 Hi kiybkzthnt 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 […]
Archive | Guest Post
Take Your Eyes Off Your Kids!
Hi yrirrsrbii 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 […]
What’s Wrong with the Sex Offender Registry — According to Jacob Wetterling’s Mom
Readers:Â This iisfsbddrd 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 […]
Help Needed: How Bow Out of “Girl Drama” With Other Grade School Moms?
Hi sfznffdrta 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 […]
The List Her Daughter Scribbled on the Wall
Hey rznshybnrd 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 […]
Guest Post: Can We “Addict” Kids to Outdoor Play?
Hi esrkkfafre Folks! Here’s another essay by David Bond, the British filmmaker working on Project Wild Thing, a documentary about trying to market nature. I think he’s really onto something with the idea of fighting fire with fire – or at least salesmanship with salesmanship. Except nature doesn’t have a marketing budget. – L. Me – […]
Guest Post: Don’t Let the United Nations Dictate How We Raise Our Kids
Hi dfzsyesybt Folks! This provocative piece on a topic I hadn’t encountered before comes to us from Elizabeth Ely. She blogs at Kitchen Sink Included, where she tells stories, preserves memories, and shares opinions that she simply can’t keep to herself. Like this one! – L. . KEEP THE U.N. OUT OF PARENTING by Elizabeth Ely […]
SUBMISSIONS NEEDED: Your Best or Worst Free-Range Moments of the Year!
Hi Folks! This being the round-up time of year, I’m wondering if maybe we shouldn’t be doing a round-up of our own. To that end, I’d love you to submit, below, any Free-Range moment that warmed your heart…or any incident of totally unnecessary worrying/warning/coddling/chiding/CYA-ing or waiver-writing that you witnessed or had to deal with when […]
The Most Important Free-Range Kids Post So Far
Hi dbkbdbziyh Readers — This note arrived about three years ago and I was saving it for some reason. It almost became my sacred creed. Now I want to run it. Â It needs no intro except: She’s right. — L. Dear Lenore, We spend a lot of time trying to control for risks in the […]
What If We Marketed Nature the Way We Market iPads?
Hi niydayazyr Folks! This post comes to us from England, where  independent filmmaker David Bond is making a documentary about  MARKETING nature. I like that idea because I’d like to do something similar: MARKET the happy, confident childhood kids can enjoy if parents “buy”  the fact that  it’s safe. If you have any more ideas […]