Teaching Girls and Boys Differently

[Carrie]

Or if some of us don't climb trees, we could always run down to the store and get another ball.

[lifeteenchick527]

[quote name='reelguy227' date='Jul 10 2005, 11:17 AM']Let me rephrase that ,all this article points out is how girls can learn so much more better than boys can ,I mean come on ,the whole article points out how girls can do everything better than guys in each category .

I get it ,guys are stupid and girls are superior.
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wow... i couldnt have said it better
jkjk

God Bless
LTC :hearts:

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Carrie' date='Jul 12 2005, 08:21 AM']Or if some of us don't climb trees, we could always run down to the store and get another ball.
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That a girl! think like a shopper!!!

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='ironmonk' date='Jul 9 2005, 05:10 PM']It's nice to see objective Psychologists who are concerned with facts and not agendas.... This topic has been known for sometime, and it's so true. ADD should not be treated with a pill. ADD is a scam.

God Bless!
ironmonk

Code: ZE05070905
Date: 2005-07-09
[b]Teaching Girls and Boys Differently[/b]

Psychologist-Doctor Tells Why Divergences Run Deep

NEW YORK, JULY 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Boys and girls have marked physical and psychological differences and hence they have to be educated differently. This is the thesis of a book published earlier this year by psychologist and family doctor Leonard Sax.

In "Why Gender Matters" (Random House), he takes issue with the modern tendency toward gender-neutral child-rearing. According to this theory boys and girls behave differently because of the way they are educated, or because of cultural factors. Sax describes how in the mid-1990s he began to see more and more young boys arrive at his office with requests for medication, due to their supposed attention-deficit disorder.

The real problem, Sax eventually discovered, was that the second- and third-graders were being educated by teachers who did not understand the differences in how boys and girls learn. For a start, he explains, a girl's sense of hearing is more sensitive than that of boys, so the tone of voice used by a female teacher may be fine for the girls, but does not engage a boy's attention.

This experience sparked off Sax's interest in the subject of sex-based differences. His research showed that behavioral differences are not just caused by cultural factors. Research into men and women who have suffered strokes reveals that in men the left and right hemispheres of the brain are strongly compartmentalized, with the former dedicated to verbal skills and the latter to spatial functions. This division does not exist in women, who use both hemispheres of the brain for language.

And analysis of human brain tissue shows that there is a difference in its composition, at the level of the proteins. This difference is not due to hormonal changes that occur at puberty, but is something innate and is present even in children.

Sax also notes that girls and women can generally interpret facial expressions better than most boys and men. He cites research carried out at Cambridge University, showing that even young babies reveal differences in the way they pay attention to objects. Female babies are more interested in other people's faces, while male babies prefer to pay attention to moving objects.

Seeing differently

In fact, evidence exists that from the composition of the retina to the way images are processed by the brain, there are notable differences between males and females. This results in females being more aware of differences in color and texture, while males discern with greater facility location, direction and speed.

This difference is then reflected in the toys that young children prefer -- dolls for girls and trucks for boys -- and the type of pictures they draw, with girls using more colors and including more people in their drawings.

This has consequences when it comes to schooling, Sax explains. Given that most kindergarten teachers are women they tend to encourage their students to draw people and to use lots of colors. This can lead to discouragement among boys, whose different style of drawing is not appreciated by the teacher, leading them to conclude that "art is for girls."

Male and female differences are also evident in the way people navigate. Men are more likely to use abstract concepts such as north and south, and to refer to distances. Women, by contrast, prefer using visual landmarks. Neuroscientists have found, Sax noted, that even by the age of 5 the male brain uses a different part of the brain to navigate, the hippocampus, while the female brain relies on the cerebral cortex.

Feelings

Notable differences also exist in how emotions are handled. Children are generally not capable of analyzing their emotions, because this area of their brain has not yet developed. In adolescence, emotions are increasingly dealt with by the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions.

