A Second Look

math and basketball

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:21:00 +0000

Here a terrific story about school in Peoria where college basketball player are teaching younger kids math by shooting hoops.

Although the reporter quotes girls, my money says this will work really well for boys. I wish they would teach them to improve their literacy skills with basketball too. Sports biographies, anyone?

The Politics of Underachievement.

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:43:00 +0000

Here's a really interesting piece about boys in the UK written in the Independent. Same troubles as here. Much research being done at a government level to determine why this is happening. (Are you there Barack?) At the very end of the article, the author quotes the head of a UK equal rights commission who says, in essence, there is a more level playing field, girls are doing better on it. The underachievement of boys is not a matter of discrimination against boys but a matter of social and emotional conditioning for boys that causes them to do poorly.

My first react was relief -- it would be so much easier to look at the boy issue in a non-political way. But on the other hand, as a student of the feminist movement, I know that social and emotional conditioning were the tools of women's oppression. Ever wonder why the feminist movement took hold in the 70's? Back in the 1950's, economic oppression was codified into law-- women made less, were blocked from taking on supervisory roles by certain laws designed to "protect" them. But they were also prevented from, say, buying a seat on the stock exchange by lack of support and outright harassment from their peers. In other words, their social and emotional conditioning prevented them from moving a head.

Are there laws that prevent men from entering stable, high flexibility jobs were women dominate -- not that I know of. Is there a strong taboo against it? Just ask a male nurse or a dude who is a kindergarten teacher. Lots of subtle and not so subtle harassment, disapproval and almost total lack of support.

It seem to me that the line between discrimination and law of social and emotional support is pretty thin.

A new piece!

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:09:00 +0000

Here's a story I wrote for Ivillage about Christmas

here's a nice article about TTWB from a NYC mag

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:24:00 +0000

The Other Gender DIVIDE
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Newsweek’s Reporter Peg Tyre Explores Why Boys Are Disadvantaged In The Classroom

Throughout the country, boys are falling behind girls when it comes to academic achievement. Peg Tyre first noticed this while covering the education beat for “Newsweek,” reporting, among other things, that in elementary school, boys are two times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with learning disabilities and twice as likely to be placed in special-education classes. But this isn’t a problem with boys.

According to Tyre, the problem is with our schools. In “The Trouble With Boys,” now out in paperback, Tyre explores how our education system is failing to address boys’ unique learning styles and explains why it’s imperative for all parents—of sons and daughters alike—to take notice.

Why did you decide to write this book?

I was covering education for about seven years at “Newsweek,” and it wasn’t until I was [spending time] in schools for a couple of years that I started to notice boys were disproportionately represented at the bottom of the class. I went to the data and found it backed up what I saw. I know from my experience as a reporter that that’s an extraordinary reversal. So, I decided to write about what is causing boys to underachieve—and what can we do about it.

You state that boys get expelled at five times the rate of girls in preschool. How do things go wrong at

such an early age?

Preschools have changed a great deal in the last 10 to 15 years. There’s been an increasing emphasis on academics and that’s been great for some kids, and it has some advantages. But one of the disadvantages is that it’s created a much more narrow curriculum where there’s fewer opportunities for free play, physical movement, etc.—and that’s particularly bad for boys. When you look at the work I cited by [developmental psychologist] Warren Eaton, you see that boys and girls move around about the same, but the outliers—the ones that move around the most— are invariably boys. I think that when you curtail opportunities for physical movement, I think you really crush a small minority of boys.

What are the other points of disengagement throughout a boy’s academic career?

In kindergarten and first grade when the curriculum depends on accurately holding a pencil, crayon or paintbrush, you are assuming a whole set of fine motor skills that a lot of kids don’t have and a lot of them are going to be boys. They just tend to develop them a little later. Around third grade students go from a point of learning to read to reading to learn and you often see that boys fall out there. A big dropping out point is ninth grade, and that’s because you have pronounced disengagement in middle school when the two things that hang boys up are handwriting and organization. You can’t succeed academically unless you’re organized. Yet when you talk to people who work with kids, they tell you disorganized people are disproportionately boys.

Why are boys lagging behind girls so much in literacy?

