Back to school: Ready, set … GO

For those of you in the US, school is about to start again. If you are in the UK, there’s a bit of time before school starts, but it’s still coming up soon. This post is for you all. For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, you’re in the middle of the school year … Read more

A watershed of insight, courtesy of Doc Hendley

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At the end of June, the International Boys’ Schools Coalition had their annual meeting. It’s always a pleasure to be with a large group of people whose focus is on educating boys, especially since those schools are both state and independent schools, and they are from all over the world. Attendees came from the USA, … Read more

Happy Father’s Day!

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The prevailing stereotype is that men are not very emotional, but that isn’t true. More and more studies are indicating that while men may not be comfortable verbalizing their emotions, they certainly are emotional.  Now, research shows that men who are fathers actually secrete oxytocin the more time they spend with their own infant children. … Read more

School’s out. What’s a boy to do?

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What will your son do during his school break? Here in the northern hemisphere, children are already on summer break or will be on break shortly.  In the southern hemisphere, your children will have winter break shortly.  So what are you going to do when you hear, “I’m so bored!” All of the suggestions depend … Read more

Navigating the transition from elementary to middle school

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For any kid, moving up from elementary to middle school presents a challenge. For boys, who are almost always still children – i.e. have not hit puberty yet – when they enter middle school, that change might not seem too much of a change at first. The learning shift that happens in middle school – … Read more

Boys, friendships, and bullying

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Friendships Boys are much more emotional creatures than society, and cultural norms, would have you believe. Friendships and buddies are very important to boys. My research, and research by others, says that boys get more social support from their buddies than from their parents, or from girl friends. The group that your son belongs to … Read more

Boys, stress & competitiveness in school

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Stress “Fight or flight” – we’ve all heard of it. We’ve all experienced it. When in a stressful situation, your body reacts with an elevated heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, increased breathing rate, dilated pupils. You’re on alert, ready to fight or flee in response to the stressor that caused the reaction. In … Read more

Primary school and the new “normal”

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Let’s put it right up front: we’ll be talking about learning disabilities. There are four categories of learning disabilities that are commonly seen as having gender differences. Let’s take them one by one: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): This is what used to be called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). ADHD diagnoses have been in three … Read more

Boys and elementary school: Part 1

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If your little fellow is headed to first grade in the fall, you’ve been spending over five years getting him ready. You’ve helped him learn how to interact and socialize with other people – kids and adults. You’ve read to him, talked with him, sung songs and played games that have helped light up the … Read more

Q & A: Real moms of real boys

Over on the Facebook page for the new book, I’ve been having some great conversations with moms from around the world about engaging and raising boys who love to learn. I thought I’d share some of that dialog here, so here goes: Mom: My son is 11 years old and I am a young single … Read more