Rating: 
Summary: Closing the Gender Gap
Review: An excellent resource for parents and teachers in understanding the difference in how boys and girls learn. In Elementary grade classrooms, many particle applications are provided. However, I feel that the training sessions through the Gurian Institute needs to trickle down from a Lead Assessor to teach the teachers.
Prior knowledge of Multiple Intellegencies, brain research, and how students learn as they develop from K-12 is required to get the most of this material.Good resource may be Cynthia Tobias's tape series and book entitled "The Way They Learn: Understanding Learning Styles" and a book about Brain research. Brain research is key to this book, but may be very confusing as to how to Apply the learning into the home, classroom and everyday life. Instead of instilling sterotypes Boys vs. Girls, Teachers may refere to students as class, friends, team names if group work anything but "boys and girls." Anything to help remove the sterotypes the teachers, parents and society place on young children since that is how they grow up. Boys play sports, like to be leaders. Girls like close friendships with their peers, fluffy toys, play house, etc. Enjoy the book! I did. I took notes and found that useful towards moving in the direction of implementation of Gurian's suggestions.
DG
Rating: 
Summary: Review of Boys and Girls learn Differently
Review: Educator, Family Therapist and Author, Michael Gurian has put together a great resource for teachers and parents. Boys and Girls Learn Differently goes inside students' brains and tells the reader how and why boys and girls process information differently. The author writes as if he was speaking directly to the reader. The book, which is separated into two sections, is clearly focused on an audience of educators and parents. The first section goes into full detail about the neurological differences between boys and girls and howy they learn differently. In the second part of the book, the author provides concrete examples of how to incorporate the knowledge learned in part one into the classroom setting. Gurian suggests steps that should be taken to maximize learning for all students from Kindergarten through High School.
This book is an exceptionally helpful resource for teachers and parents in understanding the differences in learning between boys and girls and compliments my philosophy on education. The one subject that I would have liked to see addressed is the notion that each and every student is a unique individual and therefore learns in his or her own distinct manner. As educators, it is our responsibility to make the learning environment well rounded so all students are cultivated to their maximum learning potential. I recommend that every educator and parent, interested in learning about how boys and girls process information differently, enjoy this informative and enjoyable book.
Rating: 
Summary: can't educate by sterotyping
Review: Gurian has an agenda to keep the status quo intact.The premise
of boys being more able at spatial and mathematical ability
comes from an old pop science notion.He is simply The Marsvenus
of Education,and Marsvenus is losing ground and someday so will
Gurian's books.
All of the highest paying jobs involve spatial and mathematical
ability,from physics,engineering to economics.I'm not surprized
that Gurian hands over the most wage winning attributes to boys
and least wage winning to girls.He passes off pop psychology as
undisputable fact,his writing is a means to glorify his
"Institute" and to make a little cold hard cash on the side,since
he knows how obsessed especially American society is with
gender in quote "differenes".Canada isn't far behind in this
obsession and people flock to book stores to get the latest
provacative taste of sexism aimed at education.
If children are seperated into distinct learning styles by
gender,it will cause nothing but confusion.Try teaching a
spatial girl with verbalage and she'll be lost,same goes for
the verbal boy whom will not respond well to graphs,diagrams
and hands on techniques.The result will be confused children
not developing their own indivdual abilities to their fullest.
Because many parts of the world no nothing of these books,
the girls of other culture far out perform girls in the States
and other western states,merely because of this engrained
sex bias previalent in the western world.
The book will only spell disaster for girls and cause them to
not aspire to engineering,science and careers demanding
spatial ability.I've read all of Gurian's books and only one
book was needed because all say the same things over and over
again.
Also his reference to "bridge brains" implies this belief of
emense structural differences between brains,wired,when infact
we develope our brains.A girl who plays with dolls will have
very different brain connections in comparision to girls
involved in sports and spatial producing activities.The
structural differences are caused by experience and not hard
wired into the brain.
I get a hunch that Gurian does not want girls to be explorers
on the world but rather passive standers by who merely
compliment men and no not in any way have the same wants,needs
and abilities of men.In short,he wants women to graciously
throw in the white towel and surrender their exisistance to
dependency,relationships and emotions.The emphasis on emotions
of girls indicates that the writer wants young women and all
women to wallow in emotion and see it as "natural" rather than
to view it as a HUMAN trait and GET OVER IT.
He is obesessed with the notions of hormones playing a part in
learning,and influencing fetal brain tissue before birth,thus
limiting either sex to a narrow set of abilities.Boys too are
limited.What if a boy is emotional and verbal,I guess Gurian
would label him a "bridge brain" as well.
The main reason writers write these sexist books is to make a
buck,plain and simple.The truth wouldn't be provocative and
controversial enough to rake in the sales.Let's face it,the
whole "gender difference" is a fad,and a fad which needs to
die out fast.
Rating:
Summary: can't educate by sterotyping
Review: How can our children be best educated if behavior and
learning styles are sterotyped? No! It's impossible to educate with narrow minded beliefs about our sons and daughters.
I home school and my kids do not fit the patterns Gurian
sets out as "normal" In the mix of individuals I have as students,it evens out.
Gurian is preachy and arrogant in his views.I have the feeling if you don't believe him then you're less informed or educated
than he is.Wrong!
