Jump-Starting Boys: Help Your Reluctant Reader Find Success in School and Life

While parents may "feel" that their sons are falling behind in school, and teachers may have evidence of the shift in boys' academic performance, the reasons why this is occurring and what to do about it are not as clear. This issue, and ways parents and teachers can help boys to achieve and do well in school, is the topic of the newly released book, Jump-Starting Boys by Pam Withers and Cynthia Gill.

This easy-to-read handbook sets the stage for readers by discussing the reasons why somewhere around fourth grade, bright, eager, and up until then, engaged boys begin to fail in school, and become discouraged reluctant learners.

At the heart of the solution Withers and Gill offer is an emphasis on helping boys to become better readers - they see success in reading as the key to academic success and success in life beyond school. In the Introduction to Jump-Starting Boys, they say, "We firmly believe that reading confidence is a keystone to educational success, which in turn increases one's chances of a more stable, satisfying life."

The "Boy" Problem

This book presents a great discussion of the "problem" and offers a multitude of solutions that can be used in both school and home. This is an engaging read filled with hands-on ideas and tips in plain language - not "academic-speak" as the authors call it.

The authors begin with a short discussion of the seven reasons why boys are underachieving: Physical, Reading/writing gap, Home structure, School structure, fear-based backlash, Morals and Parenting styles, followed by seven tips for ways to turn boys around. There is an excellent chapter on what holds boys back, including learning disabilities, learning styles, developmental issues and how parents can help with those issues.

The topics of the influence of Dads and mentors are discussed, as well as ways to encourage boys to become better readers and to writers.

Hands-On Ways to Help Boys Succeed

The book contains to in-depth discussions of over 200 hands-on approaches that parents can adopt and use at home right away - and ideas that can be used in school as well. There are also many success stories describing the effects of these ideas on real-life boys and their achievement. Subject-specific ideas and advice fill this book - with emphasis on reading and writing especially. The research is well cited and there is a full and very user-friendly appendix of sources, recommended readings and useful websites.

In this book, Withers and Gill teach parents and teachers to:

• "Determine their son’s learning style and how best to help him learn.
• Encourage a reluctant reader via book clubs, graphic novels, and kinesthetic activities related to reading.
• Emphasize on one-on-one interaction during reading time.
• Limit screen time without coming across as a tyrant.
• Use their son’s interest in technology to foster excitement about learning and forming good reading habits.
• Teach their son to be a self-motivated, lifelong reader." [Viva Editions]

About the Authors

Pam Withers is a former business journalist and the bestselling, award-nominated author of more than a dozen adventure novels particularly popular with teen boys. She is also co-author with John Izzo of the highly acclaimed Values Shift: The New Work Ethic and What It Means for Business (Prentice Hall Canada 2000). Her magazine writing credits include McCalls, Working Woman, Profit and numerous inflight magazines. Withers travels North America extensively, speaking at schools, librarians’ and writers’ conferences. She’s a dual U.S./Canadian citizen. The second of six siblings, she spent her growing-up years trying to measure up to her smarter, better-looking older sister, Cynthia. (She has just about outgrown that.) Withers and her husband, a university professor, live in Vancouver, Canada, where they recently completed raising a high-energy son who spent his adolescence as the official teen editor of her teen adventure novels.

During her thirty-year career as a high school teacher, Cynthia Gill, M.A., L.M.F.T. worked on innovative curricula development and served as an academic dean, while winning acclaim for her work in the classroom. She completed her master's degree in Adlerian psychotherapy and counseling in 2006, and has since worked with adolescents, children and families as a licensed marriage and family therapist. Gill has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Globe University and enjoys public speaking, particularly on parent education. She has led numerous groups of students on educational and service trips to Russia, Germany and Latin America. A former homeschooling mom, she also served as a consultant to homeschooling families with an accrediting organization. She and her husband live in Minneapolis and like to travel in between visits from their three grown sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.

A Great Resource for Parents and Teachers

Jump-Starting Boys is a great resource for parents and teachers of reluctant learners - especially boys. It is a must-read for anyone dealing with an underachieving boy - and contains a wealth of advice that can be instrumental in helping that learner find success in school - and in life!

Readers may enjoy an reading an excerpt from Chapter Four of Jump-Starting Boys: What Hold Smart Kids Back?

Reference

Withers, Pam and Gill, Cynthia. Jump-Starting Boys: Help Your Reluctant Reader Find Success in School and Life. Viva Editions. 2013.

Author bios courtesy of Viva Editions.

Copyright 2013 Irene Taylor. Permission to republish in print or online must be granted by the author of this blog in writing.