5Qs with Author Peg Tyre
I recently had the opportunity to read Peg Tyre's new book, "The Trouble With Boys".
It inspired me so much I asked the author if she would participate
in our Inside Pre-K 5 Qs interview series. She happily agreed and
offers some very interesting and thoughtful answers to five questions
that relate her work to pre-k education.
In a conversation with another parent, what would you say are the benefits
and risks of preschool for boys?
I think the value of preschool for all children is pretty well
documented -- it can lay down the building blocks for school success and
enhancing lifelong learning. The problem really comes in when preschools run
programs that are developmentally inappropriate for little children, especially
little boys. In particular, programs that are highly academic, that consist of
hours of uninterrupted teacher-directed activity, that prize quiet time over
physical movement. Often, when boys are enrolled in these kinds of pre-schools,
they flounder. They attract an intense amount of negative attention from
teachers and that is very sad. Unfortunately, it can be the first blot
that turns in into a pattern of academic failure.
How do
you see the role of pre-k in our society?
Interesting question. And a big one. There
is a discourse among early educators that suggests a very democratic notion --
that preschool is a great leveler -- and often we talk about preschool as if it
functions in the same way for all kids. But practically, that doesn't seem to be
the case. Poor kids need pre-k a great deal -- to get them away from the TV, to
expose them to a language rich environment, to help them develop pre-literacy
skills, familiarize themselves with the mechanics of reading (left to right,
which way to hold a book) to learn numbers and colors and days of the week, and
social/emotional skills like self-regulation. Middle class and affluent kids are
usually getting the enrichment then need at home -- it's good to have it
reinforced in preschool but there needs are different - or maybe, they aren't as
great.
What did you learn about pre-k during your research
for this book?
That it can be tough to
be a little boy enrolled in preschool right now. And it can be tough to be his
mom.
What has changed about society's perceptions of boys over
the past 10 years?
It think we
have become very intolerant of what boys are like, how they think, how
they play and how they express themselves.
What is the most
critical issue facing boys and their parents today?
There is a pipeline that carries all
children from preschool to college and I think the data shows that there
are several places along that pipeline where boys are fall out. My book is
really about those places were boys-- for a variety of reason -- disengage from
education -- often with disastrous results. I think it is critical for parents
to address this problem in their schools and in their communities. Right now we
have 2.5 million more girls than boys in college -- a staggering gap. But
when you ask college presidents why there are so many more college ready girls
than boys, they will tell you that the problem begins in preschool. We need to
address it early so all our children can get the best education possible.
www.pegtyre.com
Image from: http://www.pegtyre.com/index.php
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