Schools around the country have been seeing boys falling behind girls by the age of 7.
The gap is widest in English; reading and writing , but also presents a significant difference in maths and science.
In my experience as both a parent and a registered child minder girls tend to have a longer concentration span than boys.
Read about raising boys here
I recall a particular boy who I used to look after, who wouldn’t sit still for more than a few minutes to do anything. Until I made some gloop for him to explore ( gloop is a mixture of cornflour and water) read more about this in my e book available here
The child who was around 2 years was fascinated by this mixture which has a particular texture, he used the handle of a wooden spoon to make marks in the solution and sat exploring for approximately 45 minutes.
I was once told by my son’s speech therapist that she had worked with a family whose 2 boys had both needed help with their communication skills, but when a third child arrived, a girl she had no problems with language.Does this mean that girls are clever than boys?
I’m not sure as all children are individuals and develop at different stages; some will achieve goals at a younger age than others- whatever sex they are.
At primary school every child is assessed by their teacher to determine whether they are reaching the ‘expected standards’ in reading, writing, science and maths,
In Devon (where I live)76% of girls met the targets for writing compared to 61% of boys.
My son’s were mostly good at maths and not so great at English, apart from my eldest who was one of the best readers in his class from reception, aged 5.
I have heard of parents of boys born in late August trying to keep them back from starting school until the following term, as they were worried about their son falling behind his peers.
Reports say that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to meet the expected standards; whether they are male or female.
Speaking English as a second language is thought to be less of a barrier to success.
I would be intersted to here what others think of this.
As always questions and comments are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
x
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Some interesting facts you present here. My daughter is only 2.5yo so we haven’t reached any of these hurdles just yet. #KCACOLS
Interesting area: boys are varied, too; not just all flittergibbet, all energy and lack of ocus, but I guess the more boisterous ones do need to learn discipline and focus, which comes easier to more girls. #KCACOLS
Boys certainly do mature later, and research shows that the typical educational set up is not conducive to little guys getting a great education.
I have one boy who has always had a really good attention span and then my youngest is a classic boy who has the attention span of a fly! #MMBC & #KCACOLS
Thanks for confirming that all children are different whatever their gender
Just watching groups of kids develop there are girls that just seem to be miles ahead with eary development. I think girls are often wanting to please adults while many boys are more interested in their own activities. #KCACOLS
I think you may have just ;hit the nail on the head; Jade, when you say that girls like to please, thanls for stopping by
Its an interesting subject, with so many different layers. I think a big part of it is that its harder for girls to find other things to excel at, sports and such, so they put more of their time and effort into academics. I’m sure there are as many opinions as there are people giving them but knowing how to keep the sexes at the same pace without segregating them would be helpful #anythinggoes
Yep i agree and the subtle words like oh he is a typical boy or a girl or whatever really grinds my gears. It should be about the individual not what sex they are. X #thatfridaylinky
Exactly. Subconsciously we putting them into pink and blue boxes #KCACOLS
I think it’s an interesting topic but I think every child learns differently and at a different pace/level, no matter what gender they are. #KidsandKreativity
Also popping over from #KCACOLS! Thank you so much for linking up, hope to see you again next time!
I don’t have any personal experience of this as I have two daughters but I have definitely heard it said many times from other mums that their girls seem to progress faster than the boys. I still believe that it often comes down to the individual child but it is certainly an interesting topic. Thanks you very much for sharing this with #globalblogging x
Boys are just far different to girls in how they grow and where their attention is I think. My OH is a primary teacher and he says that they eventually all catch up, but girls are definitely more sensible early on. #KCACOLS
The gender gap is an interesting topic to reflect on. I do think that each child learns differently and at their own pace regardless of gender but it will be interesting to see how my son takes to preschool and later school when he gets older compared to his sisters (who were both quite different children). It is something I am mindful of, especially as he is a late July baby, and I will consider keeping him back a year if I don’t think he will be ready for school at just-turned 4 but I would have done the same with my daughters had they been summer-born. #KidsandKreativity
We have had lots of interesting discussions about this at work (in a school): stereotyped I know, but boys play more competitive games so need to use less speech than girls in their collaborative games. Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama
Valid point of view
This is interesting – I didn’t realise the statistics varied so much! #ThatFridayLinky
Interesting topic. My son was not at the same level as my daughter was when they both started school, however I feel his progression has been faster than hers. Gender related or just because they’re different! Thanks for sharing and linking up with #KidsandKreativity, hope to see you next time x
I have a six year old boy and he just isn’t interested in school subjects like maths and english at all. he wants to play, explore, learn about science and history. #kcacols