This is a guest post by Dr. Stephanie Moyers from Ties To Literacy: Boys’ Achievement matters, a website that connects parents with Boys’ Literacy Specialists, and helps understand the learning needs of boys.
If your boys are like mine, you have probably stepped on, cleaned up, and built all kinds of structures with Legos. So, how can you connect Legos and reading?
To begin, as an educational consultant specializing in boys’ literacy and learning needs, I spend a lot of time talking with parents, especially Moms, who express concerns about their boys and their lack of motivation for reading.
My first question is: What are your son’s interests?
I begin with this question because when discussing boys’ learning needs, it is imperative that we take into consideration their interests. Interest is a huge motivator for boys as readers, and I don’t know about you, but it’s a huge motivator for me as well. Unfortunately, all too often, the interests of boys are not taken into consideration when they are in school.
With interest as a motivator, Legos are a great way to engage boys with books. Legos encourage play and contribute to increasing a child’s attention span, language development, and problem solving skills.
Does your library have a Lego club? Librarians who have noticed a decline in attendance by boys at the local library have created Lego clubs.
What are your favorite books to read with your boys? You might try retelling the story using Legos, or build the characters with Legos and create a new story.
Legos are a fabulous tool for connecting boys with books. I encourage you to go beyond the obvious and explore the world of books your boys enjoy with Legos in hand.
