stuff, he must be cognitive and know that he is capable of things, incapable of other things

sc is good for that, no?

maybe the whole "killing/destroying comes a bit early.. mmmkay or does it not come late already?

fun:
he likes all three races .. or was that the result of my heavy handed lobbying ? i'll never know
his favorite dialog: "butter my biscuit!"




**
make / have a good tl .. ohhh and i want my icon back :°D
vOdToasT
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Sweden2870 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-09 15:45:32
March 09 2014 15:44 GMT
#2
I played Command & Conquer and StarCraft when I was six, and I turned out fine. It's only one person, I know, but I felt like telling you anyway.

Just make damn sure you help him in school. Help him with his homework, ask him how he's doing (in a nice way so that he isn't scared to tell you), and if he is struggling, help him out. And talk to him about things he is going to encounter in life so that he can deal with them, like girls hitting on him, bad teachers, the school workload, and so on.
If it's stupid but it works, then it's not stupid* (*Or: You are stupid for losing to it, and gotta git gud)
Pokebunny
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States10654 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-09 16:15:24
March 09 2014 16:14 GMT
#3
I first played SC when I was four years old in 1999. Has been nothing but an amazing experience in my life.

http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/113783-my-starcraft-history-intro-part-1
Semipro Terran player | Pokebunny#1710 | twitter.com/Pokebunny | twitch.tv/Pokebunny | facebook.com/PokebunnySC
NeThZOR
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
South Africa7387 Posts
March 09 2014 16:30 GMT
#4
Started SC when I was 6, other games even before that. My dad encouraged my hobby by buying a computer for me and some of the games that I ended up playing.
SuperNova - 2015 | SKT1 fan for years | Dear, FlaSh, PartinG, Soulkey, Naniwa
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States44607 Posts
March 09 2014 16:41 GMT
#5
You're not being a bad grufalo, but just make sure you take care of your monster.
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
Tufas
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Austria2259 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-09 17:33:05
March 09 2014 17:31 GMT
#6
I started playing quake 3 when I was 8 years old, that may be too soon, just saying
Where is my ACE flair
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28689 Posts
March 09 2014 17:52 GMT
#7
playing challenging games from a young age is good. I think you're best off restricting it to single player with a 5 year old though. I also think first person shooter games should be avoided when you're that young, imo they should pretty much all be avoided until kids are ~10. but starcraft is great, it's very challenging and not really that much more violent than chess. Most grindy games should be avoided too I think, cuz they're just too much of a timesink compared to the reward - you prolly develop more by doing practically anything than you do from 500 hours of single player diablo 3.

Like, I really don't think there's any point in forcing your kid to go play in the sandbox instead of playing minecraft, but you must be cautious that minecraft doesn't make your kid play 10 hours straight in the sandbox - which he normally would find boring.
Moderator
Omnishroud
Profile Blog Joined November 2013
1073 Posts
March 09 2014 18:02 GMT
#8
If anything a mentally challenging game like SC will help him develop and improve a multitude of things. It will quite literally make him smarter provided he isnt just randomly clicking shit.

All good things in moderation, however.
Omni = Capped (RIP TL Account) - LoL EUW: Capped92 - EU Bnet: Capped#1137 - Steam: Capped92
GaNgStaRR.ElV
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada535 Posts
March 09 2014 18:14 GMT
#9
On March 10 2014 00:02 enord wrote:
hi

my monster is experiencing sc for the first time and loving it

i wonder if i'm being a bad grufalo allowing him.. my better half seems adamant that i am ruining chances of him doing "other" stuff.. possibly ruining his life really

i waited "patiently" 2 years to get "talk/sense" out of his speech, i waited 4 before he was allowed "angry birds" .. now i feel a little better for being "free"er and i am (possibly wrongfully) relieved that from now on i will never have to refrain him anymore, ever

there is no such thing as "experience", it is a lantern enlightening only the past, never what the future holds for us or indeed our kin

i have the "honesty" to declare that i don't know how my kid will deal with stuff from video games

i know i play ball, karting, bricks, drawing learning to read/write .. acrobats and rougher fights etc too
with him, making him discover everything is important, no conflict there

so.. why try and refrain his access.. indeed, to anything (+ Show Spoiler +
no! no p rn of course u minger, s.. the thoughts in some people...
)

i was already teaching him the credit/banking system when he was 1..
"see here i'm giving the nice lady a bit of plastic .. so she can asks the bank to give her money i have there" (credit card)

everyone (since i started with this "kids are smart, never dumb stuff down for them")
has always rolled their eyes sideways or been supportive

there is no doubt in my mind that the 7 year old mark is important

by 7 the kid must be ready

he must know about important stuff, he must be cognitive and know that he is capable of things, incapable of other things

sc is good for that, no?

maybe the whole "killing/destroying comes a bit early.. mmmkay or does it not come late already?

fun:
he likes all three races .. or was that the result of my heavy handed lobbying ? i'll never know
his favorite dialog: "butter my biscuit!"




