The other day my husband announced to me that we really needed to start working on our son’s literacy skills.
I tilted my head and was like, “What do you mean?”
In my mind, our son is essentially a literary genius. I mean, he’s 3. He can do basic signs for please, thank you, milk, etc. All of which he learned before he could actually talk {thanks to some friends who encouraged me to teach my kids to sign, well before I was even married!}. He knows the alphabet in both spoken, song, and sign language. He recognizes letters and can spell his name: R-e-y-n-o-l-d-s. Seven letters, y’all. Genius.
Okay, so maybe not a genius, but for 3-years-old … I think he’s doing pretty good, right?
Well then my husband starts giving me facts and statistics about boys and how they are trailing behind their female counterparts:
- Boys are being outperformed by girls, with more than 1/3 failing to reach the expected level in writing.
- Girls lead the way in early learning goals, 74.3% achieving expected levels, compared to 58.6% of boys.
- Only about 40% of college graduates in 2015 were male – a difference that many education experts believe is linked to poor reading habits and literacy skills that are developed in elementary and middle school grades.
- Boys and girls develop differently, their brains included. Girls talk earlier, have larger vocabularies and use more complex sentence structures.
- Boys are twice as likely to have a language or reading problem and three to four times more likely to stutter.
- Reading and writing requires a child to sit … still. And we all now that boys have an ABUNDANCE of energy and rarely sit still. Thus, learning letters, words, etc. has to be a hands-on, experience-type of learning, other than that which requires them to sit.
- Boys also need male participation and encouragement, otherwise they see reading and writing as “a girl thing.”
So now that some of you are completely overwhelmed {some of you may be living this in real-life}, here are some things that I found that could help boys in developing a love/like for reading and writing, thus strengthening those skills:
- Find things that are boy-focused: comic books, sports books/magazines, books about trucks, construction equipment, etc.
- Read books aloud; perform the things you’re reading! This helps with that being active and having a LOT of energy thing!
- Allow your son to pick out his own books, stories, etc. {Libraries are free!!}
- Ask him questions about the books he’s reading: What does he see, hear, and think about?
- Let him see you, your spouse, your significant other reading and allow him to engage with you about what you’re reading. {Provided your literary choice is child-question-appropriate…}
- Allow him to draw things things that interest him, which might mean things like aliens! We purchased a big roll of white paper from Michael’s and have a can of crayons out for him to color/draw whenever he wants.
- Draw with him!
- Have him make up his own story about a drawing. Ask him questions about the drawing. Get engaged!
- Have him help write thank you notes to friends {especially after his birthday}. There are several fill-in types out there, like these from Amazon.
- Have him sign the birthday card for a friend, relative, neighbor, etc.
- Let him see you writing letters, thank yous, or sending birthday or other cards {real mail is so fun to send and receive!!}.
- Turn off the tv, the tablet, the phone, the devices!!!
I have no idea if our son will LOVE to read and write. We do a lot of the things listed above and will continue to encourage him in these areas. But ultimately a lot of it will be left up to him, right?
You have an amazing son who is eager to learn. I have known him since an infant. I work at the daycare he attends. He does have a lot of energy as most boys do. When learning anything he is very attentive. He picks up fast. You guys are doing a great job as parents. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Ms. Roberta! We are so thankful for you and the other teachers who put so much into teaching our babies!