One of the reasons boys fall out around reading is that they’re often given books that they perceive to be girly. Boys prefer reading and writing that tend to be funnier and more irreverent. Their writing also tends to be more directed at other kids in the class and not necessarily at the teacher, whereas girls tend to write more for their teacher. Teachers often take [the former] as an affront, and I think we need to look at that.

etc. etc.

This one is about boys and fantasy violence

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:22:00 +0000

Are We Trying to Tame Our Wild Boys?

Examining whether we've gone too far in the quest to quell violence on the playground

by Peg Tyre

Where the Wild Things Are (both the book and the recently released movie) is about a boy who was sent to his room for being, well, wild. The film, which was No. 1 at the box office its opening weekend, has reignited the debate over how parents and schools react to typical boy behaviors. Some parenting experts have even suggested that the book and the movie offer guidance on disciplining kids without squelching their spirits completely.

Back in 1963, when the book was written, it was a time when boys could play Cops and Robbers and shout "Pow! Pow!" without the threat of school expulsion. It's very different today. Recently, first-grader Zachary Christie, 6, of Newark, DE, was suspended and sentenced to 45 days in reform school—um, I mean, an alternative program—for bringing his camping knife, spoon and fork contraption to school to eat lunch with. (He has since returned to school without having to attend the alternative/reform school.)

All of this begs the question of whether our society is trying to "tame" the normal, if rambunctious, impulses of little boys who like to play a bit rough and who sometimes get angry.

Don't get me wrong, anyone who has spent any time in a school as a parent, as a teacher—heck, even as a reporter stopping by to do a human-interest story about a holiday canned food drive—understands that classroom management is the key to running any school. Schools have to be places where all kids, boisterous or shy, can learn. They also have to be safe. Let me state unequivocally that weapons have no place in schools.

And anyone who reads a newspaper, surfs the Web or owns a television set knows that the nightmare of school shootings—incomprehensible tragedies at places like Columbine to Virginia Tech—are rare, but they happen.

But in many schools, zero tolerance for violence policies (which are good) have morphed into zero tolerance for aggression policies, and now, zero tolerance for anything that might even be perceived as aggressive. There are no contact sports on the playgrounds in Cheyenne, WY, and no running on the playground in Broward Country, FL. In one elementary school in Beaverton, OR, Tag has been outlawed.

But it gets worse. Many schools have even banned fantasy violence. According to the Washington Post, an 8-year-old boy in New Jersey was held by police for five hours and forced to make two court appearances for using an L-shaped piece of paper in a game of Cops and Robbers at recess. In Arkansas, another 8-year-old boy was punished for pointing a cooked chicken strip at another student and saying "Pow! Pow!"

When children—and let's face it, most of the kids who do this kind of thing are boys—are given creative writing assignments and come up with tales that involve dueling, swashbuckling, fisticuffs and—wait for it—decapitation, they are told their imaginations are "not appropriate," and the teacher picks up the telephone to the parents. Across our nation, boys are lagging behind girls in writing and lagging behind boys from 15 years ago. Ever wonder if there is a connection?

A couple of months ago, I was giving a workshop to a group of teachers in New Mexico about how to re-engage boys who are mentally checked-out of school—and if you look at the national statistics, there's an awful lot of them. An art teacher raised her hand and told me about a middle school boy who had created an intricate sculpture out of found objects—bolts, washers, wires and bits of a broken dryer dumped in an abandon lot near his house. "As a work of art, it was amazing," the teacher reported. The problem? The boy made a sculpture of a machine gun. The teacher recognized that he was far and away the most promising young artist in her class. Yet the culture of her school—and their zero tolerance toward anything that might be connected with aggression—made her opt not to display his sculpture on Parent's Night.

But it turns out, perfectly normal children, especially boys, tend to think, fantasize and play a great deal around violence. They sometimes think about guns. They sometimes write about sword-fighting. They think that toting a spork is cool. Are they going to grow up and become Virginia Tech shooters? Psychologists say no. But misguided policies and overzealous school administrators have a different view.

Zachary Christie shouldn't have brought anything with a blade into school. The principal should have taken it away and called his mother. Maybe asked him and her to take a day off to figure out how that blade ended up in a classroom. But making him into an outlaw? Time to rethink what we're really afraid of.

Peg Tyre is the author of The Trouble With Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School and What Parents and Educators Must Do. She can be reached at www.pegtyre.com.

