brain research on gender differences
suggestions for parents and teachers
very thought provoking

A teacher's review

More informative than n  Boys and Girls Learn Differentlyn, n  The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Lifen is a fascinating look into the specific reasons why boys are doing so poorly in school nowadays. Very, very awful if you did not know - Boys are the overwhelming majority of special education students, are more likely to drop out, and are much less likely to attend college.

Gurian's strategies to help come off as a bit vague - few concrete solutions are offered. As a teacher, I want to know what a 'boy-friendly' classroom looks like. Precious few good examples are provided. But, enough information is provided to at least alert the teacher that there is a problem and that he or she needs to be on the lookout for struggling boys. I would imagine, like most things in education, the answer is not simple and it requires quite a bit of individualization, which is difficult if, like me, you see upwards of 200 kids in the course of a day.

Lacks the hard edge, though - read as a companion to Christina Hoff Sommers n  The War Against Boysn.

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This seemed like helpful information for teachers and school reformers, and I got the impression the author's institute has done a lot of good. However, much of the advice for parents was what I'd consider common knowledge that applies to both boys and girls (e.g. reading aloud, limiting screen time, and having good adult role models). There were occasional interesting tidbits on gender-related brain differences. There were a couple of minor things I may apply as a homeschool parent, but for the most part nothing surprising.

Anyone who has a boy should read this one! So enlightening, It was very positive as far as how to take action. I want to scream this one from the rooftops.

The book doesn't just tell us what the problems are. Gurian provides clear steps on what to do to help boys succeed.

Good book. A little dated. I felt like it was really repetative, like many parenting books are. I am still a big fan of Michael Gurian and his research, but if you've read one of his books, you've read them all :)

Decent but focused too narrowly on traditional education rather than the broader culture that really drives educational policy & practices.

I was really hoping for some insight, but what I got was a rant on the failings of the school system. Well, that's great, we know it's not perfect, but I wanted more info about what I could do, not how hopeless the whole process was.

Good overview of issues and challenges bringing up boys.

This book could have said what it needed to say in about half the pages. The information was interesting and some of the educational ideas I will be implementing.

Lots of interesting research on how boys and girls learn differently. I liked that each chapter highlighted ways that parents, educators, and administrators can each implement the research findings into their individual situations. This book really helped me understand just how my son's brain is working now, and how it will be developing in the future. Of course, the research is generalized, but the book openly acknowledges the short-comings and limitations while still giving a good framework with which to look at boys and learning. As someone who enjoyed and thrived in our education system, it was especially important for me to prepare myself for the reality that the majority of our schools/education scheduling is not designed in a way that is necessarily friendly to all children and their learning styles. I already struggle with how to teach my 2 1/2 year old son because I am so comfortable with a more mellow verbal/written system of teaching/learning. Hopefully I'll be able to apply some of the things I learned about boys minds to my own household!

So far I'm finding this book to be informative and interesting. I like the way there are practical tips embedded in the chapters, and statistics cited to support specific claims.I have already found myslef subtly changing the way I group students (allowing more opportunties for all-boy and all-girl groups) and I have become more attuned to how the boys work differently depending on whether they are grouped with girls or boys. Two of my boys (out of 5 boys total) are from very conservative Muslim cultures, and their discomfort with girls is obvious. While I still strongly believe that they need to learn to work with girls effectively,I can also see that their learning and participation improves when they are paired with boys. This book has given me the research to support single-sex groupings for much of the academic work in class. Furthermore, as a mother of a boy, this book has helped explain some of the "annoying" boy behaviors that crop up and has even provided insight into the very different relationship my son and husband enjoy.