This year, for the first time in my teaching career, I have more girls than boys(11-9)in my class. My teaching style has had to change and I've had to be a little calmer and quieter than in the past when I've had as many as 17 boys in one class. Girls don't like as much joking and they don't like as much noise! And they can hold a grudge for days! It's really been interesting for me to observe the differences because I grew up in a household with four boys.

I teach 2nd grade and have boys who are super writers and readers. Most of the boys in my class choose to write 30 and sometimes 40 minutes each morning.I believe this occurs for several reasons. When students arrive, they have a 20 minute prep period where they can select books, sign up for lunch, turn in homework,touch base with friends and select a writing topic. After that intial period, they settle in to drawing and writing. The boys' drawings are usually very elaborate and often involve a great deal of detail. Sometimes they draw and write on a single topic over a 3 to 5 day period. They like the additonal time to add dialogue and details. Everyday, mid-morning we take a "body break," which involves a nutrious snack and outdoor play. Many parents have told me that they want their children to be in my class, beause of the short breaks the kids get throughout the day. We also do some basic yoga and other types of body movement during transition times. (2 to 3 minutes can do wonders to rejuvenate the mind!) I see the results in fewer disciplinary issues and much more productive and creative work.

My son is the victim of such a classroom where he is always in trouble for being active. He struggles in reading and writing, but is great in math. Both my husband and I are teachers and find it diificult to comprehend why his teacher can't understand that he is just being a boy. He is also an african-american boy. In our culture we are all very active. We need to move around often. It would be great if my son's teacher and others would just put more movement into the day. They just might get more cooperation from the boys.

Amen, where are the days when I spent building dams in the backyard creek, or going hunting for squirrels with my dad. We had great ideas that were not held in and I am concerned that my 6 year old boy is being held back by conformity to Big brother Uncle Sam. My son, Ian, gave his first grade teacher a first(taught 14 years in the same school) he brought in a squirrel tail for sharing time. What a BOY thing to do.

As a kindergarten teacher, I totally agree that children, especially boys, need to have a lot of play time and unstructured time in order to concentrate better on academic work. I grew up in a total boy family and noticed this in my brothers and cousins also. When I am planning my work for the day, I make sure that I have structured time for free play and that I have included activities in work centers that are stimulating and allow the children to talk and be a bit active. Since I have 12 boys and 6 girls, I must keep the boys excited and riveted in order to keep some sense of sanity. My boys are much happier, content and disciplined than the other classes of boys in my school. Active boys are learning boys!

Having taught for the past 32 years, my own education on boys really began with my grandson, who is now 3. He is a dynamo: smart, funny, and never quiet or still. In fact, his poor mom had to make his Halloween costume because he insisted on being a backhoe. And he was a spectacular one. :)

This article is quite refreshing for me to read. As a mother of a highly active and highly intelligent 4 year old boy, I am less concerned about his inability to stay still and focus, and whether it will adversely impact his ability to learn.

This article illustrates a greater point that girls and boys learn differently. And may even suggest that the best way to educate children (at least at younger ages) is to have single sex classrooms to allow for the least restrictive learning environment for all children.

I know I dread the day a year from now when my son starts Pre-School. I am well aware of his need to be in constant motion, but his ability to make observations and inferences about his surroundings in the midst of movement. Thanks so much for the information.

I completely agree that we are stifling our boys and going against their learning style. As a teacher, I incorporate movement because it helps the boys need it, and the girls benefit from it. I have 2 sons, one of which is an athlete and the other has ADHD. I am coming to realize that we need to change our teaching style if we want our boys to succeed. They need to be able to move...that's how they learn.

Bravo! It is time to recognize this issue and make some changes. All boys can't have ADHD and medication won't "cure" their need to be boys.

I am an elementary school music teacher. While doing an activity with groups of 3 kids in my 3/4 classes, I noticed that in every group a girl dominated as a leader. I knew there were boy leaders but they just didn't seem to want to bother. These classes have PE opposite music. I asked the PE teacher if we could try a boy and a girl class because we had about even numbers. She agreed and found that her unit on soccer was much better to teach. The boys played a different game than the girls and the girls played harder and learned more without the boys dominating them. In my class, the boys worked well together and were more focused. The kids also loved it and enjoyed having a gender break in their day. We will continue to do this as our programs warrent but I consider it a great success!

I teach Kindergarten and this is the first year that I have several more boys than girls. I have to change my teaching style from more organized, qieter activites to alot more movement and hands-on because my boys are not content to be less active.

I teach Kindergarten and this is the first year that I have several more boys than girls. I have to change my teaching style from more organized, qieter activites to alot more movement and hands-on because my boys are not content to be less active.

I agree that all children not just boys need the movement in the day to increase the learning experience. An idea for spelling practice that helps is that all students have containers of playdough available. Have them roll "snakes" and form their spelling words for practice. They love it and it provides time for the physical energy to be expended at the same time as practice time.

Thanks for your comments about boys and learning. I homeschool my children, a 9 yr. old girl and 5 yr. old boy. The differences between their learning styles and behavior (activity level) is often startling and sometimes even frustrating to me! I have to constantly remind myself of the very truths that you shared in your blog. I'm really thankful that we live in a neighborhood that allows my son lots of outside, adventurous, and imaginative play time.

Thank You so much for posting this
I have been saying the same thing
for awhile now. But how do we get
the school systems to do it?
It seems that everytime I try to suggest this to the teachers at our school, they balk and say it is too disruptive and takes too much time. Even though the opposite seems to be true!

Agree with all comments, but would also add that boys need to be boys at home as well. Where I live many houses are more museums, than homes. As a kid I did not know any home that was as impeccably decorated or ordered and cleaned as many of todays' homes. Before becoming a math teacher for 6th graders who have mild LD's and ADHD, I was a jr. high science aid. We used to bake bread, ice cream and even homemade jelly with the students. It was so obvious which kids not just had cooked in the kitchen, but also who had cleaned in the kitchen. Shocking how many students didn't know how to clean up a simple spill. It seems to me, that schools are asked to do more and more of what used to be done at home naturally. When will we wake up and realize that kids are only in a classroom, at least at our school, less than 6 hours a day. They may be gone from home for longer than that, but 6 hours or less is not long enough to include everything that could/should be accomplished at home.

This article was spot-on. I have an active 7 year old that didn't "fit in" with his kindergarten class last year. His teacher was always complaining about his inability to sit still or that he talked too much. She was not willing to change her teaching style to accomodate the boys in the class who were "boys". We chose to remove him and homeschool instead. It's been a good experience for us all.

I am the mother of an 8 year old girl with addhd. Let's remember not all girls are suited to the girl class room idea. My 2 daughters both learn very well in the type of classroom you are discribing. Let's think about grouping according to learning needs not just gender segragation.

Our ten year old son has never sat in a classroom. I know what I went through as an ADHDI-girl in the few years I attended public school, and I realized early on that it would be worse for him, particularly since we are one of the few African-Americans in our community. Despite my son having irreversible damage over 75% of his brain at birth (major intra ventricular bleeding in both hemispheres), he reads, comprehends, and know more than his chair-bound peers. He is not as strong, fast or coordinated, but even his doctors forget that he has cerebral palsy until they run brain scans and read his charts. I really appreciate reading the comments from other parents and teachers because I usually feel as though I am doing the wrong thing. I used to be a rocket scientist before I became a Mom and have an Ivy-League PhD (I was home-schooled much of my life thanks to being kicked out/ bussed out of so many schools), but I was so woefully unprepared for motherhood that even now I am constantly amazed at how much I don't know. Today, I will feel that my son is better off with me than going to school with the neighborhood boys, so thank you.