Motivating Boys to Read and Write. (It’s Possible!) {Episode 59 with Andrew Pudewa}
Hi guys!
If you have ever struggled to motivate your son to read…or write…or sit still in the classroom?! This episode is sure to encourage you. Andrew Pudewa has been a household name in our family for over 10 years as he has been my boys’ writing teacher (via video!) The boys call Andrew “a legend” (that’s high praise in my teenage boys’ world) and they describe him as super- smart, eloquent, quirky, and a really fun teacher. (I think you’ll agree!)
Andrew is the Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) and he is a popular speaker on all things related to learning – especially in the area of language arts. I wanted to chat with Andrew on all kinds of topics, but especially about a talk I heard him give called “Teaching Boys and other Kids who would Rather Build Forts all day.” This talk taught me so much about how boys’ brains work, how boys learn differently from girls, and some simple strategies that have helped me motivate my boys to learn! Andrew and I discuss some of my favorite parts of his talk in today’s episode, and you can link to his entire teaching in show notes below!
SHOW NOTES:
IEW.COM/MONICASWANSON*
This page will have the curriculums my boys use, Andrew’s talk: “Teaching Boys and other Kids who would Rather be Building Forts”, as well as the current offer of 3 free weeks of Language Arts curriculum IEW is offering this summer.
IEW’s List: Books for Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts all Day.
The Real Lord of the Flies. What Happened when Six Boys were Shipwrecked for 15 Months. (article in The Guardian.) <— This is a fascinating story! I recommend you take the time to read it.
Penrod (book for boys) I’ve never heard of it before, but I trust Andrew so I just ordered it! 🙂
Center For Lit: This is Andrew’s recommended site if you’re wanting to learn more about Teaching the Classics.
For 25 years IEW has offered an effective method for teaching writing that encourages and inspires students and molds them into confident and competent communicators and thinkers. IEW offers language arts materials to students of all ages, K-12.
Whether you have a student who loves to write, hates to write, or a student who has some special learning needs, you can find success with IEW. Try the free lessons at iew.com/monicaswanson
Also big thanks to SURFACE Sunscreen for teaming up as a summertime sponsor, offering a DISCOUNT to all Boy Mom listeners (USE CODE: BOY MOM for 20% everything on their site!) and giving away a BUNDLE of SURFACE Suncare PRODUCTS to one of you at the end of June!
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Enter to win at the VERY bottom of this post!
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Andrew Pudewa is the founder and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a father of seven. Traveling and speaking around the world, he addresses issues related to teaching, writing, thinking, spelling, and music with clarity, insight, practical experience, and humor. His seminars for parents, students, and teachers have helped transform many a reluctant writer and have equipped educators with powerful tools to dramatically improve students’ skills.
Although he is a graduate of the Talent Education Institute in Japan and holds a Certificate of Child Brain Development from the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his best endorsement is from a young Alaskan boy who called him “the funny man with the wonderful words.” He and his wonderful, heroic wife, Robin, have homeschooled their seven children and are now proud grandparents of fourteen, making their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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My book, BOY MOM, was released in August of 2019 (Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers) and is full of practical advice and helpful resources for raising boys. It’s a great study for small groups!
Order it here: Boy Mom: What Your Son Needs Most from You
*I am an IEW affiliate and if you click through my link to their site and purchase, I will make a small portion of the proceeds (at no extra cost to you!) Thank you so much!!
ENTER TO WIN AN INCREDIBLE BUNDLE OF SURFACE SUNCARE PRODUCTS! Simply leave a comment below, sharing ONE FUN (Sunny!) SUMMER ACTIVITY you plan to do with your family and I’ll enter you into the drawing. We’ll do a giveaway each month of the summer!
How do you combine your ABEKA and IEW for your boys? Especially for Levi?
We like to swim and go to the beach. Especially when we visit family down in San Diego or Florida this summer!
We have a small rectangular blow up swimming pool that we are in at least once a day (except for the days I’m cleaning it)! If any local public pools open up we’ll take advantage of that too!
I love this podcast! I just listened to the latest episodes with #59 and #60. We have two boys and a girl who all love to read, and both of our boys who hate to write.
Thank you for such wonderful podcast topics! I am also an alumni for Westmont College, so I am thrilled to hear your son is there and thriving.
We are in Florida so going to the beach is ALWAYS on our list. Really anything outside that includes water. Otherwise it’s just too hot and humid here. I’m excited to check out Surface since I have yet to find my dream sunscreen. Thanks for all you do!
Hi Monica!
I absolutely love your podcast and your book! I have 3 boys and we live in Florida. We are going to visit my father-in-law in Lake Ozark, MO at the end of July. We’ll have a week filled with boating, tubing, fishing, bonfires, and much more. My boys look forward to this week every summer, especially because there are no gators in Missouri lakes! : )
Hi Monica- really enjoy your podcast! Fun summer activity for us here in the Pacific Northwest is camping. You grew up here right? So you know how precious summer is!
Yes and yes!! I really miss the PNW this time of the year…we are considering a visit later this summer. enjoy!! 🙂
We’re mountain bikers and plan to keep at it all summer long. When we get home it’s onto the wakeboard or lazily floating around in our lake.
I love mountain biking– haven’t done it in years but would love to get back into it! 🙂
Seeing as its Aussie Winter here. Lots of snuggling, imagination station books, superbook Videos (thats just the one day of winter we get Here hahaha) Other winter days (your summer) we will be out hiking, bmx tracks and beach picnicking On weekends 🙂
Awww, sounds wonderful to me! 🙂 (Are Imagination Station books related to Adventures in Odyssey?– if so I need to find them!!) XO
We will get out and hike as much as we can once more of the regional parks are open (we live in Washington state)! Cannot wait for the sun to come out consistently so that we can spend as much time as possible out in it before the rain starts again in the fall!
We are planning, and have already been, going to our local pool all summer!
We plan to do some surfing at our local beach break a lot this summer!
We are hoping to take a trip with family friends down to the Keys for a few days (we’re in Orlando).
We are planning on (and have already begun!) lots of sunny day swimming, stand up paddling and picnic-ing all summer long!
My family and I plan to spend as many of days possible at the beach soaking in the sun. We also hope to enjoy camping, and outdoor picnics.
Kayaking on the river! My boys love it!
Your funny thing about husbands at the end really cracked me up. We’ve had kids for 20 years, and my husband still does that!
Our summer has been fun filled days and nights learning new talents with guitars and dirt bikes, hanging out and swimming with cousins, late night family soccer scrimmages, and just sitting around talking and bonding. Even though we’ve been quarantined we have still reached out to our community with volunteering at Hope To All where food boxes are given to anyone in need. Sunday’s and Wednesday church services have been on Facebook live , which my husband and I have had to learn. My Wednesday night class of girls (funny since I don’t have any daughters) have been getting on an app called Zooroom where we can see each other and read scripture together. Honestly my husband has reached more people by Facebook live than he thought he ever would. God is taking His hands off America, waiting for His people to cry out and all to repent. Prayers for our nation ❤️
My son isn’t quite old enough to write but I’m putting this on my list! We were supposed to be visiting my family on Big Island for the next two weeks and would’ve been enjoying the sunshine and beach! But God had other plans (which we are also thankful for – we sold our house and are moving across town to help with a church plant!) and we are so thankful for His timing. So instead of the Pacific beach, we will be going to Myrtle Beach in SC in late July and I. Cannot. Wait!