But this change is far more pronounced in girls' brains than in those of boys. So, if at school adolescents are asked by their teachers to write or talk about their emotions this places boys at a disadvantage.

Another area with marked differences between males and females is in the willingness to accept risk. Most boys enjoy taking risks, and are also impressed by other boys who take risks. This is not the same for girls, who generally are less likely to seek out risky situations just for the sake of it. Boys are also more likely to disobey their parents when told not do something risky.

Sax explained that while boys enjoy doing risky things, they also systematically overestimate their own ability, whereas girls are likely to underestimate it. Researchers at Boston University noted that almost all drowning victims are male, for example. They concluded that a major contributing factor to this was that males consistently overestimated their swimming ability.

Boys are also more attracted to violence and conflict -- for example, in their reading preferences -- than girls are. And in their relations with others, boys are notably readier to fight and to respond aggressively than girls.

Friendships are also carried out differently. Girls tend to organize their friendships around spending time together, talking and going to places. Friendships among boys, however, revolve around a common interest in games and activities, with conversation and secret-sharing not holding a high priority.

Brain development

Learning methods between the sexes vary greatly too. Most girls, Sax explained, naturally tend to seek out a teacher's help, are more likely to follow instructions, and to do their homework. Boys, by contrast, will generally only consult a teacher as a last resort and are less likely to study if they find a subject uninteresting.

And when it comes to motivating students, boys respond well to stress created by confrontation or time-constrained tasks, an approach that does not give good results for girls.

Sax is careful to point out that every child is unique and, also, that not all boys or all girls are the same. At the same time, he writes, this "should not blind us to the fact that gender is one of the two great organizing principles in child development -- the other principle being age."

Girls and boys, he explained, differ substantially in the speed with which their brains mature. The various regions of the brain develop in a different sequence in girls compared to boys. Therefore, rather than saying that boys develop more slowly than girls, it is more accurate to affirm that girls and boys develop at a different pace. Language skills develop earlier in girls, for example, while spatial memory matures earlier in boys.

In fact, Sax argued, these differences in cerebral capacities between the sexes are larger and more important during childhood and adolescence than the differences between adults, when both males and females have reached full maturity.

This difference, he argues, should be acknowledged by educators, and then used positively. Just trying to stop boys from fighting among themselves or playing dangerous games, for example, is insufficient. The solution is not to try and eliminate this aggression in males, but to transform it by providing constructive alternatives.

And when it comes to teaching, instead of prescribing medications to boys to treat attention problems, a better solution would be to separate the sexes and use teaching methods appropriate for each sex. In a word: letting boys be boys.
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interesting asa teacher I have tried to get multiple principles to split the school by Gender but to no avail. I think people are far to flipant about studies like this, Science is the god of our Nation and so if we wish to ever get anywhere we must appeal to science. Now I do want to say that whie I think ADD is completly over blown and is almost always Adult Disipline Deficentcy rather than what it is supposed to stand for I have seen a few children who really do need medication now I mean a few perhaps 3 or 4 out of the 100 or so medicated children I have taught, butthe do exist, at least with our current social constraits there is no way to reach those children without medication. But I think that on the whole it is not so much a scam as a crutch, if your child isn't doing well instead of actually helping him or forcing him to work just drug him, why not that is our solution for everything else in this country.

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Jul 10 2005, 12:25 PM']Asking a 6 year old (especially a boy) to sit in a desk for six hours and work on fine motor activities seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me. And when he gets wiggly... well... there must be something wrong with him.
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Well as much as this is un PC- no there is nothing wrong with him that a sound spanking won't cure, boy's are designed for combat, for bring down the deer, for defending the women and children from the bear or from other beasties of the world that is what at the biological root of it men are designed for, the fact is that men have now created a world where most of there biological design is unnecessary, we have invinted ourselves into redundence, so one must go ahead and use what males have in abundance to help train them for the new world, their survival instinct-- pain = threat to survival-- given the choice and boys will adapt to whatever requirments they must if not adapting results in pain. I know many people would say that is cruel, but what are we all typing on right now-- a device invented by a male which is absolutly suited more for female strengths than male ones. This is how the world is now, we have made it so, it is our duty to prepare our sons for it.

