Homeschooling Boys

Physical Exertion Does the Mind and Body Good

I have often said that if my boys were in public school, the staff would request that they be medicated. I know that my boys often have the attention span of a fly on crack and stay still about as long as that same fly.  At least this statement is true when they don't get enough physical exercise!

Boys, by their very nature, have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I know that it is politically incorrect to say such things, but I feel it is true. Think about the children you know. How many of the girls you know are diagnosed with ADHD? The statistics are alarming. Some say that for every four boys diagnosed with ADHD, there is only one girl diagnosed. Some say that girls are just under diagnosed and suffer in silence. I say it has more to do with the nature of the boy. Search for ADHD on the web, and you will find that most say there is a difference between the ADHD boys have than the form of ADHD girls have. It says that boys are fidgety, inattentive, like to talk to others and like to touch others. Yes, boys are like that and boys are very physical- this is normal boy behavior.

Is the surge of ADHD diagnoses due to an increased incidence of ADHD among boys? No, I think that there are contributing factors such as over use of video games and television combined with a lack of time to run, play and climb trees. Boys are not as active outside as they once were. Our neighborhood has very few children running and playing outside-even on weekends. Children certainly live in our neighborhood, but they just are not outside playing. I had to laugh when a friend told me of a news report she had heard on NPR. A curriculum was developed to help children learn creative play because a study showed that children lacked the imagination and ability to pretend. Could it be that families have too many structured activities and children are not allowed to have free time to just run and play? Is a curriculum like this really needed? Could we reduce the number of boys diagnosed with ADHD and on ADHD medications if they were allowed more time for creative play and running around?