Single sex education for girls

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts on single sex education for girls beginning in elementary school? Pros/cons?

[Anonymous]

I NEVER thought I would choose a single sex school but I did choose it for 5th grade. And I did because girls and boys learn very differently and have different needs. A girl can sit and read a book for 2 hours easy. No way a boy could do that. My choice for single sex didn't have much to do with the whole "flirting, liking boys/girls, or sexuality" thing. I just saw how different they are and wanted the most focused learning environment I could find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I NEVER thought I would choose a single sex school but I did choose it for 5th grade. And I did because girls and boys learn very differently and have different needs. A girl can sit and read a book for 2 hours easy. No way a boy could do that. My choice for single sex didn't have much to do with the whole "flirting, liking boys/girls, or sexuality" thing. I just saw how different they are and wanted the most focused learning environment I could find.

This is blatantly untrue. There are plenty of boys who can sit and read quietly for long periods of time.

Signed,

A Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I NEVER thought I would choose a single sex school but I did choose it for 5th grade. And I did because girls and boys learn very differently and have different needs. A girl can sit and read a book for 2 hours easy. No way a boy could do that. My choice for single sex didn't have much to do with the whole "flirting, liking boys/girls, or sexuality" thing. I just saw how different they are and wanted the most focused learning environment I could find.

Is there anything other than anecdotal evidence to support that boys learn differently than girls, any more than some children learn differently than other children? We selected an all boys school for kindergarten next year because we loved the school, but the gender essentialism bugs me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I NEVER thought I would choose a single sex school but I did choose it for 5th grade. And I did because girls and boys learn very differently and have different needs. A girl can sit and read a book for 2 hours easy. No way a boy could do that. My choice for single sex didn't have much to do with the whole "flirting, liking boys/girls, or sexuality" thing. I just saw how different they are and wanted the most focused learning environment I could find.

There are lots of learning differences among kids, even some that involve gender, but let's avoid the sweeping generalizations. DS (9) can and does sit and read for 2 hours - easy.

[Anonymous]

For our family, there are a few pros. In an all girl environment, girls get to occupy every role - the leader, the supporter, the class clown, the nerd, the writer, etc. This really gives young girls a chance to be their true self and hopefully figure out who they are as a person. Additionally, one of my daughters has ADD, so she benefits from not having yet one more distraction, the opposite sex dynamic. I know that people are concerned about the "mean girl" thing, but we have found that there are less things to argue about when you take out the who is dating who and the need to impress the opposite sex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I NEVER thought I would choose a single sex school but I did choose it for 5th grade. And I did because girls and boys learn very differently and have different needs. A girl can sit and read a book for 2 hours easy. No way a boy could do that. My choice for single sex didn't have much to do with the whole "flirting, liking boys/girls, or sexuality" thing. I just saw how different they are and wanted the most focused learning environment I could find.

This is blatantly untrue. There are plenty of boys who can sit and read quietly for long periods of time.

Signed,

A Teacher

Yep! And I have a girl who could never do it. I do see benefits of single sex education for leadership reasons but different learning styles is an outdated stereotype.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For our family, there are a few pros. In an all girl environment, girls get to occupy every role - the leader, the supporter, the class clown, the nerd, the writer, etc. This really gives young girls a chance to be their true self and hopefully figure out who they are as a person. Additionally, one of my daughters has ADD, so she benefits from not having yet one more distraction, the opposite sex dynamic. I know that people are concerned about the "mean girl" thing, but we have found that there are less things to argue about when you take out the who is dating who and the need to impress the opposite sex.

+1 Reasons why I chose it for DD (and why I'm glad my parents did too for me )

[Anonymous]

My DS can indeed sit and read attentively for 2 hours. He has great focus.
My DD can sit and read for 4 hours.

So I understand what you're saying, whoever said "no boy can do that" but you're generalizing.

My sister went to an all girls school. She is a HUGE success now, like mega star in her field

But I do think it stunted her, socially. And all the other girls in her school - it may have played out differently for each of them, but it was liberating and stunting at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- it may have played out differently for each of them, but it was liberating and stunting at the same time.

