The Minds of Boys Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Life

by Gurian, Michael; Stevens, Kathy

• ISBN13: 9780787995287
• ISBN10: 0787995282
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-06
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

Michael Gurian's blockbuster bestseller The Wonder of Boys is the bible for mothers, fathers, and educators on how to understand and raise boys. It has sold over 400,000 copies, been translated into 17 languages, and sells over 25,000 every year, which is more than any other book on boys in history. To follow up on this first book, which launched the boy's movement, he has now written this revolutionary new book which confronts what he and a lot of other parents and teachers in this country truly believe to be a "boy's crisis". Here are the facts: Boys today are simply not learning as well as girls Boys receive 70% of the Ds and Fs given all students Boys cause 90% of classroom discipline problems 80% of all high school dropouts are boys Millions of American boys are on Ritalin and other mind-bending control drugs Only 40% of college students are boys And three out of four learning disabled students are boys So what can we do?Gurian has the answer in this enormously fascinating and practical book which shows parents and teachers how to help boys overcome their current classroom obstacles by helping to create the proper learning environment, understand how to help boys work with their unique natural gifts, nurture and expand every bit of their potential, and enabling them to succeed in life the way they ought to.Gurian presents a whole new way of solving the problem based on the success of his program in schools across the country, the latest research and application of neuro-biological research on how boys' brains actually work and how they can learn very well if they're properly taught.Anyone who cares about the future of our boys must read this book.

Author Biography

Michael Gurian is the New York Times best-selling author of The Wonder of Boys and nineteen other books, including A Fine Young Man, The Good Son, The Wonder of Girls, and Boys and Girls Learn Differently! He is a pioneer in the fields of family development and education and has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, CNN, NPR, and in the New York Times, USA Today, Time, Newsweek, and elsewhere.

Kathy Stevens is the training director of the Gurian Institute and has worked in education, child development, and the nonprofit world for more than thirty years in programs as diverse as juvenile and adult corrections, teen pregnancy prevention, cultural competency training, domestic violence prevention, and women's issues.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Protecting the Minds of Boys

The Current Crisis

Is There Really a Crisis?

Understanding and Fixing the Crisis

The Next Step

How Boys Learn

A New Science

Boy Energy

The Mismatch Between Boys and Conventional Education

Confronting an Educational Myth

Ending the Myth of Gender Plasticity and Supporting the Way Boys Actually Learn

A Boy-Friendly Model for Protecting the Minds of Boys

Becoming Practical

Starting Boys Out in Boy-friendly Learning Environments

Helping Boys Learn Before they Begin School

Protecting the Learning Potential of a Young Brain

Building Bonding and Attachment

Boys' Special Attachment Issues

Ten Strategies to Promote Attachment

The Importance of Emotions in a Boy's Early Education

The Core Philosophy of Choice Making

Promoting Verbal Development in a Young Boy

Balancing a Boy's Fine and Gross Motor Development

Calming the Hidden Stressors in a Boy's Life

Effective Preschool and Early Learning Environments for Boys

Providing a Boy-Friendly Learning Environment

Boys and Sensory Issues

Brain Breaks

Music and the Brain

The Outdoor Classroom

Do You Have to Use Your Words to Use Your Brain?

Removing Key Environmental Stressors from Boys' Lives

Promoting Brain Health

Brain Injuries

Screen Time: TVs, Videos, Video Games, Computers

What a Boy Eats and Drinks

The Beauty of Brain Health

Teaching School Curricula in Boy-friendly Ways

Helping Boys Learn Reading, Writing, and Language Arts

What Parents Can Do

What Teachers Can Do

Do Heroes Read and Write?

Helping Boys Learn Math and Science

Relevance!What Parents Can Do to Help Boys Learn Math

What Teachers Can Do to Help Boys Learn Math

What Parents Can Do to Help Boys Learn Science

What Teachers Can Do to Help Boys Learn Science

The Importance of the Arts and Athletics in Academics

Using Single-gender Classrooms Effectively

The Essential Search for Equality

The Success of Single-Gender Classes

The Importance of Teacher and Parent Buy-In

Single-Gender Sex Education

Bringing Single-Gender Innovations to Your School

Helping Boys Who Need Extra Help

A New Vision of Learning Disabilities, ADD/ADHD, and Behavioral Disorders

The Inherent Fragility of the Male Brain

Changing Our Course

Getting the Right Diagnosis

Treatment

Moving to Optimism

Confronting Undermotivation and Underperformance in Boys' Learning

Undermotivated, Underperforming Boys

Some Causes of Undermotivation—and Some Cures

When Gifted Boys Are Undermotivated

Motivating Our Sons

What Parents and Teachers Can Do to Motivate Boys to Learn

What Parents Can Do

What Teachers Can Do

Helping Gifted Nonachievers

The Key Role of Men in Motivating Boys

Leaving No Boy Behind

Helping Sensitive Boys in Our Schools

Bridge Brains

Fighting Gender Stereotypes

The Emoti

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