What About Our Carpet?

We average almost 200 students and staff in our library each day. Sure, we’ve had spills, but nothing that some cool water and paper towels can’t clean up in a second. Once you allow food and drinks, be sure to remind your custodians of the importance and show them your appreciation.

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I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post. I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post. I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post.

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I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post. I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post. I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post.

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I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post.

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I really love when a post is separated into 3 or 4 paragraphs and the author uses Headings to separate the entire post into logical sub-topics. All these sub-topics should connect to the goal of the main post.

The big picture

The bottom line simply is that libraries are generally considered a boring place and therefore we find young boys shying away from visiting one. Since boys tend to like active involvement, the solution should be to make libraries a fun place – half of the task is related to actually taking practical steps towards this end and the other half is related to “perception management” – changing the archetypical perception of a library as a boring place.

The bitter taste of truth

The truth of the matter is that a library nowadays should be expected to do more than just shelve books because every book ever written is readily available over the Internet (I personally have over a thousand ebooks and audio books on my PC right now – and I can double that in a month if I want). If libraries want to attract young boys, the people running those libraries have got to take a good hard look at the libraries and ask themselves:

• Where do we want to be ten years from now (whats the vision for libraries in general)? And

• How can we really add value to the young boys who visit (besides just being a quiet place with tall shelves, plenty of books and a shushing librarian; how can we get young boys hooked on reading)?

The people running the libraries have got to understand that they are competing for the attention of the young boys – and they are competing against the likes of the Internet, the ipods, 300 plus TV channels, WWE and TNA wrestling, the Xbox and about 600 movies released annually – you have to agree that the libraries today have got their work cut out.

A gutsy Idea that just might work:

I have always supported the idea of a library being a place which encourages boys to explore their passion – that could be anything from aerodynamics to starting up an online business. The libraries should have coaches (or guides) who are responsible for picking up on what a kid is looking for and then pointing him towards the resources available within that library – there should be a minimum interference policy (which means that the guide would stay out of the kids way until and unless the kid needs help with finding the right books and DVDs).

Similarly, there are plenty of practical ideas that, if applied, could revolutionize the role of a library. If you can think of any such ideas, please share it with us by posting your comments below – after all, coming up with a renewed vision for the libraries of the future is a collective effort.

Car Games for Boys – an excerpt from Mike McQueen’s Boys’ Alive Event Interview at with Janet Allison

What about those times when you are say in the car? And you wanted to, a little bit about…how do you keep them entertained? I see so many cars with the DVD players in the back so that kind of makes me crazy when I see that because I know when my girls were growing up and we were on road trips, that was a really great time for them to dive in and they were girls, and they liked novels, and they read a lot in the car. What can parents do with their children in the car?

Let me just tell you that the concept of cars, car games for boys is huge. Cars in general, the topic of cars, boys, in my entire career from preschool to 22-year olds, cars have been a very, very popular topic and maybe not just cars but vehicles in general. So motorcycles, Humvees. Low-riders, just military vehicles, anything that has to do with cars. The topic itself has always been very popular. And then if you look into games that have to do with cars too, car games for boys are super popular too. And when I say car games, the first things that pops into mind is, in most people’s mind is video games. And yes it’s true. Boys are just infatuated with car games.  And as a parent and educator, we have to be careful with that topic. There are two things that come to mind.  One is that we have to be careful that boys don’t get too addicted to games. We have to be careful that we don’t allow them to spend too much time playing car games and or any games for that matter. And that is one of the big problems with boys and reading is that they just don’t have enough guidelines set up.  And I look at the parents first for that. They need to set up guidelines at home to limit how much time they are spending. Don’t get me wrong the other side of that coin is that there’s a big movement in the education world to tap into games. And there are ways to use games in a positive way for learning and I’m not opposed to that concept if it’s done correctly. But it takes a careful means.

As far as car games for boys go, another thing a lot of parents mean, I think if we about how much time we spend in cars driving, this is another aspect of it, we can tap reading into it with boys of any age. Now I suggest one of the biggest thing to do for car games for boys is first of all just go to the public library and look for books and magazines that have to do with cars. If you go and get things that have to do with cars, then you can leave that in the car now. If it’s a book of course you’re going to have to bring it back to the library if you’re checking it out. I’m a big advocate for magazines with boys. I think magazines are huge. I think a lot of boys love to read magazines.

I wrote that article for Boys’ Life. Part of the reason that I did that is because for boys, magazines provide short chunks of text, short experiences. So when you’re on the road if you keep them…if you subscribe…what I would suggest is go to Barnes and Noble or go to some big store, some bookstore and look through the different magazines that are available. And depending on the age of your son, and what your rules are, about how strict you are of what’s okay and what’s not.. Some magazine of course, boys will be attracted to but they’re not appropriate for their age whether it’s the female thing or the violence thing whatever.

So you know there’s some guidelines, it depends on what you have to do, but in a typical Barnes and Noble store, there are 6 to 7 hundred different magazines to pick from. There’s two thoughts. One is to buy a couple of issues; they’re more expensive if you buy them off the newsstand. But keeping them in the car so when you’re driving around that if they only have a short amount of time then “boom,” they can read something and be done with it. Then get a complete peace to it. And the other things is, if you give them the opportunity to see the different magazines that are out there, then buy one or two subscriptions for them. Parents won’t blink an eye to buy video game or what could cost them 50 or 60 bucks quite often. In a magazine subscription you can get a whole year’s worth for 15 bucks or depending what it is, even cheaper.

