Why do gifted boys often struggle at school?
It’s true that the way schools are set up now means more boys than girls will struggle, gifted or not.
This post is a snippet from a podcast interview with Deborah Ruf (me) by Julia Krysztofiak-Szopa, for her podcast — Dzieci Zdolne — which is Polish for Gifted Children.
This post is a snippet from a podcast interview with Deborah Ruf (me) by Julia Krysztofiak-Szopa, for her podcast — Dzieci Zdolne — which is Polish for Gifted Children.
It’s only 13 minutes and 7 seconds. I’ve seen a lot over the years and some readers will be relieved — sort of, maybe — to learn they aren’t imagining it when they wonder why their gifted, wonderful self or child struggled so much in school if he is so smart. Schools simply aren’t usually set up for the ways boys are and what they need to thrive.
Julia lives with her family in Poland and it was such a delight to get to know her. Like me, she has lots of thoughts and ideas and she loves to talk! Me, too. While my own children have been out of the nest for more than twenty years, she still has children at home. Her questions to me are mostly related to those listeners who are still raising their gifted children.
Intrigued? Take a look and listen. I hope my answers here are useful to both readers and listeners.
I cover this point and many others from the full podcast in my little book here: Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child, 2023, by Deborah Ruf. Find on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keys-Successfully-Parenting-Gifted-Child/dp/B0C9GHSJ53
On this topic, I also recommend two to three books by Michael Gurian:
What Could He Be Thinking?: How a Man’s Mind Really Works: https://a.co/d/aTtxMwQ
The Wonder of Boys: What Parents, Mentors and Educators Can Do to Shape Boys into Exceptional Men: https://a.co/d/gv6jJ4J
The Wonder of Girls: Understanding the Hidden Nature of Our Daughters: https://a.co/d/6WaZ0re