Here's a piece I wrote for Ivillage on... women!

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:59:00 +0000

The Opt-Out Myth

A groundbreaking report on women, work and families is shattering some basic assumptions about modern motherhood

by Peg Tyre

The word is in: the Opt-Out Revolution, if there ever was such a thing, can be officially declared over. Women now make up more than half the workforce -up from 33 percent in 1967.

So what was all that "mommy wars" arguing about whether women should stay home or work for pay? It's hard to believe it now, as our nation struggles with the most profound economic downturn in 30 years, but back at the oh-so-flush years at the dawn of the decade, well-educated and highly compensated women were reported to be trading the corner office for the minivan. Their defection from the workplace, according to a much-discussed 2003 story in the New York Times Magazine, was interpreted to be a sign that after 40 years of gains, women were becoming disillusioned with corporate America.

After much soul searching, high-power women lawyers and MBAs, the ones at the very top of the economic food chain, were supposedly "opting out" in favor of more traditional women's responsibilities like running a household and raising—or at least supervising the raising—of their children, which in turn triggered the publication of a spate of books praising women who chose full-time mommying or alternately chastising them as wasting their education and putting their family's economic future at risk.

It turns out the "Opt-Out Revolution" was a just tiny blip in the census data. According to a report out this week by the Center for American Progress and Maria Shriver, women aren't just working—a full 63 percent have become at least one of the economic pillars on which their family's survival rests, and 39 percent of working women say they are the primary breadwinners.

Overall, there were roughly two kinds of women who stayed home during the boom times: Women who couldn't afford to work because they didn't earn enough to cover child care, and a much smaller group of women who didn't need a paycheck and chose to stay home. (They're the ones who were writing all those books about the angst of their decision to give up their careers.)

But like an interest-only loan or a $4,000 outdoor grill, choosing to forego a second paycheck was something that made sense when it seemed like the good times could never end. Instead of being a harbinger of things to come for women, opting out, like the gas-guzzling Hummer, now looks like a by-product of an over- caffeinated stock market and a nation awash in easy cash. Money was plentiful—abandoning a career didn't seem as unwise as it does in this economic climate.

To be sure, there were some working-class and middle-class women who were leaving the workplace to raise children. But economists say that women tend to downshift—reduce their hours or take on fewer responsibilities—when they have pre-school-aged children rather than leaving their jobs entirely.

Most of the women who left the workforce and stayed out tended to be married women without a four-year college degree. Yes, those women might have embraced the joys of motherhood but let's be clear: many left the workforce because their weekly pay packet wasn't thick enough to cover regular day care, the emergency babysitter and put gas in the car. Those women weren't opting out so much as being squeezed out.

For the most part, the better educated women a woman is, the more likely she is to work. The ones with four-year degrees were not leaving the executive suites, cubicles, laboratories, factories and sales floors. It didn't make economic sense back in 2003—they made too much money—and they certainly can't afford to now.

As the Great Recession staggers on, the value of women's work becomes even clearer. As the unemployment rate has moved toward 10 percent and, in some states and in some communities, well beyond, a full 82 percent of the job losses have hit men, who are over-represented in industries like manufacturing, financial services and construction. Far from opting out, working women are holding on to their jobs with both hands. The reason is simple: Two income couples have more economic resilience. If Dad loses his job, Mom's paycheck can cover the mortgage—and maybe much more.

Meanwhile, while we were busy arguing over a revolution that wasn't taking place, an evolution of sorts has been changing the way American couples live. Back in 1980, 29 percent of wives reported that their husbands did no housework at all. By the 2002 publication of The Bitch in the House women had clearly had enough. The essays in the book underscored the basic unfairness of Modern Love and Marriage: that women still ended up doing most of the childrearing and housework. But these days, guys—especially the younger ones—are learning a lesson that their fathers' never figured out—how to pull their weight. Although they still do less than women (and most married women are happy to tell you exactly what thatfeels like) men have begun doing more childrearing and housework. The younger they are, the more they seem to get it.

In a recent survey conducted by the Family and Work Institute, 31 percent of women said that their spouses took equal or more responsibility for the care of their children. (In 1992, it was only 21 percent.) Among younger working parents (those under 29), dads spend even more time with their kids than their fathers or even their older brothers—4.2 hours on average. (Young working moms spend 5.1 hours with the kids.)