And every time they get that in the mail, they have something to look forward to and keep them, just make a deal with your sons and say, “hey you got to keep that in the car. Let’s keep issues in the car.” And that way when they’re sitting there they have something to look at, besides playing with their cellphone or whatever.  And then you know, the other thing is. when you’re in the car, some of the games that you can play is question games. Talking to your son about, while you’re in the car, talking to them about things that they’re interested in or things that they’re reading is a great way to connect to them. I have two daughters and they’re both teens and so often in the car, there’s so many chances where there is times that you can talk. And it’s not easy as kids get older. You really have to say, “hey take your headphones out and let’s just…” You got to really do it if you want to keep those communication lines open. I think that is so important.

If they’re young, depending how old and willing they are to play the game. One car games for boys I love is just the simple I Spy game. As a librarian at the elementary level, I had my 5th and 6th grade boys, 11 and 12 years old, they still love to go look at those I Spy games. It would drive their teachers crazy that they would want to get those books, those I Spy books. But for some reason boys are just interested in looking around for stuff that’s maybe hard to see.

So depend what you’re doing, I don’t know it depends on the age of your son but as you’re driving a car that would be another good game to play. I say, “hey, I’m looking around to see different things that are in the environment  I can point out to see if they can find them.”

And then finally, another thought with car games for boys  is Mad Libs,  lot of boys love to play Mad Libs, ven at the supermarket you can pick up a couple of Mad Lib, things that they can engage with what they’re reading where they write stuff, just keeping those in the car is just a great technique that a lot of parents can take their hands on.

Car Games for Boys – excerpt from Mike McQueen’s Boys’ Alive Event Interview (with Janet Allison)

I am honored to announce that I have been asked to be one of 15 special presenters for the upcoming, Boys Alive! Online Event. My presentation, “Encouraging Boys to Read and Helping Struggling Readers” is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, at 1:00 pm central time (2:00pm Denver time).

I’m humbled to say my name appears among a few well know experts including world renown authors Michael Guiran (Oct. 10) and Thomas Newkirk (Oct 24). Scroll down on the Boys Alive! Online Event page to see all of us, including me

The event kicks off this Monday, so check out the web site right now.

This free, on-line event brings together authors, coaches, doctors, and parenting experts to help you Discover HIS World! Boys approach life and school in their own unique way and this Event will give you the MAP so you can blaze a trail and lead him to being a confident, capable man.

Be ready to hear why we need to be worried about our boys. And what we can do to make the changes THEY NEED US TO MAKE!

If you’ve been puzzled, frustrated, angry, or just plain exhausted by your boy…just ONE of these expert insights or strategies may be the spark that changes everything between you.

Register now for this free, on-line Event at http://www.boysaliveevent.com.

We begin on October 10th but you can get started right now: REGISTER and you’ll be taken immediately to the “treasure chest” filled with free gifts from our speakers to you.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars now for my presentation – Wednesday, October 26, at 1:00 pm central time (2:00pm Denver time).
“See you then!”

~Mike

AnneD

Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Positions: Parent Writer

A recent study presented at the Royal Economic Society’s 2011 conference found that boys are more competitive than girls from as early as four years old and remain so into adulthood.  It’s something most of us with sons already know: competitiveness is simply hardwired into boys.

Persuading my 7 year old son to do his maths homework is easy. He treats every maths question like a competition and a challenge, and he feels a sense of achievement in discovering the answer. That’s because boys like to compete, even if it’s against themselves, and they need to feel there is a purpose behind what they do. Persuading my son though to do his reading homework is another matter. He hates the reading books he brings home from school and often says to me, “But what’s the point? Why should I bother? They’re boring”.

Silently I often agree with him. Books to teach young boys to read are often boring, pointless and let’s face it, girl-orientated. What boy wants to learn to read with a duck, rabbit and chicken asking “Let’s cook. I can cook. We can cook”?  (That was one of my son’s first school reading books).

At the end of his first year at school, my son couldn’t read. I was beside myself with worry. I spent a fortune on word games, books and alphabet puzzles but to no avail. My son, Alex, simply wasn’t interested. Then I had an idea. Why not combine reading and action, reading and a treasure hunt?  So I wrote a short book about a boy called Super Sam, who was funny, naughty, silly and mischievous. On the last page of every story, Super Sam would find some treasure hidden in the house. This was my son’s cue to go running looking for the treasure. He loved it! I don’t think he even realised that he was reading.  By the end of the summer he had read about 60 books, and when he returned to school the teachers were amazed by the transformation.

Having seen how “Super Sam and the Hunt for Treasure” has since helped so many other boys to discover the fun of reading, I have become convinced that tapping into boys’ competitive spirit is one of the key ways of teaching them to read. Give boys a purpose, give boys a reason why, and they will read.

If boys are hardwired to be active and competitive, then as parents we need to tap into boys’ sense of fun, adventure and the need for a challenge.

Here are a few more ideas that I have found helped my son:

·         My son loves to bake (sweets and cakes), so I write him simple instructions so he can do it himself. This gives reading a purpose.

·         My two eldest children love story competitions. As soon as my son hears the word “competition”, he grabs his pen and starts to write. I usually give four prizes: longest story, best spelling, most interesting, funniest. Favourite titles include “The mystery of the missing ruby” and “The legend of the broken sword”.

·         I have also tried other treasure hunt ideas like the Learn-to-Read Treasure Hunts, from Amazon. My son really enjoyed these skills building games. I sometimes write my own treasure hunts at home – it’s a good tip to write in the corner of each clue where to hide it, so that you don’t get confused.

I would love to hear from other people who have discovered ‘competition-based’ resources that encourage reading in young boys.  For those boys reluctant to read, that’s make it worth their while!