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At_His_Feet
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 5:42am | IP Logged
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Especially for reluctant learners!
Now I know most of you will say, lots of breaks, movement, hands on learning etc.
But what about the less obvious things you have noticed.
Tricia.
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Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
Do whatever He tells you
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 5:59am | IP Logged
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In my case I've learned to start with little or no handwriting. All of my boys struggle with handwriting but they are capable in other ways. For example, math. My ds could not write the numbers to answer the questions well at all. But, he was very quick to learn the concept. Instead of allowing the handwriting to slow him down, I allowed him to do things orally, or use little number stamps to fill in the answers, or we did alot of Montessori type activities where writing wasn't involved. The same goes for the language arts. The Montessori Moveable alphabet really came in handy when they were first learning to read and build words.
The other differences are more subtle and probably change from child to child. Some things I've noticed about my boys are
~they love to draw but they hate to color
~they need a goal, or definite ending to an activity
~they are more easily motivated if I can relate back to a sport they are involved in
~ early on, like until they are around 8 or 9, working together is more difficult. When I have them work on a project of something together at these ages they get silly. For us they are better off doing projects on their own until they are a little more mature and can work better with a partner or small group
I realize those are generalizations and don't necessarily apply to every child, but that's what I've noticed about my boys.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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MaryM
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I second the little handwriting early.
Andrew Pudewa has what I've heard is a great talk on this topic - Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Build Forts All Day. He is going to give it at our conference here this weekend. I'm very interested to hear it. The talk can be downloaded here for $3.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JodieLyn
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When you need them to be at the table/workspace.. A couple of things that help with the wiggles..
have them sit on their hands.. they can pull and rock against their own legs and the chairs stay on the floor.
have them hold their hands together.. they can pull and push against their own hands.
or have them stand instead of trying to get them to sit..
All those let their bodies stay a tiny bit active.. generally aren't disruptive.. and can allow more focus than otherwise.
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Kathryn
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Last week, my son tossed a nerf football back and forth and kept squeezing it betw. his hands while standing here in the schoolroom while we were doing grammar. DROVE ME CRAZY BUT we went thru about 6+ pages!! (I was trying to finish this book for the year). So, I've found he needs something in this hands and yes, a pencil isn't it. In fact, most of the answers, I just had him give me the answers...not write, circle, underline etc.
Back when he was doing contractions and could not comprehend the concept and do all that writing, I bought a poster board at the store and cut it up and then had him match them day after day for a week or 2 and now he gets them all. Luckily we have several teacher stores locally but those big wall posters the teacher's use have been invaluable to me (for him). You can always find some to order on-line.
Also, I write every single day on the board (or paper, notecard etc.) what we're doing: phonics, math, reading, religion etc. Whatever is on the agenda that needs to be completed...even if it's the same ole thing, every day. He wants to see what he's "up against" and cross items off when done so again, he KNOWS there's a stopping point.
I also make up silly, rhyming sentences and such when discussing new vocabulary, spelling etc. That really helps him focus on the word and understand its meaning when I say something totally off the wall.
Hope that helps...it's a constant struggle w/ my boy. Sometimes it's "fun" to be outside the box and sometimes I wish he'd just sit and do a workbook! 
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Kathryn in TX
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Anne McD
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I've noticed with my son that he despairs when the school day seems to drag on forever. I gave them a weekly checklist. Now, he knows what needs to be done each day, it can be done in whatever order, and when everything is checked off, we're done.
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Anne
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Betsy
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::Work boxes helped us with a very visual and hands organization of work for the day.
::Sitting on an exercise ball has, at times, helped with the energy.
::Clay/play dough/wax in the hands has helped with read alouds.
::Running laps, either for punishment or energy release has helped.
I second what has already been said and I will keep brainstorming to think of some more.
Betsy
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Angel
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I think one of my biggest epiphanies of last year was, *Don't compare them to girls*. What I mean is... I see you have a 12 yo boy. My oldest is 13. He'll turn 14 in the fall. Many of the people I know who have children about his age are girls. 13 yo girls seem to have everything a lot more together (schoolwise) than boys. They may even have conversations with you that don't consist mainly of grunts. As long as I had it in my head that he ought to be doing exactly the same things girls his age were doing, I was worried and somewhat dissatisfied. When I finally (after listening to other moms of boys) decided that it was completely normal for boys his age to be somewhat unmotivated and speak mostly in grunts, I relaxed quite a bit and started meeting him where he was. To be honest, girls don't GROW as much in as short a period of time as he did... and that much growth seems to require a lot of energy... and A LOT of milk. 