[Semperviva]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Jul 10 2005, 09:28 PM']Amen! I love to eavesdrop on my children's imaginative play. I'm pretty sure I could chuck all of my son's toys and give him a box filled with paper cups, paper plates, several rolls of tape, a stapler, some aluminum foil and straws and he'd be set for a loooooong time.
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.............haha i'd get along well with yer son, lol, i do that now!!!! make things out of other things...HAHA....like flowers out of plastic cups! lol, etc etc, hearts out of paper clips its FUN

[mpalasp]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Jul 12 2005, 03:51 PM']Well as much as this is un PC- no there is nothing wrong with him that  a sound spanking won't cure, boy's are designed for combat, for bring down the deer, for defending the  women and children from the bear or from other beasties of the world that is what at the biological root of it men are designed for, the fact is that men have now created a world where most of there biological design is unnecessary,  we have invinted ourselves into redundence, so one must go ahead and use what males have in abundance to help train them for the new world, their survival instinct-- pain = threat to survival-- given the choice and boys will adapt to whatever requirments they must if not adapting results in pain.  I know many people would say that is cruel, but what are we all typing on right now-- a device invented by a male which is absolutly suited more for female strengths than male ones. This is how the world is now, we have made it so, it is our duty to prepare our sons for it.
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Yes it is our duty to prepare our sons (and daughters) for this world, but there are many other ways to discipline. Physical punishment is not the only way to punish children and is not the best way either. Having firm and consistent discipline is the most important part. To say that the only way to prepare boys for the world is by inflicting pain is outrageous. It is important to teach children to regulate their own behavior so as they grow they do not have to rely on an outside source (pain) to regulate their behavior.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Jul 12 2005, 03:51 PM']Well as much as this is un PC- no there is nothing wrong with him that  a sound spanking won't cure, boy's are designed for combat, for bring down the deer, for defending the  women and children from the bear or from other beasties of the world that is what at the biological root of it men are designed for, the fact is that men have now created a world where most of there biological design is unnecessary,  we have invinted ourselves into redundence, so one must go ahead and use what males have in abundance to help train them for the new world, their survival instinct-- pain = threat to survival-- given the choice and boys will adapt to whatever requirments they must if not adapting results in pain.  I know many people would say that is cruel, but what are we all typing on right now-- a device invented by a male which is absolutly suited more for female strengths than male ones. This is how the world is now, we have made it so, it is our duty to prepare our sons for it.
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I understand your point. But there is no reason that my six year old needs to sit in a desk all day. I'm sure that by the time he graduates hs, he will have mastered the art of sitting. Once his seatwork is done, he can go off and do things more suited to boys (ie slay dragons or something...) My point, however, was that as soon as a child does what it natural to children, ie wiggle, we suddenly feel the need to medicate them to not wiggle.

And taking frequent breaks from sitting in a desk might eliminate the need to spank them, Don John. I was talking about fidgeting, not disobedience...

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='mpalasp' date='Jul 12 2005, 04:31 PM']Yes it is our duty to prepare our sons (and daughters) for this world, but there are many other ways to discipline. Physical punishment is not the only way to punish children and is not the best way either. Having firm and consistent discipline is the most important part. To say that the only way to prepare boys for the world is by inflicting pain is outrageous. It is important to teach children to regulate their own behavior so as they grow they do not  have to rely on an outside source (pain) to regulate their behavior.
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The Corpral punishment debate is a complicated ( and we have had it before ) but both God and Evolution disagree with you that it is not the best. I will happily debate you fromeither scientiffic or religious point of view but I think it should be on a differant thread, so which would you prefer?