And the data is even more promising for college-aged guys. They seem to know that while a man's house is his castle, he's probably going to have to vacuum the Cheerios off the kitchen floor of that castle once in while. In a recent survey of 8,000 University of California graduate students in all fields, 74 percent of men (and 84 percent of women) said looking for a family-friendly work environment was a "serious concern."

And while it is certain men still think their wives can work, handle the housework and raise the children single-handedly, studies suggest those dinosaurs may soon be extinct. Men who do chores without a lot of bellyaching are the ones who are most likely to get—and keep—the girl. According to the Centre for Time Use Research at Oxford University, economists who study marriage and cohabiting rates say both men and women are more likely to want a live-in relationship with the opposite sex if they think their partner will do a share of the housework and childcare duties.

These days, as the Opt-Out Revolutionaries are growing smaller in the rear view mirror, the Flex Generation couples are broaching new kinds of negotiations with their workplaces and with each other. No one says it's equal. No one says it's perfect. But it's a change worth talking about.

Father's Day: Great article in Huff Post about TTWB

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Here's an article in the Huff Post about TTWB.

However, there are glass shards and dead end roads being inadvertently left for the men, and the boys. In the past ten years or so, the world of education has changed dramatically. The "No Child Left Behind Act" has been a disaster, and instead has turned into "All Boys Left Behind." Our nation's boys are not just slipping through the cracks, they are washing down the Grand Canyon without a paddle, and something must be done about it.

Peg Tyre is author of the book, The Trouble with Boys, a #1 best seller, coming out in paperback this summer. Tyre spent five years researching the current education system from every demographic. She has a powerful, unrelenting story of how our young men are struggling, and describes a giant education gap that will affect every level of American life, in a very short period of time, as these kids grow up.

Currently, boys are being "expelled" from preschool four times more than girls. They are 60% more likely to be held back in kindergarten, and twice as likely to be diagnosed with learning disabilities. Only 43% of young men are enrolled as undergraduates in college, girls are taking more AP classes in high school, and dominating as school valedictorians. In fact, a "dirty little secret" at many colleges and universities is the unspoken "new gender gap." Boys are being admitted to colleges with lesser qualifications than girls to keep the gender balance.

Read the whole thing here.

Physical Activity Improves Ability to Pay Attention:

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:45:00 +0000

Gosh, I'm really on the ADHD thing this week.

Experts confirm what nearly every parent and nearly every parent of a school aged boy knows. And they aren't just talking about it over coffee. Here's a press release and a link to the study which is published this month in the prestigious, peer-reviewed journal Neuroscience.

NOW THEY TELL US: ADHD MEDS AREN'T WORTH CRAP

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Ok everybody. Here's a Washington Post article on the research-- funded by your federal government -- that confirms what so many people have been saying all along. Longterm-- ADHD meds don't actually help all that much. Yes, you can drug a kid (mostly boys) into compliance but after two years, your son will be lighter, smaller (Yes, it turns out ADHD meds DO stunt your sons growth) and not much will have changed with his attention issues.

The earlier version of this study, which showed strong positive effects for ADHD meds, was trumpeted by BIG PHARMA to parents, teachers, pediatricians, schools etc. etc.

Not saying you shouldn't give your son ADHD med. But understand the risk and the (limited) upside.

PS: Thank God we have reporters and a paper like the Washington Post to publish this. A world without newspapers and you would never hear about this.

Reform Jews Love TTWB!

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Here's a great review of my book in a very respected publication read by reform jews. I'm so pleased they reviewed it and so pleased my book connected with the reviewer.

more from Sante Fe

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:39:00 +0000

I had an enlightening evening in Santa Fe, giving a talk to a large group of smart empowered parents and teachers who are thinking creatively about how to reengage boys in education. People of good will who want to do what's best for boys without hurting our high performing girls! Here's a story that ran in the paper after my talk.

Being in Santa Fe was terrific and I hope to go back -- I spent a few days climbing up mountains there -- so beautiful!

TTWB in Santa Fe, New Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:54:00 +0000

Had a wonderful meeting with school officials and concerned parents of boys in Santa Fe this morning. (I'm lecturing on the book tonight here.) These are school administrators who really get it. And they should. Their boys are lagging behind in all four core subjects. Let's hope they can start to make some real changes in their schools.

