GET BOY SMART!
IT IS BETTER TO BUILD BOYS THAN TO MEND MEN!
Boys and girls approach life with differing needs, differing abilities and differing goals. The fact that each child is unique and complex should not blind us to the reality that gender is one of the great organizing principles in child development. The challenges of raising boys have become increasingly hard to ignore. • Boys account for 90% of juvenile alcohol and drug violations. • Boys make up about 80% of school suspensions and expulsions. • ADHD is approximately 4 times more frequently diagnosed in boys than in girls. Parents everywhere express their concern as boys arrive home from school with negative attitudes toward school learning. They recognize their boys’ capacity to learn and create, EXW JULHYH WR VHH WKH VSDUN RI HQWKXVLDVP VPROGHU DQG À ]]OH LQ VFKRRO 3DUHQWV DOVR struggle with how to motivate boys. Now what to do about it? On April 20th the Mission Daycare Society and Heritage Park Child Care Centre is sponsoring the BC celebrated author and educator Barry MacDonald to help parents meet the challenges of parenting boys for success at school – and life. Drawing on studies from cultural and biological-based understandings of how children grow and develop, the author of the best-selling books Boy Smarts and Boys on Target: Raising Boys into Men of Courage and Compassion, and founder of the MentoringBoys.com website, will help parents, teachers, and care-givers to understand how gender patterns LQÁ XHQFH ER\V DV WKH\ JURZ DQG GHYHORS 0DF'RQDOG RIIHUV VROLG DGYLFH IRU PHQWRULQJ boys to navigate and overcome cultural pressures to become men of courage and compassion. MacDonald’s message about helping boys’ school achievement recently struck the right chord with Canadian school leaders, including Dr. Avis Glaze, Ontario’s Education Commissioner and Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education, who remarked, “Barry MacDonald’s compelling presentation is one of the best I have ever seen. His keynote address at the National Principals’ Conference was balanced, insightful and presented with perspicacity. He offers a framework and an array of strategies that will indeed make a tremendous difference in the lives of boys struggling at school. Barry is an outstanding speaker who wisely knows the place of atonement and humour, and indeed should be heard by every educator and parent.” With creativity and humour MacDonald packs the house to hear his passionate message about the varied needs of boys as he weaves together new gender understandings into an optimistic framework that shows us all how to bring out the best in boys and guide them to become courageous, caring, and ethical men.
Monday, April 20th, 7pm - 8:30pm Clarke Theatre - 33700 Prentis Ave, Mission Presented by Heritage Park Child Care Centre 33649 Prentis Ave Advance tickets $10 until April 16th; purchase at HPCC Centre Mon. to Thurs. 9am-2pm - call 604.826.3080 Tickets available at the door $15
www.heritageparkchildcarecentre.com Whats On! • www.whatsonmission.ca
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