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Jul 12 2005, 04:44 PM']I understand your point. But there is no reason that my six year old needs to sit in a desk all day. I'm sure that by the time he graduates hs, he will have mastered the art of sitting. Once his seatwork is done, he can go off and do things more suited to boys (ie slay dragons or something...) My point, however, was that as soon as a child does what it natural to children, ie wiggle, we suddenly feel the need to medicate them to not wiggle.

And taking frequent breaks from sitting in a desk might eliminate the need to spank them, Don John. I was talking about fidgeting, not disobedience...
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Well in my experiance figetting is only a problem when it bothers others or disrupts the childs ability to learn, niether I nor teachers I know have a problem with it solong as it doesn't do one of those things--- and I have seen many 8th graders who have not mastered the art of sitting, for that matter I know some adults who have not mastered it, sitting and staying on task are essential to survival in the modern world. Now that being said I think many of our problems in school would be solved if boys would start at 7 instead of 6, in Texas a child doesn't have to attend until 7 and I am seriosly thinking about keeping my son out until then. I think you are right in your assesment of age just remember that eventually it does have to be taught and enforced.

[Carrie]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Jul 12 2005, 03:16 PM']That a girl! think like a shopper!!!
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You know it!

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Jul 12 2005, 05:54 PM']Well  in my experiance figetting is only a problem when it bothers others or  disrupts the childs ability to learn, niether I nor teachers I know have a problem with it solong as it doesn't do one of those things--- and I have seen many 8th graders who have not mastered the art of sitting, for that matter I know some adults who have not mastered it, sitting and staying on task are essential to survival in the modern world. Now that being said I think many of our problems in school would be solved if boys would start at 7 instead of 6, in Texas a child doesn't have to attend until 7 and I am seriosly thinking about keeping my son  out until then. I think you are right in your assesment of age just remember that eventually it does have to be taught and enforced.
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Oh, I'm sorry... were you talking to me??



Minnesota also doesn't require attendance until age seven. But I don't know of anyone other than homeschoolers who delay. I agree that at some point staying on task for long periods of time is a skill that must be mastered. I'm sure that you and I can agree that children (especially boys) of ages five and six who are required to sit and concentrate for hours on end are going to get figety. I used to teach first grade and I remember the struggle it was for them to stay on task. I am glad that my son does not have to sit for so long. Don't get me wrong, he does have to do seatwork, but a lot of his work can be done at the couch or sprawled out on the floor.

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Jul 12 2005, 09:02 PM'] Oh, I'm sorry... were you talking to me??



Minnesota also doesn't require attendance until age seven. But I don't know of anyone other than homeschoolers who delay. I agree that at some point staying on task for long periods of time is a skill that must be mastered. I'm sure that you and I can agree that children (especially boys) of ages five and six who are required to sit and concentrate for hours on end are going to get figety. I used to teach first grade and I remember the struggle it was for them to stay on task. I am glad that my son does not have to sit for so long. Don't get me wrong, he does have to do seatwork, but a lot of his work can be done at the couch or sprawled out on the floor.
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Well I do't know about your experiance but I never new a first grader who had trouble staying on task when those task where developmentally appropriate. I think that task are becomeing increasingly difficult for kids because we are continually lowering the age we expect certian concepts to be taught. I personally think we are much to hard on the young student and much to easy on the intermidiate and Junior High school child.

Edited July 13, 2005 by Don John of Austria

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Jul 12 2005, 09:39 PM']Well I do't know about  your experiance but I never new a first grader who had trouble stayingon task when those task  where developmentally appropriate.  I think that task are becomeing increasingly difficult for kids because we are continually lowering the age we expect certian concepts to be taught. I personally think we are much to hard on the young student and much to easy on the intermidiate and Junior High school child.
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I agree with everything you just said.

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Jul 12 2005, 09:43 PM']I agree with everything you just said.
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Good I am glad we agree.