Teaching boys

     I'm not sure if you have noticed, but there aren't many female teachers out there who understand little boys. I used to teach High School English, Speech, and Debate. I also worked for several years in my boys classrooms. I have taught Sunday School. I have boys. I teach my boys. I have a hard time understanding them sometimes :)

     In second grade Cameron had a female teacher. She had no children, never married, was an only child, and I believe she was detrimental to my child for a period of time.  Clearly she had little experience with boys. This teacher and her negative effect on my child was the main reason the idea of homeschool 'popped' into my head.  As I have stated before, I never thought we would be a homeschool family. I never had a desire to homeschool. But here I had this precious 7 year who started off the year by running to me at the end of each school day, excited to share with me, and within no time he became a complete introvert. He was so quiet, and he constantly had the look of defeat on his face. It broke my heart. She was breaking my child. The previous year, in first grade, he had a male teacher. Not only did he have a male teacher, but he had a male teacher who truly appreciated him. This teacher rewarded Cameron's hard work, and in turn, that caused Cameron to work harder. Needless to say, the difference in my child within a year was astounding. I could go on and on, and on about our situation, but, it is what it was :)

I believe teaching boys in a classroom setting does not provide you with the same knowledge or familiarity as having sons, or being raised with boys. Boys are different. Verrrrrry different. Sometimes I feel like my four boys are from a different planet :) But back to the topic at hand, not only did my sons teacher not understand or appreciate little boys, but the school had a no run, hands-off policy as well. No running on the playground? Is that even legal? My boys are fairly well behaved, and they enjoy learning... but they REQUIRE movement. Lots of movement helps little boys to sit quietly in class. 

     Teachers who don't understand little boys and the need for them to burn lots of energy look at it as ADD, or ADHD. I'm not saying there aren't those students out there, I'm just saying that a good portion of them are probably just busy little boys who are misunderstood. 
     Or, maybe your little boy who started at age 4 isn't as mature as the older kids in his class.  This article is really interesting and talks about the misdiagnosis of ADHD.
http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2010/nearly-1-million-children-potentially-misdiagnosed-with-adhd/

     The other day in the car (while shopping alone) I listened to an audio I purchased at a homeschool convention several years ago, it was by Andrew Pudewa, titled "Teaching boys and other children who would rather make forts all day".  If you're not familiar with Andrew Pudewa, he is the founder and director of The Institute for Excellence in Writing. The reason it took me two years to listen to the CD was because I thought it would be boring (and that he would be nerdy).  It was hilarious! It provided me with such a better understanding of teaching my boys. 

     The past two years I have taught my boys, I encouraged them to use a lot of descriptive words in their writing. Adjectives are the key to writing, I told them. Well. After listening to this CD I realized how wrong I had been. Pudewa used the example of asking a little girl and a little boy to draw a picture. What does the girl draw? Nouns. Lots of beautifully colored nouns; horses, faces, flowers. What does the boys draw? Something in pencil or a dark crayon. When you ask what it is (because it's hard to tell) he proceeds to tell you how it is a spaceship that just rocketed from earth very fast, it hit a star, and it blew up into a million pieces, and... Notice the difference? The boys picture/writing = verbs and adverbs. The girls picture/writing is nouns and adjectives. 

    It seems as though our schools are geared toward effectively teaching girls.  Most of the teachers are female, and those female teachers generally tend to favor the female students. 

This is a short YouTube clip of Pudewa discussing "Teaching boys and other..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzaFZ2CRQZU

     I am going to try to encourage my boys to use more adverbs in their writing this school year :) I think they will appreciate it.  


     Love this quote from an article I found;
How much Ritalin could remain on the shelves if we created schools that are ready for boys rather than boys who are ready for schools?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-day/why-boys-are-failing-in-a_b_884262.html
It's from an article titled "Why Boys Are Failing in an Educational System Stacked Against Them".
     Here's another article regarding how the school system is failing young boys;
Failing a generation of American boys - http://spectator.org/archives/2013/03/13/failing-a-generation-of-americ


     This is a book I have (I have read bits and pieces and agree with a good portion of it). - http://www.amazon.com/The-Trouble-Boys-Surprising-Educators/dp/0307381293

     This is clearly a topic that I could write a lot about, but you get the picture :) If you have a son, be overly involved in what is going on his classroom.  Educate yourself. It make require you to take the initiative and be proactive in your sons education to ensure his success. 

My 'wilder-men' love to be busy outside

                                                              they enjoy 'roughing it'

                                                                      they like to fish

                                                        they love shooting bow and arrows

                                                        setting bear traps in the wilderness

                                and their favorite thing might be fire. or maybe poking sticks in fire...

                                                              or maybe shooting things...