Hi Folks! Here’s new wisdom from Michigan’s Heather Shumaker, author of It’s OK Not to Share…And Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids . She’s a speaker, blogger and advocate for free play and no homework for young children. Hey — so am I! L. Safety Second – 3 Risks Young Kids Need by Heather Shumaker Sometimes [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Miscellaneous | 58 Comments »
Hi Readers! This note comes to us from Nandini Ramakrishna, who was raised Free-Range in India and now lives in Phoenix, AZ. She writes the blog Cactus Chronicles. and tweets at CactusChron. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Four years ago, I was involved in an incident where the state questioned my competence as a parent. After two stressful [...]
Filed under: Child Protective Services, Guest Post, Miscellaneous | 43 Comments »
Hi Folks! This missive comes to us from Del Shannon, a civil engineer who designs and constructs (and sometimes even deconstucts) dams around the world. When not damming, he has written award-winning essays and children’s stories. His first children’s book was the serialized novella The Map, published in several newspapers. Captain Disaster is his second, a novel. Del [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, Studies and reports | 56 Comments »
Hi Folks! Below is just one part of a great, fun essay called “Parenting the Way Your Great Grandmother Would.” It’s by Margaret Ables, a comedy writer who has written for Celebrity Death Match and It’s a Big, Big World. She blogs at shortfatdictator.com (Facebook) and has appeared on ‘Steve Harvey’ discussing parenting/ family issues. She lives in L.A. with [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Miscellaneous, Other Places Other Eras | 30 Comments »
Hi folks! Our Sunday reading comes to us from far away — Hyderabad, India. It’s by Stephanie Smith Diamond who writes, runs, and studies for her master’s degree in political science there. She blogs at Where in the World Am I? - L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I recently came across your blog and read your book. I’d [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Miscellaneous, Other Places Other Eras | 30 Comments »
Hi Folks! This comes to us from Heather Shumaker, author of It’s OK Not to Share…And Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids (Tarcher/ Penguin, 2012), which was named one of the Best Parenting Books of 2012 by Parents magazine. She’s a speaker, blogger and advocate for free play and no homework for young children who lives [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Miscellaneous | 52 Comments »
Hi Readers — I love and agree with the post below so much. It comes to us from the blog Life as an Adverb by the gal whose last name IS one: Bonnie Overly. – L. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE GOAL (AND TAKE THEM OFF YOUR KIDS ONCE IN A WHILE) by Bonnie Overly [...]
Filed under: Crazy Parents, Guest Post, Helicopter Effect on Kids, Miscellaneous | 126 Comments »
Readers: This article is one of the best things I’ve ever read about our increasingly cruel, counter-productive sex offender laws — laws in place because of excess fear and excess pandering when it comes to our kids. It appears in City Pages, a Twin Cities alternative newsweekly, and focuses on Patty Wetterling, whose 11-year-old son Jacob [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Eek! A Male! (and Stranger Danger), Guest Post, Miscellaneous, Sex Offender Issues | 96 Comments »
Hi Folks! Here’s a mom who requests your help on one of the issues of the day: The out-sourcing of playground squabbles to parents. I DO believe in being tuned in our kids, and providing them with comfort, support, wisdom and discipline. But what happens when the world around us expects something else: minute-by-minute involvement? [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Helicopter Effect on Kids, Miscellaneous | 76 Comments »
Hey Readers — This came in as a comment to the post below this one, about a mom named Tara who wants to be Free-Range, but can’t help dark, scary thoughts taking over brain. It’s a reminder that even though we cannot protect our kids from everything bad, we can still move beyond the Rapunzel [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Infantilizing young folk, Miscellaneous, Worst-First Thinking | 14 Comments »
