Why are preschoolers so fond of gender stereotypes?
For one thing, that’s the way they see everything: black-and-white opposites. It’s hard for them to understand subtleties. There’s something in our psychological makeup that wants to gender-identify, to figure out and conform to your appropriate role. Young children around the world do this. They reinforce what’s appropriate much more than parents do. After starting school, girls quickly surpass boys when it comes to reading and writing skills. Why do these academic differences so quickly reveal themselves? Girls, there’s no question, talk more to each other even in preschool and toddler years. There are more words exchanged than between two boys. Magnify that over a couple years and you have more girls going to school with more verbal skills. With boys, you see the same thing with spatial skills, throwing things, building things and playing video games. Being aware of these different cognitive domains can help us as parents and teachers provide each child with more of a rounded experi
