Educating boys vs. girls

[Tabrett]

My first 2 children are girls. So all my homeschooling experience has been ummm.... very feminine.:lol:

 

This fall I will officially start my ds in k, plus I have another boy who will officially start school in 2 years.

 

I have, informally done prek with my son, but all my efforts have been focused on teaching my 6yo dd to read and do math. I have done "school" with my ds when I had time.

 

He loves it when I do school and I have decided to do HOD LHFHG with him next year.

 

I have been reading about the differences between how boys and girls learn and was wondering what differences YOU have encountered in your homeschool experience when educating a boy vs. a girl.

 

How do your boys learn best?

 

What do you do to keep them focused that is different from your girls?

 

What major differences do you notice?

 

Tips? Suggestions?

[lea1]

:bigear: - Do you have any links to articles about how boys learn differently than girls?

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

My girls sit down and do their work, my boys :auto: :willy_nilly::willy_nilly: :boxing_smiley: well, lets just say not so much. I actually just posted a question similar with TONS of great advice

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162797

 

From this, I have ditched OPGTTR, and am doing www.starfall.com , I am looking for the leap frog DVDs, and we are doing Itchys alphabet for reading http://www.itchysalphabet.com/ We are doing horizons math because it is VERY colorful (and trust me that keeps a boys interest better than black and white. Liberty math is fighting me for that reason) And make sure you give them breaks often. When doing letters help them act them out with thier body. Boys need movement!!!!!

 

Short lessons often. Key to sanity! (atleast with my boys!)

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Oh If you do go with Itchys Alphabet its MUCH cheaper on www.rainbowresource.com

[Tabrett]

:bigear: - Do you have any links to articles about how boys learn differently than girls?

I have been reading the books The War Against Boys by Christina Somers and The Boys and Girls Learn Differently Action Guide for Teachers by Michael Gurian.

 

Both books posted some interesting differences on how boys and girls learn.

 

I don't have any internet articles. ~sorry~

 

I'm curious what other homeschools experiences have been.

[PeterPan]

The title slips my mind at the moment, but SL sells the book on gender differences that Pudewa mentions in his convention talks. I've often wanted to get it. :)

 

Haha, realized I had the SL catalog right in front of me and could look it up! It's "Why Gender Matters" by Sax.

[PeterPan]

BTW, what I'm seeing right now are just differences in learning style, not even so much gender. I'm not sure whether gender or learning style differences will turn out to be the bigger issues.

[lauracolumbus]

My ds needs to be mobile and loathes anything that requires handwriting. Plus, he needs to eat more frequently. He seems to do better w/a lot of variety and hands on activities when I'm reading. As to their learning styles, I think that is more a result of their personalities than their gender.

 

Laura

[Melmc]

As someone posted above, don't force him to sit all the time. I have two girls and one boy. The girls can sit forever. Not my son.

 

Before we homeschooled, he attended a private Catholic school. He was in second grade. The teacher was having trouble getting him to settle at his desk and work. I asked if she would allow him to stand to do some of his work because that worked well when he was doing his Saxon math homework with me. (If I made him sit to do the timed math facts, he didn't do well. If he stood, he'd get them all done with time to spare!) She did, and it solved all the issues she had with him. She even started letting the other boys stand. They all became more productive.

 

There are times when he does need to sit and he does with no problem. But he does better with certain things standing and with other subjects, like memory work, walking around.

[lotsofpumpkins]

So far I've noticed that my ds6 is very wiggly and needs to be reminded to stay on task, while my dd8 usually gets her work done without reminders to "get back to work" so much. But I think this is more of an age thing than a personality thing, because dd8 used to be more distracted than she is now.

 

I wanted to comment on your choice for curriculum for your ds. The author of the HOD programs has 4 boys, so I'm sure if there are particular learning styles in boys vs. girls I'm sure she has considered those. We just started LHFHG and my boys enjoy running around doing the rhyme in motion and singing the songs. Not that it doesn't work for girls, because it does. I just think that boys especially enjoy getting to get up and move! (I regularly send my ds to our mini trampoline to jump a bunch of times for breaks!). The boxes in LHFHG don't take much time either, so it's good for short attention spans (which my boys do have most of the time!). So, I think you made a good choice.

