Boys and Girls Learn Differently:

 

Boys and Girls Learn Differently! [ A Guide for Teachers and Parents] by Michael Gurian 

First published in March 2001,it was years ahead of its time. In fact, it has taken Australia decades to catch up with this seminal work. My own copy from 2011 is the expanded 10th Anniversary Edition, and it remains one of the most practical, thoughtful and evidence-informed books available for anyone seeking to help children flourish.

Michael Gurian is the author of thirty books and founder of the Gurian Institute, combining neuroscience, developmental psychology, education and decades of classroom experience into a compelling argument: boys and girls share enormous potential, yet they often develop, learn and respond to teaching in measurably different ways. Rather than forcing every child into a one-size-fits-all model, he challenges educators and parents to recognise these differences and teach more effectively because of them...

What makes this book enduring is its balance. Gurian never argues that every boy or every girl is identical. Instead, he explains average developmental differences while encouraging teachers to see every child as an individual. His practical recommendations (covering classroom design, literacy, behaviour, motivation, movement, assessment and family engagement) remain remarkably relevant today.

The scientific foundations for Gurian's work have only strengthened during the last quarter century. Research from neuroscientists such as Richard Haier, developmental psychologists including Anne Campbell, educational researchers such as Leonard Sax, and large bodies of evidence in developmental neuroscience, endocrinology and psychology all point to meaningful average sex differences in brain development, maturation, hormonal influences, language acquisition, spatial processing, physical activity, risk-taking and learning trajectories. Major reviews from organisations including the U.S. National Academies, together with decades of developmental research, reinforce that these differences are real, measurable and educationally significant (even while individuals vary widely).

I had the privilege of attending the 28th Gurian Summer Training Institute in June 2026, where more than 200 educators, counsellors, administrators, teachers and parents gathered to learn from Michael Gurian and his colleagues. The experience reinforced what this book demonstrates so well: understanding sex differences isn't about limiting children, it's about giving every child the greatest opportunity to succeed...

Michael Gurian deserves enormous credit for bringing compassion, intellectual honesty and practical wisdom to a subject that is too often distorted by ideology. Boys and Girls Learn Differently! is an exceptional contribution to education, one that has helped countless teachers better engage their students, and countless parents better understand their children. It deserves to be regarded as a modern classic in educational psychology and child development.

 As any Eastern Father or Mother as well as Western Dad and Mum,you  you already know that girls are different from boys.

Unknown Contributor.

Many thanks.

( from Digital Anvil )

(From Digital Anvil )

A Re-Discovery 2.1 [ A Significant Threshold to Freedom ]

 

A Re-Discovery 2.1:

[ A Significant Threshold to Freedom ]

In recent decades, while many Western cultures are hostile to Christianity, there has been a remarkable but promising resurgence of Christianity.

 

Many in Western countries and some Middle Eastern countries enjoy a newfound freedom embracing Christianity vigorously from different strata and walks of life. 

 

While many return to their spiritual roots, finding solace and guidance in their faith, new Christians arising from a wide-spread 'dissatisfaction' with traditional Islam are relating vivid dreams/visions with a central figure robed in white apparel stating, " I am Jesus." Or " I am Eisa, Messiah."

Anecdotal evidence suggests that these visions/dreams are and have been occurring for decades and are significantly manifesting in numbers too many to ignore.

The underground church in Iran and China, though persecuted and at best vilified, continues to grow and throw off the chains of brutal iron- fisted dictatorship with nothing but belief in Love as the ultimate superpower.

Civil disobedience at best overthrows the excesses of democracy and Christianity overcomes the course of all alternatives to the bedrock of Judeo- Christian values and ethics with nothing but higher - order Love and the so - called Myths of democratic rule.

 
Christian ministries in the USA and other nations relate stories of receiving countless emails and personal contacts from some Middle Eastern persons having watched Satellite TV where death for the Christian convert lurks in the name of Allah. "Death to the Infidel" and death with cruel, war-sized terrorism amid cries of destruction to Israel and the USA  factoring in as well.

