Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. The first week of the new school year is under our belt at the Orchard household. It seemed to go smoothly and there were no tears the first day.
I interpreted this as a good sign, although I’ve found something very interesting. Boys don’t seem to like school as much as girls do. I remember when I was younger I loved school, getting back together with friends and buying new school clothes. Unfortunately, my boys don’t have the same attitude.
Therefore, I tried to find out why and this is what I’ve found:
My boys don’t like the structure of school. They love being able to choose what they want to do with their time and when they want to do it.
I’ve also found that they think school is boring. They’re not interested in what the teacher is teaching them. This is unfortunate because these are the years where they learn the building blocks they’ll need for future endeavors when they will be interested in learning.
These are the two main issues that we’re facing right now. To combat this I’ve tried to find books the boys enjoy reading. I was fairly successful in getting them to read every day for at least ten to twenty minutes over the summer (minus vacation time). The books they enjoyed were “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, “The George Brown Class Clown” series, and “The Michigan Chillers” series.
I know some of the books at school are outdated and the topics don’t interest my boys. You know how boys are they want to hear about burping, farting, and anything funny. 🙂
I wish the school day could be a little more flexible for my kids. I’ve always given them choices and I feel that if kids were able to choose when they did math as opposed to being told to do math, we might see some happier boys at school. I know this is hard to do with thirty students in a classroom, but it’d be interesting to see if it worked.
I’ve also heard of schools that are geared more toward boys. One school near me takes the kids on walks to view nature and discuss science. They also spend a tremendous amount of time outside, which I find beneficial for boys.
These are just a couple of ideas I had. What do you do when your child doesn’t want to go to school? Do you have any tricks that work for you? I’d love to read them so leave a comment!
YAY! I like school, but don’t love it. I, surprisingly, find the helter skelter of middle school a lot better, but I miss being outside.
That’s good to know Erik. Maybe my boys will like middle school better too. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
My oldest is in preschool, so he still loves it. I hope we can instill a love of learning in him so that he’ll love school because it gives him time to learn. Yes, school can be boring, but it’s also what you make of it.
So true ProteanMom! I tell them how important school is, but they’re not interested in learning about the subjects at school. They certainly don’t have a problem learning about something that interests them. 🙂 That’s okay. They’ll figure it out. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I actually just read this article about a company that does all their meetings while taking a walk outside. They said it has really been effective in improving the company’s efficiency. I really think movement, change in scenery, and being near nature can be so beneficial for any aspect of learning. I read another article about how higher ceilings can influence creativity. Random stuff, but I think outdoor learning could be a great idea for your boys. I saw a college class sitting outside the other day for lecture and I thought it was fantastic. I don’t have kids so I’m not sure of ways to encourage school but possibly making them fun surprise lunches in their lunchbox to give them something to look forward to, letting them pick out new school supplies regularly, or maybe trying out a different, more interactive teacher if available.
Those are excellent ideas whennothinggoeswrite. This year my fourth grader actually came home and said he liked school because he got to use a computer in his class and while doing his homework. So I consider that an improvement. My third grader has reached the stage where he thinks school is still boring, but he does want to do a good job. He voiced this while doing his homework. So things are looking up. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Hey those sound like steps in the right direction!
Thanks! I certainly hope so! 🙂