I have to say that I think this article is right on. Our boys and young men are distracted from reading good books. It is not that they are less capable. I believe that all people, regardless of gender, are geniuses in their own right. My job is to bring that genius to the surface.
The appearance of the boy-girl literacy gap happens to coincide with the proliferation of video games and other electronic forms of entertainment over the last decade or two. Boys spend far more time "plugged in" than girls do. Could the reading gap have more to do with competition for boys' attention than with their supposed inability to focus on anything other than outhouse humor? - "How to Raise Boys that Read"Chris doesn't like books that aren't "real". He wants stories of people who have done heroic things but are real human beings...not super heroes, aliens, or elves. It took me a while to figure this out. Then I stumbled upon Robinson Crusoe
Boy was I wrong! (How could I ever be wrong, right?) He loves adventure books about men who are real people, experiencing hardships and trials and overcoming them through ingenuity and hard work. Some of his other favorites in the past year have been Ender's Game
I also realized that our read aloud books needed to be about family oriented people who work together and love each other deeply enough to sacrifice for the good of the family. We finished the Little House on the Prairie
I completely agree with you. Why would boys want to read when they can play video games and read comic books?
ReplyDeleteIn the last year I have removed dwaddle out of my house and have only seen amazing success. My 10 year old is currently devouring the Narnia series and my 9 year is flying through the Hobbit.
The key really is to find good and worthy books that are in subjects that interest them.
My kids loved The Hiding Place and Silas Marner the most last year in our read a louds.
Tell Chris I LOVE the Sacketts too. I think the top Louis L'Amour books should be "required" reading for all youth boys. So many powerful lessons there.
Thanks for another wonderful post Celeste! As a mother of 3 boys I appreciate these thoughts.
-Deanna : )
I LOVE this post! (Don't I say that about everything you write?) :0) I think Gannon (my oldest son) will feel this way about books as he gets older! He seems to be drawn to these same types of stories about hard work, families, nature, etc. We have always been adamant that he not play video games, and I can already see the great blessing that is to him! I appreciate the inspiration you continue to provide for me and my family!
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