Where some alternative news services exist, there is opportunity for a different and truer viewpoint to transform persons long-held misbeliefs. This fact explains the almost universal prohibition or outlawing of Christianity  by totalitarian regimes. The overthrow of the family unit, the destruction of the norms of free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of democracy as occurs in virtually every communist and socialist society to date. Wouldbe dictators know this truth and implement secret programs, secret surveillance and twist rule of law to circumvent these truths, ways of natural justice and  socialisation of youth to prevent the rise of democracy, Christianity and the subsequent freeing of normal life.

 

People everywhere are reviewing their previously held conclusions and rejecting the legacy media false, often biased news.

This resurgence is not limited to any particular socio - economic class or demographic but is a widespread phenomenon bringing people together in a shared sense of spirituality.

 One of the key factors contributing to this resurgence is the freshly awakened search for verifiable truth, meaning and purpose. With a sharp sense of disillusionment in a flip-flopping good-doing and evil-doing world and its relativity, many are asking, "Is it true" and “is it valid for you a-n-d me?” Not my truth and your truth ever syncing.

Though Western societies remain mostly secular and materialistic, many, many individuals find that the altar of material possessions and worldly success are not enough to bring them true, lasting happiness and fulfillment. They are turning 180 degrees to the Christian faith as a source of stability, hope, and a renewed moral compass to navigate the many-times disturbing complexities of post-modern Western life.

 

While pornography rampages like a colossal monster coupled with a sharp decline in marriages since the so-called '60s and 70s sexual, political, social and cultural revolution, an insane rise in daily reliance on alcohol, designer drugs, recreational drugs is the environment for rapid resetting of belief.
The Covid pandemic,  increasingly uncertain politics, human gender dysphoria and human sex- affirming care, have twisted, semi-religious so-called values of tolerance, inclusivity and  exclusiveness-- all are mixed in a variable, troubled societal soup.

 Social injustice and rampant political opportunism are melded together with anti-semitism rising with geopolitical and geo-social upheaval with the recurring wars in the Middle East. Increasingly social unrest dogs most Western and now Eastern societies.
Illuminating present economic disparities in their respective cultures coupled with disparate empathsis placed on arriving populations, not on the natives.
With strong war-caused immigration occurring for more than two decades, the new social and cultural landscape fractures most European nations. A few countries have avoided such calamities.

The return of Christianity is a positive development that is bringing people closer to traditional spiritual roots and fostering a sense of unity and purpose.

Youth suicide is on the horrific rise, with a decades-long decline in familial values. Puzzling as this is, some posit that the loss of structured families with the loss of masculine role models, fathers and strong lack of positive views towards stay- at- home Mums.

Decades of Big - Media promoted  Atheism now no longer presenting a danger to traditional Judaeo-Christianity, which had helped undermine the very foundation of our Western society. However, with this resurgent model of developing Christianity following standard growth patterns, it could lead to a greater realised turning to Biblical Christianity. 

 

The Lighthouse is fulfilling its function!  Nations are being served! 

  

Fueling the resurgence of Christianity is the desire for a closer community and more genuine connection for youth in Gen Z and Millennials. Recent surveys in the UK and AU see 10,000s of Ks of citizens as attending churches for the very first time-Young a-n-d Old.

 Many people long for genuine face-to-face human interaction, instead of screen-mediated connections and weaving a real sense of intimate sharing and belonging in an increasingly digital and ever-alarmingly disconnected world.

While the Internet promised a growing democratisation of humankind, unlimited knowledge, economic opportunity for all, freedom for all, and universal connection are some of the benefits. But many express disillusionment with the skewed results.

 However, churches and para-religious communities are stepping up to provide a space where people can unite, support one another, and form meaningful relationships based on shared values and beliefs.