[Capt_Uhura]

If you go to the IEW website, Pudewa has a download for $5 about how boys and girls learn differently.

[JudoMom]

The title slips my mind at the moment, but SL sells the book on gender differences that Pudewa mentions in his convention talks. I've often wanted to get it. :)

 

Haha, realized I had the SL catalog right in front of me and could look it up! It's "Why Gender Matters" by Sax.

 

It's a great read :001_smile:.

[Kirch]

I wanted to comment on your choice for curriculum for your ds. The author of the HOD programs has 4 boys, so I'm sure if there are particular learning styles in boys vs. girls I'm sure she has considered those. We just started LHFHG and my boys enjoy running around doing the rhyme in motion and singing the songs. Not that it doesn't work for girls, because it does. I just think that boys especially enjoy getting to get up and move! (I regularly send my ds to our mini trampoline to jump a bunch of times for breaks!). The boxes in LHFHG don't take much time either, so it's good for short attention spans (which my boys do have most of the time!). So, I think you made a good choice.

 

:iagree:

 

The lessons/activities are short, high-interest for the most part, and often very hands-on. Mine (both of them--even the 3 yo) *loved* doing the games to work on Bible verses. Have fun!

[Leila]

I have three boys, so far the only thing I noticed is that they like to move and they can't sit very long. I don't know about how girls are. If we are doing read aloud, I try to give them something to color while I read, or I sit my 2 young ones in my lap as I read and point my fingers to words. This way they focus a little bit more. I do a lot of hands-on activities with them.

 

Short lessons are always good.

[Sasharowan]

The major difference that I have noticed, other than the wiggliness, is that the boys need me near a lot more than my dd. I don't know if it is gender or personality. SHe has always been a DIY type of kid, ds14 would still be waiting for me to dress him if I hadn't put my foot down and made him do it at 3. He can work on his own, but gets more done in less time if I am seated right there. Ds8 isn't quite as bad as ds14 was, but still calls me over to sit next to him while he figures out how to do a problem by explaining why he can't do it to me. Dd didn't even want help learning to read, she wanted to do it herself. She loves nothing more than to be assigned do pg #### and then let me see when you are done, call if you have questions. She gets frustrated if she needs to call me. Ds4 will be interesting since he is a lot like dd, but still asks for more help than he needs when dressing, etc.

[smrtmama]

I wouldn't look at it as boys vs girls. Those kinds of generalizations don't help individual kids. Instead, look at THAT child's learning style.

[Dinsfamily]

I have three boys, so far the only thing I noticed is that they like to move and they can't sit very long. I don't know about how girls are. If we are doing read aloud, I try to give them something to color while I read, or I sit my 2 young ones in my lap as I read and point my fingers to words. This way they focus a little bit more. I do a lot of hands-on activities with them.

 

Short lessons are always good.

 

My boys are younger, but this is true for all of them. My oldest doesn't mind writing at all, but his sitting time is limited. They do not often sit at all during waking hours, but prefer to run laps around the house or up and down the stairs in between activities. If I did half the moving they do each day, I'd be a very skinny girl. When we do RAs, my boys need to sit next to me to see the pics. Most of my oldest's RAs have very few or no pics, but he sits next to me and reads along. They don't like to color, but I might look into thinking putty. They aren't craftsy, but do like experiments and projects.

 

However, I think that learning style plays a big factor. My two oldest boys are on the opposite ends of the spectrum where that's concerned. One is highly visual/logical and the other highly auditory/creative. So, while they have the movement thing in common, they learn in very different ways.

[ABQmom]

I have three girls and one boy. Here's what I have noticed.

 

1. He picks things up much faster than the girls (academically).

2. He loves math and science--my girls hate these subjects.

3. He HATES to write anything. Handwriting has to be short lessons. We do a lot of oral work. I do make him write everyday to build his fine motor skills.