I would say let your kid play if he is keen for it.

As other poster have mentioned as well, I was playing similarly themed games, and I was 9 when original SC came out. At the end of the day you can just turn off the extra gore and mute the chat/stay offline if you want to avoid stuff that is maybe a little bit too mature for a 5 year old. Worst case he is just not going to be interested as I don't really see the harm in exposing kids to as much as you can(as I can tell you believe in as well).

Also a kudos for the whole "dont dumb down life" thing, it will deffo pay off in the long run. I know my parents told me so many stupid fucking lies as a kid I spent my teenage years undoing some of the basics of life and relearning it all again.
Bunn
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Estonia934 Posts
March 09 2014 18:50 GMT
#10
dont ruin his eyes
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." - Bruce Lee
Chocolate
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States2350 Posts
March 09 2014 19:01 GMT
#11
Just make sure he is socializing with kids his age, too. I got sucked into videogames when I was about 10 or so and stopped spending time with friends very much, and my social skills suffered. I can't imagine the consequences of that happening at the age of 5-7. Of course, I am not a father, so what do I know

But I think SC could be a great experience. I recommend chess as well, especially if you live in a city of more than a few hundred thousand. He will be able to meet kids his age that play chess, and if you spend a lot of time playing with him he could get really, really good (I know two people who were rated like 1200 USCF at the age of 7...). And chess teaches and hones all kinds of skills: memory, problem solving, planning, etc. Of course it is not as reflexive as SC, but I do think that in general the human-to-human contact it allows is quite beneficial.
Saechiis
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands4989 Posts
March 09 2014 19:16 GMT
#12
How to train your Monster, good script.
I think esports is pretty nice.
d00p
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
711 Posts
March 09 2014 19:54 GMT
#13
On March 10 2014 03:50 Bunn wrote:
dont ruin his eyes


Don't spread misinformation or maybe you'll tell us how it will ruin his eyes?
Deleuze
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United Kingdom2102 Posts
March 09 2014 20:01 GMT
#14
If you hold down shift and press a letter key it types a thing called a capital letter. They go at the start of sentences, proper nouns and when using the first personal pronoun 'I', as well as other places. Hopefully you won't try to teach your son to type.
“An image of thought called philosophy has been formed historically and it effectively stops people from thinking.” ― Gilles Deleuze, Dialogues II
enord
Profile Blog Joined September 2013
France258 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-09 21:54:08
March 09 2014 20:23 GMT
#15
ty for your general support
(for reals, i need it)

On March 10 2014 04:16 Saechiis wrote:
How to train your Monster, good script.

i know right

On March 10 2014 03:50 Bunn wrote:
dont ruin his eyes


yes, that is something i'm scared about, like walkmans for ears (in my day), i make him stop regularly and i make him drink

hell, i even make him consciously stop looking at the screen regularly

On March 10 2014 03:14 GaNgStaRR.ElV wrote:

I would say let your kid play if he is keen for it.
...
+ Show Spoiler +
As other poster have mentioned as well, I was playing similarly themed games, and I was 9 when original SC came out. At the end of the day you can just turn off the extra gore and mute the chat/stay offline if you want to avoid stuff that is maybe a little bit too mature for a 5 year old. Worst case he is just not going to be interested as I don't really see the harm in exposing kids to as much as you can(as I can tell you believe in as well).

...
Also a kudos for the whole "dont dumb down life" thing, it will deffo pay off in the long run. I know my parents told me so many stupid fucking lies as a kid I spent my teenage years undoing some of the basics of life and relearning it all again.

"if he is keen for it."
is he keen because he saw me do it. or that i have it available in the first place..? that is the real issue (monkey see monkey do) .. or is he keen because this rtsg type of game sucks you right in for long ???
or because the gameplay of the game is "giving orders" all the time (remember that such is the life of a 5 year old: following orders)
or
just because it is challenging his very core? (which could be good or bad)

"pay off in the long run"

yeah, i humbly admit that i'm ready to f ck up a part of his childhood to make him ready for the rest of his life (presumably with less help/presence from me (me me me hubris yes i know and i stand by it)

ps:
i wish i will see you again (here or elesewhere) on the same subject, when you guys start debating these issues with your wife/life partner (mother of said kid :D ) ... i'll be able to share that too, with you

i always am labelled as difficult to understand.. so..
YES
i am looking for anything this issue (5 and video games) brings out in you all

ty for all who have posted and to those with kids (or kids themselves) that will come forward to participate on this glorious sc forum for this "debate"

edit: f ck typos / f ck blizz no lan

make/have a good tl
make / have a good tl .. ohhh and i want my icon back :°D
pebble444
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Italy2497 Posts
March 09 2014 20:44 GMT
#16
Make sure he playes terran. No but seriously, what about starting playing a musical instrument too
"Awaken my Child, and embrace the Glory that is your Birthright"
Omnishroud
Profile Blog Joined November 2013
1073 Posts
March 09 2014 20:45 GMT
#17
You are completely overthinking it.