Here's a cool story the daily paper wrote about TTWB

The London Times writes about TTWB

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Here's an article in the London Times that came out this week-- all about the book.

Seems like the underachievement of boys is of great concern there as well and a whole new crop of parents are figuring out that their smart, capable sons are getting turned off of school.

TTWB WINS A BIG AWARD!

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:59:00 +0000

Yippee!! The Trouble With Boys was named a finalist in the Books for a Better Life competition. And, drum roll here, it won in the parenting/childcare category.

I missed the award ceremony (darn!) -- a swanky Manhattan publishing event-- because I was invited to speak to a group of independent school heads in Texas long before I heard that TTWB was even nominated. The conference was very very interesting but...I never got my Oscar moment. (I'd like to thank my first grade teacher, Mrs. Kiley and my cat, Buttons)

Anyway, here's the link for the award! Yippee

Little Boys and Violence: What I Think

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:35:00 +0000

Seems like I've unleashed a bit of a firestorm. At a recent lecture in suburban New York City, I was talking about changes in schools that I think are hurting boys. One of those changes I frequently cite is our new and ubiquitous "zero-tolerance for fantasy violence" policies in schools -- the ones that create punishments for little boys who point their forefinger, bend their thumb and mouth "Pew! Pew!"

Teachers have to create classroom environments that are good for all kinds of children. I get it. But when you look at the research, what you find is that people who study boy psychology say perfectly normal little boys -- boys WHO ARE NOT GOING TO GROW UP TO BE COLUMBINE TYPE SHOOTERS -- think, play and fantasize around violence.

But many parents (self-included) and many teachers misunderstand it. Many parents (self included) spend a lot of time trying to get our sons to "turn that gun into a wand" and what we communicate to them is that what they are on the inside, what goes on in their head, is unacceptable to us. And I'm thinking we aren't helping our sons like this. If I'm being intellectually consistent, then it occurs to me that the same might go for video games. I don't love Halo. I don't love my kids playing it. But maybe those games are appealing to the natural fantasy lives of boys and we (parents, teachers) should stop being so righteously indignant about tell our sons those games are bad and they are bad for being obsessed with them

Said so in person. Said so in this article
What do you think?

would love to hear from moms whose sons have bad handwriting

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:19:00 +0000

I'm thinking about writing a story (I"m still a freelance journalist for various national publications) about handwriting, bad handwriting, what it means to kids and in particular, boys. Anyone out there care to share their story? We can start off the record but what I'm looking for are folks whose names I can use. (as always.)
you can email me through this site.

Thanks!
P.

Teachers Can Change the World

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Recently, I've heard from nine or ten schools that are using TTWB's as a text for their group study. They wrote me to say that they found it very helpful and interesting. I was SO pleased. My goal in writing this book was to create a useful document -- one that could help parents and teachers think about boys in a different way. It is very gratifying to hear from teachers and schools!

TTWB: On Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:20:00 +0000

Sorry for the long silence. I've been on an extended book tour which has taken me to California, Florida, Texas and now Kansas City. Almost everywhere I go, I've been speaking to packed crowds --teachers, parents and school administrators. It has been a pure joy.

Two week ago, I got to talk to executives at Google, which was also a tremendous pleasure. Such smart folks! And so concerned with education! They put my talk on youtube. If you search for my name on Youtube you'll find it or you can click on this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gEqI86KRAA

No Recess = Boy Trouble

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:50:00 +0000

Here's a terrific article from Georgia about how poor black kids in kindergarten and first grade aren't getting any recess.

www.macon.com/198/story/491586.html
Here's a paragraph:

One of the reasons is that Hartley has no swing sets or slides. There's just an old basketball court that's missing its goals. The terrain is uneven, with a 10-foot embankment behind the building.

But another reason Hartley has no recess is that the elementary school is trying to get students passing grade-level reading and math tests to meet goals under the No Child Left Behind law. The school didn't make it this past school year, and trying to catch up cuts in to play time.

"A lot of times in areas like this, so much emphasis is placed on testing, testing, testing," McKenzie said. "You want your children to be able to compete, and we're a test-driven society."

