An interesting article about how boys learn.

Some highlights from an article I was reading tonight. It was about how boys learn differently than girls.........read on!

Boys SEE Differently
Males have more rods in their eyes versus cones. Rods help us to see distance and speed. Females have more cones than rods. Cones help us to see color and shape. Because of this difference, boys tend to draw verbs with little color variation in their pictures while girls tend to draw nouns with lots of different colors.
When asked to draw a picture, Sally will draw a house with people and flowers and lots of pretty colors. Steve will draw a tornado which is knocking down a house - and his picture will look like a large black swirl.

Implications for teaching boys
Do not expect boys to draw something recognizable or to draw something with lots of colors. When we find fault in this way, boys begin to think that art is for girls and not for boys.
Allow them to draw verbs and to do it in a way that is fast and furious.
Don't hold eye contact with a boy unless you're disciplining him.

Boys HEAR Differently
Baby girls can hear ten times better than boys, and this difference gets even worse as they get older. Boys can only hear every 3rd word or so of soft-spoken teachers. When boys can't hear what their teacher is saying, they tend to drift off.
Boys also tend to make little noises wiggling and tapping pencils which are irritating to girls - but they don't even realize they are making them.

Implications for teaching boys
Speak more loudly than you normally would and be very expressive.
Use lots of voice fluctuation and hand motions to engage boys.
While working with your son, sit down next to him, spread the materials out and look at them shoulder to shoulder.

Boys THINK Differently
We don't know all of the differences in how boys and girls think but we now know that their brains are arranged differently. We've all heard that we use the left side of our brain for verbal activities and the right side for art. Actually, we now know that this is only true in males.
Males who have a stroke on the left side of their brain lose 80% of their verbal ability. The verbal ability in females who have a stroke on the left side of their brain is much less impacted, proving that their verbal ability is spread across both sides of their brain.

Implications for teaching boys
1. Book learning is essential; but, without practical, hands-on experience, boys will hard a hard time grasping concepts that seem simple to us. They will disengage from their lessons.
2. Boys need real world experiences in their education which engage all of their senses.
3. Boys also need plenty of time outdoors.
4. Boys have a hard time processing their emotions. Don't ask boys "How would you FEEL if..." questions. Ask them "What would you DO if..." questions.
5. Boys like to have at least some control over their environments. Put each day's schoolwork into a folder and let them decide the order in which they will complete it.
6. When studying literature, try these tips:
Have boys draw maps based on clues in the book.
Assign articles from the daily newspaper.
Have them read books with strong male characters doing unpredictable things (i.e., C.S. Lewis, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, Twain, etc.)

More Implications for teaching boys
Boys respond well to a challenge if there are winners and losers.
A competitive team format works better than individual competitions for boys because they don't want to let their teammates down.
Participating in single-sex activities such as boy scouts or team sports are very good for your sons.
By the way, the optimum temperature for learning for boys is 69 degrees, while it is 74 degrees for girls. If you set the temperature so that it is comfortable for you, you may find your sons falls asleep or their minds wandering instead of focusing on their lessons.