Dr Helen: Who Says Boys Don't Read?

Dr. Helen says:

Christopher is homeschooled; I wonder if boys who are homeschooled enjoy reading more than those who go to public schools?

My son reads non-stop. Of course he has boring parents who have piles of books all over the house. Even the almost two-year old whirling dervish will sit on the couch and read through a magazine or book.

Adventures he loves. Adventures he gets. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, the X-Men comics (why not? it's reading), whatever we can find. I think the notion that boys don't like reading should be revised: Boys don't like reading what they don't like reading. They generally have less social compliance so won't read "stupid stuff" and thus get deemed as dull-witted.

Right now, my son is in Public School. Eh. I sift through the brought-home reading material and try to elevate the reading content at home. Research that was referred to in Freakonomics noted that it was the number of books in the home that correlated to I.Q. more than anything else. Make of it what you will, but I don't think schools, public or home school, have much to say how intellectually developed a person ends up--I think it's largely genetic.

I do think the home life determines the child's achievement. The parents of the six-year-old boy-author deserve the credit for making his book writing and publishing happen. I can assure you, it wouldn't happen in most if not all public schools.