A mom in Killingly, Conn., wrote to us a few months ago to tell us the story of Super Bowl Sunday, 2019: The day she and her husband let their kids, 7 and 9, walk to the local Dunkin Donuts about a mile from the house. The kids hadn’t gotten more than two or three […]
Erika Christakis, early childhood expert and author of The Importance of Being Little, NAILS IT in her Atlantic essay on sleepovers. Noting that sleepovers have gone from age-old activity to yet another thing to fret about when it comes to kids, she says she’s sympathetic to the no-sleepover arguments. (Some of which have gone viral.) […]
Yes — we’ve got for you a simple, straightforward, LONG LIST of activities that don’t require a screen and can actually captivate normally pixilated kids. It’s over at Let Grow, where, frankly, we reprinted it from a website for teachers. Click here for the ideas and funny commentary by author Terry Heick, even as you’re […]
At Let Grow, the nonprofit that grew out of Free-Range Kids and is working to make childhood independence easy, normal and legal, we got a beautiful letter from three siblings whose mom recently passed. Here it is: Dear Let Grow, When my mom passed away last month, my brother, sister, and I spent a lot […]
At last! A really simple, fun, and, of course, FREE plan of action for anyone who’d like to start giving their kids a little more independence (and responsibility/adventure/joy). Sign this “pledge” and each week Let Grow will email you an “Action Card” with some easy-but-profound task for you, your child, or both of you to […]
What did 2022 do to parents who were just trying their best? It scared, scarred and disheartened them — and once it a while it really cheered them up! Herewith, The 10 Worst Free-Range Stories of 2022 — and one REALLY great one! STRANGER DANGER, PART 1 The Lower Merion school district outside of Philadelphia […]
This remarkable report on the KQED website unpacks the problem that’s hard to ignore: Today’s young people suffering from depression, anxiety, immaturity — and what might be called the life-blahs. Actually, that’s a pretty depressing term. Let’s NOT call it the life-blahs. But it does make sense to look at what cultural forces could be […]
What happens when a little kid picks up a honking HUGE stick at preschool on the playground? The adults in charge have to think quick! This one did: Dana Frantz Bentley, a Lesley University professor of early childhood education: If you’d like to see more free play — and trust — at your own child’s […]
Welcome to the bottom of the barrel! That’s where we find ourselves in this particular FoxNews’ segment (see below), as the anchor casts about for some reason — even a completely amorphous, garbled reason — to foment what Prof. Harold Hill called “MASS-TERIA!” And yet — he is foiled! As you’ll see, Hadley Heath Manning […]
Seven-year-old Athena Strand of Paradise, Texas, was abducted near her home and murdered last week. It is horrible to even write those wrenching words. Below is a post I put up after a different tragedy and travesty: the murder of Leiby Kletzky, here in New York City, in 2011. Sadly as well as defiantly, it […]
