Q: Our school sent home the usual memo saying "keep screen time to a minimum" and "read with your kids." I get that reading is important, but our two kids, ages 10 and 11, love video games. There must be some educational value, no?

A: Games -- video or otherwise -- can excite and challenge learners. For decades, teachers have successfully used games to teach and reinforce concepts.

"Play is the way the human brain is wired to learn," agrees Mitch Weisburgh, co-founder of Games4Ed (games4ed.org). "Virtually all kids today play video games, so we need to find appropriate games for learners and teach them to avoid the pitfalls of gaming."

Weisburgh describes five ways well-designed games can motivate kids and support learning:

-- Games are an optimal learning environment. They promote concentration and control, provide a fun way to practice skills and elicit effort that a student might not otherwise put forth.

-- Games focus on the sweet spot for learning. They push players beyond what they can do.

-- Games get kids to persist. "They engage players through a quick cycle of challenge-act-learn-accomplish," Weisburgh says, "so that the hard work of learning is intrinsically rewarded, and the learner wants to continue playing and learning."

-- Games encourage trial and failure. Players fail more than they succeed, "but," Weisburgh says, "failure only means that a particular approach failed."

-- Games offer great real-world simulations. NASA games put kids on missions to Mars. "Zoo U" improves students' social literacy without risky behaviors. In "Mission US," students play roles at key turning points in U.S. history. In "iCivics," students become senators.

In "sandbox games, like 'Minecraft,' players build surroundings and then interact with others within their surroundings," says Weisburgh. "There are history games, like Sid Meier's 'Civilization,' that involve strategy and planning. There are games where kids build games, like 'Globaloria,' 'Scratch' and 'GameSalad.'"

Parents play a critically important role in gaming, stresses Weisburgh.

"They need to make sure that their kids get enough physical exercise, are socializing, stay safe (parents should monitor for sex and violence in games, as well as who their kids interact with online) and aren't wasting hours," he says. "You can only do this by spending time with your kids when they are on their games."

Ask your kids questions such as, "What is the purpose of this game?" "What are you trying to do?" "Why do you like this game?" "What are you learning?"

If their answers suggest that your kids' time might be better used, have them show you another game that they like, advises Weisburgh.

"Kids, especially those of your kids' age, are very forthcoming," he explains. "They will learn to choose games wisely from your guidance -- and will be thrilled that you are taking an interest."

Find appropriate games at GameUp, BrainPOP's site for free educational games, and Graphite, a website that reviews and rates education games. Most libraries subscribe to Children's Technology Review, a monthly evaluation of new educational software (childrenstech.com).

And about your kids' reading? I'm glad that you "get it" -- don't let your kids go a day without it.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: My son Gavin is now in middle school and totally disorganized. He loses papers, forgets assignments and their due dates. While he's never been organized, it was never this bad. Any tips?

A: Disorganized elementary students often have trouble when they hit middle school. The transition from a self-contained classroom, where one teacher issued assignments and frequent due-date reminders, to switching from classroom to classroom, with different teachers, takes a more organized brain.

When it comes to teaching these essential skills, "readiness is everything," says psychologist Richard Selznick, director of the New Jersey-based Cooper Learning Center, a part of Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

Gavin's middle-school muddle may signal that he's ready to learn some basics. Don't expect, however, that he'll master these skills overnight, advises Selznick, the author of "School Struggles" (Sentient Publications, 2012).

He suggests a "study skill of the month" approach. Make September's skill "learning to use a planner." Talk about a planner's function to record assignments and reminders, and why it's important to update it with every class. Each night, without nagging, review how it went. Offer pointers for improvement and reinforcement for a job well done.

"On a calendar, keep track of times the skill was practiced with reasonable success," says Selnick, "using a plus sign for doing the task and a minus sign when it wasn't done. Offer an incentive for a week of pluses."

