The Cycle of Gender Segregation

A post I wrote in January – 10 Reasons Girls and Boys Should Play Together – was recently shared by Pigtail Pals Ballcap Buddies and revisited by many (which was a thrill). In the post I make the statement that boys and girls don’t spend a whole lot of time together, and I go on to list some reasons why they should. I revisited this post myself, realizing it begs the question – why are girls and boys not spending time together in the first place?

Messes and Messages

I will fully admit that I moved to Arizona kicking and screaming. I was not a trooper. I did not handle this relocation with ease nor with grace. But two kids and 7 ½ years later I have to say that living in the Valley of the Sun (especially in February) is pretty sweet.

Increase Contact (Solution 1)

Welcome to day 1 on my mission to post a daily solution for bringing boys and girls together.  I probably should have written all of these posts before declaring to do so, but where is the fun in that? So the pressure is on, and without further ado….Solution 1: Increase Contact!

Every Problem Has A Solution (Or Maybe 10)

I’m kind of obsessed with this new website my kids’ school just implemented. It’s not the easiest thing to access (there’s logging-in, passwords etc…), but it’s totally worth it because I get to be a fly on the wall, regularly viewing pictures and videos.

Life Is Coed

Mothers and Sons

Time Together

Preschoolers typically interact with same gender peers 3 times more than with opposite gender peers.  Gender segregation begins around age 3 and increases dramatically during preschool.  By the time children reach age 6 ½, they are interacting with their same gender peers 11 times more than with opposite gender peers.

Same gender play and friendships continue to increase and peak during elementary school.

So, when children spend significantly disproportionate amounts of time with their same gender peers, how can we get boys and girls to learn successful strategies from each other?

The Great Divide

I was walking out of my kids’ preschool the other day with another mom. She has two kids 15 months apart (bless her). Her younger son, Jonathan, is in Molly’s room and the older one, Noah, is in Pre-K. We were chatting about our kids and work and how we’re always running late. Then we got to talking about the intervention I’m involved in at ASU. I was telling her how we’re trying to increase contact and positive experiences between boys and girls in hopes of bringing kids together who, at this stage, are beginning to spend more and more time apart. At this point she stops walking and says to me,

paper chain close up by stitchlily

You know, that’s so interesting…. I swear, just now, when I dropped off Noah, it looked as if the teacher had said, ‘Girls over here – Boys over there.’ The kids were all so into making these paper chains, but the girls were all standing around the teacher turning them into bracelets and earrings, and the boys were all off on the other side of the room tying each other up! I don’t even think I noticed at first – everyone was just having fun. It’s funny how you can walk into a classroom, see everyone working happily, and not really think about that division.

Tales of a Superhero Princess

My preschooler, Molly, has recently become obsessed with superheroes. Well, maybe the more accurate assessment of the situation is that I have become obsessed with her interest in superheroes. It all began before her little friend Jackson’s birthday party. He had sent out Spiderman invitations, and to a 4-year-old, no further explanation needed – he was having a Spiderman party! Now as a side note (and a topic I’d like to explore further at a different time), Molly is quite taken with Jackson. He is a super cute, fun, happy kid. He’s the kind of kid that others are really drawn to. So it goes without saying that when the arrival of the invitation coincided with Molly’s discovery of a Spiderman t-shirt of her very own , it was on!