That's my impression - works both ways, and hard to say whether the advantages outweigh the detractions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I NEVER thought I would choose a single sex school but I did choose it for 5th grade. And I did because girls and boys learn very differently and have different needs. A girl can sit and read a book for 2 hours easy. No way a boy could do that. My choice for single sex didn't have much to do with the whole "flirting, liking boys/girls, or sexuality" thing. I just saw how different they are and wanted the most focused learning environment I could find.

This is blatantly untrue. There are plenty of boys who can sit and read quietly for long periods of time.

Signed,

A Teacher

I know and I hate how everyone thinks girls can 'sit' all the time. I hated sitting in school all day at my all girls school. I was a very active gal but only the boys are supposed to be this way so the girls are out of luck ?

[Anonymous]

If you are discussing single sex education (not just girls), I never thought it would be right for my DS, mainly because he is not a "boys will be boys" kind of kid. But it turns out that moving him to single sex was the best decision on a number of levels. The biggest advantage (he is in high school), is that you don't have the girl factor in the whole experience. The boys are focused on their learning and there is none of the showing off to girls. They can just be themselves in the learning environment, and hence be more focused. We also find that there is less bully factor because we find any bullying that does occur is usually a mechanism to get girls' attention.

And there are plenty of opportunities to socialize with girls...but it is separate from the educational environment, where it belongs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS can indeed sit and read attentively for 2 hours. He has great focus.
My DD can sit and read for 4 hours.

So I understand what you're saying, whoever said "no boy can do that" but you're generalizing.

My sister went to an all girls school. She is a HUGE success now, like mega star in her field

But I do think it stunted her, socially. And all the other girls in her school - it may have played out differently for each of them, but it was liberating and stunting at the same time.

Well, but a lot of high achievers would be stunted emotionally no matter where they went.
I went to an all girls school and was socially a loser and then on to engineering college with mostly boys ... who were all pretty socially behind....
It's hard to do a lot of work and thinking while caring about the things that socially minded people care about.
For me socializing became more of a thing after I graduated and had more time. But I'm never going to be super polished socially (still have a lot of friends though).
What single sex school gave me was confidence. The guys always think they are smarter and try to shove you out of the way. It's nice to learn and progress a while without that pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS can indeed sit and read attentively for 2 hours. He has great focus.
My DD can sit and read for 4 hours.

So I understand what you're saying, whoever said "no boy can do that" but you're generalizing.

My sister went to an all girls school. She is a HUGE success now, like mega star in her field

But I do think it stunted her, socially. And all the other girls in her school - it may have played out differently for each of them, but it was liberating and stunting at the same time.

Well, but a lot of high achievers would be stunted emotionally no matter where they went.
I went to an all girls school and was socially a loser and then on to engineering college with mostly boys ... who were all pretty socially behind....
It's hard to do a lot of work and thinking while caring about the things that socially minded people care about.
For me socializing became more of a thing after I graduated and had more time. But I'm never going to be super polished socially (still have a lot of friends though).
What single sex school gave me was confidence. The guys always think they are smarter and try to shove you out of the way. It's nice to learn and progress a while without that pressure.

That's what my sister got, confidence. I think you can't get better than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS can indeed sit and read attentively for 2 hours. He has great focus.
My DD can sit and read for 4 hours.

So I understand what you're saying, whoever said "no boy can do that" but you're generalizing.

My sister went to an all girls school. She is a HUGE success now, like mega star in her field

But I do think it stunted her, socially. And all the other girls in her school - it may have played out differently for each of them, but it was liberating and stunting at the same time.

Well, but a lot of high achievers would be stunted emotionally no matter where they went.
I went to an all girls school and was socially a loser and then on to engineering college with mostly boys ... who were all pretty socially behind....
It's hard to do a lot of work and thinking while caring about the things that socially minded people care about.
For me socializing became more of a thing after I graduated and had more time. But I'm never going to be super polished socially (still have a lot of friends though).
What single sex school gave me was confidence. The guys always think they are smarter and try to shove you out of the way. It's nice to learn and progress a while without that pressure.

I agree. My DD is a big stem girl. She has a hard time at school because the boys tend to push her out of the way, talk over her and bully her in computer club and the like. I'd love to send her to single sex school but we live elsewhere and there isn't a good all girls high school choice. I really think she'd be happier and it would help her confidence and self esteem. Socially, she'll have a hard one wherever she goes because she is kind of a different kid. She's ok with that.