The resurgence of Christianity is a positive development that brings people closer to traditional spiritual roots and fosters a sense of unity and purpose.

 

A brightly flaring lighthouse in a darkly polarised world divided in too many aspects and overwhelmingly uncertain.

Perhaps this darkest hour is ending with the nearing dawn.

 

by Digital Anvil.

 

If you like or disagree, drop a comment, dissenting is welcome. 

Technology is Good - We Are Not.

Technology is Good - We Are Not - Stephen Driscoll

The technology of Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing. AI is making a deep impact on how we function in modern societies. While Al is growing in its ability to think, from the start it has fundamentally been an excellent mimic.

Artificial intelligence has often reflected back to us a summary of who we are as humankind. As Stephen Driscoll says: “It’s a multibillion-dollar computational human mirror”.

This makes AI not really good or bad - but simply a reflection of the goodness or badness of the humans who created it.

Untrained AI seems to be quite debauched.

Trained AI is a people pleaser - less interested in truth and trained to keep you coming back for more. In fact, I heard recently an AI bot replying to a Christian user that it would be “praying for them”!

So what is a Christian response?

That is to understand the limitations of building something in our image and instead, rediscover ourselves as made in God’s image.

Share this daily-reading.

Thank you,Karl Faase.

(From Digital Anvil.)

 Empress Wu:

 China's Sole Female Emperor

 

Wu Zetian, also known as Empress Wu, holds the unique distinction of being the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor in her own right. Her reign during the Tang Dynasty marked a period of significant political reform, economic prosperity, and cultural flourishing.
 

 Rising from concubinage to the pinnacle of imperial power, Wu Zetian demonstrated remarkable intelligence, political shrewdness, and administrative capability, challenging traditional gender roles and leaving a lasting legacy on Chinese civilization.

 

From Digital Anvil 

 

Worldview Essay 2.4: 

 

Forgive my boldness; I would like to share something you probably know, the term: Worldview. 
This is a set of beliefs you and I live by. These ‘guides’ to life or ways of living are taught and learned through various means. Much of today’s dominating global -view has trickled down from the mountainside of the great intellectuals of the past 400 years in Western society.
A small group of thinkers like Darwin, Hobbes, Hume, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Freud, Marx, Sartre, Kafka, Camus, Jung, Hesse, Koestler, Huxley and  a few more have established the newer intellectual landscape for some centuries.

You may not have heard of all of them, but they certainly fuel some of your beliefs.

I have read a few of their famous books, devouring the publications eagerly and was deeply impacted by them. Some were great thinkers who liberated my mind and our contemporary society. They were unrivalled men whose contribution to Western thought is priceless. Some of their books caused me to stay up for hours overnight to complete reading those works of compelling genius.

 I studied deeply their ‘messages to the world’ in High School. I learned that these thinkers were skillful with words, causing 100s of 1000s like me to accept their cognitive engineering of contemporary Western society’s social and evolutionary progress.

There were key themes in books that we studied in High school. For example, the individual vs the society: Huxley’s vision of the near- future where people were divided into 3-4 classes and how a particular drug was given to ‘lower’ masses to stop them from knowing that they were living in an elitist governed Utopia and kept ‘happily’ unaware.  ( Brave New World )

My generation, the Baby Boomers, wanted to change the world! We did precisely that. For good or ill? You decide? As I aged, I grew up in a way that reflected what I had read for about the first three decades of early life. Yes! Ideas, you shall find, can have real-world consequences.

 Yet as I grew older, I began seeing some flaws with the loss of critical thinking and the indoctrination of the modern Western civilisation  in latter decades.

 I’ve read some contemporary philosophers and particularly, general technology books, which opened my mind to search, review and understand carefully.

It wasn’t the wisdom of another more extraordinary thinker that brought down the intellectual Everest for me. The then overall meaninglessness of my life, the emptiness and the void in my heart, tolled the death- bell of this long-cherished Worldview. 

