Jump-Starting Boys
Help Your Reluctant Learner Find Success in School and Life
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Everyone knows that boys are falling behind in education. Largely left out of the discussion are parents of boys, who are most aware that their bright, eager sons hit an invisible wall somewhere near fourth grade, after which they become disengaged, discouraged, and disaffected. There are dozens of books on underachieving boys, but most parents brave enough to lift one off the shelf are instantly intimidated by the footnotes, graphs, case studies, and academic-speak addressed almost entirely to educators. What about the average guilt-ridden, frustrated mother or father of an underachieving boy? Jump-Starting Boys is the first book on the market that empowers parents, helping them reclaim the duties and rewards of raising their children and navigate the influences of school and media. Filled with reassurance and support, the authors turn fear and guilt into can-do confidence. Through easy tips and action list sidebars, this is the most practical, readable book on the topic.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sisters Withers (author of adventure novels, including Peak Survival) and Gill (a former high school teacher) offer a helpful collection of "hundreds of encouraging tips and tools" to help boys and young men embrace reading. They stress that reading is key to academic achievement even in subjects like math or science. In turn, academic achievement is tied to success in life as never before, as has been well-documented. The authors quote from numerous authorities, sometimes extensively, including child-rearing expert Rudolph Dreikurs; Michael Gurian, author on all things boy-related;, and children's author and guysread.com founder Jon Scieszka. Withers and Gill share their own experiences as mothers, and as an author and therapist, as well as interviews with boys and men who have overcome reluctance or difficulty reading. Sidebars feature suggestions, brief topics related to chapter subjects, and longer quotes from outside sources. The book concludes with appendixes of more books, Web sites, and organizations. The variety of material makes the book feel like a packet handed to students at the beginning of a college course rather than a single sustained argument. Though the content could have been more elegantly structured, the book offers solid information for parents of boys.