Organized students have mastered two kinds of skills -- cerebral and physical, says Donna Goldberg, a learning coach and author of "The Organized Student" (Touchstone, 2005).

Cerebral skills help organize information mentally, Goldberg explains, "filing it in our brain so we can access it, act on it and sequence events over time. Physical skills refer to the way we manage our space and work tools."

Look at the physical aspects with Gavin. Ask yourself: Is there one place for his backpack when he comes home? Is there a distraction-free place for homework that is well-stocked so he doesn't waste time looking for a pencil? Does he have a folder system to hold papers he needs for future review? Does he have a three-ring binder or accordion file, labeled by subject, to carry worksheets, quizzes, spelling lists, assignments and so on?

One important cerebral skill is visualizing time. Many kids raised on digital devices "see 'time' as a number -- not hands going around a dial -- and may not know what practicing the trumpet for 20 minutes feels like," says Goldberg.

For some students, an analog clock can help estimate time.

In addition, "a daily planner can help him visualize his workload so he can gauge how much time he needs to complete it," says Goldberg.

Sequencing, another important cerebral skill, helps establish routines and habits to stay on task, says Goldberg. Help Gavin establish a predictable sequence each day -- come home from school, hang up backpack, grab a snack, do homework, 30 minutes of video games, prepare backpack for the next day, and so on.

Work with Gavin a little each day. "Praise progress and reinforce systems you've set up together until he owns them," says Goldberg. "Expect trial and error. Change what doesn't work, and don't worry when it falls apart. Learning to be organized is a process that's perfected over time."

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: My son, Ezra, just entered kindergarten and is one of the youngest in his class. He's really unhappy, so I want to hold him back a year. My husband says he'll get used to it and his teacher isn't concerned, but two friends who held their sons back agree with me. Is there research about this?

A: The research on holding back a "young 5" is mixed. You can find studies to support it. Researchers Kelly Bedard and Elizabeth Dhuey found that the youngest members of kindergarten classes scored 4 to 12 percentiles lower than the oldest members in grade four, and 2 to 9 percentiles lower in grade eight. Other research shows that any academic benefits of starting a child later often disappear after middle school.

Recent research by professors Kevin Kniffin and Andrew Hanks looked at persons who received doctorates and found that holding kids back has little influence on those who earn a Ph.D. and may have negative influence on post-graduate salary.

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that depending on the region, approximately 6 percent of 5-year-olds eligible for kindergarten are held back each year. (The practice is often called "redshirting," a reference to college coaches who bench a freshman for a season, hoping that an extra year of practice yields a better athlete.)

Alia Wong covers education for The Atlantic. She reviewed several studies and concludes, "It's far from clear whether relative age has much to bear on a child's future success. And absent a consensus, it may be best to hold off on redshirting, if only in the interest of playing it safe." (Find her report at theatlantic.com.)

Every teacher can tell you of a 5-year-old who didn't demonstrate kindergarten readiness and benefited from "the gift of time." And that's really the question: Is Ezra unhappy because kindergarten is a new experience and he hasn't yet made the transition? Or is he unhappy because he's developmentally unprepared and struggling?

"Parents will do whatever they believe will help their children compete in school and life. But they need to remember that not all children progress in the same way and at the same rate or benefit similarly from the same opportunity," says literacy researcher Michael Milone.

"My advice," he continues, "is to be patient, observant and supportive. Don't hover, but try to find out why he is unhappy and address these concerns with his teacher and others at school and listen to what they say."

Meg Meeker, pediatrician and author of "Strong Mothers, Strong Sons" (Ballantine Books, 2014), advises against holding back a 5-year-old who doesn't need it. She says it "can grow into a devastating parenting philosophy," sending a message that high achievement is the only thing that matters.

The transition to kindergarten, says Milone, "is often stressful simply because it is a child's first experience with a perceived major life change.

"Helping Ezra make a successful transition can strengthen his ability to adapt to new situations -- an ability that will be incredibly important to his future."

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)