Later on, I concluded that their writing was intelligently crafted, deceptively skillful fiction.  We could term this collective body of work as misleading, delusionally conceived and destructive information. The over-arching strategy of their books is an attempt to explain away God. To deny Him a place in our world and present Him as an ancient mythic- being. An improbable Wizard in the sky.

 It was my original acceptance of their spellbinding system of beliefs (the atheistic worldview) that brought me to that cave of despair and darkness in the first place. They taught that God is dead!

And that a person’s value is not inherent and that individuals must earn their way in life while valuing and obeying the Government elites above their own freedom. If this seems like a return to ancient Rome’s ideals, it is. Women and girls have been seduced by the darkness in idealising their roles as ‘empowered’ females in an age where unattached sex is easier to obtain than a pizza. Where the tragedy of 'Bonnie Blue' polarises Mums and Dads of yesteryear disapproving attitude and more than the likes of current social media platforms.

These achingly poor realised attitudes  are the deeper echoes of the 50s, 60s and 70s political, social, cultural, sexual and economic ‘revolution.’ The catch-cry’s then morph into the hook-ups of today with old slogans of...

‘If you want to, then do it, don't stop!’Nice single girls can too! ‘If It doesn’t hurt anyone, go ahead, do it!’ ‘That  We, not God, are the measure of everything.’  Anyway, God left us all alone, and He departed after creation.’ True? Or not? 'Pessimism seems true.'
It seemed to the following generations, that existence is meaninglessness; Face that kind of life with courage. Courage is meaningless. The gladiators motto or existentialists tagline became,' eat, drink and be merry. For tomorrow we die!'

But ...

Look up at the night sky and see the white points of trillions of galaxies in overwhelming blackness. Is the universe impersonal or is it the intentional craftsmanship of an intelligent Designer?
 

Ask yourself, when you are faced with a likely moral decision, do I invest this moment (e.g.,meeting girls by serendipity) in my life for short- term benefits or for long-term gains?
We ask ourselves how do we make sense of all the particulars we encounter in our lives? From Adam to Zoology, from a baby's cry to a Ferrari, from ideas to transcendence, from the cell to a prisoner. All is  phenomena in the world of our space and time. All things, we can see or sense, yet there are things that we cannot see, yet we know that they are true and real. We have asked, how does this all fit together? The question wrestled throughout human history. 

Who do we trust? Mortal man or immortal  God?

Because, like 100s of millions of others, we choose to trust some of those trickled down ideas from a few mortals who—I believe-- undermined the foundation of our Western society to fracture the granite-like base of our collective lives. Their ideas sound good until you see the downstream consequences. Compare Putin's Russia with Singapore ? Hong Kong under Britain vs Chinese Protectorate? China vs USA. Iran vs Israel.

Who is truly free and who has freedom chained?

The after -effects of some trickled down thoughts are found in the rise of relativistic ideals, radical gender theories, neo-atheism, neo-racism and the emergence of communism -Lite, political correctness and reality ensembles. One example is the popularity of reality TV. These people are rarely endowed with awarded talents, fine acting skills or other merits except that they are famous. For instance, the Kardashians' fame lies primarily in persistent self-promotion and clever marketing. Mega-numbers crave such celebrity, power, wealth and prestige. ‘Appearance is everything,’ a  myriad of voices cry out. Cosmetic surgeons do whole-body makeovers to chase the elusive ‘fountain of youth.’

Today, celebrities, whether athletes, rock bands, movie stars, billionaires, models... etc., project our inner desires. Our lives in the digital age reflect the core value of belonging: where do we fit in? We are composites of the persons we want to emulate.  We mirror other mirrors, other like-minded people; it is one reason for the massive popularity of social media.( Four Billion + members) Becoming more like what we desire. Is this good or ill? We consume and assume worth by buying acceptance and belonging to particular people- groups. From our data, the algorithmic marketing pitch, honed and shaped by our offline and online lives over the past decades, precisely targets our human need for worth. Despite our fiercely guarded independence, we comply, longing to belong.

