You might not be ready to let your 4-year-old go out and meet the world, but developmentally, they’re ready to do just that, writes Let Grow co-founder Peter Gray, here.
In earlier eras, they started crossing the street at that age, and playing outside with their friends. It’s not ancient history!
A crossing guard in 1938, when kids, not adults, shepherded students across the street.
By age five, I walked a mile to an inner-city school. By age nine, I road the city-bus 10 miles to the dentist. I didn’t feel unusual, that’s what we all did. I know that safety is far more of an issue today then back in the 1950’s, but I also think children were given more rope and taught greater self-sufficiency.