Anyway, otherwise, my boys do need a lot of outside time, read alouds, etc., to be chosen with boy interests in mind, and everything to have a point. There is nothing that will make them more reluctant to sit down than an activity which seems to have no point.
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Angela
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 3:14pm | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
| I think one of my biggest epiphanies of last year was, *Don't compare them to girls*. |
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I'm enjoying this thread, and nodding my head in agreement with all the ideas. Most of these things we do.
I was thinking along the lines of Angela. I don't think "this is what we do with boys compared to girls". It's a fine line, but I grew up in a female dominant household, and we did a lot of comparison and drawing lines. I NEVER thought I would get the hang of or enjoy raising boys. But now I don't give it a thought except that these are my children and I follow their cues and interests...and it's a whole lot of fun. It's opening a new world to me.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Kathryn
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
There is nothing that will make them more reluctant to sit down than an activity which seems to have no point.
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This is sooo true too!!! In discussing synonyms and antonyms with my son a couple weeks ago, I knew he didn't care so I made up a story about:
The big dog that went to the big woods on a big path. He saw a big wolf with big teeth..... Of course I said it sooo melancholy too about how boring it was to use the same word over and over and that's why we study and learn about syn. and ant. Then I said the story changing all the "big" words w/ synonyms (and of course w/ much more life) so he could see how much better a story comes alive.
He even relayed this story to a neighbor so check+ on syn and ant!
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Kathryn in TX
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 3:23pm | IP Logged
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That's a good example, Kathryn. I find using living books (picture and chapter) is really working well with my sons. Like you and Angela said, just learning for learning sake they don't see the point, but (like Miss Mason said) leaving room for them to make connections just works well.
So synonyms and antonymns make sense in application in fun books by Ruth Heller and Brian P. Cleary rather than dry workbooks.
And I'm nodding my head in how my son is goal oriented. He wants to know what the day holds, makes the plans, sees the end in sight. All the more reason to stay on top of making lesson plans.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Erin
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For my reluctant learner audio resources worked really well. He also liked to listen with his head on the lounge and his legs in the air.
And for him too many short lessons didn't work, that was overwhelming. He preferred longer lessons but less subjects. So I would structure his week that we might cover the same amount of material but spend a whole day doing only one or two subjects.
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Erin
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Bridget
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Anytime I chose learning material for my guys, books, teaching DVDs, historical movies, outside classes... I chose with an eye toward good male role models to learn from.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
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I was just talking with a friend, and she made a point that I completely agree. Be on the same page for education and activities with your husband especially regarding your boys. And if you can, get hubby involved.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Erica Sanchez
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 11:25pm | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
| Andrew Pudewa has what I've heard is a great talk on this topic - Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Build Forts All Day. He is going to give it at our conference here this weekend. |
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Erica in San Diego
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Erica Sanchez
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| Posted: July 06 2010 at 11:26pm | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
| Andrew Pudewa has what I've heard is a great talk on this topic - Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Build Forts All Day. He is going to give it at our conference here this weekend. |
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I can't wait to hear this talk, too, Mary....at your conference....in Denver!!! See you Friday!! 
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Have a beautiful and fun day!
Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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Elena
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Wear. them. out.
I found that when I had most active boy in swimming during the school year he was a more compliant and happy kid.
That said we did not do a lot of "school" where he sat and filled out pages of workbooks. I did a lot of reading to him and then asking him to tell things back to me. (Dictation and narration!) I also let him draw instead of write a report and he had some very interesting drawings! He also loved to work on the computer and I let him do classes online too.
Each little boy was different but the main thing with each was to tire their bodies out a bit so that I could have some time with their minds!
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Elena
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JennGM
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Elena wrote:
| Wear. them. out. |
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LOL Elena. Very good point. I always know it's a good day when we've had a good balance of activity and learning.
I also keep thinking how visual my sons are, and I try to appeal to that. Even if there aren't pictures to use, talking in word picturs goes a long way.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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SeaStar
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Drawing yes; coloring no. That is my ds to a T. Is that fairly common for boys? And interesting... I wonder why?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Bridget
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SeaStar wrote:
| Drawing yes; coloring no. That is my ds to a T. Is that fairly common for boys? And interesting... I wonder why? |
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Mine too Melinda. No coloring. My guys don't like lapbooks either. Now hands on science... they're all about that.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Educating Boys. Your best tips.
