Archive | 2023

Regine Galanti Headshot

A Child Anxiety Therapist Recommends Parents Push One Particular Thing

And you probably guessed what  that thing is: INDEPENDENCE! Kids need more of it! It’s an anxiety buster! Regine Galanti, PhD is a clinical psychologist and founder of Long Island Behavioral Psychology, a private practice in Nassau County. She’s also the author of many books on anxiety, most recently, Parenting Anxious Kids: Understanding Child Anxiety […]

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DALL·E 2023-12-12 15.13.58 - child's drawing of a girl walking on the sidewalk surrounded by robbers and murderers and zombies and monsters

Don’t Tell Kids That Someone Could Grab Them

A childcare worker in Texas dropped a line with a story — and a request: Dear Let Grow: You helped me a few years ago when the state wanted me to get rid of my rope swing, which the kids in my childcare program love. I also run an after-school care program at my local […]

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mike hynes USE THIS headshot

Want Students to Succeed Almost Every Possible Way? Start a Play Club

Michael Hynes is superintendent of the Port Washington, Long Island School District, just outside New York City. He’s also a Fulbright Specialist, TEDx speaker, author of “Staying Grounded: 12 Principles to Transform School Leader Effectiveness” — and a big part of the documentary “Chasing Childhood.” Please Note: Hynes graduated in the bottom 10% of his […]

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allan sherman

Hello Muddah, Hello, Faddah — in The Smartphone Age

Remember (or not!) the classic Allan Sherman song, “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” the letter from an unhappy camper?  Today’s post involves something remarkably similar — except it’s updated. And it’s real. It comes to us from James Frank’s Wild Nature Adventure blog. “Ranger James” started and runs the Lure of the Wild Nature Camps in Catonsville, Maryland.  […]

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fabiosa 2

This Thanksgiving, Be Thankful for Strangers!

As we approach the holiday of gratitude, here’s a little reminder that “stranger-danger” gets it wrong, and we should be grateful for all the humans looking out for kids. This video (click here) was sent to Let Grow by Rosalie Witt, an early childhood instructor, consultant, and coach in Connecticut who helped us pass that state’s […]

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liam neeson on phone

What Hath Liam Neeson Wrought?

Today’s pithy comment comes in response to yesterday’s post about a mom sick with fear because a man (!!!) was in the vicinity of her daughter. Nothing happened. And yet – because the press is so eager for any story of a child in peril – it reported the “incident” with the gravity usually reserved […]

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