Ask yourself these questions.

Does the game have too much violence (of any type) for your child in your opinion?

If yes, dont let him play.

If no, let him play.

Is your child playing too much?

If yes, remove him from game / limit playtime

If no, let him carry on.

Its that simple.
Omni = Capped (RIP TL Account) - LoL EUW: Capped92 - EU Bnet: Capped#1137 - Steam: Capped92
enord
Profile Blog Joined September 2013
France258 Posts
March 09 2014 20:52 GMT
#18
On March 10 2014 05:01 Deleuze wrote:
If you hold down shift and press a letter key it types a thing called a capital letter. They go at the start of sentences, proper nouns and when using the first personal pronoun 'I', as well as other places. Hopefully you won't try to teach your son to type.

o
... now lets see.. shhift ... mmkay ... mmmmkay

+ Show Spoiler +
to be be absolutely clear:

+ Show Spoiler +
i HATE capital letters

i hate that one must capitalize one s self in the "i" "I" tradition

so i dont.. thank you for your encouragements and please

you go sheep somewhere useful, my lawn is fine ty

ps: j'adores deleuze, mais c'est un pleutre et tu es bien peu utile
+ Show Spoiler +
ps : i love deleuze but he is a coward and you are less than useful
make / have a good tl .. ohhh and i want my icon back :°D
enord
Profile Blog Joined September 2013
France258 Posts
March 09 2014 21:24 GMT
#19
On March 10 2014 04:01 Chocolate wrote:
Just make sure he is socializing with kids his age, too. I got sucked into videogames when I was about 10 or so and stopped spending time with friends very much, and my social skills suffered. I can't imagine the consequences of that happening at the age of 5-7. Of course, I am not a father, so what do I know

But I think SC could be a great experience. I recommend chess as well, especially if you live in a city of more than a few hundred thousand. He will be able to meet kids his age that play chess, and if you spend a lot of time playing with him he could get really, really good (I know two people who were rated like 1200 USCF at the age of 7...). And chess teaches and hones all kinds of skills: memory, problem solving, planning, etc. Of course it is not as reflexive as SC, but I do think that in general the human-to-human contact it allows is quite beneficial.

"the human-to-human contact"

yes that is the linchpin of my wife s argument



and i agree

playing with others is nowhere in sight in sc, in any rtsg

this dissociativeness some kids get from gaming is what i'm most scared of..

on the other hand he just started, i'm buying simcity and a steering wheel for a car game soon .. so as to show him other games.. games that you can share with friends his age and take turns or "collaborate"

just, i'm quite sure that the "cowboy and indians" (or cops and robbers) syndrome is really high at that age (pretending to beat others into submission and "killing" them is a necessary phase/point)

not to worry thank you, he socializes good good good (invites friends from school or other and gets invited galore)
make / have a good tl .. ohhh and i want my icon back :°D
enord
Profile Blog Joined September 2013
France258 Posts
March 09 2014 21:48 GMT
#20
On March 10 2014 05:45 Omnishroud wrote:
You are completely overthinking it.

Ask yourself these questions.

Does the game have too much violence (of any type) for your child in your opinion?

If yes, dont let him play.

If no, let him play.

Is your child playing too much?

If yes, remove him from game / limit playtime

If no, let him carry on.

Its that simple.

"overthinking"
sorry .. never
overthinking stuff is not thinking as much as you can, which is what i do

i realize that kids will be.. whatever they will be (que sera sera and all that jazz)

and that whatever i do, i'm always mucking about, stuff is already there boiling and i steer just as much as i f ck up
(i'm not a good role model but i always show him how important he is to me and how much i love him and hold his future dear)
he will be me, i will do all i can, then he will be himself and i do hope some of what i could pass on will help

he is
i'm just here for the ride

ps: as to your points.. how do you fantasize it happening.. you think i do what i want...
a child is usually the product of two people s decision making (not to mention school/friends of his etc)
lets just take 1: "Does the game have too much violence "
who decides? once done, how do you see if it is or not? can you ever "come back rom it"? etc

no such thing as overthinking
make / have a good tl .. ohhh and i want my icon back :°D
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