Do you have an unmotivated boy?

Since my son entered elementary school 14 years ago, my instincts led me to believe the school system was not “boy friendly”.  I knew I had a normal, active, healthy boy but one that wasn’t able sit still in school and learn through the traditional methods.  In kindergarten there was a lot of emphasis on learning to read and recognize numbers.  This was radically different from when I went to kindergarten.  Marc had absolutely no interest in learning to read when he was 5. I knew though as he went through the school stystem, that we had a bright boy with skills that would emerge and shine after he left school.  That is proving to be the case now that he’s out in the work world. 

I was recently introduced to the work of Leonard Sax, MD, Ph.D, who has written the book BOYS ADRIFT where he indentifies the 5 factors he believes contributes to boys being unmotivated in school.  For one thing he says the brains of boys and girls develop differently and by age 5, a boy’s brain is equivalent to the brain of a 3 1/2 year old girl.  In his opinion boys are more ready for kindergarten at age 6 and it would be to their advantage to be given an extra year to focus on their play.  He says education has become “a race.”  Do you have a son who is unmotivated or is an under-achieving young adult?  I think you’ll find Leonard Sax’s work very interesting.