Homeschool Theater

This was initially composed to help professional youth workers talk with teen boys. There’s knowledge here for moms, dads and families, too.

1. Congregate over meals. Gather in smaller groups of just a couple boys.

2. Use the “60 Second Law:” Ask your question in fifteen seconds and then wait for the response for 45 seconds.

3. Use sideways conversations such as working side by side at a service project, in the passenger seat of a car or washing cookware after a fundraising event.

4. Set something in their hands and fingers. Our office is filled with gadgets, sports balls and periodicals. Boys who are busy with their hands talk easier, even if they don’t look you in the eye all the time.

5. Go outside. Sometimes, leaders do many chats inside. Snap up a basketball and go outside the house. Start a stroll around the neighborhood. Go with the entire group.

6. Don’t hesitate to ask emotional questions. But be prepared for the solution to take several sessions to get back to you. Show patience.

7. Never take “I don’t know” as the first answer. Rephrase the query in a fewer number of words and phrases. If that does not work, look at number 6 above.

8. Before doing discussion classes, write out the questions on paper and let the boys read them before you start the discussion.

9. Discover what interests the boys you work with and talk about those ideas often: technology, physical activities, movies, computer and more.

10. Be able to use non face-to-face strategies such as Email and Instant Messaging to build rapport and trust with boys in between formal gatherings.

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This article was written by Sean Buvala. Sean is the author of DaddyTeller where he teaches dads how to be better fathers with skills of storytelling.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Teens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.