Welcome To BIG

BIG is a place where boys and parents come to learn and grow. It is for boys with common, everyday struggles like fitting in, dealing with peer pressure, or coping with divorce, as well as for those boys with more significant difficulties like ADHD, depression, anxiety, social isolation, and acting out in destructive ways.

For pre-teen and teen boys, BIG offers a chance to learn about “being male” and its wide-ranging meaning to cope with and express feelings, to make and keep good friends, and to relate more effectively with parents and siblings. Another part of BIG’s philosophy is to help boys understand, develop, and nurture their relationships with both girls and boys.

For parents, BIG provides the opportunity to learn about how boys tend to operate without pigeonholing them into traditional gender stereotypes. Parents also learn about how the larger culture influences boys and their concepts of masculinity, and what they can do to help their sons think deeply about what it means to be a man in the 21st Century. They also come to get support from other parents who may be in similar spots: wanting to be closer to their sons, feeling confused about how to effectively parent their boys, or maybe just feeling alone in their everyday struggles as busy caregivers. BIG helps parents feel less isolated and more connected to others who know about the ups and downs of parenting boys.

The BIG Talk

The BIG Talk is a 2.5-hour meeting with 5th grade boys and their parents that provides foundational, medically-accurate information on the basics of puberty and reproduction. Topics include: defining puberty and understand its purpose and process; the physical, social, and emotional changes that accompany puberty; the science behind reproductive anatomy and reproduction; the story of birth, and; the similarities and differences between boys’ and girls’ puberty experiences. Separate, more advanced BIG Talks are also offered for 7th and 9th grade boys. The overarching goal is twofold: to educate the boys and to lay the groundwork for ongoing discussions between teen boys and their parents as they develop and move through adolescence.

BIG’s Social
Connection Groups

BIG’s Social Connection Groups are for boys who could benefit from concrete social skill-building and a positive social experience. Each group focuses on teaching tools to boys to help them become better connected to peers. For boys 9 years and younger, part of the content is guided by Michelle Garcia Winner’s effective Social Thinking Curriculum. For boys over 9 years, portion of the Social Thinking Curriculum, as well as other materials are utilized. With young teens, Winner’s Socially Curious and Curiously Social is used as a social thinking guidebook to help middle and high school boys navigate the murky social waters during this time of their lives.