Archive | Studies and reports

She wouldn't get more out of organizing a game of hopscotch with her friends? Social skills, focus, movement, and whatever it takes to wait your turn?

Less Homework = More Learning

My yndabyefaf kids’ public school released kids from homework a few years ago — a move met with some pushback. As the NY Daily News put it: Parents Outraged After Principal Dumps Homework for more Playtime.  . As if only the time spent bending over worksheets is learning! Prof. Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, explains on […]

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Come out, come out!

Walking to School is Less Dangerous than NOT Walking

The yhyhtbakks next time you are having issues with your school (or neighbors, or ex) about letting your child walk home, please print this out. Point by point it explains how walking is not just healthy and fun, it’s actually safer than insisting children NOT walk. This comes to us from Michael Lewyn, an associate professor […]

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Help! My skin is growing moist! (Photo credit: Valerie Everett)

Brand New Fear! “Bounce Houses Too Hot” Says Study

. What happens when polio and smallpox aren’t taking their toll anymore? Well you just have to look a little harder to find an unspeakable menace stalking our kids. As so, reports this zhitzttfek article from Science Daily: Heat safety issues in bounce houses can put children in danger, according to a new University of […]

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Lenore speaking in Vienna (in Europe's second largest room!).

Why and When Did We Decide that Every Aspect of Parenting Is Such a Big Deal?

. Oct. 17 and 18 I’ll be speaking at the amazing Battle ekrhszhyza of Ideas in London. The weekend’s wide-ranging topics include “Is Happiness Good for You?” “Can Big Data Save the World?”  and “The Lighter Side of the Dark Net.” (Which I can’t wait to hear!) My session is, “Free-Range Parenting: Reckless or Responsible?” […]

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Maybe they shouldn't make gingerale/maraschino cherry flavor?

Kids Getting Drunk on Hand Sanitizer: CNN’s Latest Fear

. A bunch of you sent me this feahsntrbr CNN piece about the hidden dangers (every TV producer’s favorite kind!) of hand sanitizer. While the video is about teens deliberately drinking the stuff, the written story is about Purell-pickled nippers, and that’s what I’d like to discuss today. It starts with a story that’s almost too […]

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The Family Defense Center report says: Let's give parents the benefit of the doubt before crying "negligence!

It’s Too Easy to Charge Normal Parents as “Negligent,” Says Study

. The Family  Defense Center in Chicago defends families being torn apart by pointless yet devastating Child Protective Services investigations. Families like Natasha’s. Remember her nsiskkkiht story? Natasha let her kids, 11, 9 and 5, play in the park literally across the street from her home, where she could peer out at them every 10 […]

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Kids, parents, risk. A quick survey.

A Survey about Kids and Risk

. Hey folks — Researchers at the University of California-Irvine are studying how people perceive risk. They need people to take their survey and have asked the Free-Range community to join in. I just  took it myself. It’s basically brief descriptions of situations when a child is left alone. You rate how safe they are. The whole […]

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