Boys

I've been meaning to share about a book that I read recently. For those of you that have boys it's a must and if you're a teacher it will help you understand a little more about these troublemakers that just can't sit still like the girls.

So last year Austin had some problems in preschool. He'd hit, throw toys, tackle the other kids and not listen to the teachers. When his teachers would tell me about his days it always seemed like they were implying that I needed to do a better job of parenting yet in the same conversation they would say "well he's just a boy." So...is this normal or did I somehow end up with one of those kids that teachers hate despite my best efforts to raise a well-rounded child. He also never really talked to them the whole year.

We tried all kinds of things at home to get him to behave at school but to no avail. So the school year ended with his teacher recommending that he repeat 2 year old preschool. What?!? There are more details but after talking with many friends that were elementary school teachers with a lot of experience, I went with my gut feeling and their advice and enrolled him in a 3 year old program at another school. I couldn't believe that I was having to deal with such decisions so early.

So over the summer I finally bought this book that I had read about a few months prior called "It's a Boy! Understanding Your Son's Development from Birth to Age 18" by Michael G Thompson PhD and Teresa Barker. I felt so much better about where Austin was developmentally and realized that the problem wasn't him but the teachers he had. Boys just need a different type of approach.

Which leads me to another great source about this same topic. I was watching the Today show yesterday morning when they ran a segment on Why Schools Are Failing Boys. They showed a school that was teaching kids by using more physical activity throughout the day instead of requiring them to sit still. This way the boys were more engaged and focused but the girls weren't left out by this type of teaching either.



So while I think it's great that strides are being made to help us understand and educate boys, I fear that these advancements won't be in place by the time my boys are in school. I know I'll have to find a way to be an advocate for them if they're ever in an environment that doesn't facilitate their learning while trying not to become one of those parents that teachers hate.