So you may recall that I've been reading with Bayan (the fan of KISS, polyglot, 8 year old wonder) for about a year now. During this time we've made some remarkable breakthroughs - he now really loves Harry Potter, for example. But I've always struggled to find things that are simultaneously at his reading and interest level - English is, afterall, his fourth language... and he is a very active and intelligent 8 year old boy.
What to do?
Today I came across an article from my favorite NYT contributor (Nicholas D. Kristof) titled "The Boys Have Fallen Behind" [a brief op-ed discussing the growing gender gap in education - specifically in the west: boys are under performing girls in almost every subject, even math]. At the end of the article Kristof shouts-out a great little web site: guysread.com (also highlighted below with the really cool pictures excerpted from the site).
Friends I tell you that this site is a gift! To quote the site "Our mission is to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."
The importance of this site cannot be understated. Go to any book store or library and you will find a whole array of books that cater to girls and women at every age level. Boys and men have much fewer options - there's certainly no equivalent for 'chick-lit', for example.
Right... so I digress, I get it. But if you love reading like I do and/or are working to encourage boys to "become self-motivated, lifelong readers" - you should really check out the site.
*To sum: I am not a professional blogger, I am not being paid to review/recommend this site. I'm just really passionate about literacy. Spread the word.
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