4. He hates creative anything with a writing instrument. Just the facts please.

5. Art is a chore. See #4

6. He is super creative with Legos or anything he can build.

7. He sits still pretty good for a boy--he's really pretty calm, but he does need frequent breaks from his work. I have him do a subject and give him 15 minutes or more to go play before doing the next thing. Either that or just vary the type of work. If he had to sit and do all subjects that require writing one after the other, he would go nuts.

8. My girls could illustrate their work all day long. My ds would be in the nut house. He will cut out pictures and paste them on for illustrative purposes.

9. In the end, he is much easier than the girls. No drama. He just does what he is told and moves on to bigger and better things. :001_smile:

10. Since he was in first grade, I have been reading out loud to him separately from the girls--about 15 minutes four days a week. I allow him to build with Legos while I read. I pick something the girls might not necessarily go for or something with a male main character. He loves this time we have together.

[Mermaid Mama]

All I know - and the boy is still a toddler - is that with him it will be 10 minute formal lesson, 30 minute play. 10 minute formal lesson, 30 minute play, etc.....

[Hedgehogs4]

Things that have worked for us at that age:

 

as little writing as possible, as much movement. when ds does need to sit still, i give him silly putty to play with in his hands.

 

i have a mini trampoline in my basement upon which he does all his recitation, all the while, jump, jump, jump, jump, jumping. he loves it. he remembers everything. no need for writing at that point. we do FLL and he has done nearly every lesson while rolling on the floor and jumping on the trampoline.

[linders]

I have 2 wiggly boys. Based on what I hear from moms of girls, here are a few thoughts...

 

1) Let them wiggle, hang upside down, and fiddle with their Legos while you read aloud. As long as they are reasonably quiet and can tell you what's happening in the story, they are listening and it's okay. (This was the hardest thing for DH to understand when he read aloud to them.)

 

2) Keep them moving. Do math facts while jumping, talk about what you are learning while they do somersaults.

 

3) Lots of action breaks in between seatwork assignments.

 

4) For some boys, writing is excruciating (it was for my oldest). Try to do as much work orally as you can - it can be discouraging not having that paper trail but ultimately worth it. DS9 just now has started writing more willingly.

 

5) Find engaging topics. When making up sentences for copywork, it's okay for the subject to be Darth Vader. This past week I asked DS9 to come up with a general topic sentence and expand on it with a few supporting sentences for a long paragraph - his topic sentence: "The Mythbusters tested various myths related to Pirates of the Caribbean." He then went on to describe (in detail) the various myths they tested, how they were tested, and whether they were confirmed or busted. It's not classical history, but it was actually a well-thought-out paragraph.

 

And keep your sense of humor when the science lesson means bringing lizards into your house.

[patchfire]

I have a girl & a boy that are... the exact opposite of everything that's been (over)generalized here.

 

My daughter loves math & science, and only now, at 9.5, is starting to put her pencil to paper without complaining. My son loves to write. I could go on and on.

 

Instead I'll suggest y'all add Pink Brain, Blue Brain to your reading lists, after reading Sax and/or Gurian. Yes, I've read some of both, as well as the aforementioned book.

[jeswa]

Things that seemed to work for my son at that age were:

1. Painting letters instead of writing them.

2. Word building.

3. Phonics bingo and phonics concentration.

4. Addition and subtraction war.

5. Coloring or drawing during real alouds that don't have many pictures.

 

Basically anything that kept him still moving while learning.

 

Jes

[krismoose]

We're finishing up LHFHG with my ds and it has been great fun and very easy to arrange the schedule as need for the dc. When we first started, we alternated an active box in the guide with a sit-down activity, and then we changed the order to do most of the table activities first, followed by the active ones. Both worked well for different seasons of maturity :). If you can get a look at the introduction of Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschooling, she talks about different learning styles with very concrete examples that might be interesting to you. HTH :)