Last year, girls performed notably better on California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR). The gender gap has been long standing, and apparently has actually been closing in recent years. But why does it exist at all?

Choice A, generally accepted by the scientific community:

Clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel Peters, who practices in Napa and San Ramon, said the reason for the contrast has to do with brain development. Girls have larger hippocampuses, he said, the part of the brain that aids in learning and, in particular, language arts. Girls also use more cortical areas of the brain for verbal and emotional functioning, said Peters.

Conversely, boys use more cortical areas dedicated to spatial and mechanical functioning, he said. The result is that, neurologically, girls are better wired for language skills than boys, said Peters. Napa Valley Register

Choice B, offered by some guy who seems to like to actually look for answers rather than defend the status quo:

Educational consultant Joe Manthey, who led a workshop through the Napa County Office of Education about educating male students, cites the almost nonexistent gender gap for home-schooled students in English as proof that schools are part of the problem.

The reason that home-schooled boys score as well as their female counterparts in English is twofold, said Manthey. First, they are more likely to be given a choice in their reading material. Second, “they’re less likely to fall through the cracks,” he said. Ibid.

Choice C, from Napa Valley High School English Teacher Justin Aaron:

Aaron, on the other hand, attributes the gender gap to the culture of students, not educators. It is considered taboo for a boy to walk across campus with a poetry book under his arm, he said. Ibid.

Now for the essay portion of the test:

In what ways have you noticed yourself teaching your boys differently than your girls?

I notice differences, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I have relaxed a lot over the last three and a half years. I educate for different reasons and have different priorities. But then, I think the parent-child relationship allows us as homeschoolers to adjust instruction for each child without taking certain demographic information such as gender and ethnic background directly into account.

I don’t go to the library thinking, “Hmm, he’s a boy. Boys like non-fiction. And noise.” I peruse the shelves and think, “Hey! Bear would love this!” I am beginning with my son as an individual, not a checklist of probabilities based on his age, race, gender, etc.

Maybe the fact that we use the alphabet magnets more than I did with my daughter is because I’ve learned to play more. Or maybe it is because my son just loves the magnetic letters so much. He holds them, pets them, examines every aspect of their three-dimensionality. I never thought boy = kinesthetic. I just noticed he likes them and it all clicks with him better when we use them than when I write it out.

It is all play to him. And with all the other challenges facing our school system today, I think the loss of simple play may be the most detrimental in the long run. Which brings me, I think, to:

Choice D, just a thought of mine:

Boys need to play, wiggle and make weird noises in order to learn. In fact, my son seems to get more out of lessons I give my daughter while he plays with his train set than he does when I try to have him sit quietly and listen to me. Maybe all of the above “experts” have part of the whole story. Boys are different from girls. They are not given choices in reading that might interest them. And there is always that socialization issue in the schools.

Homeschools have a unique advantage here. We can give them time to mature. We can present lessons in a way that specifically engages them. Common social stigmas regarding boys and reading are not as strong as the culture created within the family.

And we can let them play.

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Added:  And on the subject of play, check out The Importance of Play at An Untraditional Home.

Hat Tip: Dr. Helen, via Why Homeschool both of which have interesting comments as well.

[tags]homeschool, homeschooling, education, reading, gender gap[/tags]