 I know you believe we are all made free. I was duped, but now I see. I am free from near- global deception. More than a game changer, it is a Life- Transference! Transferred from the domain of man to the kingdom of God.

I am overwhelmed by gratitude. Who or what liberated me? All that happened was that somebody took me out of a deep cave into pure, radiant light. This new reality, which I have begun to live in, makes me want to rescue others trapped in the deep cave and release them. This is a gift I am unworthy to receive, yet I did! Originally a prisoner now rescued from falsehood,fiction,myth and delusion. 

Why should I be fortunate to experience this true enlightenment, this change of perspective, heart and mind?  Has Love found a way?

Transformed by new concepts and persons whose selflessness, devoted actions and committed friendships shared their light. There is abundant love, genuine acceptance, and a meaningful and purposeful life to be found.  Experiencing new and renewed relationships in the illumined world that reaches beyond barriers and toward healthier living with the fundamental dynamic Love from the ‘Book of Ages’: The Bible.

(Thank you for reading this letter.)

Recommended sources for further research:

Renewing Your Mind by R.C. Sproul.
Consequences of Ideas by R.C.Sproul.
Streams of Confusion by Brad Scott.
1984 by George Orwell.

The Intellectuals by Paul Johnson
Dekonstructing the Kardashians by M J Corey

and others
Academy of Ideas: YouTube Channel.

What do you think? drop a comment? Your nuggets, your thoughts are welcome? Drop by again.

Final Comment:

It came to my attention that I didn't name other contemporary thinkers. While its not an omission of agreement but of space and historical relevance, its still mine. Tonight I embark on reading a tome by Dostoevsky of whom Camus and Einstein said,that he is the real brilliant 19th century.Prophet, not Marx.

      

 By Digital Anvil.

 Return of the Princess:

 

 She's back!!!

This very evenin, she hugged and so did I.

Thank You,Father for her safe Return.

By Digital Anvil.

Final Comment:

Later,i asked her, what had she done to herself, because she looked " different?"

I was stunned  and puzzled because she looked so different ?  Her hair? Her clothes? 

 

She smiled with the air of satisfaction and replied, " make - up. "

Thank You, God,because to love is to be made whole.

 The Boy Crisis

 

 

 

Few books have done more to reframe the conversation about boys and young men than The Boy Crisis by Warren Farrell and John Gray, which was published eight years ago in March 2018. 

Compassionate, evidence-based and solutions-focused, it stands as one of the defining works on the challenges facing boys in the 21st century.

Farrell and Gray argue that the boy crisis isn't about boys losing power, but about too many boys growing up without the support, guidance and opportunities they need to flourish. They explore declining educational outcomes, father absence, mental health struggles, rising suicide, social isolation, addiction, disengagement from work and study, and the growing number of young men who feel disconnected from purpose and belonging.

What distinguishes this book is its refusal to blame. Instead, the authors draw on decades of research to understand why these problems have emerged and, more importantly, how they can be addressed... They highlight the importance of involved fathers, positive male role models, healthy masculinity, better schooling, practical learning pathways, relationship skills and policies that recognise boys' distinct developmental needs while benefiting families and society as a whole.

Warren Farrell has spent decades courageously challenging assumptions about gender, while John Gray brings deep psychological and relationship expertise. Together they demonstrate that caring about boys isn't a rejection of caring about girls; it's an essential part of building a healthier, fairer and more compassionate society...

The lasting impact of The Boy Crisis lies in its humanity. It helped shift public discussion from ideology to evidence, from blame to understanding, and from despair to practical solutions. For parents, educators, policymakers and anyone who wants the next generation of boys to thrive, this is an indispensable book. It deserves to be read widely, discussed seriously, and acted upon. The Boy Crisis is a landmark contribution to one of the most important social challenges of our time.

Unknown Contributor.

Many thanks.

( from Digital Anvil )