Some kind of record!

I just read two whole books in less than two weeks. Now in my days as a single young woman, that was nothing. I often read whole books in a day. But in the days of this homeschooling-mom-of-four-children who rarely picks up a book unless it's for reading to the kids, I just set some kind of record. I'm sure of it. 

What sort of books caught my attention? I thought you might ask. 

A friend recently attended a talk by Andrew Pudewa called "Teaching Boys and Other Kids Who Like to Build Forts All Day." At her recommendation, I've since listened to the mp3 available online. Mr. Pudewa references a lot of information from Dr. Leonard Sax and his book called Why Gender Matters. Maybe this is old news to some of you. The book has been around for eight or so years now. But maybe, like me, you knew that gender does matter; you just didn't know why. This book gives lots of reasons why it does matter, especially in relation to education and the methods commonly used in our education system.

So I got the other book called Boys Adrift and found myself equally engrossed. So much to understand!

I didn't agree with everything that the doctor put forward in relation to discipline methods, but the science explaining the differences between male and female brains was fascinating. Positively fascinating. I kept stopping and reading parts aloud to Stephen. I think he was getting bored with it, but I couldn't help myself!

I'm not going to outline the whole book(s) for you, but I'll just mention a few "take-homes" that might be helpful. 

1.  Boys are vastly over-diagnosed with ADHD and medicated (to their future detriment) when the "problem" is not the kid but the school. Boys learn and develop differently than girls do, and our school systems are not set up to work very well with these differences. Thus, normal boys are ending up in doctors' and psychologists' offices because they can't do what most girls and a few boys are capable of - sitting still and working quietly for hours a day at age 5 or 6.

2.  Plastic water (and soda, etc) bottles are HARMFUL. The BPA and phthalates in them are linked to early puberty onset in girls and late puberty onset in boys. Bad! Bad! Bad!!  We're stocking up on Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottles. (PS - They're having a good sale right now!)

3.  Video games have a profoundly negative effect on some boys. Not all boys have a tendency to a lack of motivation, but those who do can be drawn into the "other world-ness" of video games and lose touch with the real world.  The author doesn't propose that we as parents completely ban video games but that we carefully examine the games our kids are playing and limit the time they are permitted to play. Actually, I felt that his limits were too generous (he's ok with playing on school days; we allow Saturdays only for a short while). 

Ok, that's my wee synopsis.  You'll have to go and read the book to get the rest of it. I've got the girl version called Girls on the Edge on hold at the library right now and can't wait to go pick it up. If I get hold of it tomorrow, I might even squeeze in 3 books in 3 weeks!! Now that would definitely be a record!