Boys tend to learn best through physical interaction, needing additional rest times and finding it harder to multitask than girls.
Schools and programs must encourage boys to express themselves more verbally while showing evidence of their learning processes while simultaneously creating an environment that facilitates these processes.
Prepare an engaging space filled with real-life props such as fire hats and hoses, baseball batting gloves, hats, and tools (obviously maintaining health and safety requirements is imperative), and open-ended materials that can be utilized in multiple ways to foster boys’ sense of appropriateness in terms of fit.
1. They like to move
When sitting for exams at school or studying at home, boys need to get up and move around – shooting hoops, riding their bikes, or taking their family dog for a walk – to prime their brains for optimal learning and ensure optimal results. Movement primes the brain for optimal results that could make all the difference!
Boys tend to be visual and spatial learners whose minds work in pictures. They’re usually daydreamers and inventors with tactile thinking processes; those teaching, coaching, or parenting them need to remember this when providing auditory instruction.
Boys learn more effectively and enjoy their learning process more when their efforts are recognized; writing assignments may still lag behind girls, but many excel in mathematics and science. Young children demonstrating genuine pride upon mastering new skills like standing or walking are prime examples.
2. They like to create
Boys typically enjoy playing with things that make noise, move, and build. Their natural curiosity about the world around them leads them to explore and comprehend it further. Although boys may fall behind their sisters on written book reports, they can often demonstrate knowledge by acting out a character or creating an engaging video instead.
Boys learn best when content is presented in a manner that makes sense to them. Topics with an authentic purpose (science projects involving seed germination) tend to resonate more effectively, as do assignments where boys can choose their groupings (i.e., creating study groups). Boys tend to thrive in single-gender groups). Here, boys find comfort in innocuous male bonding activities like gentle bantering and roughhousing that help foster their sense of equilibrium while understanding the connection between effort and achievement. Boys often enjoy exploring a block area filled with cars and trucks, miniature wild and domestic animals, construction toys like Legos, signs and pictures depicting buildings sites or structures, games, puzzles, or math manipulatives that mirror themes they find engaging.
3. They like to think
Boys tend to learn differently than girls; their thinking revolves around words, they prefer books over movies, and they may see pictures when talking about something in their minds while speaking aloud.
They enjoy games that require thinking and problem-solving skills, such as puzzles. Additionally, they want games with competition, such as races or timed activities. Furthermore, these children typically excel at math and science courses because they understand the process.
The school now places more emphasis on writing, explaining, and showing the steps of a process in mathematics and science, which may prove frustrating for some boys who find it difficult to engage when they feel unnecessary steps are involved in any given cycle.
Boys need an inviting reading and writing area with engaging topics, such as cars and trucks, construction sites, animals, monsters, sports, gross events, and superheroes. In addition, boys require a block area containing trucks, buses, and Lego bricks in which they can create their constructions while envisioning themselves as the driver or engineer of each project.
4. They like to talk
Boys tend to thrive when interacting with teachers who care for and listen attentively, as this gives them confidence that someone has their back and won’t abandon them midway through learning. Boys also need those who teach, coach, and mentor them to build meaningful relationships between themselves and these educators/coaches/mentors/mentees.
Linguistic Learning Style – boys who fall within this learning style tend to think in words and speak clearly; they enjoy reading. Logical-Mathematical Learning Style – these boys tend to like numbers, logic, and noticing patterns, while Musical Learning Style boys may whistle musical notes or rhymes to themselves and are sensitive to tone and type of music.
Learning boys must ultimately find their bashert and be honest about their interests rather than trying to fit in with frum communities by pretending to be something they aren’t; otherwise, this dishonesty could undermine family harmony and lead to its breakdown.
5. They like to learn
Boys flourish when those teaching, coaching, and parenting them remember they are designed to touch, feel, and build with their hands. Auditory information must also accompany visual content for proper learning to occur. Play is paramount to their development; boys enjoy participating in activities that engage other boys as much as possible.
Boys who learn best outdoors, in nature, with animals, or on field trips generally perform best in these settings. They tend to enjoy field trips and may also be daydreamers or inventors. More kinesthetic boys tend to fidget more physically. Athletics is one form of camaraderie they want, along with sarcastic (but harmless) bantering between teammates and roughhousing games between teammates.
Boys who lean toward linguistic learning styles enjoy words and reading, with solid memories of rhymes. Conversely, those who lean toward logical-mathematical styles typically want numbers and logic and notice changes in the environment more readily than boys with other learning styles do. However, increasing emphasis on written expression, explanation, and showing processes in maths and science may require time away from their group and greater attention to details that don’t quite mesh with their preferred learning style.