Are K-8 schools better for girls than K-5 or k-6?

View SuEllen Hamkins, MD's video on Are K-8 schools better for girls than K-5 or k-6?...
Are K-8 schools better for girls than K-5 or k-6? | Kids in the House
KidsInTheHouse the Ultimate Parenting Resource
Kids in the House Tour

Are K-8 schools better for girls than K-5 or k-6?

Comment
52
Unlike
52
Transcription: 
A K-8 school is better for girls than a K-6 because girls who go through 6th grade in an elementary school to 7th grade in a middle school tend to have a drop in self-esteem. Whereas girls who go from 6th grade in an elementary school to 7th grade in the same school tend to have an increase in their self-esteem. This is likely because the impersonality and larger size of most middle schools is not a great match for the developmental needs of girls who are 11, 12, 13-years old. It's a really vulnerable time. Their bodies are changing, they're trying to figure out who they are and who their friends are. And they can really use the support of caring adults who've known them since they were young. Thankfully there's some evidence that middle schools are changing to put more emphasis on creating supportive communities for all the students.
TEEN, Health and Development

View SuEllen Hamkins, MD's video on Are K-8 schools better for girls than K-5 or k-6?...

Transcript

Expert Bio

More from Expert

SuEllen Hamkins, MD

Psychiatrist & Author

SuEllen Hamkins, MD, is a psychiatrist, author and founding member of the Mother-Daughter Project, a community of women and girls that developed powerful, practical ways to help mothers and daughters stay connected and thrive through adolescence. Co-author of The Mother-Daughter Project: How Mothers and Daughters Can Band Together, Beat the Odds and Thrive Through Adolescence, Dr. Hamkins has given numerous presentations for parents and psychotherapists around the world, focusing on mothers, daughters, their relationships and the kinds of communities that nurture them.  As the psychiatrist for the Smith College Counseling Service from 1992-2004, SuEllen offered consultation to over a thousand women ages 16 to 23 to help them resist and overcome problems such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, anxiety, trauma, assault, and self-injury.  In addition to her work on behalf of mothers and daughters, as the Assistant Director for Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, she has been instrumental in developing strengths-based, narrative approaches to psychotherapy and psychiatric practice, helping people cultivate their values and strengths in the face of serious difficulties.  SuEllen is the mother of two daughters, now 17 and 22, and raising them has been the most thrilling and rewarding work of her life. She lives with her husband and younger daughter in western Massachusetts, where they love to swim outdoors, cross country ski, shoe snow, dance, cook and lounge around in the living room, reading. 

More Parenting Videos from SuEllen Hamkins, MD >
Enter your email to
download & subscribe
to our newsletter