Schooling Boys

The Washington Times had an interesting article again today. This one was called Schools Learning About Boys , and it talks about the startling research that has discovered "the vast differences in boys' and girls' brains and how they affect learning." Once again, they do not ask the real experts (people like me who ONLY teach boys, LOL!), but they interview scientists who just study boys from a detached distance. Here are some of their findings as they relate to learning:

1. Boys learn better when it's cooler and lit with "cool lighting tones", whatever that means.

2. Boys don't hear as well as girls, so often teachers need to speak louder to them than to girls.

Here are some things they recommend doing to help boys:

1. Cut out computer game and TV screen time, since they don't do anything to help them develop their verbal brain centers.

2. Read out loud to the boys a lot, making sure to link pictures with words.

3. Schools should let boys draw, and then write about their picture, instead of the typical writing assignments like "Write a paragraph about what you did this summer".

4. Sitting should be optional; boys should be allowed to "move around in a disciplined way", although frankly I am not sure how that would work in a classroom setting.

5. Provide a wider variety of reading materials, such as "how things work" books that boys like. Do they need more suggestions? I can give them bookshelves upon bookshelves of titles! Adventure stories are very appealing too! My boys have always loved non-fiction books, no matter what they were about.

I certainly agree with all those suggestions! It turns out that 2 Virginia elementary schools are experimenting with having "boys only" classes for some grades, andthe boys are thriving there. We are way ahead of the times! I don't know about the lighting and temperature, but homeschooling certainly allows for movement, tailored and gradual writing assignments, lots of exciting books that boys WANT to read and listen to, and very little TV and computer game time! The key here is that finally researchers are realizing that the way boys learn isn't "bad": it's just "different". And teachers can work towards incorporating that into a classroom, although it would be more difficult in a mixed environment, since girls wouldn't like all the movement, and it might be hard to control. So it seems to me that the ideal situation is one where there are only a few students per teacher, and the teacher can look at each child individually to determine exactly what works best for him (or her), based on how they learn. Hey! Sounds like homeschooling!