Building a Boy's Vocabulary

 

           

            A study by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy in Massachusetts indicated that boys are falling far behind girls in measurements of reading success, particularly on standardized tests, because they do not have a good grasp of everyday vocabulary.

 

            The finding is alarming, since the size of one's vocabulary is the single-most important indicator of future success in school and career.

 

            According to the study, "Are Boys Making the Grade?" (www.renniecenter.com), the problem is more severe in large, urban school districts. Sophomore girls scored significantly higher than boys on the top two statewide tests of English, with 46% of the girls and only 36% of the boys in the top two performance levels.

 

            Educators suggest these reasons for the disparity:

 

n       Mostly female teachers misunderstand normal boys' behavior and treat them as "disruptive" with a punitive attitude, when in fact they are just expressing that normal boyish activity. Boys don't feel as supported and cherished as they should, and so they disengage from the classroom.

 

n       Mostly female teachers tend to pick stories and novels that are more geared toward the interests of girls, fearing that action-oriented stories might encourage aggressiveness by boys. But the boys, as a result of the mismatch between the reading and their interests, "check out" of reading and miss out on valuable vocabulary-building practice.

 

n       It's normal for boys to lag behind girls in kindergarten and first grade in terms of handwriting and reading skills, but many teachers act as if they are goof-offs or slow learners, and create anxiety and school refusal.

 

            These problems are thought to be causing huge problems such as the fact that boys comprise two-thirds of the special-education placements, and dropout rates for boys far exceed those of girls.

 

            Suggestions for getting boys more engaged in school, more in to reading, and with bigger and better vocabularies:

 

n       Parents should work closely with a librarian and bookstore employee to keep a good supply of quality children's literature in your home that appeals to your son's particular interests. If the right books and stories aren't being assigned in class, it is imperative that a boy's love for reading be fostered with out-of-school selections. Take your son to the library once a week or so, and limit TV and video games to one hour a day.

 

n       Parents should maintain an orderly homework space at home for their son, with an expectation of nightly study. Allow frequent breaks since boys do like to move around more.

 

n       Parents should not allow their sons to spend all their time out of school on sports and video games; set up your home so that your son will read for fun as well as diligently do his homework.

 

n       Schools should be directed to recruit more male teachers, particularly minorities, who understand what boys are into and can select assignments and manage classrooms in a manner more comfortable for boys.

 

n       Schools might offer all-boys and all-girls schools or classrooms for some or all school subjects. The need for preadolescent and adolescent boys to appear cool and aloof before their peers tends to dissipate in the all-boy environment. Boys feel free to embrace literature and art, while girls in an all-girl setting will get in to science and technology better.