I'm sure I'm biased by the fact that I have two sons-- one of whom is PG and about to flunk first grade-- but when I look around, I see this everywhere. In my niece and nephews-- nephews all struggling, niece doing great. In my teenage stepchildren-- 16 yo stepson, who took the SAT in 7th grade and got a DYS-qualifying score but is going to barely graduate from high school and hopes to become a tattoo artist; while his 14yo sister, not as "naturally bright,"
Boys do not want to read Charlotte's Web. They want Old Yeller. That may be the biggest problem. I look at the all-male PS here with an all male faculty and the kids are thriving. But the reading list is heavily male oriented as are the foreign language texts and the day's activities with lots of sports.
One of my nephews loves backetball. He is short and will never play after HS, but I buy him any book he wants on basketball. Now he is reading the bios of the great players and coaches and learning a lot about real life and now wants to learn more about historical events that trickle into those bascketball books such as the 1980 Olympic Games and the end of the Cold War.