And the 'bridge brain' is only a disclaimer.Of course you will
find exceptions to his rules,it's called indivdual talent!
I can't tell you how many girls I've taught learn by doing.
Just as many boys are sitting still and reading.
Gurian's books are dangerous to our society.He is selling an
idea which will keep children in shackles.
Gurian's writings have nothing to do with day to day real life.
They have everything to do with sexism and keeping young women
in low paying jobs,self hate and low self esteem.
Rating:
Summary: The danger from within is Gurian
Review: Many of my friends and I have read the same book.We come to the same conclusion of this book having an agenda to dogmatize our
country with meaningless gender bias.In my opinion there is nothing more dangerous to a country and the world as to limit
our children's ability to wether the child is male or female.
Gurian does not offer any proof as others have stated in the
reviews as to how these differences come about.He says it's the
hormones,the brain structure.I have read other matierial which has disclosed findings which condradict his so called research.
If he were correct in assuming hormones then I would be much more drenched with testostrone than my half brother since I excell at math and he at lanuage.Brain structure varies from person to person,something I doubt he would like you to know.
Instill independence and individuality in all your children
by seeing them as people rather than sexes.
I cannot think of anything worse than leading your child down the wrong "learning style" road,simply because of their sex.
People tend to want to agree with anything they read and be
a good follower.It's better to think for yourself and be a
good leader and helper in your child's life by giving them room to grow the way they want to and without trying to controll
their interests or believing they will only show talent in small sterotyped boxes.Terrible book written by someone
who is trying to distort your child's life to make $$$$$$.
Rating:
Summary: this writer needs to go BACK to school!!!
Review: So sad we live in a world with so many labels and
sterotypes.
Any teacher who applies this ...book to
the experience of a true life classroom is making a ...
mistake.
First off,we develope connections in our brains by experience.
A girl who plays with dolls will have vast differences in her
brain organization when in comparision to a girl who played
with in sports involving spatial ability and boys toys involving
the turning of objects around in their heads.
My cousin was inferiated when a councelor at a women's college
suggested she be in the Learning Disabled group when the
councelor found out she had D's in language classes.
All because the councelor assumed that any "normal" female would
be naturally better at languages.
The root of all this junk science is keeping women in "their
place" To make them feel inferior and different when actually
people are individuals and guess what a boy might learn
verbally,and a girl spatially. This has got to stop,or society will distroy the true meaning
of freedom.Freedom of a person to explore and to use their mind
and not have it labeled "male" or "female".
...
Rating: 
Summary: Little of Substance
Review: The first part of the book is unbearably slow, the gender differences of boys and girls are painstakingly boiled down into a litany of "boys excel at..., girls excel at. The list that everybody has heard, sports and spatial tasks = boys, penmanship, language skills = girls. The saving grace of this book is that in the 2nd part the author mentions what should actually be done. Michael Gurian, author/ educator, also has a few pilot projects being run in the state of Missouri. The results sound encouraging. He encourages teachers to start catering to the needs of both genders in the class. He stresses that to do this teachers will need training. As for parents the usual "be a concerned and supportive parent" is always added. I was generally unimpressed with the book, no real blockbusters. The real world results of his pilot education programs were to me the issue that maybe the author was onto something. Hopefully if it is as good as its portrayed this method will gain some notoriety.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the book -- not the audiobook
Review: This author has much to say, but the limitations of a 2-cassette abridgment make it difficult to learn much from this audiobook. Consequently, it is just an introduction, an overview, and lacks enough concrete examples to make significant changes to your teaching. Still, because I know there is much value here, I would recommend that either you buy the book instead of the audiobook or try the audiobook first and then read the book. Not to say I agree with everything here. The suggestion to improve teaching calculus to girls with journaling is laughable. I do notice that when I was teaching algebra to girls, it helped if I said the equations in plain speech; that is, instead of saying y=x, I said y is the same as x, and the light dawned. As for the reader, I recognized the dulcet tones of Jonathan Marosz immediately. He must have to use an alias when he records for different publishers. He does an excellent job, and his voice carries a lot of authority.
Rating:
Summary: A Must for All Teachers and Parents
Review: This book is a MUST for current teachers, parents, and anyone working with children of ALL ages. This book will help the reader understand how brain research has and should be included in every certified teacher curriculum materials. This "textbook" should be provided for in-service instruction for current teachers, child care workers, parents, guardians, mentors, tutors, and ANY one working with children. The MI (Multiple Intelligences) approach is still valid and is in fact relied on by many to answer the age old question: "How do Boys and Girls Learn? What are the differences in learning styles." By taking your knowledge regarding MI and include the latest reserach on brain research, the child in your life will benefit and you too will feel like you are making the difference in the life of a child. Go get the book, read it, then apply that knowledge within the classroom, home, church, day care, and anywhere/anyone working with children. DG
Rating:
Summary: This is sooo... dated
Review: This book promotes stereotypes by radically overstating some slight differences between the sexes. If you want a scientific explanation of how they are grossly misrepresenting science, read either:
1) Brain Gender by Melissa Hines (2004) or
2) The esssential difference: the truth about the male and female brain by Simon Baron-Cohen (2003).
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