Mothers are the reason that girls have better literacy skills than boys, finds research

GIRLS have better literacy skills because mothers are more likely to sing songs and nursery rhymes with them as tots while boys play sports, a report found.

Experts claim two thirds of the gender gap at age 11 is down to boys already falling behind aged five or before they even reach school.

The report by charity Save The Children found that pre-school girls and boys do the same amount of literary-based activities, like using the library and reading books.

But mothers are more likely to teach girls the alphabet, do drawing and painting, and sing songs, rhymes and poems with girls than boys, the survey said.

Experts from the University of Bristol, whose research informed the report, said this is because boys were more likely to be given sporting activities than girls.

The report said: “Mothers teach boys letters/the alphabet less frequently than girls (significantly so) but there is no gender difference in teaching numbers/counting.

“Boys are more likely to do sports activities at three than girls, while girls spend more time with mothers drawing/ painting and singing songs/ rhymes/poems than boys.

“We find no gender differ- ences in TV watching.”

The data was collected by combining stats from the National Pupil Database and the Millennium Cohort - details from a group of 9,000 UK-born children in 2000-01.