Check out the story. And note: the parents who are quoted in the story don't have any idea that they are sending their little children into school for six hours and they get no time for free play.
Think this is a good idea for any kids? Think this is a good idea for boys?

Are Boys Trailing Girls Around The Globe?

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:37:00 +0000

So how does the underachievement of boys in the U.S compare with the rest of the world?

Short answer: In most of the industrialized countries, in places where girls have equal access to education, boys are lagging.

Here's an article from Cambodia in this morning's papers decrying the way boys are falling behind there.

Just 65.92 percent of male students passed the high school exam this year, compared with 77.26 percent of females.
The ministry says it is preparing an action plan to encourage male high school students to pay more attention to studies.
Similar findings have long been identified in Western countries, including the US, Australia and parts of Europe.

Interestingly, the government education ministry there is already expressing concern abut the problem and ready to take action. Not here.

A Recipe for How To Teach Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:16:00 +0000

This came in the other day from M. Bradley Rogers, Jr. the Headmaster at the Gow School, a private school for boys with learning issues in South Wales, N.Y.

He writes, "May I share with you a few ideas from one dad/schoolmaster's recipe for the boys? I do my best to model and teach the following:
· Work hard, then play hard.
· Sing and make music.
· Treat them (girls) like gold and "no" means no.
· Be strong and help others.
· Set goals and list the behaviors needed to achieve.
· War movies do have value.
· Go build a real tree fort from scraps of wood – not from a kit.
· Explore a stream and catch the crayfish.
· Ride a snowmobile.
· Apologize when wrong.
· Help change a flat tire even if you are only five years old.
· Tell the bully to back off the kid he is taunting.
· Get muddy.
· Respect elders and hold them when they struggle to walk."

Nice, right?

Talking About My Book to Parents and Teachers.

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:37:00 +0000

I spoke at two wonderful events in the last couple of days – one at the New Canaan Library in New Canaan, Ct, sponsored by a bookstore called Elm Street Books and then, in the lovely town of Madison, Ct. at R.J. Julia Bookstore.

Both events drew about 100 people each – and after I spoke about my book for 20 (ok, more like 30) minutes, we had a very lively discussion.

Such thoughtful interesting perspectives! Both audiences were heavy with teachers who came out on a school night (no easy task) to talk about the ways in which boys struggle in school. A veteran first grade teacher from New Haven told me that her first graders get NO RECESS AT ALL!! She looked very upset as she talked about the effect on the children – and the boys. Another, a school guidance counselor, talked about his boy-heavy case load and the ways in which he sees boys disengage from school and the consequences for their education and their lives. Fascinating. And further proof.

Thanks for all of you who came out to those events.

Scores of Teachers Write to Applaud the Book!

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:36:00 +0000

The title might sound a bit anti-teacher. But when you read the pages you'll see that it is not so! The book is full off appreciation and gratitude for the job most teachers do. Teachers, especially experienced ones, know they aren't reaching a lot of boys. They see how the schools devalue what boys need. Here's letter I got yesterday from a teacher in Georgia:

"I have been arguing the points you make for years. We have forgotten how children develop and at what rate. Keep up the good work."

Thanks for that!

I have hundreds of letters from parents of sons in my inbox

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:56:00 +0000

I will answer each one personally but here's an example of what I'm hearing:

I came home today more frustrated than I believe I have ever been with the Public School System. Once again, my son brought home a “red slip” from school. Talk about anxiety building for him and for me. Can’t help to think maybe I have flunked out as a parent... He is a great, funny, very active, beautiful blued eye, six year old boy. Love him to pieces and would not trade him for the world. As much frustration he brings me in certain situations he also brings me ten times the amount of joy. Thanks again for sharing your book. I sure needed it right when I received it.

I worked hard to make this book useful to parents and teachers. Letters like this are pretty gratifying.

The Conversation Has Begun!

noreply@blogger.com (Peg) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:03:00 +0000

I think I struck a nerve with my new book. Forty eight hours after my book came out, friends emailed to say it was #13 on Amazon.com. Then letters starting coming in -- teachers saying it was about time someone started talking about this, anguished parents describing their son's struggles. Not ten letters. HUNDREDS of letters. Every day since my book came out. I'm reading each one and I'll answer each one, but right now, I"m going to post a few (after I get the author's permission of course) to reflect the kinds of concerns I"m hearing.