More Enrichment

In Sunday May 30th's Everett Herald, the front page article, Why more girls get the grades while boys struggle in our schools, caught my eye because it discusses the gender gap in local high schools. Girls have consistently higher GPAs over boys and the article suggests it's not because girls are smarter than boys, but that traditional high schools teach in a way more girls than boys can understand. Boys tend to be more active and need classes like gym and shop, which are being offered less at high schools.

To read the article click here.

This isn't a new or unique situation to Snohomish County. The bias against boys in classrooms has been noted before in The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers (which we have a copy of I've been meaning to read).

I enjoyed reading this article because it made me consider why we would continue homeschooling, especially for Wesley. It's hard to tell now how his temperament will be as a older child but I like the flexible nature of homeschooling in which if he (or the girls) need a break to run around the yard before doing their writing work, we have the option. Were they to be in a class with 25 other kids, it'd be less likely they could get their wiggles out before doing work they'd need to focus on.

Just some food for thought, and to keep this article in a place where I can find it again if I need to. ;)